Here’s a list of people who are asking Biden to step down

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U.S. President Joe Biden is facing public scrutiny after a so-called disastrous debate between him and presidential candidate, former president Donald Trump last month. After the debate, which was broadcast by CNN on June 27, questions were raised about Biden’s ability to serve another term as president. With Americans heading to the polls in November, some are calling for the Democrat to step down.

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Certain politicians and high profile figures have made comments directly asking Biden to take himself out of the running, while others have been more subtle in their wording. Here is a running list of all of them.

George Clooney

Actor and activist George Clooney called for Biden to step down in an opinion piece published in the New York Times with the headline “I love Joe Biden. But we need a new nominee.” Clooney wrote about his concern about the 81-year-old continuing his role as America’s leader.

“This is about age. Nothing more. But also nothing that can be reversed. We are not going to win in November with this president,” he said.

Clooney recalled being at a fundraiser with Biden in Los Angeles recently and said it was “devastating” to realize that the president wasn’t the “Biden of 2010.”

Rob Reiner

The director and actor took to X to post his own thoughts about Biden. In the social media post, he included a link to Clooney’s article.

“We love and respect Joe Biden. We acknowledge all he has done for our country. But Democracy is facing an existential threat. We need someone younger to fight back. Joe Biden must step aside,” he wrote.

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Stephen King

The “It” author shared his opinion about Biden on X earlier this week. He called for him to step down, saying he has been a “fine president, but it’s time for him — in the interests of the America he so clearly loves — to announce he will not run for re-election.”

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Lloyd Doggett

The congressman appeared to be the first Democrat to lead the charge when it came to asking Biden to step down, according to NBC News. On July 2, only days after the Biden-Trump debate, Doggett released a statement.

“Our overriding consideration must be who has the best hope of saving our democracy from an authoritarian takeover by a criminal and his gang. Too much is at stake to risk a Trump victory—too great a risk to assume that what could not be turned around in a year, what was not turned around in the debate, can be turned around now,” said Doggett, NBC News reported.

“President Biden saved our democracy by delivering us from Trump in 2020. He must not deliver us to Trump in 2024.”

Raúl Grijalva

Following Doggett’s revelation, congressman Grijalva told the New York Times that Biden needed to “get out of this race.”

He said if Trump won, then what the Democrats have accomplished under Biden “goes down the sewer,” he told the publication on July 3.

Seth Moulton

On July 4, speaking to a local media outlet, congressman Moulton echoed the sentiments of the other politicians.

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“President Biden has done enormous service to our country, but now is the time for him to follow in one of our founding father, George Washington’s footsteps and step aside to let new leaders rise up and run against Donald Trump,” he told WBUR.

He added that he wasn’t sure about the “exact mechanism that we should follow in order for other leaders to rise up,” but that it was part of conversations being had by Democrats.

Mike Quigley

Congressman Quigley acknowledged Biden’s legacy, saying “we owe you the greatest debt of gratitude,” during an MSNBC interview on July 5.

“The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this,” he said.

Angie Craig

The congresswoman released a written statement on social media on July 6 that said she appreciated Biden’s lifetime of service, but that “the stakes are too high.”

“If we truly believe that Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans must be stopped, there is only a small window left to make sure we have a candidate best equipped to make the case and win,” the statement concluded.

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Joe Morelle, Jerry Nadler, Mark Takano and Adam Smith

The congressmen asked Biden to step down during a call with other House Democrats on Sunday, per NBC News. The lawmakers reportedly said that Biden should drop out of the race.

In an interview with CNN the following day, Smith confirmed that he thought Biden “should step aside” and that he wasn’t “the best person to carry the Democratic message.”

Mikie Sherrill

Congresswoman for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District Mikie Sherrill, called for Biden to “declare that he won’t run” in a post on X on July 9.

“I know President Biden cares deeply about the future of our country,” she started off in her statement on social media.

She explained how her community wants a leader who can “continue to build on our successes but is also able to turn the nation’s attention to the urgent threat that Trump presents to our democracy, to our freedoms, and to our country.”

Sherrill urged Biden to “help lead us through a process toward a new nominee.”

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Peter Welch

Welch outlined his opinion ahead of the presidential election in an article published by the Washington Post.

“We cannot unsee President Biden’s disastrous debate performance. We cannot ignore or dismiss the valid questions raised since that night,” he wrote.

“We have asked President Biden to do so much for so many for so long. It has required unmatched selflessness and courage. We need him to put us first, as he has done before. I urge him to do it now.”

Earl Blumenauer

The congressman told NBC News that he hoped Biden and his wife would “come to the conclusion that I and others have” — that he should step down.

“It is a painful and difficult conclusion but there is no question in my mind that we will all be better served if the president steps aside as the Democratic nominee and manages a transition under his terms,” he said.

Pat Ryan

In a social media post on Wednesday, congressman Ryan called out Trump for being an “existential threat to American democracy,” and added that it was “our duty to put forward the strongest candidate against him.”

He said that Biden was “no longer the best candidate to defeat Trump.”

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Nancy Pelosi

Pelosi, who is the Speaker Emerita of the House, has not said outright that Biden should step down. Instead, when asked about it, her response remained rather elusive.

“I want him to do whatever he decides to do,” she said on Wednesday, while speaking to reporters at MSNBC. “We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short.”

George Stephanopoulos

The journalist had an exclusive sit-down interview with Biden on July 5, after the president’s debate with Trump. In a video captured by a passerby and shared with entertainment news outlet TMZ, Stephanopoulos said that he didn’t think that Biden “can serve four more years.”

He later said in a statement that he should not have commented on the situation.

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