Peter Welch is first Democratic senator to publicly ask Joe Biden to withdraw

Peter Welch, a long-serving member of Congress from Vermont, became the first Democratic senator to publicly call on Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential race.

“We cannot unsee President Biden’s disastrous debate performance. We cannot ignore or dismiss the valid questions raised since that night,” Welch, wrote in a Washington Post op-ed on Wednesday. “For the good of the country, I’m calling on President Biden to withdraw from the race.”

More prominent Democratic senators, including Virginia’s Mark Warner, have reportedly been organizing in private to pressure Biden to withdraw from the race, but Welch was the first to make an official public statement.

For the past two weeks, Biden and his administration have rejected questions about his health and calls for him to pass on the torch to a younger Democratic candidate, with Biden arguing last Friday that “I don’t think anyone is more qualified to be president and win this race than me.”

Related: The Democrats who have called on Joe Biden to step down

But Welch, a 77-year-old who has represented Vermont in Congress for nearly two decades, said he does not believe that is true – and that the voters he represents do not believe it either.

Even though “Vermont loves Joe Biden”, he wrote, “regular Vermonters are worried that he can’t win this time, and they’re terrified of another Trump presidency. These are real concerns of regular voters who I’ve heard from recently – like a mom who counts on the child tax credit and seniors who rely on Medicare.”

Instead, Welch argued, the Democratic party should turn to another one of the “deep bench” of Democrats “that can defeat Trump”.

Welch did not endorse a single alternative, praising the vice-president, Kamala Harris, as “a capable, proven leader”, but also noting that “we have other electable, young, energizing Democratic governors and senators in swing states”.

These younger Democrats have “fundraising networks, media experience, charisma, and the ability to inspire voters across generations and across our big tent”, he wrote.

Welch framed Biden leaving the 2024 race during its final months as an act of “selflessness and courage”.

“We need him to put us first, as he has done before. I urge him to do it now,” he wrote.

Nine Democrats serving in the House of Representatives have previously called on Biden to withdraw from the race, with the most recent being Earl Blumenauer, a long-serving Oregon Democrat who does not plan on running for another term, the Associated Press reported.

“President Biden should not be the Democratic presidential nominee,” Blumenauer, said on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press, arguing that the conclusion was “painful and difficult” but that “we will all be better served if the president steps aside as the Democratic nominee and manages a transition under his terms”.