Sen. Chris Coons (Delaware), national co-chair of President Biden’s reelection campaign, said Friday that Biden is “considering” who the Democratic candidate would be best to defeat former President Trump in November’s presidential election, suggesting Biden is carefully considering the option of stepping aside another candidate.
But Coons also stressed that he considered Biden the leading candidate to challenge Trump in the general election, and later posted a statement on social media declaring that Biden was “in it to win.”
“This is an intraparty issue, this is a very public campaign issue, and I think the president has something to consider, which is who is the best candidate to win the election in November and to advance Democratic values and priorities in this campaign,” Coons said at the Aspen Security Forum.
He made the remarks after the moderator described what factors Biden is considering as he decides how to proceed with his campaign amid calls from Democratic lawmakers for him to withdraw from the race.
Coons reiterated his support for Biden and praised his performance over the past three and a half years.
“He’s been an extraordinary president. He’s campaigned effectively and he’s led effectively,” Coons said, citing Biden’s leadership at last week’s NATO summit in Washington.
“He presided over meeting after meeting at the three-day NATO summit, the strongest in NATO history, he held press conferences, campaign events and rallies, and still some say he doesn’t have the strength or the ability to be the next president. I don’t think so,” he said.
Koons soon afterwards A statement was issued A post was made on social platform X that appeared to be intended to dispel hopes that Biden might soon withdraw from the race.
“I fully support the President. He told me he is in this race to win. I am behind him 100% because I know he can beat Trump just like he did last time,” he posted.
Biden campaign staffers on Friday sought to dispel rumors that Biden was reconsidering his decision to continue in the campaign.
“Obviously, the president is in this race,” Jen O’Malley Dillon said in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Friday morning.
“You’ve heard it many times directly from the president: he’s in this race to win, he’s our candidate and he intends to be our president for a second term,” she insisted when asked about reports that Biden may soon stop seeking reelection.
Alex Gangitano contributed.
