Several top House Democrats call for Biden to step aside in weekend ‘crisis talks’

A handful of influential Democrats in the House of Representatives joined the list of members in their party calling on Joe Biden to step aside and let someone else run in 2024 on Sunday.

The House Democratic caucus convened for weekend crisis talks with Hakeem Jeffries, the chamber’s minority leader, late Sunday afternoon as lawmakers prepared to face the media on Capitol Hill when Congress returned to business the next day. Already, growing fractures are visible as party members take opposing positions on whether the president should remain the party’s nominee after a disastrous debate showing against Donald Trump.

On that call with Jeffries, Reps Jerry Nadler, Susan Wild, Adam Smith and Mark Takano all came out in opposition to Biden running again, according to multiple news agencies. Rep Don Beyer, a Democrat from Virginia, also strongly undercut the president’s argument for staying in the race and suggested that Kamala Harris, his vice president, would have a much stronger chance at winning. Nadler, a close ally of Nancy Pelosi before Jeffries, is the top-ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee; Wild and Smith hold the same respective positions on the Ethics and Armed Services committees.

Together, the three become the highest-ranking members of the House Democratic caucus to call on Biden to step aside. Mark Takano, a congressman from California, joined them on the same call while Don Beyer, a congressman from swing-state Virginia, undercut the president’s message so seriously that a spokesman had to issue a statement clarifying that Beyer was continuing to support the president’s campaign so long as it lasted.

“He’s clearly very, very fragile. Fragile physically, although his handshake is very firm. Also