Ex-NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue Among Members of Leadership Now Project Demanding President Biden Not to Run For Re-Election

Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue is among the members of Leadership Now Project, a coalition of 400 politically active current and retired executives who are mostly Democrat, calling for President Joe Biden not to run for re-election this year against former President Donald Trump.

Ex-NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue is one of 167 members of Leadership Now Project, calling for President Joe Biden to abandon his campaign for re-election

The group of business leaders is calling on President Biden to step aside and allow his party to replace him on the Democratic Party’s presidential ticket. The statement comes in the wake of President Biden’s weak performance in last week’s presidential debate with Mr. Trump.

According to Kenneth P. Vogel of The New York Times, Tagliabue’s name appeared alongside 167 other members of the Leadership Now Project in a letter on Friday addressed to President Biden. The letter urges him to abandon his campaign for re-election.

“As members of the Leadership Now Project, and like-minded business and civic leaders committed to protecting American democracy, we have been vocal about the threats posed by a second term of Donald Trump,” the letter reads.

“The risks to America are profound: global and domestic instability, abandoning our allies, crony capitalism, political retribution, and further erosion of the rights of women and other groups.”

Leadership Now Project also issued a statement on Wednesday urging Mr. Biden to “pass the torch of this year’s presidential nomination to the next generation of highly capable Democrats.”

Democrats fear a devastating loss against former President Donald Trump, if Mr. Biden remains on the presidential ticket

Although the statement is unsigned, Daniella Ballou-Aares, the group’s founder and chief executive, said that it was supported by an overwhelming majority of the members of Leadership Now Project.

In addition to Paul Tagliabue, the membership includes Jeni Britton, the founder of Jeni’s Famous Ice Cream; Weyco Group CEO Thomas W. Florsheim Jr.; Eddie Fishman, the managing director of the investment firm D.E. Shaw & Company; Harvard Law School professor Lawrence Lessig; Vicky Hausman, the CEO of Forward Majority, a group that supports Democrats in state elections; and John Pepper, the former chief executive of Procter & Gamble.

The letter was delivered to multiple White House advisers, said a person familiar with the effort, according to Michael Scherer of The Washington Post.

After this report was published, Ms. Britton indicated that she does not support the call for Mr. Biden to step aside.

In its statement, Leadership Now Project called the possibility of a second Trump term “an existential threat to American democracy.”

Per Vogel, the group also added that Mr. Biden “failed to effectively make the case against Trump, and we now fear the risk of a devastating loss in November.”

The statement added that “we have heard from many individuals who share our deep concerns about the present course but fear speaking out” and concluded by urging others “to join us in making this urgent call.”

Tagliabue served as NFL commissioner from Nov. 5, 1989, to Sept. 1, 2006.