Adam Schiff becomes third California Democrat to call for Biden to step aside

California representative and leading U.S. Senate candidate Adam Schiff is calling on President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 election, making him the most prominent Democratic lawmaker to do so, all while fellow Golden State party leaders largely continue to support the president's bid.

In a statement Wednesday reported by the Los Angeles Times, Schiff said he has "serious concerns" that Biden can't beat former President Donald Trump in the November election.

Schiff said Biden “has been one of the most consequential presidents in our nation’s history, and his lifetime of service as a Senator, a Vice President, and now as President has made our country better."

“But our nation is at a crossroads,” he added. “A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the President can defeat Donald Trump in November.”

Schiff is running to fill the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein's open seat in the U.S. Senate, and has been a clear frontrunner throughout the primaries and heading into November. As former chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Schiff rose to national prominence when he led Trump's first impeachment trial in 2020.

As of Wednesday, Schiff's statement joins similar calls from 20 other Democratic lawmakers, including one Democratic U.S. senator and 19 U.S. House Representatives.

The calls began rolling in after Biden’s alarming debate performance against the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, on June 27. Though Biden has attempted to control the damage with two primetime interviews with leading news anchors and an evening press conference last week, the 81-year-old continues to face intense scrutiny over his age and fitness for office. He has repeatedly insisted he will stay in the race.

More: Which Democrats have called for Biden to step aside?

Schiff is one of three California representatives to say Biden should step aside, along with Democrats Mike Levin and Scott Peters. Yet Gov. Gavin Newsom, a campaign surrogate for the Biden campaign who has spent months stumping for the president and held several post-debate interviews praising the performance, remains supportive.

Though over a half-dozen Democratic representatives from the state stand firm alongside Biden, others have taken a more cautious approach in their public comments. Reps. Jared Huffman, Katie Porter and Ro Khanna have expressed various levels of concern. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was noncommittal last week on whether Biden should be the nominee, saying it's "up to the president to decide if he is going to run."

Schiff's comments also have ripple effects for other leading Democrats, especially Pelosi, a longtime ally of the congressman who often work in lockstep.

Nearly two-thirds of Democratic voters say Biden should step aside and let his party nominate a different candidate, according to a new poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research released Wednesday.

The Democratic National Committee said Wednesday that a virtual nomination vote for the party candidate won't take place until at least Aug. 1.

USA TODAY's White House correspondent Joey Garrison contributed to this report.

Kathryn Palmer is an elections fellow for USA TODAY. Reach her at kapalmer@gannett.com and follow her on X @KathrynPlmr.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Adam Schiff, two other California Democrats, call for Biden step aside