A truck-mounted billboard has appeared in Washington, D.C., carrying a three-word message directed at one man — the president of the United States:
“Don’t Run Joe.”
Actually, the full text of the message is six words, if you count the three smaller words in blue type (“MOST DEMOCRATS SAY”), which lead into the main message in large, red letters: “DON’T RUN JOE. “
SPOTTED IN DC TODAY:
A large billboard urging President Biden not to run for re-election has begun appearing in front of the White House and the Capitol this week, as the Don’t Run Joe campaign boosts its presence in the nation’s capital. #DontRunJoe pic.twitter.com/DQJnWhZMMF
— RootsAction (@Roots_Action) January 10, 2023
The billboard is the work of RootsAction, a progressive organization, according to Fox News.
The same organization launched a TV ad campaign with the same “Don’t Run, Joe” message in December in New Hampshire, a key primary state. It has since been seen in other states, according to a group that calls itself The Institute for Public Accuracy.
“Don’t run, Joe.”
Don’t Run Joe television ads have appeared in recent weeks on the statewide ABC affiliate in New Hampshire, and on MSNBC and CNN in Georgia, Michigan and South Carolina.https://t.co/PBE2GlOqFX
— accuracy.org (@accuracy) January 10, 2023
Should Joe Biden run again in 2024?
Yes: 12% (11 Votes)
No: 88% (81 Votes)
“The stepped-up advertising comes in the wake of recent polls by CNBC and CNN showing that nearly 60 percent of Democrats nationwide do not want Biden to be the party nominee in 2024,” the organization reported.
In the TV ad, a series of people who appear to represent a range of ethnic and economic backgrounds each take turns staring urgently at the camera and giving the same message:
“Don’t run, Joe.”
But just to make sure their message reaches its target, RootsAction added the mobile billboard this week.
It has been spotted all around the president’s neighborhood in Washington, D.C., including the White House, the Capitol, the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.
The group’s “Don’t Run Joe” website has a grim warning about the threat of “a neofascist GOP” in general and “a Republican takeover of the White House” in particular.
The site proclaims, “Bold and inspiring leadership from the Oval Office will be essential” in 2024.
“Unfortunately, President Biden has been neither bold nor inspiring,” it continued. “And his prospects for winning re-election appear to be bleak. With so much at stake, making him the Democratic Party’s standard-bearer in 2024 would be a tragic mistake.”
RootsAction credited itself and other progressive organizations as having provided the “extraordinary grassroots efforts” that put Biden in the White House.
Their statement complained that Biden’s “moderate” policies “have failed to truly address such pressing concerns as the climate emergency, voting rights, student debt, health care, corporate price-gouging, and bloated military spending in tandem with anemic diplomacy.
“We’re calling on Joe Biden to announce that he’s not running for re-election.”
Their website even has an area for viewers to sign a petition to send their own “Don’t run, Joe” message to Biden.
“A president is not his party’s king, and he has no automatic right to renomination,” the group’s statement concluded. “Joe Biden should not seek it. If he does, he will have a fight on his hands.”
