A fourth Democratic congressman has joined the fray urging President Joe Biden to quit the 2024 White House race.
The American president has been under pressure to take a step back and leave the floor to another candidate amid growing fears about his mental health.
Rep. Mike Quigley made a direct plea to Mr Biden second after watching clips from a much-anticipated interview the President gave to reiterate he is committed to being re-elected.
But rather than defuse concerns about him, the interview added fuel to the fire, prompting Mr Quigley to demand he step down to “prevent utter catastrophe.”
Appearing on MSNBC, the Illinois representative said: “Mr President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude.
“The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this.”
He argued removing President Biden from the Democratic presidential ticket would put the party “back in a dogfight” with former president Donald Trump.
Mr Quigley added: “All of the sudden, all the things we’re talking with President Biden … we’ve got a lot more we can talk about with Trump.”
The Illinois politician is the fourth Democrat asking Joe Biden to step aside alongside colleagues Lloyd Doggett, Seth Moulton and Raul Grijalva.
Reports emerged earlier this week claiming as many as 25 Democratic members of the House of Representatives were working on plans to ask Mr Biden to end his campaign.
ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl reported that the President’s latest sit-down interview had raised “new concerns” among some Democrats.
Mr Karl suggested that Mr Biden’s response on how he would feel about being defeated by Trump in November was particularly worrying.
Mr Biden said: “I’ll feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the goodest job as I know I can do – that’s what this is about.”
Rep Quigley, however, challenged the answer: “With the greatest respect, all that really matters is avoiding a second Trump presidency.”
Former Barack Obama advisor David Axelrod, who was among the first Democrats to suggest Mr Biden should not run, noted the interview did very little to change the minds of party members concerned about his chances of re-election.
Mr Axelrod said: “Some of it I found sad. He seems not able to compute the fact people have these questions about him.”
He argued that the President is “hiding from reality” by ignoring warnings about Mr Trump pulling way ahead of him in the polls, adding that “the reality is grim right now.”
