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Rep. Ed Case calls on Biden to end presidential bid

GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM
                                Congressman Ed Case spoke to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser Editorial board in January 2023. Case today broke ranks with Hawaii’s Congressional delegation in calling on President Joe Biden to end his re-election bid for the White House.

GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM

Congressman Ed Case spoke to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser Editorial board in January 2023. Case today broke ranks with Hawaii’s Congressional delegation in calling on President Joe Biden to end his re-election bid for the White House.

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U.S. Rep. Ed Case today broke ranks with the rest of Hawaii’s Congressional delegation by calling for President Joe Biden to end his re-election bid for the White House.

“Difficult times and realities require difficult decisions,” Case wrote in a statement. “This is one of those times, realities and decisions. My guidepost is what is the best way forward for our country.

“I do not believe President Biden should continue his candidacy for re-election as President.

“This has nothing to do with his character and record. If it did, there would be no decision to make.”

RELATED STORY: More congressional Democrats call on Biden to drop out

Case, a Democrat who represents urban Honolulu, offered no alternative candidate.

“I cannot avoid the conclusion that that choice should be presented with another Democratic candidate,” he wrote. “As to who that candidate should be, there are various paths to that decision. They are difficult and uncertain.

“But no more difficult and uncertain than the current path, nor any reason to stay on this path, which I do not believe is the best path forward for our country.”

Case joins a growing number of Democrats in Congress calling on Biden to end his campaign following Biden’s flawed debate performance against former President Donald Trump two weeks ago.

Case called his decision “solely about the future, about the President’s ability to continue in the most difficult job in the world for another four-year term.”

He called the Nov. 5 presidential election “our most consequential in generations.

“One in which voters must make a generational choice of direction for our country that will also deeply impact our world. Our decision on President, on who will embody and lead that choice, should be made on the merits, with no questions as to basic capacity to discharge responsibilities over another term.”

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