Elizabeth Warren hedges on support for Biden staying in the race: He has a 'really big decision to make'

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Elizabeth Warren repeatedly says Biden has 'big decision to make' in MSNBC interview

Sen. Elizabeth Warren hedged repeatedly on giving an enthusiastic show of support for President Biden as he faces calls to leave the 2024 race.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., didn't offer a ringing endorsement to President Biden staying in the race on Saturday, repeatedly saying he's "our nominee" but he also had a "big decision to make."

Warren also seemed to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris being the replacement if Biden did step down, singing her praises as an ideal candidate to prosecute the Democratic case against former President Trump.

"Joe Biden is our nominee, and he has a really big decision to make. Joe Biden has been a transformational president," Warren told MSNBC, going on to praise his record. "I am deeply grateful to Joe Biden for all that he has accomplished."

In the face of mounting numbers of Democrats calling on him to step down for fear he'll lose to Trump, Biden has repeatedly insisted he is staying in the race. Yet Warren, sounding like reportedly skeptical former Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier this month, appeared to give Biden yet another off-ramp.

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., on MSNBC on July 20, 2024.

MSNBC played a clip of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., the far-left lawmaker who's remained publicly loyal to Biden, saying there was no "consensus" around Harris being Biden's replacement if the movement to dump the president from the ticket is successful. 

Warren repeated herself when asked if she'd heard the same as Ocasio-Cortez.

"Joe Biden is our nominee. As I said before, he has a really big decision to make," she said. "But what gives me a lot of hope right now is that if President Biden decides to step back, we have Vice President Kamala Harris who is ready to step up, to unite the party, to take on Donald Trump, and to win in November. Remember, 80 million people voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in 2020." 

Warren pointed to Harris' prosecutor background as proof she would be a great candidate against "a convicted felon," referring to Trump's 34 criminal convictions for falsifying business records last month. 

"No matter what happens, I will be out there fighting for Democrats," she said. "I believe we're going to come together and win in November."

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MSNBC host Alicia Menendez, the daughter of Warren's colleague, New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez who is now a convicted felon himself, asked Warren if Harris should be the de facto nominee if Biden does drop out.

President Joe Biden speaks at the 115th NAACP National Convention in Las Vegas, Tuesday, July 16, 2024.  (AP Photo/David Becker)

"Like I said earlier, Joe Biden is our nominee. He has a very big decision to make," Warren said, using the same phrasing for a third time. "But we are very lucky to have Vice President Kamala Harris – 80 million people voted for her – to step up if she is needed, and I've known Kamala for a long time and I think very highly of Kamala. But I want to underscore, Democrats are going to come together. I will be fighting for this ticket and so are many others. We are going to pull together and win in November."

Biden is currently recovering from COVID-19 and has been forced to remain in seclusion as more Democrats, seemingly on a daily basis, publicly call on him to get out of the race. Biden has already clinched the nomination and said he's not going anywhere, and his campaign has denied reports that he's considering otherwise.

Biden's campaign didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Warren's interview came on the heels of Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., calling for Biden to leave the race this week, joining dozens of House Democrats, Fox News Digital previously reported.