Former President Donald Trump said President Joe Biden appears set to remain in the 2024 race, despite calls from some members of his own party for him to step down after a poor debate performance late last month.
Trump said in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday that Biden has an “ego” and that he “doesn’t want to quit.”
“It seems to me that he’s probably going to stay, and he’s very egotistical and he doesn’t want to quit. He doesn’t want to do that. In my opinion, that’s what he wants,” Trump said.
Trump challenges Biden to second presidential debate — but there’s a problem
Biden told House Democrats in a letter on Monday that he would remain in the race and committed to defeating Trump in November.
President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event at the Martin Luther King Jr. Entertainment Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Hannah Bell/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
As pressure grows to drop out of presidential race, Biden remains defiant
“We had a Democratic nominating process where voters spoke clearly and decisively. I received more than 14 million votes, 87% of the votes cast throughout the nomination process. I had nearly 3,900 delegates, making me our party’s presumptive nominee people.
“I can respond to all this unequivocally: I would not run again if I did not absolutely believe that I am the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump in 2024.”
Trump said he believed Vice President Kamala Harris would replace Biden if he was forced to step down or step down.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally in Las Vegas on June 28, 2024. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“I think she’s an incompetent person. She’s in charge of the border, but she’s never been there, she’s not doing a good job, and she’s not doing a good job on a lot of things,” he told Hannity.
“It seems to me, from a political perspective, that they’re just going to go with them. They’re not even talking about alternatives.”
The former president added that Biden has so much power given the number of delegates he has received so far that the only way Democrats can take him out of the race is to use the 25th Amendment.
“I think unless they use the 25th Amendment, which they will use in a different sense, he has all the power. He has representation. He doesn’t have to leave. There’s nothing they can do to make him leave,” Trump said. “So, he’s going to get the nomination.”
house democrats held a virtual meeting The future of Biden’s re-election campaign was discussed over the weekend after his performance at the CNN presidential debate was heavily criticized.
Fox News senior congressional correspondent Chad Pegram reported that multiple top Democrats on House committees expressed their desire for Biden to step down during a virtual meeting convened by Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Click here to get the Fox News app
“The day after the debate, I made it publicly clear that I support President Joe Biden and the Democratic ticket,” Jeffries said. “My position has not changed.”
Biden and Trump are preparing for another debate in September.
