Team,

Today, I publicly called on President Joe Biden to step aside — to fulfill his promise to act as the bridge for the next generation, and to ensure we have the strongest possible candidate to defeat Trump and all he stands for. I did not come to this decision lightly; and as someone who’s supported and believed in me, I wanted to share my thought process with you directly.

I deeply respect and admire Joe Biden, and our entire nation owes him a debt of gratitude for defeating Trump in 2020 and for his historic accomplishments as president.

But as I told the New York Times, Donald Trump is an existential threat to American democracy. I truly believe that. It is our responsibility to do everything we can to keep Trump out of the White House.

For me, the decision became clear as I was watching fireworks during the July 4th celebration at West Point with my family, fellow alumni, and cadets. I reflected on my oath of office and service to my country. With those experiences in mind, I made this difficult decision.

Every West Point cadet, past and present, knows about the “Cadet Prayer.” It’s something we all memorize while studying at West Point. There’s a section of it I kept coming back to:

“Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never to be content with a half truth when the whole can be won.”

This is the moment for the whole truth; Donald Trump is not fit for public office and I no longer believe Joe Biden is the strongest candidate to take him on this fall. That means Joe Biden must step aside and give us the best chance to defeat the forces threatening our democracy. And I’ll do everything in my power to make it so. We have to win in November. We must take back the House majority and we’ll do it standing shoulder to shoulder as patriots.

We have a tough fight ahead, but if we stick together and fight for what’s right, I know we will prevail.

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Yours in service,

Pat