Texas Democrat Lloyd Doggett calls on Biden to step aside

A Texas congressman is the first sitting Democratic lawmaker to call for Joe Biden to step aside as the party’s presidential nominee, after his disastrous debate performance last week.

“I am hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult to decision to withdraw,” Rep Lloyd Doggett said in a statement.

President Biden appeared to struggle through some responses during a debate with former President Donald Trump last Thursday.

But despite intra-party panic over his mental fitness, Mr Biden has vowed to stay in the race.

His age has been a long-simmering issue this election, with voters in multiple polls saying they think he is too old to be effective.

But President Biden appears determined, and has not indicated that he will step down. He is currently the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee for the White House.

In his statement, Mr Doggett, 77, said the debate solidified his decision to urge Mr Biden to step aside.

“Instead of reassuring voters, the President failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump’s many lies,” said Mr Doggett, who was sworn in in 1995 and is running for reelection.

He said too much is at stake to risk Mr Biden losing to Trump over fears about his age.

“While much of his work has been transformational, he pledged to be transitional,” the congressman said of Mr Biden.

“He has the opportunity to encourage a new generation of leaders from whom a nominee can be chosen to unite our country through an open, Democratic process.”

“My decision to make these strong reservations public is not done lightly nor does it in any way diminish my respect for all that President Biden has achieved,” Mr Doggett said.