Thirty-three Democrats in the US Congress have publicly called on President Joe Biden to drop out of the race for The White House because of the poor performance of the 81-year-old politician in a pre-election debate against his rival from the Republican Party, Donald Trump, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
They represent more than a tenth of Democrats in Congress, where Biden's party controls 213 seats in the House of Representatives and 51 in the Senate.
In total, it is about three senators – Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, John Tester of Montana and Peter Welsh of Vermont, and 30 members of the House of Representatives, including the influential Congressman Adam Schiff of California.
Democrats are increasingly worried that Republicans will achieve a landslide victory on November 5, after which Trump and his allies will control not only the White House, but also a majority in both houses of Congress.
"Your candidacy is on track to lose the White House and could potentially affect key Senate and House races. So I'm calling on you to step down,'' said Zoe Lofgreen, a member of the California House of Representatives. She is close to former Speaker of the US Congress Nancy Pelosi, one of the most influential Democrats. Pelosi has not publicly called on Biden to drop out of the race.
A group of Democrats called "Pass the Baton" said it will run ads on one of Joe Biden's favorite television shows, MSNBC's Morning Joe, that will call on the president to drop out of the race.
The division in the Democratic Party contrasted sharply with the unity shown at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where former rivals of Trump rallied around the figure of the billionaire, who formally accepted the party's nomination for the presidential election on November 5.