President Joe Biden’s Friday night TV interview against Donald Trump to end his re-election campaign after interrupting his debate performance didn’t end the uproar within his own party.
A fifth House Democrat, Angie Craig of Minnesota, joined colleagues Saturday in calling for the president to step aside, and reports suggest more may follow.
In his rare prime-time ABC News interview, Mr. Biden dismissed his debate performance as just a “bad episode” and said that only “the Almighty” allowed him to end his re-election bid. will give. But can agree.
Mr. Biden, 81, is spending Saturday at his family home in Delaware ahead of two public events on Sunday.
Anxiety is growing among Democrats, although no senior party members have called for him to resign.
Some polls show Trump widening his lead over Mr. Biden, and many worry about losing the Senate majority, as well as the presidency and House seats, if he leads the ticket.
MMiss Craig, who is running in a competitive district in Minnesota, said on Saturday she did not believe Mr Biden “could effectively campaign against Donald Trump and win.”
She said that while she respected his decades of service, “it’s too much to risk another Donald Trump presidency”.
Minutes after the ABC interview, Congressman Lloyd Doggett of Texas, who was the first House Democrat to call on Mr. Biden to resign, said on CNN that the need was “more urgent tonight than ever before. I Demanded it for the first time.”.
He said the longer it took for Mr Biden to decide to withdraw, “the harder it would be for a new person to come on board who could defeat Donald Trump”.
On Friday, several House Democrats, including Congressmen Mike Quigley of Illinois and Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, demanded President Biden’s resignation.
In his interview, Mr. Biden declined to take a cognitive test and release the results to prove he is fit for a second term.
“Every single day I have a cognitive test. Every day I have that test — everything I do [is a test],” she told George Stephanopoulos.
That response didn’t resonate with California Democratic Congresswoman Judy Chu, who told Politico that her response was “disturbing and not particularly convincing” and that she would be “watching closely… especially But in sudden situations”.
During the 22-minute ABC interview, Mr Biden dismissed suggestions that allies might ask him to stand aside, saying “That’s not going to happen”.
Mr. Stephanopoulos pressed the president for another term.
“I don’t think anyone is more qualified to be president or to win this race than I am,” Mr. Biden said.
Mr. Biden, who is scheduled to address a rally in Pennsylvania on Sunday, thanked Vice President Kamala Harris for her support during an interview with ABC News.