Unlock the US Election Countdown newsletter for free

The stories that matter on money and politics in the race for the White House

California congressman Adam Schiff has called on Joe Biden to “pass the torch” and drop out of the 2024 race for the White House, becoming one of the most high-profile Democrats urging the president to suspend his re-election campaign.

Schiff, a close ally of former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi who led the first impeachment of then-president Donald Trump, issued a statement to the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday citing “serious concerns” about whether Biden can defeat Trump in November.

Schiff, who is running for the US Senate, is the first senior Democrat to call on Biden to abandon his re-election bid since the attempted assassination of Trump last week, which prompted many Democrats to pause their campaigns to oust the president from the top of the ticket.

Schiff’s move comes as Biden allies are attempting to hold a virtual roll call vote to renominate the president ahead of August’s Democratic convention. If successful, the pre-emptive nomination could kill any effort to remove the 81-year-old Biden, which was sparked by the president’s damaging debate performance last month.

Biden’s halting performance at the debate has sparked panic among Democratic lawmakers, influential donors and party operatives who fear Biden will be unable to beat Trump at the ballot box, or serve another four years in the White House.

Biden trails Trump in nearly all national and swing state polls. An Associated Press poll published on Wednesday found that nearly two-thirds of Democratic voters want him to step aside.

However, many Democratic lawmakers have been reluctant to go public with their fears. A relatively small number — roughly 20 members of Congress to date — have said openly that they want Biden to step aside. Many more have privately expressed concerns and tried to pressure the president behind the scenes.

Schiff’s intervention could signal a change of approach. A senior lawmaker on Capitol Hill who is close to several in the Democratic leadership after almost three decades in Congress, his comments could encourage others to go public with their concerns.

Schiff on Wednesday called Biden “one of the most consequential presidents in our nation’s history”, but added: “Our nation is at a crossroads.”

The congressman added that the “choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone”, but that he believed it was time for the president “to pass the torch” and “secure his legacy of leadership” by allowing another Democrat to be the party’s nominee for the White House.

Schiff’s decision to go public comes at the same time the two top Democrats on Congress, Senate leader Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, the party’s leader in the House, raised objections to the early roll call vote. Schumer and Jeffries urged a delay to nominate Biden until next month, according to a source familiar with the discussions.

Critics from within the party have accused the Democratic National Committee of “stifling debate and prematurely shutting down any possible change in the Democratic ticket”.

Some party operatives had called for the virtual vote to happen even sooner and as early as next week.

Biden has repeatedly rebuffed calls for him to suspend his re-election campaign. He spoke at a conference of Latino leaders in Las Vegas on Wednesday afternoon.

A Biden campaign spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Schiff’s comments.

Republicans and the Trump campaign have sought to capitalise on the Democratic infighting by projecting an image of party unity at their own national convention this week in Milwaukee.

Brian Hughes, a Trump campaign senior adviser, on Wednesday rejected invitations for Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, to participate in a vice-presidential debate against Kamala Harris, saying his team would wait until it was clear who would be on the party’s presidential ticket.

Have your say

Joe Biden vs Donald Trump: tell us how the 2024 US election will affect you