Representative Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat, said he called for Joe Biden to drop out of the race saying the president had appeared to not recognize him.
Moulton was with the president at a D-Day event in Normandy, France last month. There, Biden “didn’t seem to recognize” him, the lawmaker wrote in a Friday op-ed for The Boston Globe.
“Of course, that can happen as anyone ages, but as I watched the disastrous debate a few weeks ago, I have to admit that what I saw in Normandy was part of a deeper problem,” Moulton wrote.
“It was a crushing realization, and not because a person I care about had a rough night but because everything is riding on Biden’s ability to beat Donald Trump in November,” he continued.
The lawmaker went on to address Biden directly in his piece.
“I can only imagine how hard it will be for Biden to give up the chance for four more years in a job that he loves and that he has mastered. But this isn’t about you, Mr. President,” he wrote. “It’s about our best chance to win an election against a narcissistic liar and convicted felon who will jeopardize our national security and make life worse for ordinary Americans.”
Moulton is one of 35 Democrats who have publicly called for Biden to bow out of the 2024 presidential election. As Biden isolates in his Delaware beach house while recovering from COVID-19, NBC News reports the president feels he has been betrayed by party leaders.
Among those publicly calling for him to quit are members of the January 6 congressional committee, who say a second Donald Trump presidency is a threat to democracy.
Representative Adam Schiff said 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.”
Meanwhile, Representative Jamie Raskin told the president that “everything we believe in is on the line in the next four-and-a-half months” and that “we have an overriding obligation to defeat the forces of resurgent monarchy and oppression.”
Other influential Democrats, including former president Barack Obama and Representative Nancy Pelosi, have reportedly pushed in private for Biden to step aside.
However, Biden’s campaign has repeatedly denied that the president has any plans to exit the race.
