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Former Obama administration official Julián Castro called on Democrats to replace President Biden as the party nominee on Tuesday, joining a growing chorus worried about his fitness for office and ability to beat former President Trump.
Castro said Trump was vulnerable due to his personal corruption and felony convictions, but Democrats were stuck defending Biden’s “baggage” in the wake of his feeble debate performance and growing questions and reports about his cognitive decline.
“If you switch candidates, that’s a different story,” Castro said on MSNBC. “You’re able to prosecute the case against Trump with the candidate, and also you’re focused on Trump’s baggage instead of anything on the Democratic side. Yes, I believe there are stronger options out there for Democrats. We have a stable of folks that I think could do a better job, including Vice President Harris, who today in a poll was within two points of Donald Trump, whereas President Biden was six points behind Donald Trump.”
“You believe Joe Biden should drop out of the race?” MSNBC’s Chris Jansing asked.
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“I believe that another Democrat would have a better shot at beating Trump,” Castro said.
Castro cited Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, who became the first sitting Democratic lawmaker to say Biden should not seek re-election on Tuesday out of fear he would deliver the White House back to Trump.
There have also been calls for Biden to not seek a second term from the New York Times editorial board, elite newspaper columnists, co-hosts of “The View” and multiple figures on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” among others.
“I actually don’t see a path now for President Biden to stay in this race in the long term,” Castro, the former San Antonio mayor who served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the Obama administration, said.
Castro stood out among Democrats in the crowded 2020 primary fight for a pointed debate moment that criticized Biden’s memory. During a clash about health care in 2019, Castro accused Biden of forgetting something he’d said “two minutes ago” about his plan, a barb that was met with a mixed reception by the audience.
Biden, who was about to turn 77 at the time, was already trying to become the oldest president in American history and stand out against a diverse Democratic primary field, nearly all of them younger than him. But the attack on his age seemed to backfire from Castro, given Biden’s revered status in the party as an elder statesman and loyal vice president to Barack Obama.
Biden’s rough debate showing, marked by trailed-off sentences, a raspy voice and at times nonsensical statements, has generated media chatter and Democratic conversations over the past five days about trying to get him off the ticket. Biden’s team is so far not budging on him remaining the nominee.
Castro posted on X the night of the debate, “Tonight was completely predictable. Biden had a very low bar going into the debate and failed to clear even that bar. He seemed unprepared, lost, and not strong enough to parry effectively with Trump, who lies constantly.”
“It is also true that he is not the campaigner that he was in 2020 and the debate was just one more indicator of this,” Castro said on Tuesday. “This has been coming for a long time.”