President Joe Biden‘s reelection campaign forcefully pushed back against speculation Friday that Democratic operatives and power brokers might urge the president to bow out of the 2024 election.
Biden delivered a debate performance against former President Donald Trump on Thursday night that prompted panic within the party and could solidify voters’ concerns about his age. Biden, who is 81 years old and would be 86 years old at the conclusion of a second term, stumbled through multiple answers during the event and showed visible difficulty speaking during some exchanges.
The White House went on to say that Biden’s scratchy voice was the result of a cold he developed in the hours before the debate.
Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler fielded questions from reporters Friday afternoon while traveling with the president aboard Air Force One.
“There are no conversations about that whatsoever,” he told reporters when asked about calls for Biden to make way for a new Democratic nominee. “The Democratic voters elected — nominated Joe Biden. Joe Biden is the nominee.”
Tyler claimed that in addition to Biden pulling a crowd of “thousands of supporters” Friday afternoon in North Carolina, the campaign also clocked one of its most successful days of grassroots fundraising of the cycle, pulling in $14 million in small-dollar donations.
“That is Democratic voters tuning in, telling Joe Biden they’ve got his back for the fight ahead because they understand that he’s fighting,” he continued.
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The Biden campaign additionally confirmed that Biden still plans to take part in the second 2024 presidential debate in September but did not address questions about whether ABC, the host of the second debate, should mirror the format and rules established by CNN Friday night.
You can listen to Tyler’s remarks in full below.
