President Biden tells congressional Democrats ‘I am firmly committed to staying in this race’

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - President Joe Biden pushed back on speculation that he is dropping out of the 2024 presidential election on Monday, telling Capitol Hill Democrats that he is “firmly committed to staying in this race.”

In a letter sent to the Democratic lawmakers, Biden wrote that he is “running this race to the end” and called for his party to move forward and unify.

“The question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now. And it’s time for it to end. We have one job. And that is to beat Donald Trump,” Biden wrote.

Questions about President Biden’s continued candidacy have been lingering across Washington for days after a lackluster debate performance on June 27. A handful of House Democrats have made calls publicly, for Biden to drop out of the election.

The president wrote that he had extensive conversations with his party’s leaders, lawmakers and voters in the last ten days, “has heard the concerns that people have” and said he was “not blind to them.”

“I can respond to all this by saying clearly and unequivocally: I wouldn’t be running again if I did not absolutely believe I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024,” the president wrote.

Biden also continued to push back on the speculation after the letter was sent out, calling into MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and saying “the bottom line here is that we are not going anywhere. I am not going anywhere.”

Many House and Senate Democrats have said since the debate that they support President Biden as the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate including Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), Rep. Troy Carter (D-LA), Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV), Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) and several others.

Among those calling for Biden to step down from the 2024 race include Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL), Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) and Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA).

But some Democrats in Congress have also said that President Biden needs to show them that he can be the party’s 2024 presidential candidate.

“President Biden has got to prove to the American people—including me—that he’s up to the job for another four years,” said Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) in a statement that was issued on Monday.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) wrote on X:

“With so much at stake in the upcoming election, now is the time for conversations about the strongest path forward. As these conversations continue, I believe it is incumbent upon the President to more aggressively make his case to the American people, and to hear directly from a broader group of voices about how to best prevent Trump’s lawlessness from returning to the White House.”

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) also issued a statement on Sunday, that said in part, “...I’m going to vote for Joe Biden, but the President needs millions of votes and I think the President needs to make some moves this week to put himself out there in a position to answer those questions.”

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