Wednesday 29 June 2022 11:30 PM Kamala backtracks after guaranteeing Biden will run in 2024 trends now
Vice President Kamala Harris prompted new uncertainty over whether President Biden will run for president in 2024 by revising comments she previously made promising he would 'full stop.'
On Monday Harris said in an interview with CNN's Dana Bash: 'Joe Biden is running for reelection, and I will be his ticket mate. Full stop.'
On Wednesday, the vice president pool reporter said in an email circulated widely to other journalists: 'The White House said VPOTUS wanted to clarify comments she made on CNN a few days ago. When asked if Biden was definitely running, Harris replied: 'The president intends to run and if he does, I will be his ticket mate. We Will run together.'
The new statement sounded less confident in a Biden-Harris ticket than the original, and it's unclear why the vice president's office chose to put out less certain wording two days after the fact.
A Democrat close to the White House told the Los Angeles Times that Harris' revision was not an indication that Biden's plans to run again had changed. Instead, the follow-up statement was to avoid using 'trigger words' that would set off Federal Election Commission requirements for Biden to establish a formal campaign and begin fundraising.
Vice President Kamala Harris prompted new uncertainty over whether President Biden will run for president in 2024 by revising comments she previously made promising he would 'full stop'
On Monday Harris said in an interview with CNN's Dana Bash: 'Joe Biden is running for reelection, and I will be his ticket mate. Full stop'
Biden, who would be 81 years old when he ran for office a second time, has faced a mountain of discussions about potential primary challengers compared to other first-term president this early in office.
Lawmakers within the president's own party have been hesitant to get behind him at this point. Earlier this month, firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez refused to say she would back a Biden 2024 campaign during an interview on CNN.
'Should he run again, I think that I - you know, I think it's - it's, we'll take a look at it,' the New York Democrat said. 'But, right now, we need to focus on winning a majority, instead of a presidential election.'
West Virginia conservative Democratic Senator Joe Manchin also would not tell the New York Times whether he would support Biden, brushing off the question with, 'We’re just trying to do our daily thing, brother.'
'Trying to do what we
