CNN’s Don Lemon, a long-time cheerleader for President Biden and other Democrats, asked the White House press secretary on Monday night whether Biden has the “stamina, physically and mentally” to run for a second term in 2024. Biden, now 79, would be 82 on Inauguration Day 2025.
She didn’t take the question well.
“Don! You’re asking me this question! Oh my gosh, he’s the president of the United States! You know, he — I can’t even keep up with him,” Karine Jean-Pierre declared. “We just got back from New Mexico. We just got back from California. Uh, that is — I, I, that is — that is not a question that we should be even asking. Just look at the work that he does. Just look at how he’s delivering for the American public.”
DON LEMON: "Does the president has the stamina, physically and mentally, do you think to continue on even after 2024?"
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: "That is not a question that we should be even asking" pic.twitter.com/dUfQil9qKp
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 14, 2022
Lemon’s question comes after a slew of reports — even from the liberal mainstream media — that says Democrats are mulling replacing Biden at the top of the ticket in 2024.
“Many Democratic lawmakers and party officials are venting their frustrations with President Biden’s struggle to advance the bulk of his agenda, doubting his ability to rescue the party from a predicted midterm trouncing and increasingly viewing him as an anchor that should be cut loose in 2024,” according to a recent piece by The New York Times.
The Times report cited “nearly 50 Democratic officials” and “disappointed voters” who are “alarmed about Republicans’ rising strength and extraordinarily pessimistic about an immediate path forward” under the flagging Biden administration.
With “low enthusiasm” from Biden’s base — nearly every constituency is abandoning him, including blacks, Hispanics, women, young people, and union members — top party officials question his “leadership, his age and his capability to take the fight to former President Donald J. Trump a second time,” the Times wrote.
Jean-Pierre rushed to dismiss the piece.
“Look, what, that — that — that article that we’re talking about is hearsay, it’s salacious, that’s not what we care about. We care about how we are going to deliver for the American people. How are we going to make their lives better? That’s what the president talks about. That is his focus. And that’s where we’ll continue to focus on,” she said.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.
Source: Dailywire
