Rep. Schiff urges Biden to withdraw citing ‘serious concerns’

Rep. Adam B. Schiff became the most prominent Democrat in Congress to call on President Biden to withdraw from the presidential race.

Schiff’s announcement on Wednesday, a hugely popular candidate for the U.S. Senate and frequent guest on cable TV news shows, stunned a lull in activity since the weekend assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

The Burbank congressman expressed “serious concerns” about Biden’s ability to beat Trump in November.

He is the latest Democrat to call on his own party’s president to drop out of the race amid growing questions about Biden’s age and mental fitness to do the job. The concerns began in earnest after a disastrous debate performance last month, in which the incumbent president appeared disoriented at times.

In a statement first reported by The Times, Schiff said Biden was “one of the most significant presidents in our nation’s history, and his lifetime of service as a senator, vice president and now president has made our country better.”

“But our country is at a crossroads,” he said. “President Trump’s reelection would undermine the very foundations of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether he can defeat Donald Trump in November.”

Schiff said “the choice to withdraw from the race rests solely with President Biden” but said he believes it’s time for Biden, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, to “pass the baton” and “uphold the tradition of leadership” by allowing another Democrat to defeat Trump.

The congressman also said he would give his full support to whoever comes to the top of the Democratic nomination list.

“I will do everything in my power to help them succeed,” Schiff said. “There is only one goal: to defeat Donald Trump. The stakes are just too high.”

Prior to Biden’s withdrawal announcement, The Washington Post had listed 22 Democrats in Congress who had called on Biden to withdraw, making Schiff a notable addition to the list.

Biden is considered close to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), the party’s leader who has been careful to voice her stance on Biden, but at one point suggested time was running out for the president to decide whether to drop out of the race.

During her term as speaker, Pelosi used her power to appoint Schiff to one of the most important posts in Congress, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and then she appointed him to chair the first impeachment inquiry into President Trump, one of the most consequential decisions of her career and one that propelled Schiff to national prominence.

When he decided to run for the Senate, she supported him over two progressive women.

A source close to Pelosi, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss her interactions on the matter, said Schiff’s announcement was “the first she’d heard of it” and that Schiff “did not consult with her” beforehand.

Biden has rejected calls to step down, saying he has a strong track record in the Oval Office and that “average Democrats” want him to stay in the race even if the “big names” don’t. Biden has tried to tell his critics that time is up, and is willing to withstand their pressure until it becomes physically difficult or impossible to find a replacement.

“I’m all in,” he told a cheering crowd at the NAACP national convention in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

Biden also suggested that people expressing concern about his candidacy may be more concerned about their chances of winning in lower-ranking districts.

“The truth is, I understand the self-interest of the candidates. If they think running with Biden as the top candidate will be detrimental to them, they’re going to run,” he said at a news conference Thursday.

Schiff is expected to win the Senate seat long held by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat. It is currently held by Sen. LaFonza Butler, who Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed to serve the remainder of Feinstein’s term after her death in September. Schiff will face Republican Steve Garvey, a former Dodgers All-Star who beat other top Democratic candidates in a tight primary this year.

The strength and volume of calls for Biden to drop out of the election has declined since Trump was shot at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, leading some political observers to question whether the shooting will quell those calls permanently. Schiff’s announcement, coming in the middle of the Republican National Convention at a time when the Republican Party appears extremely unified and with some of his party’s former rivals backing Trump, suggests that this is not the case.

Schiff’s decision also came on a day when an Associated Press poll showed about two-thirds of Democrats think Biden should withdraw.

A polling memo from Democratic research firm BlueLab Analytics, published for the first time by Politico, found that an alternative candidate would receive 3 percentage points more of the vote than Biden in a theoretical matchup with Trump in battleground states.

Vice President Kamala Harris was among the candidates who performed better than Biden, but she underperformed other potential successors, including Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland, Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan.

But a Biden withdrawal would give Harris an advantage because she has the easiest access to campaign infrastructure, including fundraising accounts, and she also campaigned with Biden when he was elected in 2020 and was in office when Biden became the presumptive nominee this year.

If Biden were to withdraw, Ms. Harris would have many allies, including Representative James E. Clyburn, a leading South Carolina Democrat with deep ties to Mr. Biden.

But many Democrats have pushed for a new process to approve an alternative, citing Harris’s low approval ratings.

“We have a deep pool of talent,” Rep. Scott Peters, a San Diego Democrat who has argued that Biden should withdraw, told The Times in a recent interview. “I want to hear from a lot of people. I think bringing together a lot of great leaders, governors, senators, from battleground states, I think it will be inspiring and attention-grabbing.”

Asked why he didn’t mention Harris, Peters said he was referring to her too.

“She makes a strong case and is very talented,” he added, “but we really need to focus on who can win.”

Newsom has also been mentioned as a possible candidate, but the governor, who serves as a surrogate for Biden, has said he has no plans to run and has no plans to run against Harris.

Biden has dismissed the polls as inaccurate and misleading. “Poll after poll shows me facing off against Trump, and I win every time,” he said.

Democrats plan to hold a virtual vote, possibly later this month, before their convention in Chicago on Aug. 19. But some lawmakers are opposed, circulating a letter urging the party to wait.

Peters said Biden is being “shielded” from bad news by his advisers, even if he hasn’t seen the polls that say he can’t win, “because that’s what the polls say.”

The New York Times reported Tuesday that Schiff warned attendees at a Democratic fundraiser on Saturday that Democrats would lose the Senate and miss their chance to take the House if Biden didn’t back down.

Schiff’s comments will increase pressure on Biden and could prompt other lawmakers with private concerns to speak out publicly.