President Joe Biden is “firmly committed” to staying in the presidential race, he wrote Democrat lawmakers on Monday, contending that he is the best candidate to beat former President Donald Trump.
Nine Democrat lawmakers reportedly called for Biden not to run for reelection since the media reported on the president’s health post-debate.
“I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end, and to beating Donald Trump,” Biden wrote in the letter to lawmakers. “I have heard the concerns that people have—their good faith fears and worries about what is at stake in this election. I am not blind to them.”
“I can respond to all this by saying clearly and unequivocally: I wouldn’t be running again if I did not absolutely believe I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024,” he continued.
“I decline to do that,” Biden said. “I feel a deep obligation to the faith and the trust the voters of the Democratic Party have placed in me to run this year. It was their decision to make. Not the press, not the pundits, not the big donors, not any selected group of individuals, no matter how well intentioned.”
“The voters – and the voters alone – decide the nominee of the Democratic Party. How can we stand for democracy in our nation if we ignore it in our own party?” he added. “I cannot do that. I will not do that”:
Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Mark Takano (D-CA), Don Beyer (D-VA), and Adam Smith (D-WA) are the latest Democrats to call for Biden to quit the race, according to several media reports Sunday. Those members join five lawmakers who previously publicly called for Biden to withdraw from the presidential race: Reps. Lloyd Doggett (TX), Seth Moulton (MA), Raúl Grijalva (AZ), Angie Craig (MN) and Mike Quigley (IL).
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The rash of opposition to Biden’s reelection campaign is not supported by the leaders of the Democrat party. House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) still appear to support Biden.
Political experts suggest that Democrats might be stuck with Biden for three reasons: the challenge of replacing Biden on 50 state ballots, the challenge of moving money behind a new candidate, and the challenge of finding a candidate who would likely be a sacrificial lamb to run in Biden’s place.
Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former GOP War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.