Washington — Rep. Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat, says that in the wake of President Biden's disastrous debate performance last month, there is a "high risk" that Democrats lose the election "unless there is a major change."

"Reading the tea leaves is very troubling for many of us right now," Crow, a member of the centrist New Democrat Coalition, said on "Face the Nation" on Sunday. "So we want to see a change."

The president has been seeing a slow leak of lawmakers calling for him to step aside in recent weeks, a number that climbed to 19 on Friday after Mr. Biden held a news conference that, although it displayed command of some complex foreign affairs issues, didn't seem to assuage the fears of some in his party. 

Then on Saturday, Mr. Biden spoke with a group of centrists Democrats on a call that included Crow, during which one lawmaker told the president that he would lose a key battleground state, a source told CBS News. Crow suggested in another exchange that some voters in key battleground districts were losing confidence in Mr. Biden's ability to project strength on the international stage, a source said, in an exchange with the president they described as "heated."

Crow said on Sunday that he confronted the president with "tough questions" because that's his responsibility to his district. But he underscored that the president has "been one of the most effective national security and foreign policy presidents in generations."

"I have and will continue to stand by that record, and I've been one of his fiercest advocates," Crow said. "But campaigns are different, campaigns are about messaging those wins. They're about talking about the vision of the future. And if we're being honest with ourselves sitting here right now, that message is not effectively breaking through."

The Colorado Democrat outlined the difficult questions his party is grappling with now — what's going to change, how will the message or the approach change and how will Democrats get the message to break through to win the election? 

"The consequences are too high not to have that tough conversation," Crow said. 

The president promised to come back to the group with more information and address the group's concerns, Crow said, making clear that "we do have some time to answer those questions, have that tough debate," before deciding "together the best path to go forward."

Mr. Biden has repeatedly said that he's not giving up the nomination, telling lawmakers in a letter last week that he is "firmly committed" to staying in the race. And despite the pushback from some lawmakers, the decision is up to the president, who clinched the nomination months ago. Crow acknowledged that reality, saying "ultimately that is the President's decision," but he added that members of the party can still "voice opinions," have honest conversations and respond to concerns.

"That's what we did yesterday," Crow said. "A group of us that represented some of the toughest districts in America had a robust call with the president to voice our concerns."

Margaret Brennan and Nikole Killion contributed reporting.

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• Joe Biden
• Democratic Party

Kaia Hubbard

Kaia Hubbard is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital, based in Washington, D.C.

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