US Rep. Raúl Grijalva calls on Joe Biden to leave presidential race
U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., has called on President Joe Biden to withdraw as the Democratic Party's nominee for president.
"What he needs to do is shoulder the responsibility for keeping that seat — and part of that responsibility is to get out of this race," Grijalva told the New York Times on Wednesday.
Grijalva is now the second House Democrat to call on Biden to leave the race after the president's faltering debate performance last week sparked concerns about whether he was mentally fit for the office. Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas was the first.
Grijalva is a staunch progressive who has regularly broken with Biden on matters of policy. He criticized the president’s recent executive order that tightened the asylum system at the U.S.-Mexico border, calling it “antithetical to our values.” Last year, he signed on to a letter addressed to Biden that called for a clearer strategy to de-escalate hostilities between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Still, Grijalva has voiced support for much of Biden’s record and has been unsparing in his criticism of former President Donald Trump, Biden's 2024 rival. He had defended Biden’s candidacy until as recently as last week.
“This election is a clear choice: protect our freedoms and democracy with @JoeBiden, or succumb to a convicted felon's unhinged vengeance and reckless desire to destroy everything to save himself,” Grijalva wrote on social media the day after the debate.
“To stop Trump, we must win AZ. I'm ALL IN and will do all I can to make sure we win.”
In April, Grijalva announced he had cancer and would stay in Arizona while he undergoes treatment.
The other Democratic members of Congress from Arizona, a key battleground state in this year's presidential election, have so far stayed silent on the issue. Their offices did not immediately return requests for comment.
By and large, Arizona’s top Democrats have dispelled questions about Biden’s mental fitness or declined to comment on the matter. Arizona Democratic Party Chairwoman Yolanda Bejarano reiterated her support for Biden’s candidacy in a statement on Wednesday afternoon.
"We know Donald Trump is dangerous — he’s vowed to cut Medicare and Social Security, to ban abortion nationwide and to be a dictator on ‘day one.’ Arizonans overwhelmingly voted for Joe Biden to be our nominee and remain fully committed to re-electing him, stopping a second Trump term, and fighting for a brighter future for Arizona,” Bejarano wrote. “In 2020, we rejected Donald Trump's conspiracy theories and election denialism and in 2024 we will do it again.”
Biden reportedly told an ally this week he was weighing whether to continue his candidacy. The White House insisted the report was “absolutely false.”
If Biden were to bow out of the race, Democrats would need to replace him as the nominee before Arizona's ballot is set by mid-September.
National Republicans have pressed Democratic rivals in tight races to answer the question.
“Declining to comment in public while 'freaking out' in private is not an answer. Everyone saw it — irrefutable evidence the President of the United States is experiencing cognitive decline as he sits in the Oval Office,” Ben Petersen, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, wrote in a Monday email.
Grijalva's announcement drew backlash from some quarters.
“I absolutely disagree with Congressman Grijalva. Joe Biden is our President and I stand by him 100%,” Conor O’Callaghan, a Democratic candidate in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District, wrote in a statement on Wednesday afternoon.
“If he, and only he, decides to step aside, we will cross that bridge when we come to it. Otherwise this speculation and innuendo is completely unhelpful.”
Another candidate in the 1st District race, Marlene Galán-Woods, said through a spokesperson that she is focused on her own bid for office.
"I'm not sure why no one is asking why Republicans are nominating a 34-time convicted felon," Galán-Woods wrote in a statement.
This is a developing story. Return to azcentral.com for updates.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: US Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona urges Biden to withdraw from race