Biden's support on Capitol Hill grimly uncertain. A seventh Democrat says he should drop out [View all]

Source: Associated Press

POLITICS
Biden’s support on Capitol Hill grimly uncertain. A seventh Democrat says he should drop out

BY LISA MASCARO, MARY CLARE JALONICK AND FARNOUSH AMIRI
Updated 5:02 PM EDT, July 9, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — The mood on Capitol Hill turned grimly uncertain Tuesday as Democrats wrestled over President Joe Biden’s re-election and the extraordinary question before them — whether to stand behind his candidacy or push the president to bow out amid concerns over his ability to lead them to victory.

House and Senate Democrats met privately with tensions running high. The conversation was “dour” and “sad” in the House, lawmakers said, as they discussed their party leader who emphatically refuses to step aside and implored them in a sharply worded letter to refocus from him to the threat posed by Republican Donald Trump. In the Senate, where Biden spent a storied career, they said even less.

Late in the day, a seventh House Democrat, Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, publicly said Biden should not run for re-election. … A military veteran, Sherrill said with Republican Donald Trump running for the White House, “the stakes are too high – and the threat is too real – to stay silent.” … “I realize this is hard, but we have done hard things in pursuit of democracy since the founding of this nation,” she said in a statement. “It is time to do so again.”

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/biden-election-house-democrats-senate-trump-a8926189431d70686f2f1abdc5540fa8