Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, as seen at the Capitol on June 5, 2024. Doggett is the first congressional Democrat to publicly call for President Biden to quit his reelection bid.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/Getty Images North America

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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/Getty Images North America

Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, became the first congressional Democrat to call for President Biden to withdraw from his reelection bid, issuing a statement saying that Biden had failed to reassure voters in last week’s presidential debate and was trailing his Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump.

Biden, 81, badly stumbled in the debate, seeming at times to lose his train of thought, and struggled to defend his record. He and his campaign have insisted that he would stay in the race and make a comeback — despite calls from some Democrats and donors to step back and let another party leader run instead.

But elected Democrats so far have publicly stood behind the president. The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Doggett’s call.

Doggett, who represents a safe Democratic district, said that Biden was trailing Trump in most polls. “I had hoped that the debate would provide some momentum to change that. It did not,” he said in a statement.

“Instead of reassuring voters, the president failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump’s many lies,” Doggett said.

Doggett said that staying in the race would pose too great a risk that Trump would win the election, citing Monday’s Supreme Court decision that gave Trump broad immunity from prosecution.

“I represent the heart of a congressional district once represented by Lyndon Johnson. Under very different circumstances, he made the painful decision to withdraw. President Biden should do the same,” Doggett said.