Rep. Carolyn Maloney Says She Doesn't Think Biden Will Run For Reelection

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday said she doesn’t think President Joe Biden will run for a second term in the 2024 election.

“I don’t believe he’s running for reelection,” Maloney said during a debate with fellow Democratic contenders for the newly drawn 12th Congressional District, Rep. Jerry Nadler and attorney Suraj Patel.

All three candidates were asked whether Biden should run again in 2024 during the lightning round of a debate hosted by NY1 and WNYC.

Patel offered a straightforward “yes.” Nadler said it was “too early to say.”

“It doesn’t serve the purpose of the Democratic Party to deal with that after the midterms,” Nadler said.

Later, Maloney clarified that she would “absolutely” back Biden if he ran.

“I absolutely support President Biden,” Maloney said, according to The Hill. “He has shown exemplary leadership, and I am thrilled by the historic legislation announced last week which makes investments to tackle climate change, lower healthcare costs and addresses inflation by requiring corporations to pay a 15% corporate minimum tax.”

Biden, the oldest American president in history, turns 80 in November. He has said repeatedly he intends to run in 2024. Biden’s approval rating remains low, at 39.2%, according to FiveThirtyEight, and a New York Times-Siena College poll last month found that 64% of Democratic voters want someone else as their 2024 nominee.

Democrats are hoping a climate deal brokered with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) along with a base energized by the Supreme Court’s decision overturning abortion rights, will help them in the midterms.

Still, the party faces a variety of challenges.

On Sunday, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) declined to say whether he would endorse Biden if he was the party’s 2024 nominee.

I’m not getting into the 2022 or 2024. Whoever is my president, that’s my president,” Manchin told ABC’s “This Week.”

In June, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.) wouldn’t directly say whether she would support another Biden run.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” she told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Meanwhile, New York’s 12th Congressional District race appears to be tightening. A poll commissioned by Patel’s campaign last month showed he has narrowed the gap between the other two candidates, with 25% compared with 31% for Maloney and Nadler.

Nadler and Maloney, both nearly 30-year House veterans, ended up competing in the same district after a court struck down New York Democrats’ redistricting lines. The New York Democratic primary is Aug. 23.