Obama HUD Secretary Julián Castro Urges Biden To Drop Out of Race: ‘Very Likely To Lose’ to ‘One of the Weakest Candidates in Presidential History’

AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall

MSNBC political analyst and former Obama HUD Secretary Julián Castro urged President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 race on Tuesday and warned Democrats he was “very likely to lose.”

“Joe Biden is a good man and has been a good president,” wrote Castro in a statement on Tuesday evening. “But last week’s debate disturbingly demonstrated that he is unable to effectively prosecute the case against Donald Trump—much less inspire and mobilize voters to the polls.”

He continued:

President Biden passed transformative legislation. He helped bring us out of the pandemic—and led one of the greatest economic recoveries in the world.

But unfortunately, a strong record is not enough when the stakes are this high.

Sadly, President Biden is not the campaigner he was in 2020—and looks very likely to lose to Trump, one of the weakest candidates in presidential history.

I am convinced that a number of other Democrats, including Vice President Harris, stand a better chance of winning.

Defeating Donald Trump is too important for Democrats to do nothing.

With the understanding that the stakes are so high, President Biden should make the difficult decision to withdraw from the race.

President Biden should fulfill his promise to be a bridge to the next generation of leadership—and allow a stronger Democratic candidate to prevent a disastrous second Trump term.

Time is running out.

Castro – who has a long history with Biden, and was even in the running to be his vice presidential pick in 2020 – joins a growing list of Democrats who are urging Biden to drop out of the race since his disastrous performance in CNN’s first presidential debate on Thursday.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) became the first House Democrat to urge Biden to step aside on Monday, following a similar call by the New York Times Editorial Board.

Former Democratic National Committee Executive Committee member James Zogby also presented a plan for Biden to step down “for the sake of the country” on Tuesday.

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