By The newspaper
08 Jul 2024, 09:38 AM EDT
In a letter, President Joe Biden made it clear to Democrats in Congress that he will continue to run for reelection.
“I want you to know that, despite all the speculation in the press and elsewhere, I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to going all the way and beating Donald Trump,” the letter begins.
The president says he has held conversations with several members of his party, including leaders, about whom he acknowledged a “genuine” fear about age and physical condition, but he said he is in a position to continue in the race and even expressed confidence of beating former President Donald Trump.
“I have heard people’s concerns and fears that they have expressed in good faith about what is at stake in this election. […] “I also know that these concerns come from a genuine respect for my life of public service and my record as president,” he wrote. “I can answer all of this by saying clearly and unequivocally: I would not run for president again if I did not absolutely believe that I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024.”
The president faced criticism over his health following the first presidential debate on CNN against former President Trump.
Biden emphasized the support he has received from the Democratic Party’s grassroots voters.
“We had a Democratic nomination process and the voters spoke clearly and decisively. I received over 14 million votes, 87% of the votes cast during the entire nomination process. I have nearly 3,900 delegates, making me the presumptive nominee of our party by a wide margin,” he said.
He even questioned whether the pressures for his resignation were a kind of disdain for the vote of party members. “Are we now simply going to say that this process did not matter? That voters have no say?” he asked.
“I feel a deep obligation to the faith and trust that the voters of the Democratic Party have placed in me to run this year. It was their decision. Not the press, not the pundits, not the big donors, not any select group of people, no matter how well-intentioned,” he said.