Dan Backer, an attorney representing the Committee to Defeat President PAC, wrote a supplemental note to the FEC requesting that they enforce federal law and require President Joe Biden to file the forms required to declare himself a candidate for 2024. Biden’s public statements and those of others were cited in the letter. These statements provided additional support for the October 2021 complaint. Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary, bolstered Backer’s case last week.
Backer believes Jean-Pierre’s statements bolstered PAC’s complaint and he sent an additional supplemental letter. She has regular contact with Biden and is not unnamed. “The public statement by the press secretary underlines our legal case. Biden clearly has the mental intention to run for president in 2024. He should be truthful and file the FEC forms required so that groups such as the Committee to Defeat President can start opposing him directly,” Backer stated.
Jean-Pierre tweeted that Backer claimed that Jean-Pierre was wrong to claim that Jean-Pierre had filed a FEC complaint against the PAC. This is a clear violation. Backer claims that Biden’s campaign committee remains intact and is spending money. This infrastructure is only necessary to run for office. Backer confidently predicted that Biden would run for office in 2024, assuming he does not die in office.
He was also shocked by the open discussion in the media regarding Biden’s second term. Backer observed that “the message discipline has disappeared.” He believes that Team Biden lacks the necessary level of consensus in the party structure and control over the messages being sent out by the media. Obama, while Democrats were the minority under Trump’s leadership, the party line was the message to voters.
Now, media coverage is beginning to cover the Democratic caucus’ fractures. Jean-Pierre tweeted two days earlier. The New York Times published an article following discussions with officials from the Democratic party, members of Congress, voters, and journalists. The authors claim that when Biden was asked whether he should run for president in 2024, Democratic whispers of “No” begin to rise.
David Axelrod, Democrat strategist, raised concerns about Biden’s age. Axelrod stated that “the presidency is a very taxing job and the stark reality of the president would be closer 90 than 80 at he end of a second term. That would be a major problem.” He looks older and isn’t as agile in front a camera as he used to be. This has created a myth about competence that is not grounded in reality.
Joy Behar, The View’s Joy Behar, scolded Axelrod on Tuesday. You know what? Ronald Reagan’s rule was that you should not make a mockery of fellow Republicans. Behar asked David Axelrod to stop referring to fellow Democrats as “disgusting”.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., was asked directly if she would vote for President Biden in 2024, the day following the Times article. AOC dodged the question and said she was focusing on the 2022 midterms. She was clearly uncomfortable and told CNN’s Alisyn Camerona that she believes we should endorse it when we get there.
After Jean-Pierre’s tweet, the public debate continued. The next day, she appeared alongside CNN’s Don Lemon. Jean-Pierre rebuffed Biden’s blunt question about whether he had the mental and physical stamina to run.
Mark Leibovich, a journalist at The Atlantic, wrote several thousand words asking Biden to not run. He also points out that Biden was a child of FDR’s presidency. Leibovich argues that although Biden is healthy for his age, he lacks energy for a second term.
Professionally, Biden would be in his 15th year retirement if his career had been as a commercial airline pilot. Or his 24th year if his career had been as an air-traffic controller. The FAA requires mandatory departure times for these positions (65 hours for pilots and 56 for controllers). These are vital tasks that require mental and physical acuity as well as stamina. Burnout can be severe, the pressure can be overwhelming, and grandpa is not in the cockpit.
The majority of Americans would support a higher age limit for elected officials. About two-thirds of those Americans believe the limit should be lower than 70. Nearly 30 percent of the United States Senate would be sent out to pasture. This is a good place to start, even though it may be difficult to see someone other than Dianne Feinstein and Chuck Grassley planning our children’s futures.
Backer is calling for Biden to end the ongoing debate between Democrats. Biden must follow federal law now that Jean-Pierre has confirmed the president’s intent to run for another term. The FEC should make Biden file all necessary paperwork if he refuses to do so. Backer loves to remind you that Trump’s campaign filed paperwork declaring him a 2020 candidate on Inauguration Day 2017. It’s long past due for President Biden do the same.
