President Joe Biden has expressly planned to run for re-election in 2024.
However, some Democrats are refusing to take yes for answer, and Biden is growing frustrated with them.
In fact, Biden became visibly peeved during one interaction with a skeptical reporter.
On Tuesday, an ABC News correspondent asked, “Mr. President, what’s your message to Democrats who don’t want you to run again?”
“They want me to run,” Biden said, walking closer. “Read the poll. Read the polls, Jack. You guys are all the same. That poll said that 92 percent of Democrats, if I ran, would vote for me.”
“Two thirds say they don’t,” the reporter replied. “A majority of Democrats said that they don’t want you to run again in 2024.”
Biden hit back, “92 percent said, if I did, they’d vote for me.”
The president walked away instead of answering further questions.
The reporter was right.
A poll from The New York Times surveyed people intending to vote in the 2024 Democratic primary. 64 percent of those respondents wanted Biden to step aside after one term.
Among registered Democrats planning to vote in the next primary, 61 percent wanted Biden to retire after his current term. Only 29 percent wanted Biden to run again.
The pollsters also asked about 2024’s general election.
The Times asked registered Democrats about a hypothetical scenario where “the election were held today” and the choices were either the incumbent President Biden, former President Donald Trump, a third-party candidate or “not going to vote/wouldn’t vote if those are the choices.”
92 percent of registered Democrats would vote for Biden under those conditions.
However, that doesn’t mean that they “want me to run.”
Imagine the media lectures that we’d receive if Trump had misinterpreted a poll and antagonized a reporter.
Take a look —
President Biden tells me that despite most Democrats saying they want another candidate in 2024, most would still vote for him if he ran pic.twitter.com/hcFnI8C7gh
— Ben Gittleson (@bgittleson) July 12, 2022
Age ranked as the top concern among primary voters that want Biden to retire. 33 percent named Biden’s advanced age as a reason for retirement. 32 percent named Biden’s job performance.
These voters harbor concerns about Biden’s age, but they don’t usually consider him to be senile.
Of all the Democrats calling for Biden to retire, only 3 percent named Biden’s mental acuity as the reason. That’s a tiny number: 3 percent of 64 percent of registered Democrats.
Plus, Biden seems to have appeased the insurgent Left. A relatively low number of Democratic voters selected “prefer someone new” or “not progressive enough” as reasons for Biden to retire.
Still, Biden is refusing to acknowledge a collapse in support.
The Horn editorial team