Jul 13, 2024 - 02:29
By cnbc.com

Big youth climate group calls for Biden to exit election race against Trump

The Sunrise Movement, a major youth climate group that strongly supported President Joe Biden in the 2020 election, urged him to exit the 2024 race against former President Donald Trump.
The call came a day after Biden gave a news conference in which he promised to stay in the race.
A growing number of Democrats in Congress have been calling on Biden to step aside for another nominee.

The Sunrise Movement, a major youth climate group that strongly supported President Joe Biden in the 2020 election, urged him on Friday to exit the 2024 race against former President Donald Trump.

"The stakes are too high. We can't afford to ignore the warning signs in front of us," Sunrise Movement Executive Director Aru Shiney-Ajay said in a statement.

"Joe Biden's next climate legacy-defining act must be to pass the torch to a new nominee," Shiney-Ajay said.

Her call for Biden to step aside came a day after the president gave a news conference in which he said he was determined to remain in the race, and as the number of Democratic members of Congress who want him to quit grew to nearly 20. As of Friday morning, 18 House Democrats and one Democratic senator have publicly called on Biden to drop out of the race as the Democratic presidential nominee.

"For the future of our democracy and our planet, we must defeat Trump this November," Shiney-Ajay said.

"If Trump wins, he will demolish President Biden's historic climate achievements, such as the Inflation Reduction Act and American Climate Corps. Another Trump Presidency would cause catastrophic and irreversible damage to our climate," she added.