Adam Schiff urges Joe Biden to step aside in 2024 race

Adam Schiff, congressman and aspiring senator for the Democratic Party, called on Joe Biden to withdraw his candidacy in the upcoming presidential election. Schiff, considered a close ally of Biden, expressed concerns about whether the sitting president can defeat Donald Trump.

Biden "has been one of the most consequential presidents in our nation’s history, and his lifetime of service as a Senator, a Vice President, and now as President has made our country better. But our nation is at a crossroads. A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the President can defeat Donald Trump in November," wrote the congressman from California in a statement issued on Wednesday. Schiff is running for a Senate seat from that state this year.

Schiff, the former head of the House Intelligence Committee, is known for his role as the lead manager of Trump’s first impeachment. He is the 20th member of the House and the 21st member of Congress to call on Biden to withdraw his candidacy. So far, most of them have been lesser-known politicians, mainly from the most vulnerable electoral districts.

According to the "New York Times," Schiff reportedly said during a recent meeting with donors that the party is "likely to lose not only the White House but also down-ballot races" if Biden remains the candidate.

Puck News reports that during a recent virtual meeting between Biden and dozens of congressmen—which took place just before the assassination attempt on Trump—the president got into a heated dispute with some of them. He allegedly performed "even worse than the debate (with Trump - ed.)" and, according to one of the quoted participants, had the assassination attempt on Trump not taken place an hour later, 50 Democrats would have called for Biden's resignation.

The party is also divided on when to select the Democratic presidential candidate formally. The party's plan was to do so in a virtual vote before the convention, possibly even this week. This was related to local law in Ohio, which set the deadline for naming the candidate before August 7, i.e., before the Democratic convention starting August 19.

Critics argue that this regulation has been changed and the party does not need to rush. On Wednesday, the Democrats assured that the voting would not start before the end of July.

The first nationwide poll conducted after the assassination attempt on Trump, commissioned by Reuters to Ipsos, suggests that the event did not affect the distribution of voter preferences. Trump maintains a 2 percentage point lead over Biden (47-45 percent), similar to before the debate.