Democrat Rep. Raúl Grijalva to Biden: “Get Out of This Race”

Representative Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) is the second House Democrat to call on President Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential election. In an interview with The New York Times, Grijalva said he would support Biden if he remains the candidate, but urged him to withdraw, stating:

If he’s the candidate, I’m going to support him, but I think that this is an opportunity to look elsewhere.…. What he needs to do is shoulder the responsibility for keeping that seat, and part of that responsibility is to get out of this race.

Grijalva’s remarks come a day after Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) called on Biden to withdraw from the race. Other Democrat House members have voiced strong support for Biden, with Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) saying she supports Biden’s candidacy unapologetically, stating on X:

I stand unapologetically with President Biden, because no, he should not drop out. We must not lose focus. Look at what Trump’s Supreme Court has done, look at Project 2025. There is no time to waste. The President will win this fight, and we must have his back. Enough is enough!

Doggett spoke with NBC News NOW’s Hallie Jackson yesterday and was asked if he expected his colleagues to follow his lead. “I’m hopeful that some of them will, maybe more importantly is that they express their views privately to the White House,” he said, confirming that other Democrats in Congress share his concerns:

Yes I have, and I understood it was a limb when I crawled out on it. I been in Congress, you can tell I’m not the most youthful member there, and I’m not the most endangered member, and I thought it was time for me to speak up, not for any self gain but because I think the risk to our country is so great and we need to have the strongest candidate possible in order to assure that the values that we hold for our democracy are not traded for an authoritarian strongman bent on revenge against his opponents.