July 9 (UPI) — Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., on Tuesday called on President Joe Biden to withdraw his candidacy for the presidency despite having a vast majority of primary voters supporting his re-election bid.
Sherrill joined a very small minority of House Democrats who are urging Biden to withdraw out of fear that he will lose the election to his Republican challenger, former President Donald Trump.
Sherrill said she believes Trump has too good of a chance of beating Biden in the Nov. 5 general election and doesn’t want to risk the loss despite her concerns about democracy should Trump win.
“I know that President Biden and his team have been true public servants and have put the country and the best interest of democracy first and foremost in their consideration,” Sherrill said in a statement Tuesday.
“Because I know President Biden cares deeply about the future of our country, I am asking that he declare that he won’t run for re-election and will help lead us through a process toward a new nominee.”
Sherrill said a recent Supreme Court ruling saying the president has limited immunity regarding official duties makes Trump — the nation’s only president to be a convicted felon — a danger to Americans’ constitutional rights.
Sherrill recently introduced a House bill that would prevent anyone charged or convicted of certain criminal offenses, such as unlawfully retaining or disclosing classified information, from accessing such information even as a part of their official duties.
Sherrill is the seventh member of the House Democratic caucus to call on Biden to withdraw from the race despite his winning a 3,896 delegates during primary elections.
Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., secured only four delegates in a primary race that requires 1,968 delegates to secure the Democratic Party nomination for president.
Other House Democrats so far calling on Biden to withdraw from the race are Reps. Lloyd Doggett of Texas, Raul Grijalva of Arizona, Angie Craig of Minnesota, Mike Quigley of Illinois, Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, and Adam Smith of Washington.
An official with the Biden campaign said Biden will not withdraw from the race because the “voters have spoken clearly and decisively.”
The unnamed campaign official referenced Biden’s letter to Democratic Party members Monday.
“I want you to know that despite all the speculation and press elsewhere I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end and to beating Donald Trump,” Biden said Monday in a letter to congressional Democrats.
The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to start Aug. 19 in Chicago.
If Biden doesn’t withdraw his candidacy and release his delegates, the Democratic Party will have to nominate him to run against presumptive GOP nominee Trump.