Rubio calls for Biden to resign as president if he drops from 2024 race

Multiple House Democrats have called for President Joe Biden to stop running for reelection later this year, but Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican, went further on Thursday by saying the president should resign if he drops out of the race.

The president has startled Democratic spectators, donors, and lawmakers after a messy debate performance last month, and less-than-stellar press conferences and interviews in the weeks since. But Republicans view Biden's weakness within his own party as an opportunity for former President Donald Trump to take back the White House in November.

The 81-year-old Biden, who is now sick after testing positive for COVID-19, has so far rejected calls to step down.

“The question is, if he's not going to be their nominee because he's not up to it, how can he be our president for the next six months?” Rubio told reporters at a breakfast at the Republican convention, per Politico. “If there's something wrong with you that doesn't allow you to run for president, how can you still be there as president? If they're going to remove him as nominee, they’ve got to remove him as president, and that's really bad for our country.”

The senator was on the shortlist to be Trump's running mate, but was ruled out on Monday for Ohio Sen. JD Vance. Rubio's nomination would have been a challenge for Trump, because both are from the same state.

Rubio also questioned who was in the power seat in the Oval Office now, if Biden is unable to make decisions. He additionally claimed the White House is responsible for hiding Biden's cognitive decline.

“They’re all responsible because it was a conspiracy of lies that they deliberately hid his deterioration from the American public until they could no longer do it,” Rubio said, according to the Tampa Bay Times. “I think they need to answer the questions. They knew this about Joe Biden. They all did. They didn’t say anything until it was revealed in the debates.”

The senator also predicted that Vice President Kamala Harris would be the Democratic nominee if Biden does drop out.

“They picked her; they put her there,” he said. “And if you put her there, you're telling people she's qualified and good enough to be president.”

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