Texas lawmaker becomes first Democratic member of Congress to call for Biden to drop out

Rep. Lloyd Doggett became the first member of Congress to call on Biden to drop out, saying: "Too much is at stake to risk a Trump victory."

• Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Texas Democrat, just called on President Joe Biden to drop out of the race.
• He's the first sitting Democratic member of Congress to do so.
• "Too much is at stake to risk a Trump victory," he said.

Following President Joe Biden's disastrous debate performance last week, Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas has become the first Democratic sitting member of Congress to call on the commander in chief to drop out of the presidential race.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Austin-area lawmaker praised Biden's record of accomplishments but said an "authoritarian takeover" would come if former President Donald Trump won.

"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," Doggett said.

The 77-year-old lawmaker said he had hoped the debate would improve the president's polling, which had been poor for months.

"It did not," Doggett said. "Instead of reassuring voters, the President failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump's many lies."

Doggett added that his district overlaps with the House district once represented by Lyndon B. Johnson, who chose to withdraw from the presidential race in 1968 amid widespread dissatisfaction with his handling of the Vietnam War.

"Under very different circumstances, he made the painful decision to withdraw," Doggett said of Johnson. "President Biden should do the same."

It remains unclear whether other lawmakers will join Doggett.

Former Rep. Tim Ryan, an Ohio Democrat who served in the House for 20 years and mounted a presidential campaign in 2019 and a Senate bid in 2021, published an op-ed on Tuesday calling for Biden to be replaced with Vice President Kamala Harris.

Harris is one of several Democratic contenders who could emerge if Biden stepped aside.