Two of the four Democrats running for Congress in Iowa have called on President Joe Biden to give up his reelection bid.
“America deserves better than the choice for President we’re currently facing,” Bohannan, who is running in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, said in a written statement on Thursday. “This election is bigger than any one person. From protecting our reproductive rights and freedoms, to giving the middle class a fair shot, to defending our democracy — the stakes are just too high.”
According to Bohannan, “The easy thing to do at this moment would be to stay silent. After all, many Washington politicians, both Democrat and Republican, put allegiance to their party over the people they represent. It is time for a change.”
“Over the past couple of weeks, people all across Iowa have shared with me their grave concerns about President Biden — that it seems he is not up to the task of a strong, vibrant campaign that will provide a compelling vision for our future. I owe it to them to speak my mind. It is time for President Biden to withdraw from this campaign and pass the torch to a new generation of leadership.”
Bohannan, a professor at the University of Iowa College of Law, is challenging incumbent Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks for the second time. Bohannan lost to Miller-Meeks by 20,173 votes in the 2022 midterm election.
While Bohannan didn’t specify to whom Biden should “pass the torch,” Sarah Corkery in her statement did name the person she believes Biden should “pass the baton to.”
Corkery, who is challenging two-term incumbent Rep. Ashley Hinson in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, posted a brief video message on her Facebook page on Thursday afternoon, explaining her position.
“I have the utmost respect for President Biden and all he’s done for our country,” she said. “He is an amazing person and will have a legacy that will live on forever. And now is the time to pass the baton. It is time to pass the baton to Kamala Harris. She will be ready to fight and make sure we keep our democracy alive.”
Most of the reactions on social media to both statements have been negative. Former Johnson County Supervisor Janelle Rettig replied, “Unfortunately, I just sent your campaign a contribution. People like you will guarantee a loss in November,” on both Bohannan’s tweeted statement and her post of it on Facebook.
Biden was asked during his news conference on Thursday night about the 12 Democrats in the U.S. House and the one Democratic senator who had publicly called for him to give up his reelection bid. He shrugged off those calls saying, “The idea that senators and congressmen running for office worry about the ticket is not unusual.”
“The truth of the matter is I understand the self-interest of a candidate,” the president said in response to another question about the topic. “If they think that, you know, running with Biden at the top of the ticket is going to hurt them, then they’re going to run away. I get it.”
So far, none of the elected officials or candidates who have called for Biden to quit the race are nationally known figures. The Democratic senator who called for Biden to give up is Michael Bennet of Colorado. Bennet ran for president in 2020, competing in the Iowa Caucus and the New Hampshire primary before dropping out. In Iowa, a total of 164 people caucused for him. In New Hampshire, he received 952 of the 298,377 votes cast.
Since his halting and stumbling performance in his debate with Donald Trump two weeks ago, national media organizations have provided saturation-level coverage of issues related to Biden’s age, health and possible infirmities, highlighting statements from people who insisted on remaining anonymous in order to share their stories and speculation about Biden’s health. Despite that, a national poll of voters from NPR/PBS/Marist published on Friday found the “race for the presidency remains statistically tied despite President Biden’s dismal debate performance two weeks ago.”
“Biden actually gained a point since last month’s survey, which was taken before the debate. In this poll, he leads Trump 50% to 48% in a head-to-head matchup,” NPR reported “But Biden slips when third-party options are introduced, with Trump holding the slightest advantage with 43% to 42%.”
The poll’s 1,300 respondents do have concerns about Biden, with almost two-thirds saying they believe he “lacks the mental fitness to be president.”
“That includes almost 4 in 10 Democrats,” NPR noted.
“But the survey also found that by a 2-to-1 margin, 68% to 32%, people said it’s more concerning to have a president who doesn’t tell the truth than one who might be too old to serve.”
“A majority said Biden has the character to be president (52%), while a majority also said Trump does not (56%).”
Both Bohannan and Corkery issued their statements before Biden’s news conference on Thursday night. It was the first solo news conference Biden held since November. The president displayed an impressive grasp of foreign and domestic policy issues. Even though the hour-long event was putatively being held to address the result of a three-day conference of NATO leaders in Washington D.C. this week, nine of the 11 reporters who were called on had questions about Biden possibly quitting the race and whether he is capable of serving a second term as president.
In response to the first question of the news conference (“George Clooney and a handful of lawmakers have called on you to step aside…”), Biden firmly answered that he is remaining in the race and believes he can defeat Trump.
“The fact is that — the consideration is that I think I’m the most qualified person to run for president,” he said. “I beat him once, and I will beat him again.”
Asked by another reporter if he had “spent time thinking about what it would mean for [his] legacy… if [he stays] in the race despite the concerns that voters say they have” and loses, Biden replied, “I’m not in this for my legacy. I’m in this to complete the job I started.”
The president was also asked about his comments in 2020, when he said he wanted to serve as a “bridge” to a new generation of Democratic political leaders. NPR’s Asma Khalid asked Biden what had changed since the 2020 campaign that made him decide to run again at age 81.
“What changed was the gravity of the situation I inherited in terms of the economy, our foreign policy, and domestic division,” Biden said.
Neither Bohannan nor Corkery have issued any statements about Biden’s performance in the news conference. But Ryan Melton, who is running for a second time against Rep. Randy Feenstra in Iowa’s overwhelmingly Republican 4th Congressional District, did.
“Biden did well in his press conference. I don’t think most care about the occasional incorrect word or name used, they care about whether he can still do the job,” Melton wrote in a Facebook post. “Tonight was a tally in the yes column. I can’t imagine Trump being as effective in that setting with those questions. Hopefully the President assuaged some fears.”
