President Joe Biden says any Democratic politician who thinks they can beat him is free to challenge him at the party convention.
Speaking to MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” during an impromptu phone interview, Biden was in the midst of trying to dispel lingering doubts following his dreadful performance at the first presidential debate, when he said that “he gets so frustrated” by “elites in the party” who think they know what the average American wants.
Anyone who thinks he shouldn’t be the nominee, the president said, has a path they can take should they dare.
“They don’t think I should run? Run against me, announce for president. Challenge me at the convention,” Biden said.
Biden’s gauntlet toss comes after, according to anonymously sourced reporting from The Hill, as several top Democrats in the House are pushing for the 81-year-old president to clear the way for another candidate.
New York Reps. Jerry Nadler and Joe Morelle, as well as California Rep. Mark Takano and Washington’s Adam Smith, apparently expressed concern about Biden’s ability to take on Trump in November’s general election after his disastrous debate performance at the end of June.
“They were part of the general sentiment that we need to do something else,” one of the sources reportedly told The Hill.
According to the 46th President, despite the unforced debate error, Democratic voters would rather he kept at it and he’s already tired of having the conversation.
“I’m not going to explain anymore about what I should or shouldn’t do, I am running,” he said.
According to Biden, his political nose led him to the White House in 2020 and is as sharp as ever.
He was right, he said, that there would be no “Red wave” when he won in his first race against former President Donald Trump, and right again during the midterm elections of 2022 and through key local special elections in 2023.
“I’ve got a pretty good political instinct and eye, and here’s the deal: it’s not going to happen here this time around, the American public is not going to move away from me — as the average voter,” Biden said.
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Regarding his showing at the debate, Biden implored voters to judge him on accomplishment, pointing to his historic appointment of Supreme Court Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the 15 million jobs added to the economy under his watch, and victories on student debt relief, and his efforts to bring down the price of prescription drugs.
Neurologically he’s in good health and has the receipts, the president said, after releasing his full medical test results in February.
This is a developing story and it will be updated.