President Joe Biden on Thursday said that nothing would make him reconsider his decision to remain in the 2024 presidential election contest unless polling data showed “there’s no way you can win.”
“No one’s saying that,” Biden said in a stage whisper during a news conference in Washington, D.C. “No poll says that.”
Biden’s statement was in response to a reporter who asked him if he would reconsider his vow to stay in the race if his campaign team “came back and showed you data that” Vice President Kamala Harris “would fare better against former President Donald Trump.”
Biden began the news conference after seeing more Democrats in Congress call on him to exit the race.
Those calls were sparked by his dismal performance in a debate against the Republican Trump in late June, where Biden sometimes garbled his words and lost his train of thought, sparking concern his mental faculties were declining.
U.S. President Joe Biden attends a press conference during NATO’s 75th anniversary summit, in Washington, U.S., July 11, 2024.
Leah Millis | Reuters
Biden was asked during the conference if he would release his Democratic National Convention delegates to “vote their conscience,” setting up the possibility of the first seriously contested Democratic convention presidential nomination fight in more than five decades.
“Obviously, they’re free to do whatever they want,” Biden replied.
“But I get overwhelming support. Overwhelming support. I won … I forget how many votes I won in the primary, overwhelming.”
“And so tomorrow if all of a sudden I show up at the convention, and everybody says we want somebody else?” Biden said. “That’s the democratic process.”
The president then added in a whisper: “It’s not gonna happen.”
Biden in the same session referred to Harris as “Vice President Trump.” Earlier Thursday, he botched an introduction at the NATO summit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by calling him “President Putin” — the name of the Russian president who began the ongoing war against Ukraine with a 2022 invasion.
Moments after the news conference, Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, who is the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Biden should drop out of the contest. During the conference, Biden had spent about seven minutes giving a rambling, confusing answer about China.
“President Joe Biden is a remarkable leader of unparalleled public service, undeniable achievement, and unconditional patriotism,” Himes said in a statement. “It is because of those traits, and in consideration of that legacy, that I hope President Biden will step away from the presidential campaign.”
“The 2024 election will define the future of American democracy, and we must put forth the strongest candidate possible to confront the threat posed by Trump’s promised MAGA authoritarianism,” Himes said.
“I no longer believe that is Joe Biden.”
Rep. Scott Peters, a California Democrat, later Thursday night joined that call, saying, “The stakes are high, and we are on a losing course.”