As Democratic Anxiety Rises, Doggett Calls on Biden to Withdraw

Democratic anxiety over President Biden’s fitness to run for re-election broke out into the open on Tuesday in a spike of panic, as the first sitting member of Congress called on Mr. Biden to withdraw and a slew of other prominent officials who have backed the president vented their concerns.

One Democratic senator openly asked for assurances from the White House about Mr. Biden’s “condition” — “That this was a real anomaly, and not just the way he is these days,” said Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, who told a local television station he had been “horrified” by Mr. Biden’s performance.

Another Democratic senator, Peter Welch of Vermont, scolded the Biden campaign for “a dismissive attitude towards people who are raising questions for discussion.”

And later on Tuesday, Representative Lloyd Doggett of Texas, a veteran progressive lawmaker, issued a statement saying that Mr. Biden’s debate performance had disqualified him from running again.

“I had hoped that the debate would provide some momentum to change that. It did not,” Mr. Doggett said. “Instead of reassuring voters, the president failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump’s many lies.”

Mr. Biden’s fumbling, faltering debate performance on Thursday set off a quiet panic among party officials and activists over whether he should be replaced on the ticket roughly four months before Election Day. But it also unleashed fresh anxiety among lawmakers, strategists and operatives about the effect of his stumbles on his party’s ability to win the critical races that will decide control of the House and Senate.