'Time for a change;' Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton says President Joe Biden should withdraw

Rep. Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat with a history of pushing for change in the upper ranks of his party, said it is time for President Joe Biden to withdraw his reelection bid.Moulton spoke with NewsCenter 5 following Biden's halting debate performance that raised alarm throughout the party and an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos that failed to extinguish the widespread concern. The congressman, who was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2015, said he was particularly concerned about beating Republican former president Donald Trump in November and the impact that a Biden loss could have on down-ticket Democratic candidates."I think President Biden has done an amazing job for America. He's been a great president. And he'll go down in history as a great president. But it's absolutely essential that we beat Donald Trump in November. And I'm afraid that the data that we have right now, what we're seeing is that President Biden is not best positioned to do that," Moulton said. "And so, it's time for a change at the top of the ticket."Biden defiantly declared Friday, "I’m staying in the race," during a campaign rally in Madison, Wisconsin. Later that day, he told Stephanopoulos the debate performance was a “bad episode” and there were "no indications of any serious condition."Moulton, however, said the widespread doubt about Biden's fitness for office remains."I've heard from a lot of constituents who felt that it reinforced some of their concerns and what was most concerning to me was how the president was somewhat dismissive of the criticisms and the concerns," Moulton said. Moulton, an Iraq War veteran who was frequently critical of Trump's administration, sought the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 2020 because he said he wanted to oppose the Republican's divisiveness. Four years later, he's still expressing concern about what another Trump term could look like."The stakes are so enormously high," Moulton said. "When you look at a second term from Donald Trump and what chaos that could bring to our country, even just on simple, you know, kitchen table issues like inflation, all of his policies, these talking about bigger trade barriers, shutting down immigration, these things all make inflation worse. So all across the board, people are concerned about a second Trump term and they want to know that the Democrats are putting their best candidate forward to win."Moulton said he's not alone. "There are a lot of colleagues who share my concern but have not gone public," he said. "I took this decision very carefully because President Biden has been not only a great president, but a personal mentor to me."Moulton declined to take a position on who the Democrats should nominate to replace Biden, if he does withdraw. "I think it will be a good process whether the president hands the reigns of the vice president or we have a sort of mini primary to select a new candidate," Moulton said. "All of this will bring tremendous attention to a party that's trying to do the right thing."