President Biden plans to spend his Sunday on the campaign trail in Pennsylvania, a critical battleground state, days after he insisted he would not be dropping out of the 2024 presidential race against Donald Trump.
Biden is first expected to speak at a church in Philadelphia before heading to a campaign event in Harrisburg. The president, 81, was originally supposed to speak at the National Education Association’s annual conference, but canceled after the teachers union’s staff announced a strike on Friday.
Outside of Pennsylvania, it was reported that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, plans to meet with House Democrats on Sunday to discuss Biden’s candidacy. As of Saturday, five House Democrats have called for Biden to step aside.
Biden on Friday sat down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos for a high-stakes interview in which he said his highly criticized debate performance was a result of being “sick,” and added he would only step down as the Democratic nominee “if the Lord Almighty came down” and told him to.
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Rep. Angie Craig becomes 5th Dem House rep. to call on Biden to drop out of 2024 presidential race
Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) On Saturday, Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota called on President Joe Biden to end his campaign after his shaky debate on June 27 against former President Donald Trump.
“There is simply too much at stake to risk a second Donald Trump presidency,” Craig said in a statement on X. “That’s why I respectfully call on President Biden to step aside as the Democratic nominee for a second term as President and allow for a new generation of leaders to step forward.”
She added, “If we truly believe that Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans must be stopped, there is only a small window left to make sure we have a candidate best equipped to make the case and win.”
Craig is the fifth House Democrat to call on Biden to step aside from the presidential race. Reps. Lloyd Doggett of Texas, Raul Grijalva of Arizona, Seth Moulton of Massacusetts and Mike Quigley of Illinois have taken similar stances in the wake of the first presidential debate.
