Rep. Mike Quigley joins growing Democratic calls for Biden to drop bid for reelection

Democratic Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley on Friday joined the growing chorus of calls for President Joe Biden to drop his bid for reelection, claiming that the president should "cement his legacy" and drop out now.

Quigley is the fourth House Democrat to call for Biden's departure from the race, after a bad debate performance against former President Donald Trump last week sparked concerns. Reps. Lloyd Doggett of Texas, Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, and Seth Moulton from Massachusetts have also pleaded for Biden to withdraw.

The Illinois Democrat told MSNBC's Chris Hayes in a interview on Friday night that it was a hard decision for him to urge the sitting president to stop running for reelection, but claimed it would be a "nightmare" if Trump returned to the White House.

“Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude,” Quigley said. “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.”

The Democratic lawmaker also pleaded for Democrats who are ignoring the concerns about the president's physical and mental capability to lead the country for another four years to understand that everything is "not" fine, and that "everything [they] care about is on the line.”

Quigley previously told CNN that the concerns were about more than just one "horrible night" and that he was concerned the discussion surrounding the president's health would also affect Democrats up and down the ballot.

“We have to be honest with ourselves that it wasn’t just a horrible night,” Quigley said Tuesday. “He clearly has to understand, I think, what you’re getting to here is that his decision not only impacts who’s going to serve in the White House the next four years but who’s going to serve in the Senate, who’s going to serve in the House, and it will have implications for decades to come.”

House Democrats are expected to meet virtually on Sunday to talk about the president's future, according to multiple reports.

Biden has rejected the calls to drop out so far, claiming in an on-camera interview with ABC News on Friday that he would only drop out if the "Lord Almighty" came down and told him to.

“I don’t think anybody’s more qualified to be president or win this race than me,” the president said. "Who’s going to be able to hold NATO together like me? Who’s going to be able to be in a position where I’m able to keep the Pacific basin in a position where we’re at least check being in China now? Who’s going to – who’s going to do that? Who has that reach?"

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just the News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.