President Joe Biden never spoke with former President Barack Obama about running in 2024 to defeat former President Donald Trump in a potential rematch, Politico Magazine reported Monday.
The news contradicts the Hill’s reporting in April that Biden had told Obama he would run in 2024 because he is the only Democrat who can defeat Trump. “I believe he thinks he’s the only one who can beat Trump. I don’t think he thinks there’s anyone in the Democratic party who can beat Trump and that’s the biggest factor,” a source with knowledge of the conversation told the Hill.
Politico Magazine claimed the Hill’s report came to light as “annoying and politically toxic questions” arose about Biden’s 2024 intentions, “so none of his aides or close allies had a big problem with it.”
“It bolstered their exasperated reminders that the president always says he intends to run again,” the report continued. “The issue: It wasn’t true. To this day, Obama and Biden have yet to discuss the next election.”
Biden announced in March of 2021 that he intended to run for reelection, a dilemma that has divided the Democrat Party. Just on Friday, Ohio senate candidate Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) said he would support someone other than Biden atop the ticket. According to Civiqs polling on Monday, Biden is underwater in Ohio by 25 points (34-59 percent), a terrible margin for a sitting president heading into the midterms.
Rumors have swirled about whether Biden should remain atop the 2024 Democrat ticket. The establishment media have particularly fueled the debate.
“As some Democrats grow impatient with Biden, alternative voices emerge,” a July Washington Post article by Ashley Parker and Matt Viser is titled. The article lists examples of Biden’s failed leadership to quietly suggest that Democrats “are frustrated at Biden’s caution in what they consider a moment of crisis, and figures like Newsom and Pritzker are showcasing a sharper approach.”
The Post is not the only publication worried about Biden’s potential second run. The Hill, Politico Atlantic, Axios, New York Times, FiveThirtyEight, and Vanity Fair have all raised concerns about Biden running for reelection.
If Biden was to run against Trump, assuming both men run in 2024, Biden is well behind Trump in the polls. Nine polls have shown Trump leading Biden by one to seven points.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
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