Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) on Friday became the fourth Democratic member of the House of Representatives to call on President Biden to end his re-election bid.
The Illinois Democrat made a direct appeal to the 81-year-old president during an appearance on MSNBC after clips of Biden’s highly anticipated interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos aired.
“Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude. The only thing you can do now to cement it forever and prevent total catastrophe is to step down and let someone else step down,” Quigley said during an appearance on “All In with Chris Hayes.”
The congressman argued that with Biden off the ballot, “we are back in a dogfight on day one” with former President Donald Trump.
“All of a sudden, with all the things we’re talking about with President Biden, we have a lot more to talk about with Trump,” said Quigley, who claimed the 78-year-old presumptive GOP nominee has “cognitive issues.”
Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) and Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) had previously called on Biden to step aside.
Earlier this week, Reuters reported that as many as 25 Democrats in the House of Representatives are preparing to call on the president to end his campaign.
According to the Washington Post, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is also reportedly working to arrange a meeting between the president and Democratic senators in which they would ask Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race.
Biden could not recall for certain in his interview with Stephanopoulos whether he watched a replay of his June 27 confrontation with Trump.
“I don’t think so, no,” he told the “This Week” host.
What you need to know about the fallout from President Biden’s debate performance:
Trump campaign adviser Steven Cheung mocked Biden’s response on social media.
“How on earth do you not know this after rewatching the debate?” Cheung wrote on X.
Quigley said during an appearance on CNN that he found Biden’s response to the question “troubling.”
When Stephanopoulos asked if he knew how poorly he was performing at that moment, Biden launched into a rambling explanation.
“The whole way I was preparing, it was nobody’s fault, mine. Nobody’s fault but mine. I — I was preparing for what I would normally do sitting down when I came back with foreign leaders or the National Security Council for explicit details,” the president said.
“And I realized halfway through that, you know, everything — I’m quoted as saying that the New York Times had me down 10 points before the debate, nine now or whatever it is. The fact is, what I saw is that he also lied 28 times. I couldn’t — I mean, the way the debate went, it wasn’t my fault, it wasn’t anybody else’s fault, it wasn’t anybody else’s fault,” he added.
“This is a pretty disjointed answer,” pollster Nate Silver wrote on X.
“I’m there now,” the FiveThirtyEight founder added, indicating that based on Biden’s ABC News interview, he now believes the president should withdraw from the presidential race.
“There’s clearly something wrong here,” Silver said.
ABC News journalist Jonathan Karl reported after the full interview aired that Biden’s rally raised “new concerns” for some Democrats.
Karl called Biden’s response when asked how he would feel if Trump beats him in November particularly concerning.
“I will feel that as long as I gave it my all and did the best job I can do, this is what matters,” the president said.
Karl reported that a prominent Biden ally reacted with “Wow” when they heard the president’s response.
“With all due respect, the only thing that really matters is preventing a second Trump presidency,” Quigley said in response to Biden’s bizarre response.
The congressman also said it appeared the president was “completely in denial” that polls showed he would lose the election to Trump.
David Axelrod, a political consultant and former adviser to President Barack Obama, said he did not believe Biden did enough in the interview to change the minds of Democratic voters, who are concerned about his chances in November.
“There were some things I found sad,” Axelrod said during an appearance on CNN.
“He doesn’t seem to be able to understand that people would have those questions about him,” the former Obama adviser said, referring to questions about Biden’s cognitive abilities.
In response to Biden’s insistence that he must undergo “a full neurological test every day” because of his duties as commander in chief, Axelrod noted that “75% of the American population says he doesn’t pass those daily tests,” citing polls showing a large majority of voters say Biden is unfit for office.
Axelrod argued that Biden is “hiding from reality” by refusing to heed warnings from Democratic lawmakers, strategists and pollsters who say Trump is slipping in the race, “and the reality right now is bleak.”
Former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer described the interview as “the worst of all worlds” for Democrats.
“Biden has made no real blunders. He has done nothing to force himself out of the race. But he looks old, weak, vacillating, and he is losing to Trump,” the former Bush White House official wrote on X.
“So Biden will stick with it and stay. The Ds are stuck,” he added.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) likened the interview to a “therapy session” and argued that Stephanopoulos “begged President Biden to get out of the race.”
“What we saw tonight was horrifying,” Graham tweeted.
“If you think President Biden is as fit now as he was when he took office, as he claims, then you need a cognitive test.”