President Joe Biden informed House and Senate Democrats that he would be staying in the presidential race as the Democratic nominee in a letter Monday morning. This letter follows on the heels of calls for the president to step down after a disastrous debate performance against former President Donald Trump last month.
Biden’s “old and weak” demeanor in the presidential debate hosted by CNN inflamed an already growing public relations “nightmare” for the Biden-Harris campaign, whose polling numbers against Trump were already tenuous due, in part, to videos in which the president appeared lost and forgetful at fundraisers and international ceremonies
According to a recent Wall Street Journal poll, over 80% of Americans believe that Biden is too old to seek reelection.
Replacements suggested by leading liberal officials, journalists, and pundits include Vice President Kamala Harris, former first lady Michelle Obama, and Govs. Gavin Newsom of California and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan.
This letter to congressional Democrats isn’t Biden’s first rebuttal against the growing calls for his resignation.
At a rally Friday in Madison, Wisconsin, Biden stated that he would defeat Trump “in 2020,” appearing to misspeak as he attempted to claim he would win reelection in 2024.
Biden’s letter cited the Democratic primaries, where Democrats chose him to be their nominee for president.
“Do we now just say this process didn’t matter? That the voters don’t have a say? I decline to do that,” he wrote.
The Democratic National Committee was criticized in 2023 for appearing to “crush a potential primary challenge” to Biden, and most states’ Democrat primaries featured Biden as the only choice for the presidential nominee.
Prominent Democrats from the Obama administration have suggested a “blitz primary” to replace the president as the Democratic nominee, according to recent reports.
Biden resolved to defeat “Trump and the MAGA Republicans,” and suggested that his political opponents have sided with corporations against the American middle class. He also claimed that if reelected, he would bring “real Supreme Court reform.”
Some officials have speculated that Biden’s recent comments on the Supreme Court indicate that the president would increase the number of Supreme Court justices to garner a liberal majority if Democrats win the presidency and a majority in the Senate.
