SEATTLE — U.S. Rep. Adam Smith called for President Joe Biden to stand down from his reelection bid, becoming the first member of Congress from Washington to do so.

In a statement and interview on CNN on Monday, Smith, D-Bellevue, said Biden’s status as the prospective Democratic nominee has become untenable.

“President Biden should end his candidacy for a second term and release his delegates to the Democratic National Convention,” Smith said in the statement, adding it should happen “as soon as possible” to allow an alternative to be chosen.

“Any candidate for the highest office in our nation has a strong burden to bear. The candidate must be able to clearly, articulately and strongly make his or her case to the American people. It is clear that President Biden is no longer able to meet this burden,” Smith said.

Smith’s comments set him apart from other top Washington Democrats, who have maintained their support for Biden as party’s presidential nominee in a rematch against Donald Trump.

In a statement Monday, U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Seattle, criticized the media pile-on over Biden’s mental acuity, saying it has taken focus off Trump.

“Any reporter or pundit who is asking about or talking about the aftermath of President Biden’s debate performance and his health should also be spending at least the same amount of time and energy talking to Republicans about why they are still supporting a convicted felon who incited an insurrection and wants to be Dictator on Day 1,” Jayapal said.

She added that Republicans should be challenged on calling for Trump to step down as a candidate.

Jayapal, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, acknowledged Democrats “are having many conversations” about “the best path forward to protect our democracy.”

In his statement, Smith called Biden’s debate performance “alarming” and said Americans no longer see him “as a credible candidate” to serve four more years. He said Trump and “MAGA extremism” pose “an existential threat” that must be met with “the strongest possible candidate to win in this election.”

Should Biden remain the Democratic candidate, Smith said, he would “back him one hundred percent and without reservation.”

Elected to Congress in 1996, Smith serves as ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee and is the longest serving member of Washington’s U.S. House delegation, representing the 9th Congressional District.

Smith’s change of heart on Biden had been reported by multiple news outlets over the weekend, after leaked accounts of a private meeting of top House Democrats, in which Smith and several others said Biden should withdraw.

Biden has rejected such calls, insisting he remains the Democrats’ best and only option to defeat Trump in November. He wrote to congressional Democrats on Monday, saying he was “firmly committed” to staying in the race.

Biden, who served 36 years in the U.S. Senate and eight years as vice president before getting elected president in 2020, also blasted his critics as “elites” during an MSNBC interview.

The Democratic National Convention, where the party will formally pick its nominees for president and vice president, is scheduled to start August 19 in Chicago.

Among Washington’s congressional Democrats, first-term U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, has come the closest to Smith in criticizing Biden’s debate performance and 2024 prospects.

In an interview last week with Portland’s KATU-TV, Gluesenkamp Perez said “Biden is going to lose” to Trump after his damaging debate performance. But she stopped short of calling for him to withdraw, noting that Democratic primary voters had already backed the ticket of Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

A spokesperson for Gluesenkamp Perez, who is facing a hard-fought reelection bid in southwest Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, said she had nothing to add to her KATU interview.

Other top Democratic elected officials in Washington have remained publicly quiet or have defended Biden.

U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Everett, who was on the same briefing where Smith and others expressed doubts about Biden, said on social media Sunday he is not part of the “Dump Biden” movement.

“I am on Team Biden,” Larsen wrote. “The concerns I expressed were those I heard from other members.”

A spokesperson for Gov. Jay Inslee deferred comment to the Democratic Governors Association, which could not be reached for comment Monday. Democratic governors from across the country spoke with Biden on July 3.

While some have privately expressed concerns, no Democratic governors have said Biden should drop out, although Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has said Biden should “carefully evaluate” whether he is the “best hope” to beat Trump.

On Monday, the chair of Washington state’s Democratic Party, Shasti Conrad, doubled down on her support for the Biden-Harris ticket. Conrad visited the White House for Fourth of July celebrations, a spokesperson said.

Conrad described Biden’s work as the “most robust working families agenda” since FDR and said Trump was “a convicted felon and wannabe dictator,” and that in the upcoming election, “our democracy and freedom” were at stake.

“Washingtonians and folks across the country know this,” Conrad said. “It’s why over the last week we’ve seen grassroots organizers, labor, and community leaders unite to show their support for a Biden-Harris ticket — because we know this is how we defeat fascism and continue to build a movement for working families, small businesses, and safer communities.”

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