ABC panelists say Democratic primary is 'wide open' if Biden doesn't run in 2024
ABC panelists said Sunday that the Democratic presidential nomination was "not Kamala Harris' to take" in 2024 if President Biden doesn't run for re-election.
ABC's Jonathan Karl and Yvette Simpson, Democracy for American CEO, said Sunday during "This Week" that Vice President Kamala Harris was not next in line for the Democratic nomination if President Biden decides not to run in 2024.
Host George Stephanopoulos noted the "grumblings" coming from the Democrat Party about Biden running again as his approval remains in the 30s.
"I think he should not run. I mean, you know, his numbers are really low, overwhelmingly the poll came out that Democrats don’t want him to run. When folks rallied around him to be the president, the expectation [was] he wouldn’t run again, that he would empower someone to run. Who that person would be, I don’t know," Simpson said.
"You don't say Kamala Harris is the heir apparent?" Stephanopoulos asked.
Vice President Kamala Harris (Logan Cyrus/AFP via Getty Images)
Simpson said that Harris "should be" but that she should feel "empowered."
"She's powerful, she's young, she's able to get the energy, but we have not seen her strong and I don't know why the Biden administration didn't position her that way. It has to be her because it would be an outrage to skip over the vice president, especially the first African American and Asian female vice president. But they have to do a lot of work to get her in the seat so that we can see her powerful," she said.
She said the Biden administration should be focusing on getting Harris more time in the spotlight and said that Biden is "definitely battered" and has not kept the promises he made on the campaign trail.
Democracy for America CEO Yvette Simpson said Sunday that President Biden shouldn't run for re-election. (Screenshot/ABC/ThisWeek)
Stephanopoulos turned to Karl and noted that there was "no question" that the chatter surrounding Biden in 2024 "drives the White House crazy." The White House has said that the president is running for re-election in 2024.
"You talk to Democrats privately, key Democrats on Capitol Hill, leaders in the party, and there’s just trepidation about this. There is a sense that among many of them that he shouldn’t run, and also if he doesn’t run that the primary is wide open, and it’s not just Kamala Harris’ to take. It could be a very messy Democratic primary," Karl said.
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President Biden signs two bills aimed at combating fraud in the COVID-19 small business relief programs, Aug. 5, 2022, at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool)
Multiple Democrats have refused to answer questions about whether they would support the president in 2024. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., said she did not believe the president is running for re-election but later apologized for her comments.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., did not say whether she would support Biden if he runs for re-election.
"You know, if the president chooses to run again in 2024, I mean, first of all, I'm focused on winning this majority right now and preserving a majority this year in 2022," she said in June after CNN's Dana Bash asked if she'd support him in 2024. "So, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. … I think if the president has a vision and that's something certainly we're all willing to entertain and examine when the time comes."
"That's not a yes," Bash added.
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