Julián Castro, a Biden Opponent in 2020, Says He Should Drop Out

Julián Castro, a former presidential candidate who ran against President Biden in the 2020 Democratic primaries, said on Tuesday that Mr. Biden should drop out of the race, pointing to Vice President Kamala Harris as a potential replacement at the top of the Democratic ticket.

In an interview on MSNBC, Mr. Castro, 49, said that Mr. Biden, 81, should “absolutely” remove himself from the race against former President Donald J. Trump, adding that “I believe that another Democrat would have a better shot at beating Trump” and that “it is too risky to let Donald Trump walk into this in November.”

“Yeah, I think the Democrats would do well to find a different candidate,” he said.

Mr. Castro, the former Housing and Urban Development Secretary in the Obama administration, has consistently raised concerns about Mr. Biden’s age, and was criticized during his 2020 campaign for remarks at a debate that questioned Mr. Biden’s memory.

After Mr. Biden’s poor performance in Thursday’s debate against Mr. Trump, 78, Mr. Castro excoriated the president, saying that “Biden had a very low bar going into the debate and failed to clear even that bar. He seemed unprepared, lost, and not strong enough to parry effectively with Trump, who lies constantly.”

Mr. Castro’s comments on Tuesday went further, saying that “I actually don’t see a path now for President Biden to stay in this race.”

He pointed to “a stable of folks,” including Ms. Harris, who could do a better job, but did not name other potential candidates.