2024 election updates: Manchin the latest to call on Biden to end reelection bid

Rep. Adam Schiff is calling on President Joe Biden to drop out of the race and "pass the torch."

"While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden's alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch. And in doing so, secure his legacy of leadership by allowing us to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election," Schiff said Wednesday in a statement released by his office.

Schiff is running for California Senate, and he led the first impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

"Joe Biden has been one of the most consequential presidents in our nation's history, and his lifetime of service as a Senator, a Vice President, and now as President has made our country better," his statement read.

"But our nation is at a crossroads. A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the President can defeat Donald Trump in November," he continued, then calling on the president to "pass the torch."

"But make no mistake, whoever our party ends up nominating, or if the nomination remains with the president, I will do everything I can to help them succeed. There is only one singular goal: defeating Donald Trump. The stakes are just too high," he added.

The Los Angeles Times first reported the news.

-ABC News' Lauren Peller

A call between Biden and the New Democrat Coalition, a group of center-left congressional Democrats, got heated, a source with knowledge of the conversation told ABC News.

Biden got angry with the group, yelled at one, Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, and then got off the call before other members could confront him about stepping aside, according to the source.

"It was bad," one member on the call said, according to the source. "No plan."

When members pressed him on how he would turn the campaign around, Biden just listed policy achievements and insisted his polls look better, the source said.

Biden got off the call before Rep. Mike Quigley, who has called on him to step aside from his campaign, could ask a question, according to the source.

-ABC News' Rachel Bade

Biden spoke with the Congressional Progressive Caucus members Saturday to discuss his plan moving forward with his campaign.

Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the caucus' chair, said in a statement that the conversation was "productive and engaging."

"We spoke frankly to the President about our concerns and asked tough questions about the path forward. We appreciate his willingness to thoughtfully answer and address our Members," she said in her statement.

Saturday's meeting came a day after the president met with the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus's political arm, BOLD PAC, Friday.

-ABC News' Fritz Farrow and Lauren Peller

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders issued a firm backing for Biden's re-election bid in a guest essay published in the New York Times Saturday.

Sanders, who previously challenged Biden in the 2020 primary, acknowledged his differences with the president on several issues and concerns over Biden's age. However, he chastised Democrats who have come out calling for Biden to step aside.

"Enough! Mr. Biden may not be the ideal candidate, but he will be the candidate and should be the candidate. And with an effective campaign that speaks to the needs of working families, he will not only defeat Mr. Trump but beat him badly. It’s time for Democrats to stop the bickering and nit-picking."

Among the Democrats who have called for Biden to end his bid is fellow Vermont Sen. Peter Welch.

Sanders did not directly mention Welch, who is currently the only senator to openly call on Biden to bow out, in the essay.

Instead, he focused on the dangers of Trump's policies and rhetoric and played up Biden's accomplishments in several areas including income inequality.

"This election offers a stark choice on issue after issue. If Mr. Biden and his supporters focus on these issues — and refuse to be divided and distracted — the president will rally working families to his side in the industrial Midwest swing states and elsewhere and win the November election. And let me say this as emphatically as I can: For the sake of our kids and future generations, he must win," Sanders said.