July 17 (UPI) — Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., on Wednesday joined the growing ranks of Democrats who want President Joe Biden to end his candidacy.
Schiff is running for former Sen. Diane Feinstein‘s seat and says the Democratic Party might lose more than the race for the presidency if Biden is the candidate at the top of the ticket.
Feinstein died on Sept. 29 at age 90 after suffering a stroke and announcing she would not seek re-election.
Schiff said Biden’s candidacy might cause the Democrats to lose the Senate as well as the presidency and stop the party from regaining the House of Representatives.
“Our nation is at a crossroads,” Schiff said in a prepared statement. “A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy.”
Schiff said he has “serious concerns” about Biden’s ability to defeat former President Donald Trump in November.
Schiff called former Trump a threat to democracy four days after a would-be assassin tried to kill Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday.
Thomas Crooks killed a rally attendee and shot two others before Secret Service snipers killed him while he was on top of a roof about 400 feet from where Trump was speaking.
“There is only one singular goal: defeating Donald Trump,” Schiff said. “The stakes are just too high.”
Schiff said it’s time for Biden, 81, to “pass the torch” to a younger candidate to run against Trump, 78.
Schiff is running against former L.A. Dodgers star Steve Garvey, who is the Republican candidate for the Senate seat.
Schiff is a strong favorite to win the Senate race but said Democrats will “very well lose the Senate and lose our chance to take back the House” if Biden is the party’s presidential candidate.
“The choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone,” Schiff said, adding that he will support the Democratic Party’s nominee for the presidency, even if it is Biden.
Biden has secured 3,896 delegates during the prior state primaries and caucus votes and only needs 1,976 to win the Democratic Party nomination.
If Biden doesn’t withdraw his candidacy, he has a virtual lock on securing the nomination for a second term in office and has said he won’t withdraw his candidacy.
Biden is made campaign stops in Nevada on Tuesday and Wednesday and is campaigning in all six swing states that might decide the Nov.5 presidential election.
The Republican National Convention is underway through Thursday in Milwaukee, where Trump on Tuesday announced Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate.
The Democratic Party is scheduled to start its national convention on Aug. 19 in Chicago.