New York lieutenant governor says Biden should stop campaign

New York Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado (D) said Wednesday that President Biden should step out of the presidential race, expressing concern about his ability to beat former President Trump in November.

“President Biden deserves our eternal gratitude for what he has accomplished. By defeating [former President Trump] in 2020, and leading our nation’s recovery out of the pandemic, he has helped to restore faith in America both at home and abroad,” Delgado, also a former House member, said in a statement posted to the social platform X on Wednesday.

“I have immense respect and admiration for his deep and abiding commitment to the American people and our founding democratic ideals. He can add to his legacy, showing his strength and grace, by ending his campaign and making room for a new leader,” he added.

Delgado joins a growing chorus of those in his party who have called on Biden to leave the presidential race in the wake of a rocky presidential debate performance last month. In that performance, Biden stumbled over his words and had a raspy voice, increasing fears among Democrats about his age, mental fitness and ability to recapture the White House in November.

“There is no greater threat to our democracy than former President Donald Trump. He must be defeated,” Delgado said in his statement. “That is why I join with millions of Americans – including everyday New Yorkers from all walks of life – who are expressing legitimate concerns about President Biden’s ability to wage a successful campaign against Trump.”

Delgado’s fellow New York Democrat, Rep. Pat Ryan, said to The New York Times in an interview published Wednesday that he is “asking Joe Biden to step aside in the upcoming election and deliver on the promise to be a bridge to a new generation of leaders.”

“I really hope, with all my heart, that he will listen,” he added.

Biden and his allies have pushed back against calls for him to leave the race, with the president saying in an interview with ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos last week that “if the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get out of the race,’ I’d get out of the race. The Lord Almighty’s not comin’ down.”