Top Democrat Schiff calls on Biden to ‘pass the torch’

Prominent Democrat Adam Schiff – a California congressman running to be the state’s next senator – has called on President Joe Biden to “pass the torch” and allow another Democrat to challenge Donald Trump in November.

Mr Schiff said that Mr Biden “has been one of the most consequential presidents in our nation’s history”, and he could “secure his legacy of leadership” by allowing Democrats to support another candidate.

“Our nation is at a crossroads. A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the President can defeat Donald Trump in November,” he added.

Mr Biden has repeatedly said he intends to stay in the race, despite the calls for him to step aside.

Mr Schiff’s announcement comes shortly after the Democratic National Committee announced its plans to hold a virtual roll-call vote in early August to formally elect Mr Biden as the party’s nominee.

Presidential nominees typically receive their formal nomination at their party’s in-person convention – which begins on 19 August in Chicago for Democrats – but Mr Biden’s party has sped up the process to comply with a 7 August candidate certification deadline in the state of Ohio.

With Biden facing calls to step aside after a poor debate performance raised concerns over his mental acuity, several Democrats have demanded the party cancel the virtual vote and allow for an open convention that would allow delegates to support other candidates.

It appears it is not just party insiders calling for such a change. New polling suggests nearly two-thirds of Democrats believe Mr Biden, 81, should step aside and let the party nominate somebody else.

Jaime Harrison, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, has sought to push back on rising doubts about the nominating process. He noted on X/Twitter that the party “will have this vote by August 5th”.

The announcement was also made in a letter obtained by CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, that emphasised the Ohio candidacy deadline.

“We will not be implementing a rushed virtual voting process,” Leah Daughtry and Tim Walz, chairs of the convention rules committee, wrote, and “no voting will begin before August 1”.

But, they added, Ohio’s 7 August filing deadline could risk ballot access and ballot-related litigation. They feared any delay could “jeopardise whether the Democratic ticket appears on the ballot in must-win states”.

Some Democrats have criticised party leaders for this response, as Ohio lawmakers voted to move the state deadline to 1 September. The law, however, comes into effect on that same day, raising fears that this could lead to legal challenges.

Others have warned an early vote was a “terrible idea”, as forcing one through while discussions about replacing Mr Biden continued could “deeply undermine the unity and morale”.

Mr Biden is still working to salvage his candidacy nearly four weeks after a CNN debate against Donald Trump. The president has since admitted that he “screwed up” during the debate.

Polling of the 2024 race continues to show the two locked in a tight race, but with Mr Biden trailing his Republican rival in battleground states and leading him by surprisingly narrow margins in states usually won by Democrats, such as Virginia and Minnesota.

Frustrations also spilled over this weekend on a call between a group of moderate House Democrats and Mr Biden, according to CBS.

Participants described the president as “defensive” and “rambling” in his answers, at one point lashing out at Colorado Democrat Jason Crow when questioned about his campaign strategy.

The Biden campaign responded to the reporting by pointing to positive reactions from other participants on the call, who said he had “accepted criticisms” and laid out a “sharp, forceful message”.

But Mr Crow told CBS’ Face the Nation programme this Sunday there is now a “high risk” Democrats will lose the election “unless there is a major change”.

“Reading the tea leaves is very troubling for many of us right now,” he said. “So we want to see a change.”

Party members have largely stifled their public calls for Mr Biden to withdraw from the race since Saturday’s attempted assassination of Mr Trump.

After a brief pause following that incident, the president resumed campaigning on Tuesday and Wednesday in the battleground state of Nevada.

He was joined by some of his top defenders, including Congressman Jim Clyburn, Congressional Black Caucus Chair Steven Horsford and Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Nanette Barragan. Both caucuses have recently reaffirmed their support for him.

In an interview with BET due to air on Wednesday, Mr Biden acknowledged he had once described himself as a “transitional candidate” but did not feel he could pass the mantle with the country so “divided”.

“I think I’ve demonstrated that I know how to get things done for the country in spite of the fact that we were told we cannot get it done,” he said.

“But there is more to do, and I am reluctant to walk away from that.”

The president added, for the first time, that he would consider dropping out if any of his doctors said he had a “medical condition”.