Paris Alston: This is GBH’s Morning Edition. Several Democratic lawmakers are calling on President Biden to drop out of the 2024 race. Among them is Massachusetts Congressman Seth Moulton, the only member of the state’s congressional delegation to do so. He joins us now. Congressman, welcome back.

Rep. Seth Moulton: Good morning. Thanks for having me.

Alston: So Congressman Richard Neal, who is the dean of the Massachusetts delegation, tweeted yesterday, quote, 'let’s keep it going,' in reference to the Biden administration. Given that, do you think your fellow Massachusetts lawmakers understand the urgency of the situation?

Moulton: Oh, yes. I think they understand the urgency. Of course, there’s a debate going on in the Democratic Party, including amongst my colleagues, about what the best way forward is to ensure we beat Donald Trump. We all know how high the stakes are with this election: Running against a convicted criminal, someone who incited a mob to storm the Capitol, something that’s never happened before in American history, and a person who’s promised an even worse second term if he gets elected again. So we’re focused on beating Donald Trump. But there’s a debate about whether to stick with Joe Biden, despite his falling poll numbers and difficulty in the debate, or whether to have some sort of new process to pick a new nominee.

Alston: So take us inside of that debate, because Democrats have been convening over the past few days, and more meetings are planned for today. What does reaching a consensus look like in this situation?

Moulton: Well, ultimately, it’s a decision that President Biden has to make. But there is rising concern among my colleagues in the House and the Senate and other Democrats across the country. I hear it from constituents every day. I haven’t been just stopped on the street more frequently in a couple of years than I have been just in the past week, with people coming up to me very concerned about President Biden’s ability to go toe-to-toe with Donald Trump. I can take you a little bit inside my own decision-making process, because this was painful for me, too. I’ve known President Biden for a long time. He came up and campaigned for me early in my first bid for for Congress. And he’s been a mentor to me. In fact, he used to have me over for breakfast at his house, when he was a vice president to coach me on being a new member of Congress. So I have a lot of loyalty to him, and I think he’s been an amazing president who’s accomplished so much for our country. But just as he saved America by defeating Donald Trump the first time, I think that it’s now his opportunity to save America by doing the right thing to ensure that we have the best chance to defeat Donald Trump a second time. And after days of conveying that message to him and his aides behind the scenes, there didn’t seem to be any response. And so I decided to go public with my concerns.

Alston: If the president cannot beat former President Donald Trump, congressman, who can? Who do you think is in the right position to go up against him?

Moulton: Well, I think we have a remarkable bench of talent in the Democratic Party. And ever since I was first running for Congress, I have called for a new generation of leadership in our party. I don’t think that’s been showcased that well, but there are amazing candidates out there. I mean, the vice president, I think, is underappreciated. There are a number of governors around the country who’ve been talked about, and there was a quite diverse field in 2020 for the primaries. So there are a lot of people out there. And what process would follow if the president were to step aside is something that’s being debated a lot. Some people think it should be handed directly to the vice president. Others have argued for having some sort of contested mini primary. But whatever the process is, I believe strongly that we have the time and the space to do this before November, that actually having some debate like this about who our nominee should be would be good for the party, will show that Democrats are responding to voters’ concerns, that we’re willing to make a change, we’re willing to make tough decisions and willing to do the right thing for America.

Alston: And I hear you saying that the vice president is underappreciated. So why is it not sort of a sure-fire decision to just go right to Vice President Kamala Harris? Why is that still a question?

Moulton: Well, I think it’s because we do have so much talent in our party, and there are a lot of people who feel there should be a real primary contest, which we haven’t had any substantial primary contest this time around. And the vice president, I’m sure, would lead the pack, just coming out of the gates for that primary contest. But that, of course, is how we usually pick a nominee. We don’t anoint nominees. We have a primary contest. And so even members like Jim Clyburn, who, of course, was such a prominent supporter of Joe Biden, has suggested that some sort of mini primary campaign like that would be good for our party and for our democracy.

Alston: I want to circle back to what you were saying about your own challenge to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2018. And, of course, you had a presidential run yourself in 2020. How are your pushes for new leadership resonating now, given that you got a lot of push back then for doing that?

Moulton: Well, you know, it’s interesting. I got a lot of pushback from existing leadership, right? But I got a lot of support from my constituents and from people around the country who feel the same way, that the leadership of both parties is rather old. I mean, let’s not forget that Donald Trump, a convicted criminal, is just two years younger then Joe Biden. We’ve had some of the same leadership in the House for a long time. And now that we have new leadership, it’s been amazing. I mean, there’s been tremendous feedback about, how great a job Hakeem Jeffries is doing, how united the Democratic Party is now more than ever. And the fact that a new generation of Americans with new concerns, new challenges really feels better represented by Democrats in Congress.

Alston: I want to play this clip from the president’s interview with NBC News Friday, where he had this to say of people who claim him staying in the race is not dissimilar to former President Donald Trump acting in his own interests rather than that of the American people.

Pres. Joe Biden: Well, I don’t think those critics know what they’re talking about.

Interviewer: They’re just wrong?

Biden: It’s wrong.

Alston: Congressman, what do you say to that?

Moulton: Look, with all due respect, Mr. President, this is not about you. This is about the future of our country, the future of our democracy, which so many of us feel is on the line. That’s what’s at stake in this election. That’s what’s at stake with the potential of Donald Trump to be the next president with this new basic free pass from the Supreme Court blanket presidential immunity. I mean, God knows what Trump could do with that. So we just need to make sure we have the best plan to defeat Donald Trump. And if the party decides at the end of the day that that’s Joe Biden, then of course we’ll wholeheartedly support him. We’ll do everything we can to ensure he wins. But when you have a strategy that’s not working, when you see the poll numbers getting worse, you shouldn’t be dismissive of those facts. You should change your strategy. And that’s what I’m advocating that we do because the stakes are so high in this election.

Alston: Well, that is Massachusetts Congressman Seth Moulton. Congressman, thank you so much. Always a pleasure.

Moulton: Thanks for having me.

Alston: You're listening to GBH news.

If President Joe Biden chooses to step away from the presidential race, the Democratic party has a “deep bench” of people who could replace him, Massachusetts Congressman Seth Moulton said.

Biden, who has faced questions about whether he is fit for office after a debate against former President Donald Trump a week and a half ago, has said that he will stay in the race.

But Moulton has been publicly asking him to make way for a different leader.

“Ever since I was first running for Congress, I have called for a new generation of leadership in our party,” Moulton told GBH’s Morning Edition co-host Paris Alston. “I don’t think that’s been showcased that well, but there are amazing candidates out there.”

Moulton declined to name specific candidates, save for one: Vice President Kamala Harris.

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“The vice president, I think, is under-appreciated,” he said. “There are a number of governors around the country who’ve been talked about, and there was a quite diverse field in 2020 for the primaries.”

But were Biden to decline the nomination, the party should not “anoint” a nominee, Moulton said. There are people who think the nomination should go to Harris, who is already the elected vice president, and others who think the party should hold a mini-primary.

“Actually having some debate like this about who our nominee should be would be good for the party, will show that Democrats are responding to voters’ concerns, that we’re willing to make a change, we’re willing to make tough decisions and willing to do the right thing for America,” Moulton said.

Moulton mounted a challenge against then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2018, and briefly sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020. At the time, he said, he got pushback from Democratic leadership.

“But I got a lot of support from my constituents and from people around the country who feel the same way, that the leadership of both parties is rather old,” he said. “Let’s not forget that Donald Trump, a convicted criminal, is just two years younger then Joe Biden. We’ve had some of the same leadership in the House for a long time.”

He supported the party’s new leadership, including House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries.

“It’s been amazing,” he said. “There’s been tremendous feedback about how great a job Hakeem Jeffries is doing, how united the Democratic Party is now more than ever. And the fact that a new generation of Americans with new concerns, new challenges really feels better represented by Democrats in Congress.”

Moulton said his call for Biden to step aside is not a personal slight to the president.

“I have a lot of loyalty to him, and I think he’s been an amazing president who’s accomplished so much for our country,” he said. “This is about the future of our country, the future of our democracy, which so many of us feel is on the line. That’s what’s at stake in this election.”

Moulton said he believes his colleagues in the Massachusetts delegation understand the importance of keeping Trump from taking office again. But there’s a debate as to how to best accomplish that, he said.

“We just need to make sure we have the best plan to defeat Donald Trump,” he said. “If the party decides at the end of the day that that’s Joe Biden, then of course we’ll wholeheartedly support him. We’ll do everything we can to ensure he wins. But when you have a strategy that’s not working, when you see the poll numbers getting worse, you shouldn’t be dismissive of those facts. You should change your strategy.”