OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
There are two major questions facing the administration of President Joe Biden right now and the answers to them are going to play a major role in what happens in the 2024 presidential election.
Will President Biden campaign against for the presidency and, if he does, will Vice President Kamala Harris be on the ticket with him.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre appeared on CNN to chat with host Don Lemon on Monday night when he asked her the question that is on the minds of many.
“Does the president has the stamina, physically and mentally, do you think to continue on even after 2024?” he said which had the press secretary laughing.
“Don, you’re asking me this question,” she said, appearing to be stunned that he would ask her that question. “Oh my gosh. He’s the president of the United States.”
“You know, he — I can’t even keep up with him,” Jean-Pierre declared. “We just got back from New Mexico. We just got back from California. Uh, that is — I, I, that is — that is not a question that we should be even asking. Just look at the work that he does. Just look at how he’s delivering for the American public.”
DON LEMON: "Does the president has the stamina, physically and mentally, do you think to continue on even after 2024?"
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: "That is not a question that we should be even asking" pic.twitter.com/dUfQil9qKp
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 14, 2022
Earlier this month rumors began circulating that President Biden was contemplating replacing Harris in 2024.
White House insiders are painting a picture of total chaos and discontent between Biden and Harris, according to CNN.
“Kamala Harris is a leader but is not being put in positions to lead,” a top Democratic donor said. “[Biden] should be putting her in positions to succeed, as opposed to putting weights on her. If you did give her the ability to step up and help her lead, it would strengthen you and strengthen the party.”
The CNN report also claims there’s a rumor that Biden has considered booting Harris from the vice presidency altogether and nominating her to a Supreme Court vacancy.
“That chatter has already reached top levels of the Biden orbit, according to one person who’s heard it,” CNN reported.
The rumor is now floating around the media as well.
In a scathing piece from New York Magazine, titled, “There Has to Be a Backup Plan. There’s a Backup Plan, Right? Inside the 2024 soul-searching that’s happening in every corner of the Democratic Party,” author Gabriel Debenedetti discusses how Democrats are facing a reckoning.
Debenedetti notes how there seems to be a major divide between Biden and his allies on one side and Harris and her loyalists on the other.
With Trumpism re-ascendant, ambivalence about Biden’s age and political standing is fueling skepticism just as the image of his understudy, Vice-President Kamala Harris, dips even further than his. The most recent analysis from the Los Angeles Times has her net approval rating at negative 11. The result is a bizarre disconnect within the Democratic Party, with two factions talking past each other.
One group consists of Biden and his loyalists, who are convinced that while the ticket’s numbers are undeniably bleak, they’re historically unsurprising for a president and VP facing their first midterm and will surely bounce back. The second group comprises a broad swath of the Democratic elite and rank and file alike, who suspect that vectors of age, succession, and strategy have created a dynamic with no obvious parallel in recent history.
Debenedetti notes that Harris expects Biden to run again in 2024, but if he did step aside, would he endorse Harris as the Democratic nominee?
And if he does decide to campaign for the presidency he will do so as many Democrats are concerned that he cannot win.
Republicans are expected to have massive victories in the 2022 midterms and just about all of the 50 Democrats interviewed do not believe that President Biden can help the Party keep the White House in 2024, The New York Times reported.
Democratic National Committee (DNC) member Steve Simeonidis, said that President Biden should step aside and allow someone else to take the reigns in the 2024 election.
“To say our country was on the right track would flagrantly depart from reality,” he said to The Times. “[Biden] should announce his intent not to seek re-election in ’24 right after the midterms.”
“Democrats need fresh, bold leadership for the 2024 presidential race,” Shelia Huggins, a DNC member from North Carolina said. “That can’t be Biden.”
