WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden stood firm Monday against calls for him to drop his reelection candidacy and called for an end to the intraparty drama that has torn apart Democrats since his dismal debate performance last month, as key lawmakers expressed support for him to remain in the 2024 presidential race.
As anxious congressional Democrats returned to Washington weighing whether to work to revive his campaign or to try to edge him out, Biden sent them an open letter aiming to silence their skepticism of his fitness to lead the country for another four years. He insisted he wasn’t leaving the race and stressed that the party has “one job,” which is to defeat presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in November.
After a week of false starts, a coordinated effort by Biden and his campaign to shore up Democratic support appeared to be paying off, though he had by no means silenced his doubters. By late Monday, a sudden rush of public support from Democrats emerged — or at least some tempering of criticism — as Biden allies appeared to be trying to overpower the public and private voices calling on him to step aside.
Biden wrote in the two-page letter that “the question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now. And it’s time for it to end.”
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“We have 42 days to the Democratic Convention and 119 days to the general election,” Biden said in the letter, distributed by his reelection campaign. “Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us. It’s time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump.”
Biden followed up the letter with a phone interview with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show, in which he insisted that “average Democrats” want him to stay in the race and said he was frustrated by the calls from party officials for him to step aside.
“They’re big names, but I don’t care what those big names think,” Biden said.
He threw the gauntlet at his critics, saying if they’re serious they ought to “announce for president, challenge me at the convention” or rally behind him against Trump. Later, Biden joined a call with members of his national finance committee, while first lady Jill Biden campaigned for her husband in a three-state swing focused on engaging veterans and military families.
“For all the talk out there about this race, Joe has made it clear that he’s all in,” she told a military crowd in Wilmington,