While recent polling suggests that a majority of Americans in both parties do not want to see a rematch of the 2020 election, the two leading Democrats in Congress are urging President Joe Biden to run again in 2024.
In an interview with CNN, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said that they think Biden, 80, should run for reelection.
When asked by CNN reporter Jamie Gangel if Biden should step aside — citing a recent poll the outlet released this week which shows little appetite for a 2020 rematch — for a younger candidate in 2024, Pelosi shook her head no.
“I think President Biden has done an excellent job as President of the United States,” the California Democrat said. “I hope that he does seek reelection.”
The poll released Wednesday showed that 62% of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents said they would prefer a new nominee other than former President Donald Trump, while 59% of Democrats and left-leaning nonpartisans would prefer someone other than Biden.
That said, the survey showed that Trump’s support has fallen consistently — From 50% in January and 44% in July to 38% this month — while Biden’s has rebounded since the summer. The 40% who responded in December’s poll that they want Biden to be the nominee is up significantly from 25% in July, though down slightly from 45% in January.
Pelosi, who is stepping down from House Democratic leadership for the first time in decades, called Biden is “a person with a great vision for our country.”
“He’s been involved for a long time so he has great knowledge of the issues, and the challenges we face,” she said. “And he’s the most empathetic president, he connects with people.”
“The vision, the knowledge, the strategic thinking is all here,” Pelosi continued, pointing to her head. “The empathy is from the heart, and I think he’s a great president.”
Schumer concurred: “Look at what he’s accomplished.”
Biden worked closely with Schumer and Pelosi on passing a number of key pieces of legislation, despite razor-thin majorities in both the House and Senate — including the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first major gun safety legislation passed in decades, and most recently the Respect for Marriage Act, which aims to protect same-sex and interracial unions.
"He's done an excellent, excellent job, and if he runs I'm gonna support him all the way," Schumer continued.
Biden has not yet announced a 2024 campaign, but has said as recently as last month that his “intention” is to run again. He noted, however, that it would be a “family decision” and will likely make a final determination by “early next year.”
The conversation then turned to Biden's predecessor, the only candidate who has formally announced a 2024 White House campaign. Schumer predicted that Trump would not be successful in a third White House bid.
"The American people have gotten wise to him," Schumer said. "Took a little while, but they did."
Earlier in the conversation, Schumer said that voters understood the threat to democracy after watching the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. He credited that, in part, with Democrats' resilient performance in last month's midterms, which saw the party narrowly lose the House to Republicans, a far cry from the "red wave" many predicted, and gain in the Senate.
"People saw the violence, they saw police officers being beaten," Schumer said, adding: "Many people who don't follow politics ... on a daily basis way some of us do, started worrying about what's going on in the country."
"Frankly, I think that's one of the reasons the election came out a lot better in the House and Senate than people thought, because they saw the danger to democracy," the New York Democrat continued.
Pelosi took a different approach, referencing the interview's setting at a Chinese restaurant near the Capitol: "I don’t think we should talk about [Trump] while we’re eating."