They don’t know what’s next, but a group of Democratic activists who staged a protest outside the White House on Saturday said it can’t be worse than what they know is coming if President Joe Biden stays on the ballot against Donald Trump.
A crowd of two to three dozen held signs outside the White House fence, voicing chants such as “Pass the torch,” and “Hey, hey, ho, ho, thank you Joe, it’s time to go,” in between speakers who warned of an end to abortion rights nationally, elimination of self-rule in the District of Columbia, and “white supremacists in the White House.” Another 100 or so people stood watching along Pennsylvania Avenue, many of whom joined in the chants.
They cheered Biden’s work to address climate change, fund infrastructure and try to protect democracy. But they also warned that Biden, 81, has lost a share of support he had when he narrowly beat Trump in 2020, especially among young voters.
Democrats need a presidential ticket that will “make young people believe in the future again,” Quentin Colon Roosevelt, who was 18 when he was elected last year to sit on an Advisory Neighborhood Commission, a local government office in Washington, told the crowd.
Biden’s supporters have pushed back on doomsday predictions, arguing many polls remain within the margin of error, and pointing to polls that predicted a “red wave” of Republican victories in 2022 that did not pan out. The GOP did oust Democrats from House leadership that year, but only won a majority of five seats, which has since dropped to four after a special election to replace Rep. George Santos in New York flipped his former seat.
Aaron Regunberg, a member of the Pass the Torch Steering Committee, which organized Saturday’s protest, said that Biden “was losing before his disastrous performance” in a June 27 debate with Trump and has shown no signs he can turn things around.
He conceded there is no clear idea where Democrats would turn if Biden did drop out, nor any guarantee another nominee would fare better. But he said there is enough angst in the people he talks with that they feel they needed to speak up to see if there’s a chance.
“Anything we do has some risk,” Regunberg said — but switching course now is like “the risk of taking that final off ramp when you don’t know exactly where it’s going to go, versus the risk of continuing to go pedal-to-the-metal straight towards the cliff, knowing that you’re going to fly off it. Because that is that is the current trajectory that we’re on.”
Around three dozen congressional Democrats have formally called for Biden to step aside and allow another candidate to take on Trump.
The group plans to air ads on MSNBC on Monday featuring voters in Pennsylvania speaking to the camera urging Biden to drop out. Regunberg declined to name donors who paid for the ads or the rally, but said they would be disclosed in time to the Federal Election Commission.
Regunberg, who sought an open House seat in a Rhode Island special election last year and faced controversy when his father-in-law funded a super PAC supporting him, was defeated by Gabe Amo, a former aide to Biden. On Saturday, the demonstrators said they would still support Biden if he ignores them.
“If and when Joe Biden is officially nominated, and there’s truly no off ramp, every single person here is going to shut up, shut our mouths and go back to being good Democratic soldiers like we’ve always been, knocking on doors, making phone calls, doing whatever we can to help drag that ticket over the finish line,” he said.
Biden remained in Rehoboth Beach, Del., recovering from COVID-19 on Saturday as the roster of members of Congress urging him to end his campaign continued to grow. Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., said in a statement that Biden’s “greatest accomplishment remains saving democracy in 2020” when he defeated Trump.
“Now, the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, is ready for this moment,” Takano said. “Joe, I love and respect you. But the stakes are too high to fail. It’s time to pass the torch to Kamala.”
Biden campaign officials on a Saturday morning call with reporters, ahead of Trump’s planned campaign rally with running mate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, in Michigan, slammed the former president’s policies on issues like health care, abortion and the economy.
The officials also warned conservatives’ “Project 2025,” a blueprint for a possible second Trump term, is “dangerous.” Democrats on Capitol Hill and in the White House have called the document too hardline, and warned it would substantially erode norms of American democracy and potentially turn parts of federal law enforcement into Trump’s personal revenge police.
They also said Biden is feeling better, but declined to answer when asked when and where the president might return to the campaign trail.
John T. Bennett contributed to this report.
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