President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillon made it clear he’s not going anywhere during an interview on Biden’s favorite TV program this morning.
O’Malley Dillon appeared Friday on MSNBC’s Morning Joe to discuss the fate of Biden’s campaign amid growing calls from Democratic elected officials and liberal commentators for him to step aside following his disastrous debate performance last month.
“Absolutely the president is in this race,” she said. “Joe Biden is more committed than ever to beat Donald Trump, and we believe on this campaign we are built for the close election that we are in, and we see the path forward.”
Biden, 81, is currently holed up at his Delaware residence following a positive Covid-19 test earlier this week, but his symptoms appear to be mild. O’Malley Dillon said he will return to the campaign trail next week. She acknowledged that “he has seen some slippage in support” since the debate against former president Donald Trump, but insisted that he is “absolutely” staying in the race.
“We know that we’ve slipped a bit from the debate,” she said. “And we know that the president has to prove to the American people exactly what he believes, that he’s in this to win this. He can do this.”
Later on, O’Malley Dillon downplayed reports suggesting Biden is privately reconsidering his decision to stay in the presidential race because of the possibility he could lose to Trump.
“You have heard from the President directly time and again, he is in this race to win. He is our nominee, and he’s going to be our president for a second term,” she said.
The calls for Biden to step aside continued last night, when vulnerable Senator Jon Tester (D., Mont.) issued a statement calling for Biden not to seek another term, making him the second Democratic senator to do so publicly. Nearly two dozen Democratic lawmakers have come out in favor of Biden stepping down from the presidential ticket to make way for a different nominee.
Tester’s statement came after a series of reports indicating that party heavyweights, including former speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, have privately told Biden they doubt his ability to win in November and are concerned about the impact his running will have on down-ballot races. Former president Barack Obama has also expressed reservations about Biden’s ability to win, the Washington Post reported Thursday.
On his show yesterday, Joe Scarborough urged Biden to “do the right thing” without explicitly telling the president he should bow out of the presidential race, a sharp contrast from Scarborough’s initial defensiveness towards Biden after the debate.
The lack of confidence in Biden is not felt solely by pundits and party insiders. A recent poll found almost two-thirds of Democratic voters want a different candidate, and 48 percent have no confidence in Biden’s mental faculties.
If Biden leaves the presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris would become the immediate frontrunner to replace him atop the ticket. For now, Biden is the presumptive nominee with 99 percent of his party’s delegates.