Rep. Pat Ryan, Moderate Front-Liner, Calls on Biden to Step Aside

Representative Pat Ryan of New York, one of the Democrats’ most vulnerable congressional incumbents, called on President Biden to step aside as his party’s presidential nominee on Wednesday “for the good of the country,” warning that his continued candidacy could clear the way for former President Donald J. Trump to return to the White House.

Mr. Ryan called Mr. Trump an “existential threat” to American democracy and said that he no longer believed Mr. Biden was capable of making the case necessary to defeat the former president. He urged his party to consider a brief, open competition to replace Mr. Biden on the ballot.

“I’d be doing a grave disservice if I said he was the best candidate to serve this fall,” he said in a telephone interview. “For the good of our country, for my two young kids, I’m asking Joe Biden to step aside in the upcoming election and deliver on the promise to be a bridge to a new generation of leaders.”

He added, “I really hope, with all my heart, that he will listen.”

Mr. Ryan, 42, is the eighth member of Congress to publicly call on Mr. Biden to stand down and perhaps the most politically at risk. But his remarks on Wednesday came amid fresh signs that pressure may be building on Mr. Biden to step aside even after the White House had appeared to be calming dissent.

Earlier Wednesday morning, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the former House speaker and a longtime Biden ally, publicly signaled that the president could reconsider his vow to stay in the race, suggesting that “time is running short” for him to make a decision. George Clooney, one of the most prominent Democratic supporters in Hollywood, called for a new nominee in a guest essay in The New York Times.

Mr. Biden has spent days trying to reassure fellow Democrats that he is still “the best person” to defeat Mr. Trump, and despite widespread concern, top congressional leaders have reiterated their support for him.