Democrats in Congress are having to calculate how to address questions about whether or not they believe President Joe Biden should run again.
Some have refused to answer, others have said he should, and at least one has come out and said he does not believe the president should run again.
The question was raised during the debate for New York’s 12 Congressional District.
In response to the question of whether Biden should run again, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D) responded, “Too early to say. [It] Doesn’t serve the purpose of the Democratic Party to deal with that until after the midterms.”‘
Meanwhile, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D), who is also running for the seat, declined to say whether she thinks Biden should run.
Instead, she said, “I don’t believe he’s running for reelection.”
Watch the video below:
Q: "Should President Biden run again in 2024?"@JerryNadler : "Too early to say. Doesn’t serve the purpose of the Democratic Party to deal with that until after the midterms."@CarolynBMaloney: "I don’t believe he’s running for reelection." #NY12 pic.twitter.com/DbLPcYJktG
— CSPAN (@cspan) August 3, 2022
For his part, Biden has repeatedly said that he intends to run again in 2024.
During a Dec. 2021 interview with ABC News, the president said he plans to run again.
However, he added, “I’m a great respecter of fate. Fate has intervened in my life many, many times. If I’m in the health I’m in now, if I’m in good health, then, in fact, I would run again.”
When asked about the potential of a rematch with former President Donald Trump, Biden said, “Why would I not run against Donald Trump if he were the nominee? That’d increase the prospect of running.”
In case you missed it:
Biden on 2024.
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) December 23, 2021
Says Trump running would make him more likely to run again.
Says he plans to run "but look. I'm a great respecter of fate. Fate has intervened in my life many, many times. If I'm in the health I'm in now, if i'm in good health, then in fact I would run again." pic.twitter.com/7G07P18Vxn
However, in June, Vice President Kamala Harris stirred up new speculation when she initially told CNN the president “is running for reelection and I will be his ticket-mate,” only to later tell reporters, “The president intends to run and if he does, I will be his ticket-mate.”
According to the Los Angeles Times’ Erin Logan, “The White House said [Harris] wanted to clarify comments she made on CNN a few days ago.”
The speculation about Biden’s political future comes as his approval rating sits at 39.2%, according to FiveThirtyEight.
