The first Democrat senator to call for Joe Biden to drop out of the race for the White House has said he must do so “for the good of the country”.
Peter Welch, the long-serving member of Congress from Vermont, said it was impossible to ignore the president’s “disastrous” debate with Donald Trump.
It was another blow for Mr Biden after George Clooney, the film star and party donor, and Democrat heavyweight Nancy Pelosi heaped pressure on him to quit, as the president sought to reassert his leadership credentials at the Nato summit in Washington.
“We cannot unsee President Biden’s disastrous debate performance. We cannot ignore or dismiss the valid questions raised since that night,” Mr Welch, 77, wrote in a Washington Post op-ed on Wednesday.
He said: “The national conversation is focused on President Biden’s age and capacity. Only he can change it.
“For the good of the country, I’m calling on President Biden to withdraw from the race,” he added in a piece which also described Trump as a “felon”, “menace” and “pathological liar”.