The number of House Democrats calling on President Biden to end his re-election campaign grew to four on Friday, even as Mr. Biden ramped up his efforts to reassure Democrats of his fitness to run and vowed to stay in the race.
Representative Mike Quigley, Democrat of Illinois, called the president’s candidacy “a very bleak scenario with, I would say, almost no hope of succeeding” in an interview on MSNBC on Friday just before Mr. Biden’s sit-down with ABC News.
His remarks came a day after Representative Seth Moulton of Massachusetts said in an interview with the Boston radio station WBUR that Mr. Biden should step aside to make way for a new generation of leaders, comments that Mr. Moulton’s spokeswoman confirmed on Friday. Two other House Democrats had called on Mr. Biden to leave the race earlier this week: Representative Raúl M. Grijalva of Arizona on Wednesday and Representative Lloyd Doggett of Texas on Tuesday.
Mr. Quigley said that he “had a hard time processing, getting to that point with him — as I think anybody would who respects him so much.”
He continued: “I would say: Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this.”
Mr. Moulton was similarly effusive in his praise of the president.
“President Biden has done enormous service to our country, but now is the time for him to follow in one of our founding father, George Washington’s, footsteps and step aside to let new leaders rise up and run against Donald Trump,” Mr. Moulton said.
Mr. Moulton said that he did not know yet who he thought should replace Mr. Biden at the top of the ticket, or how that person should be chosen. Mr. Quigley said that he was confident that the Democratic Party would “come together this time behind one candidate,” adding that he had “the greatest respect” for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Mr. Quigley added that what Mr. Biden decides to do “doesn’t just affect the White House. It affects all of Congress and our future.”