Biden’s Call With Hispanic Lawmakers Goes Off the Rails
The call ended abruptly after Rep. Mike Levin asked Biden to withdraw from the race. Soon after, Levin formally called on Biden to step down as the nominee.
Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif.
Rep. Mike Levin speaks at a campaign event. Patrick Semansky/AP
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Reese Gorman
July 12, 2024 02:43 PM | Updated: July 12, 2024 02:49 PM
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As President Joe Biden tries to talk with Democratic lawmakers and relieve their concerns, a virtual meeting with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Friday appears to have caused more problems than it solved.
For starters, Biden showed up an hour late to the Zoom call, according to a source familiar with the meeting, and it didn’t get much better from there.
Organizers of the Zoom meeting had said only two members were allowed to ask questions — Reps. Sylvia Garcia and Lou Correa — but Biden opened the floor up to more questions, the source familiar with the call told NOTUS. At least the president tried to open up the meeting to more questions.
The source said leaders of Bold PAC — the political arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus — tightly controlled who could ask a question. Reps. Gabe Vasquez and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez both used the “raise hand” feature on the Zoom call, and both had their hands lowered by organizers of the call and were not allowed to speak, the source said.
But one Democrat who did get to speak was Rep. Mike Levin. Levin’s question, however, was more of a comment: He said it was time for someone else to lead the party, and he called on Biden to step down.
According to the source, Biden responded to Levin’s comment. The host tried to end the meeting, but Biden said he had time for one more question. Despite the president trying to take another question, the host — Rep. Linda T. Sánchez — ended the meeting anyway.
Still, Levin managed to get the last word. Soon after the call, the San Diego-area congressman became the 19th congressional Democrat to call on Biden to withdraw from the race.
The Biden campaign declined to comment on this story.
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Reese Gorman is a reporter at NOTUS.
