Top Democrat Raskin privately encouraged Biden to reconsider reelection campaign

CNN —

Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, penned a deeply personal letter to President Joe Biden earlier this month privately encouraging the president that there is “no shame in taking a well-deserved bow” out of the 2024 presidential election – and making his argument with comparisons to George Washington and Red Sox pitching great Pedro Martinez.

Raskin’s July 6 letter, first reported by the New York Times and obtained Thursday by CNN, offers rare insight into the delicate situation some of the president’s top allies are navigating as an isolated Biden weighs his political future. Biden has repeatedly vowed to stay in the race.

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 05: U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) speaks during a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol on January 5, 2024 in Washington, DC. Democrats held a news conference to mark the 3rd anniversary of the Jan 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Related article READ: Raskin’s letter encouraging Biden to reconsider reelection campaign

“I am not writing to presume to tell you what to do, Mr. President, because that is up to you and Jill and your family entirely. You will be the best judge of that. But I am writing to remind you of who you are,” Raskin said in the three-and-a-half-page letter, which he said he wrote as an admirer, supporter, fellow politician, friend, and “above, all, as a fellow citizen.”

Raskin confirmed the letter’s authenticity in a statement shared with CNN, saying, “I wrote that letter to the president over the Fourth of July weekend. My point was that we needed a strategic internal discussion about how to move forward to decisively win the election, which is of immeasurable