Jamie Raskin compared Joe Biden to a tiring pitcher in a letter he penned to the president earlier this month, urging him to “hear out” Democrats and consider bowing out of the 2024 presidential race.
That letter was sent over the Fourth of July weekend but was made public by The New York Times on Thursday. In it, Raskin insinuated it was time for Biden to call it quits on his five-and-a-half decade political career and leave Washington while he’s still on top.
Joe Biden and Jamie Raskin appeared together at a DNC rally in 2022.
Reuters/Jonathan Ernst“There is no shame in taking a well-deserved bow to the overflowing appreciation of the crowd when your arm is tired out, and there is real danger for the team in ignoring the statistics,” Raskin wrote. “Your situation is tricky because you are both our star pitcher and our manager.
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“But in democracy, as you have shown us more than any prior president, you are not a manager acting all alone; you are the co-manager along with our great team and our great people. Caucus with the team, Mr. President. Hear them out. You will make the right decision.”
That was merely a snippet of a three-page letter, which was filled with “lavish praise” of Biden’s legislative successes and character, the Times reported. The Democrat from Maryland, who considers himself a close ally of Biden, confirmed the letter’s authenticity on Thursday.
Raskin’s private urging is in line with what other top Democrats have stated publicly this week—that it’s time for Biden, who now trails Donald Trump in polls for multiple battleground states, to leave the race with his legacy intact.
For nearly three weeks after his debacle of a debate, top Democrats largely avoided calling for Biden, 81, to step aside outright. That tone appeared to shift this week, however, after Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), a close ally of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, went public to ask that Biden end his campaign.
Even Barack Obama has tacitly joined calls for Biden to removed himself from the ticket, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
It appears Biden, who’s dealing with a COVID diagnosis that has sidelined him this week, is considering acting on the deluge of calls to bow out. Axios reported Thursday that he may announce he’s removing himself from the ticket as early as this weekend.
