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The Biden campaign is denying reports that President Biden could leave the 2024 presidential race, even as several more House Democrats called on him to step aside.
Mr. Biden’s campaign was defiant on Friday, releasing a memo, giving several interviews and holding an all-staff call reaffirming he’s still running and aiming to put the focus on “Project 2025,” the conservative blueprint for a second Trump term, and on the GOP nominee’s record.
“Absolutely, the president is in this race,” Biden campaign chair O’Malley Dillon said in an interview with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “You’ve heard him say that time and time again,” she said, adding, “He is clearly, in our impression … the best person to take on Donald Trump.”
“We see the path forward,” she said.
But Dan Kanninen, the Biden campaign’s battleground states director, conceded in a memo Friday the campaign faces some obstacles, writing, “I will not sugarcoat the state of the race: We have our work cut out for us to win this November.”
“We also have immense opportunity and a clear path to victory if we listen to what the voters on the ground are truly paying attention to, if we focus on the issues that matter most to the electorate in the battleground states,” he wrote. Kanninen said that while voters contacted by the campaign “consistently mention” Mr. Biden’s age, they’re still planning to back the president.
CBS News reported Thursday that two senior House Democrats believe that Mr. Biden could leave the 2024 presidential race in three to five days, after a pressure campaign from top lawmakers in his own party, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has also spoken to the president and her views are close to those of Jeffries and Schumer.
