A first democrat in Washington has now urged USA's president Joe Biden to throw in the towel ahead of the election in the fall.
I respectfully urge him to do so, says congressman Lloyd Doggett.
Joe Biden will meet his party's governors on Wednesday to assure them that he is feeling well and is capable of leading the country for another four years.
A day later, the US president will give his first televised interview on ABC after his heavily criticized performance against Donald Trump in a TV debate last week.
Questions about 81-year-old Biden's physical form have been many after the debate, and Wednesday's meeting is seen as a strong indication that Biden is trying to dampen concerns within the party and convince that he can defeat Donald Trump in the election in November.
And it may be needed.
Knows how to take a step back
On Tuesday, the first congressman from the party went out publicly and urged Biden to step aside.
Unlike Donald Trump, President Biden's top priority has always been our nation, not himself, and I am hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw his candidacy, says Lloyd Doggett, who sits in the House of Representatives for a district in Texas.
The White House responded to the criticism through press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who at a press conference notes that Biden is older and not as powerful as before, but that the president has left the debate behind.
He knows how to take a step back, she says, also dismissing a proposal that Biden should take a cognitive test.
There is no need for that.
Marked by age
The Democrats' former speaker in the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, says at the same time that it is entirely in order to ask questions about Biden's health after the debate.
Was it a temporary lapse or is it the state he is in, that is a legitimate question, I think, she says in an interview with MSNBC and emphasizes that the same question should be asked about 78-year-old Trump.
Sheldon Whitehouse, senator from Rhode Island, says to TV channel WPRI that he was "pretty shocked" when he saw Biden in the debate and has asked the president's campaign to assure voters that it will not be repeated.
Similar words come from Vermont senator Peter Welch, who according to AP criticizes the campaign's decision to dismiss all questions as unworthy of response.
Already during the debate against Trump, the question of the president's cognitive ability was raised, but Biden himself has not shown signs of dropping out as a candidate.
