Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California on Sunday stuck to his support for President Biden in the 2024 presidential election, but predicted that Vice President Kamala Harris would likely win the party’s presidential nomination if the president were to withdraw from reelection.
“I mean, if he [Biden] I made that decision [to withdraw from the race]Asked whether he wanted an open convention if Biden leaves office, Khanna told ABC News’ “This Week”: “The vote is on August 7th.”
“I believe the vice president will win the vote, and I don’t think there will be many people challenging her. This is a Biden-Harris delegate contest, not an open primary,” Khanna added. “If it was an open primary, there would be a lot of candidates, but I think it’s unrealistic that someone who isn’t on the national stage could amass a majority of Biden-Harris delegates in two weeks.”
Biden has faced calls from Democrats who are concerned about his ability to beat Trump in November and pursue a second term and urge him to not run for reelection in 2024. The calls came on the heels of his disastrous debate loss to Trump last month and rekindled concerns about Biden’s mental acuity and age. At 81, Biden is the oldest sitting U.S. president.
Khanna has doubled down on her support for Biden in the wake of the mounting pressure, arguing that Biden has a “coalition of African-American women, of blue-collar workers.” [and] The “seniors” who support the President.
“If he [Biden] “If Biden feels pushed out, his voters are going to feel pushed out, so that’s his decision,” Khanna said, before adding, “There’s no question that voters don’t like the fact that Joe Biden is 81 years old.”
“But what I’m not seeing is a head-to-head poll of Joe Biden versus Chuck Schumer versus Nancy Pelosi versus whoever else, who they want as the Democratic nominee. The president always says don’t compare himself to God almighty. I know voters are concerned about his age,” he added. “What I’m not seeing is a poll that shows that with any other candidate, except maybe any other candidate.” [former first lady] “Michelle Obama is clearly the choice of Democratic voters.”
A series of polls were conducted in the weeks following the debate, including one by Bendixen & Amandi, a leading Democratic pollster, that showed Harris and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leading Trump and Biden slightly behind.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted earlier this month found Michelle Obama was the only Democrat to beat Trump in a hypothetical matchup.
The Democratic National Convention (DNC) plans to hold a virtual roll call to formally nominate Biden ahead of next month’s convention, but several House Democrats warned last week they would oppose this.
If Biden steps down before the nomination is formally made, his 3,896 delegates would be free to vote for another candidate at the convention, meaning Biden would no longer have control over them but would be able to nominate a successor.
To win the nomination, a candidate must solidify the support of a majority of delegates.
Biden acknowledged his poor performance in last month’s debate but has maintained his intention to continue the campaign, and has been endorsed by Harris.
Asked if he would reconsider asking Biden to resign, Khanna dodged the question, saying it was a presidential decision.
