Second House Democrat officially calls on Biden to exit the race

Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., speaks during an enrollment ceremony for the Great American Outdoors Act in the Capitol in Washington on Thursday, July 23, 2020. (Photo by Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

A second House Democrat has come forward to urge President Biden to abandon his re-election campaign amid a panic over Biden's disastrous debate performance.

Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., on Wednesday told the New York Times that if Biden remains his party's nominee, "I’m going to support him, but I think that this is an opportunity to look elsewhere.”

He said Biden must "shoulder the responsibility for keeping that seat — and part of that responsibility is to get out of this race.”

Grijalva, a left-wing hardliner who formerly co-chaired the Congressional Progressive Caucus, joins Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, who on Tuesday became the first Capitol Hill Democrat to publicly call on Biden to exit the race.

Several other House Democrats have raised concerns over Biden's electability versus former President Trump but they have stopped short of calling on him to drop out. 

"About 50 million Americans tuned in and watched that debate. I was one of them for about five very painful minutes. We all saw what we saw, you can't undo that, and the truth, I think, is that Biden is going to lose to Trump," Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez, D-Wash., said in an intervie with KATU-TV earlier this week. 

Others who've raised concerns about Biden's performance include Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine, Summer Lee, D-Penn., Seth Moulton, D-Mass., Mike Quigley, D-Ill., James Clyburn, D-S.C., and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.