President Joe Biden said Thursday that nothing would make him reconsider his decision to remain in the 2024 presidential race unless poll data showed “there is no way you can win”.
“Nobody’s saying that,” Biden said in a stage whisper during a news conference in Washington, “No polls are saying that.”
Biden’s statement was in response to a reporter who asked him if he would reconsider his pledge to stay in the race if his campaign team “came back and showed you data that Vice President Kamala Harris “would do better against former President Donald Trump”.
Biden began the press conference after seeing more Democrats in Congress calling for him to drop out of the race.
Those calls were sparked by his dismal performance in a debate against Republican Trump in late June, where Biden sometimes slurred his words and lost his train of thought, prompting concern that his mental faculties were waning.
US President Joe Biden attends a press conference during NATO’s 75th anniversary summit in Washington, US, July 11, 2024.
Leah Millis | Reuters
Biden was asked during the conference if he would release his Democratic National Convention delegates to “vote their conscience,” setting up the possibility of the first seriously contested race for the Democratic congressional presidential nomination in more than five decades.
“Obviously, they’re free to do whatever they want,” Biden responded.
“But I have overwhelming support. Overwhelming support. I won … I forgot how many votes I won in the primary, overwhelming.”
“So what if I suddenly show up at the conference tomorrow and everyone says we want someone else?” Biden said. “This is the democratic process.”
The president then added in a whisper: “It won’t happen.”
Biden at the same meeting referred to Harris as “Vice President Trump.” Earlier on Thursday, he botched an introduction at a NATO summit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by calling him “President Putin” – the name of the Russian president who launched the ongoing war against Ukraine with an invasion in 2022.
Minutes after the news conference, Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, who is the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Biden should drop out of the race. During the conference, Biden had spent about seven minutes giving a strange, confused answer about China.
“President Joe Biden is a remarkable leader of unparalleled public service, unquestionable accomplishments and unconditional patriotism,” Himes said in a statement. “Thanks to these characteristics, and considering this legacy, I hope that President Biden will step away from the presidential campaign.”
“The 2024 election will determine the future of American democracy, and we must present the strongest candidate possible to counter the threat posed by Trump’s promised MAGA authoritarianism,” Himes said.
“I no longer believe this is Joe Biden.”
Representative Scott Peters, D-Calif., later Thursday night joined that call, saying, “The stakes are high and we’re on a losing streak.”
