Peter Welch becomes first Democratic senator to call on Biden to quit

The first Democratic senator to call upon President Biden to withdraw from the presidential contest did so Wednesday night.

Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont prefaced his call, made in an op-ed column in The Washington Post, by stating that he has great respect for Mr. Biden and that he “saved our country from a tyrant.”

But he added that Mr. Biden had a “disastrous” debate performance that could not be unseen.

“I understand why President Biden wants to run. He saved us from Donald Trump once and wants to do it again. But he needs to reassess whether he is the best candidate to do so. In my view, he is not,” Mr. Welch wrote.

“For the good of the country, I’m calling on President Biden to withdraw from the race,” the Vermont senator wrote.

Mr. Welch said that his state loves Mr. Biden and gave him and Vice President Kamala Harris their biggest victory of any state in the 2020 election.

“But regular Vermonters are worried that he can’t win this time, and they’re terrified of another Trump presidency,” he said.

He explained that “the political peril to Democrats is escalating. States that were once strongholds are now leaning Republican. These new shifts — in Minnesota, New Hampshire, Nevada, Arizona and Georgia — must be taken seriously, not denied or ignored.”

Mr. Welch noted that Mr. Biden has actually united Democrats, adding that Ms. Harris is a “capable, proven leader” along with other elected Democratic governors and senators who are part of the party’s “deep bench.”

Mr. Welch’s column comes on the eve of a scheduled Thursday meeting between Democratic senators and Biden campaign advisers at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Additionally, according to Axios, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer of New York, who told reporters he is “for Joe” publicly, has been privately telling his donors that he is open to a Democratic presidential ticket that is not led by Mr. Biden.