MILWAUKEE — Democrats are hanging on to a plan to virtually nominate President Joe Biden weeks before their convention, despite growing calls to scrap it.

“Ohio Republicans decided to play games,” Biden campaign manager Quentin Fulks said. “We have an obligation to make sure, as we have said, to stand by fair and free elections and make sure that the process runs as smoothly as possible.”

But Ohio Republicans are no longer standing in the way, having changed a state law to allow a normal nomination process at the Democratic National Committee’s convention in Chicago, which takes place Aug. 19-22. Democrats hope to nominate Biden before Aug. 7 virtually.

The concern now is there are growing calls for Biden to step aside, many of them coming from inside the party’s ranks.

“Those so eager to overly protect President Biden ignore his own words inviting anyone questioning his nomination to do so at the convention,” Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) told Axios. Doggett was one of the first Democrats to call for Biden to step down.

Biden said last week that DNC delegates, 99% of which he controls after dominating a non-competitive primary process, are free to choose whoever they want, though he insists they still back him. A small but growing number of elected Democrats have called for Biden to step aside since his disastrous June 27 debate performance.

“Do you think [the virtual nomination is] necessary now, considering that Ohio is no longer the impediment that you thought it was?” a reporter asked during a Tuesday morning DNC press conference. “Do you think that the party should have the opportunity to talk about this at the convention in Chicago and not go through with a virtual process weeks before?”

Fulks said the virtual vote is still on, saying Ohio Republicans in the state legislature could still change their minds after the fact.

“We’re not going to leave it up to Ohio Republicans to have President Biden not be on the ballot in every single state,” Fulks said. “He deserves that right. He’s earned that right. And so we’re going to continue with that path and not play games about who’s on this ballot.”

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Another reporter later accused Fulks of dodging the question

“I didn’t dodge the question,” he replied. “It’s a fact that they solved it with a legislative fix. We moved forward, we instituted this before they had a fix, and we’re going to continue on that path because we’re not going to leave it up to them to change the rules again.”