NEWSWEEK
President Joe Biden on Wednesday evening reassured his supporters that he is remaining in the 2024 presidential race.
In an email sent by Biden’s campaign, the president addressed the “tough” couple of days that have followed his first debate performance of the election cycle. The president appeared on stage last week against former President Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee for November.
Biden’s poor performance reignited concerns over his age and mental health, and several Democrats, including two sitting House members, have called for the president to drop out of the 2024 race.
“Folks, I know the past few days have been tough,” read Biden’s campaign email, which was obtained by Newsweek. “I’m sure you’re getting a lot of questions. I’m sure many of you have questions as well. So, let me say this as clearly and simply as I can: I’m running.”
The message follows reports from a Zoom call with Democratic National Committee staff members earlier in the day Wednesday, in which Biden made an unexpected appearance and dismissed calls for him to step down.
“Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can—as simply and straightforward as I can: I am running … no one’s pushing me out,” Biden said, according to a report from Politico. “I’m not leaving. I’m in this race to the end and we’re going to win.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, who according to polling is likely the top choice to replace Biden if he were to step aside, was also on the DNC call Wednesday, and said while sitting beside the president, “We will not back down. We will follow our president’s lead. We will fight, and we will win.”
The White House and its allies have worked hard to quell any concerns regarding Biden’s future. After The New York Times reported Wednesday that Biden had spoken with a top ally about possibly dropping out of the race, White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates called the claim “absolutely false.”
“If The New York Times had provided us with more than 7 minutes to comment we would have told them so,” Bates added.
Biden has also received public support from former President Barack Obama, Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Before the debate, Trump appeared to hold a slight lead over Biden in preliminary polls, although the two candidates have been neck and neck for months. In a New York Times/Siena poll released Wednesday, however, Trump’s gap had widened significantly following the debate.
Out of the 1,532 voters surveyed from June 28 to July 2, 49 percent said they would vote for Trump if the election were held today and only the former president and Biden appeared on the ballot, while 43 percent said they would support the current president.
On the day of the debate, polling analysis site FiveThirtyEight had Trump beating Biden by just 0.2 percentage points on average across national polling. On Wednesday, the former president’s lead had risen to 2.3 percent.
