New York’s second-ranking state official wants U.S. President Joe Biden to give up his campaign.
Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado on Wednesday called on Biden, a fellow Democrat, to step aside from the 2024 presidential race, saying it would “add to his legacy” by “ending his campaign and making room for a new leader.”
Delgado’s statement marked a dramatic break from Gov. Kathy Hochul, who first appointed Delgado to his role in 2022 and continues to steadfastly support Biden’s candidacy.
And it came just hours after Rep. Pat Ryan — a Hudson Valley Democrat who succeeded Delgado in the House of Representatives when he stepped down to assume his new role — became the first House Democrat from New York to publicly call on Biden to give up his campaign.
In his statement, Delgado said he is among those who have “legitimate concerns about President Biden’s ability to wage a successful campaign against [Donald] Trump.”
“I believe we should move forward with a nominee capable of reinvigorating and reenergizing Americans who are determined to protect our democracy, and who want to do so with a candidate they believe can win,” Delgado said.
Hochul’s office deferred comment to her political campaign, which could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.
But at an unrelated event in Rockland County earlier in the day, Hochul reiterated her support for Biden when asked about Ryan’s call for the president to stand down.
“I believe that President Biden will continue to run and he will be successful,” Hochul said. “But having run for Congress myself, I respect Congressman Ryan. I’ll continue to work with him and we’re going to continue to make sure that he is reelected to Congress.”
In his own op-ed in the Poughkeepsie JournalRyan said his Hudson Valley constituents believe both the Democratic and Republican parties have “failed them.”
“For the good of our country, for the future of our kids and grandkids, I am asking Joe Biden to step aside in the upcoming election and deliver on his promise to be a ‘bridge’ to a new generation of leaders,” Ryan said.
Delgado’s statement marks his first major break from Hochul.
The pair ran on the same ticket and won a full, four-year term in 2022. It came months after Hochul appointed him to the role after her first pick for lieutenant governor, former state Sen. Brian Benjamin of Harlem, resigned after he was hit with bribery-related charges.