White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday that President Biden is “absolutely not” considering withdrawing from the 2024 presidential race.
The White House has maintained that Biden will continue to run for a second term, despite pressure from Democrats, former staff and allies to step down.
The New York Times reported Wednesday morning that Biden had privately discussed with aides the possibility of dropping out of the race.
Newsom is heading east to meet with Biden, but the president is trying to block the campaign from heading south.
But when asked during a press conference whether Biden would drop out of the race, Jean-Pierre was defiant.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre made the remarks during the daily press briefing on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
“Absolutely not,” she said, “and I think you heard that directly from the campaign.”
Jean-Pierre claimed his poor performance in the presidential debate was due to him having a “cold”, repeating the explanation he gave on Tuesday night that he had not yet recovered from “jet lag” after visiting Europe for the G7 summit.
“It wasn’t his best night, and he understands that people are right to ask that question, but we can’t forget his record and what he’s accomplished, we can’t forget what he’s done for the American people for nearly four years,” she said. “That’s also important. He has the most historic record, the greatest record in modern politics. That’s important.”
Jean-Pierre said Biden “want to continue that work.”
“A lot of his policies are very popular with the vast majority of the American people, whether it’s continuing to build a strong economy, his economic policies, he’s done that, creating 15 million jobs, he’s committed to that and he wants to continue that, and he wants to continue expanding health care, all of those things that he thinks are important,” she said. “He wants to make sure people don’t forget the track record that he’s built for the American people.”
Jean-Pierre reiterated that the debate had simply been a “bad night.”
President Biden listens during a visit to the Washington, D.C. Emergency Operations Center, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“It wasn’t his best night. He had a cold, he was jet lagged. I heard this directly from the president,” she said. “And when we get knocked down, when he gets knocked down, he gets right back up.”
She added, “That’s what I’ll be focusing on. The president remains very stable and continues to work for the American people.”
Jean-Pierre insisted Wednesday that Biden “remains in the race.”
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Biden himself said, “I’m running. I’m the leader of the Democratic Party. No one is trying to get rid of me.”
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris reportedly made a surprise appearance on a Democratic National Committee conference call in an attempt to quell confusion among party allies after the debate.
White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, at an all-staff meeting on Wednesday, urged people to tune out the “noise” and focus on the task of governing.
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Jean-Pierre acknowledged Zients’ efforts and said he acknowledged to White House staff that the past few days have been difficult.
Biden has reportedly been lobbying on his own, meeting with leading Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware and Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina.
Congressman James Clyburn (Ting Sheng/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
But the chief of staff encouraged White House aides to “continue working as a team” and to set aside negativity and stay focused on the job of governing.
Jean-Pierre was also asked about Biden’s comments in 2020, when he called himself a transition candidate and said he wanted to be a bridge to the next generation of Democratic leadership.
She responded that Vice President Kamala Harris is “the future of the party.”
“Biden’s statement remains the same: One of the reasons he picked Kamala Harris to be his vice president is because she really is the future of the party,” Jean-Pierre said, adding that Biden is “incredibly proud to have partnered with her and to continue to partner with her and to deliver an unprecedented record to the American people.”
“And I think he will continue to do that. They will do so as partners. Like I said, I just met with them and then I went into the briefing room. They stopped by to talk to me and my team and they are ready. They are ready to continue. So the transition will happen in eight years,” she said. “So, I’m not going to speculate from here. But if you’re asking me if his remarks and statements are still valid, yes, they are still valid.”
Meanwhile, Biden is scheduled to host a meeting with Democratic governors on Wednesday evening.
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Democratic governors who planned to attend in person, according to aides, were Tim Walz of Minnesota, who heads the Democratic Governors Association, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Maura Healey of Massachusetts, Daniel McKee of Rhode Island, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Gavin Newsom of California. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy planned to attend virtually.
More than 4 in 10 Democrats said the party should step in and remove Biden from the running, according to a USA Today/Suffolk University poll released this week. Overall, 54% of voters surveyed supported Biden’s withdrawal.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
