Race for the White House

Biden challenges Democratic Party bigwigs: 'I'm not quitting, the matter is closed'

In the two-page letter, Biden wrote that 'the question of how to move forward has been addressed for more than a week. And it is time for it to end."

8 July 2024Aggiornato l’8 luglio alle 22:57

3' min read

Biden is not giving up and is counter-attacking. The President, in a letter to Congressional Democrats, strongly opposed calls to abandon the nomination and called for an end to the internal party drama that has torn the Democrats apart after his faltering performance in the first televised debate with Donald Trump. However, Dem Congressman Adam Smith, an influential member of the party's armed services committee, publicly stated that Joe Biden should drop out of the race "as soon as possible", after expressing this position in a private call with House colleagues. "The president's performance in the debate has been alarming to watch and the American people have made it clear that they no longer see him as a credible candidate to serve another four years as president," he said in a note, adding that "he is not the best person to convey the Democratic message."

Biden's efforts to shore up a deeply anxious Democratic Party came as members of Congress returned to Washington on Monday to decide whether to work to revive his campaign or try to outvote the party leader and find an alternative candidate.

Letter to Congress: matter closed

In the two-page letter, Biden wrote that 'the question of how to move forward has been addressed for more than a week. And it is time for it to end." He emphasised that the party has "only one task", to defeat Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in November.

"We are 42 days away from the Democratic Convention and 119 days away from the election," Biden said in the letter, circulated by his re-election campaign. "Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity on the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us. It is time to unite, to move forward as a united party, and to defeat Donald Trump."

"Over the past 10 days," Biden wrote to Congressmen, "I have had long conversations with the party leadership, with elected officials, with members, and especially with Democratic voters. I have listened to people's concerns, their bona fide fears about what is at stake in this election. I am not blind to these concerns. Believe me, I know better than anyone the responsibility and burden that our party's candidate carries. I carried it in 2020 when the fate of our nation was at stake (...). I can respond to all this by saying clearly and unequivocally: I would not have run again if I was not absolutely convinced that I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024.

"Democratic voters chose me"

We had a democratic nomination process and the voters spoke loud and clear. I received over 14 million votes, 87% of the votes cast in the entire nomination process. I have almost 3,000 delegates, which makes me the presumptive nominee of our party by a wide margin.

It was an open process for anyone who wanted to apply. Only three people chose to challenge me. One went so badly that he abandoned the primaries to run as an independent. Another attacked me for being too old and was soundly defeated. The voters of the Democratic Party voted. They chose me as the party's candidate.

"Are we to say that this process did not matter? That the voters have no say? I refuse to do so. I feel a deep obligation to the trust the voters of the Democratic Party placed in me to run for office this year. It was their decision. Not the press, not the pundits, not the big donors, not a select group of individuals, however well-intentioned. It is the voters - and only the voters - who decide the nominee of the Democratic Party. How can we defend democracy in our nation if we ignore it in our own party? I cannot do that. I will not do it'.

Divided Party

Anxiety is high as key Democratic lawmakers are joining calls for Biden to step aside. At the same time, some of the president's staunchest supporters are doubling down on Biden's fight for the presidency, insisting there is no one better to beat Trump in what many consider to be among the most important elections of their lives.

Biden followed it up with a phone interview with MSNBC's "Morning Joe" programme, in which he insisted that "average Democrats" want him to stay in the race and said he was "frustrated" by calls from party officials to step aside. "These are big names, but I don't care what these big names think," Biden said.

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