President Joe Biden said Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that he was not dropping out of the race because he believed the average voter still wanted him to run.
Biden said, “All the data, all the data shows that the average Democrat out there voted, and 14 million of them had voted for me. Still want me to be the nominee. Number one. Number two, the idea that Donald Trump is, has gained in any substantial way has his his arguments for why he should be president is any more convincing than a was, two weeks or three weeks ago. It’s just not there. We’re just getting and we’re just starting to focus on Trump a lot. I attended services, spoke to over 600 people at Mount Airy Church of God in Christ in Philly. I stopped by campaign field offices with John Fetterman and Madeleine Lee. Both strongly supported me. I believe the president and first lady. We spoke at a campaign ice cream social for me, Council 13 in Harrisburg, 40 minutes after we spoke with supporters, stopped by Dunham Coffee. I mean, I was with the governor of Pennsylvania, who still strongly supported me. I mean, so, look, and the fact is that this week I’m going to be hosting a NATO summit here in DC, can hold a press conference on Thursday and Wednesday. I met with the national union leaders of the AFL CIO. On Friday, I traveled to Detroit, Michigan for campaign event for, you know, just on down the line.”
He continued, “And so I’m not getting any of what I was told. I wanted to make sure I was right, that the average voter out there still wanted Joe Biden. And I’m confident they do. And I’m confident and like I said, impressive with me. I think I’ve been fairly fair. I haven’t read it in reporting I did today. But the fact is that, you know, I think that we have to acknowledge we had large crowds and enthusiastic crowds and, you know, and now they’re talking about whether I use a prompter. Well, I did it all extemporaneously.”
Biden added, “The fact of the matter is, using prompter two, I don’t get that. But the bottom line here is that we’re not going anywhere. I am not going anywhere. I wouldn’t be running if I didn’t absolutely believe that I am the best candidate to beat Donald Trump in 2024. We had a Democratic nominating process for the voters spoke clearly, I won 40 million votes, etc. so I just want I’m not only believe that from the beginning, but I wanted to reassert it and demonstrate that it’s true. And I’m going to be doing that all through this week and from here on.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
