Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) floated having former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton vet candidates to replace President Biden on the Democratic ticket Friday before battling it out in a “mini-primary.”
Lofgren, 76, explained in an interview with MSNBC that the Democratic Party would have to act fast to find a new candidate to put on the top of the ticket should the 81-year-president drop out of the race, which the congresswoman has already called on him to do so.
“There will have to be quick steps,” the California Democrat said, noting that Vice President Kamala Harris should be considered as a top option.
“I don’t think we can do a coronation, but obviously the vice president would be the leading candidate,” Lofgren argued.
“I think kind of a mini primary, maybe a vetting hosted by former presidents, including Obama and Clinton, would be helpful and help focus the attention,” the congresswoman continued.
Lofgren indicated that she believes whoever emerges from that undertaking, including Harris, would be “a stronger candidate than if we tried to exclude a transparent public process.”
Lofgren revealed Friday that she called on Biden to step aside in a letter sent to the president.
“Simply put, your candidacy is on a trajectory to lose the White House and potentially impact crucial House and Senate races down ballot,” she wrote. “It is for these reasons that I urge you to step aside from our Party’s nomination to allow another Democratic candidate to compete against and beat Donald Trump in the November election.”
Lofgren is among more than 30 House Democrats who have begged Biden to end his re-election effort.
The president has not given any indication that he plans to drop out of the race.