First elected Democrat to stab Biden in the back says there was no 'discouragement' from party leadership before he demanded president DROP OUT

The first sitting Democrat to call for Joe Biden to withdraw from the election says that before going public with his demands party leadership did try to keep him quiet.

Texas Democrat Rep. Lloyd Doggett, 77, came forward on Tuesday with a statement calling on Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential race, saying if he did not Donald Trump would win the White House. 

He was the first Democrat in office to call for Biden to withdraw.

Breaking his silence after turning on the top Democrat, the Texan - who has served since 1995 - told NPR that leadership within the party did not dissuade him from airing out his concerns publicly. 

'I'm not a vulnerable member in this election,' Doggett said. 'So I'm able to step forward and speak out about what I think is so critical for our country in ways that perhaps some other people have not.'

'But I certainly have not gotten any discouragement from within the leadership of the party,' he added, indicating that top Democrats may actually condone ousting Biden.

'I think the concerns I'm voicing are widespread,' Doggett continued. 'I wish this had been resolved earlier.'

The Democrat said he did not speak out about Biden's withdrawal sooner because he was worried about how Donald Trump could capitalize on such a party shake up.

But because Biden has consistently faltered in the polls, especially after the first debate, Doggett said he had to speak up. 

'He's worked now for a year and he's not been able to close the gap. And he made that gap wider after this debate, raising real questions in the minds of so many Americans as to its capability to govern a country now and over the next four years.'

Still, if Biden is the Democrat nominee Doggett said he will support him. 

After the Texas Democrat released his statement calling on Biden to withdraw Tuesday, two other House Democrats similarly came out against the president. 

Though they did not explicitly call on Biden to withdraw, both Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington both said Tuesday they believe Donald Trump will beat Joe Biden come November. 

'Biden’s poor performance in the debate was not a surprise,' Golden wrote in an op-ed published in Maine.

'It also didn’t rattle me as it has others, because the outcome of this election has been clear to me for months: While I don’t plan to vote for him, Donald Trump is going to win. And I’m OK with that.'

Gluesenkamp Perez, meanwhile, told a Washington TV station that the debate will cost Biden the election despite only having watched five 'painful' minutes herself. 

'We all saw what we saw, you can’t undo that, and the truth I think, is that Biden is going to lose to Trump,' she said. 'I know that’s difficult, but I think the damage has been done by that debate.'

Further, reports indicate that a cohort of 25 Democrat lawmakers worried about their own elections are considering calling on Biden to withdraw.  

Whether Biden continues his 2024 bid for president after his halting debate performance against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is largely his decision, Democrats and political strategists have said.

Doggett likened the hard decision he says Biden must make for the sake of the nation to the one made decades ago by another sitting Democratic president.

'I represent the heart of a congressional district once represented by Lyndon Johnson,' the Texan said in a statement Tuesday. 'Under very different circumstances, he made the painful decision to withdraw.

'President Biden should do the same,' he continued. 'While much of his work has been transformational, he pledged to be transitional.'

Lyndon B. Johnson chose to withdraw from the race in 1968 because rising casualties in the Vietnam war had made him extremely unpopular.

Biden is facing plummeting support after his disastrous debate performance on Thursday.  

'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,' Doggett's statement continued.   

'My decision to make these strong reservations public is not done lightly nor does it in a any way diminish my respect for all that President Biden has achieved.'

'Recognizing that, unlike Trump, President Biden's first commitment has always been to our country, not himself, I am hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw. 

I respectfully call on him to do so.' 

Doggett, 77, is a respected member of the Democrat House caucus, having served in the chamber since 1995.

He also lauded Biden's work as president, but ultimately conceded Joe's debate performance was not one of a competitive candidate. 

'President Biden has continued to run substantially behind Democratic senators in key states and in most polls has trailed Donald Trump,' he said. 

'I had hoped that the debate would provide some momentum to change that. It did not.'

'Instead of reassuring voters, the President failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump's many lies.' 

National Republican Congressional Committee Communications Director Jack Pandol criticized Doggett's announcement for coming too late. 

'The cowards in the Democratic Caucus have spent every day after the debate in witness protection, too afraid to say what they're all thinking,' Pandol said in a statement.

'Americans remember House Democrats were complicit in covering up and gaslighting the public about the president's condition, and voters are primed to punish them in November.'