Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez laughed and dodged the question of whether she would consider running for president in 2024 during her appearance on The Colbert Show.
I know someone who will turn 35 about a month before the election in 2024 representing the 14th in New York. Does this job appeal to you at all? asked host Stephen Colbert of the New York Democrat.
Ocasio-Cortez responded: “We need to focus on preserving democracy for anyone to be president in the next couple of years. That’s my central focus on helping the people of this country right now.”
“So this is possible?” Colbert asked. The congresswoman laughed and said, “I don’t know about all that… You’re trying to get me in trouble, and I don’t know about all that.”
The question was asked amid unspoken whispers that Democrats aren’t entirely confident that President Biden, who turns 81 in 2024, will be ready to run again.
I know someone who will turn 35 about a month before the election in 2024 representing the 14th in New York. Does this job appeal to you at all? asked host Stephen Colbert of the New York Democrat
I know someone who will turn 35 about a month before the election in 2024 representing the 14th in New York. Does this job appeal to you at all? asked host Stephen Colbert of the New York Democrat
“So this is possible?” Colbert asked. The congresswoman laughed and said, “I don’t know about all that… You’re trying to get me in trouble, and I don’t know about all that.”
Biden and his top aides are “furious” about the cold reception his projected 2024 re-election bid has received from fellow Democrats and the media, according to The New York Times.
Biden and his team see perceptions of him as a “lame duck” less than halfway through his first term as “disrespectful,” according to the Post’s reporting based on anonymous conversations with people who regularly speak with the commander-in-chief.
In light of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, Ocasio-Cortez also said in Colbert that she would like Biden and Congress to reconsider expanding the Supreme Court, ending the Senate filibuster and repealing the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funding for abortion. She also said Congress needed to get tougher on legalizing abortion rights, same-sex marriage, interracial marriage, and access to contraception.
“The Supreme Court has engaged in excesses, and it is the responsibility of the President and Congress to bring them to heel as they have delegitimized themselves,” said the congresswoman.
“We just need to fight, and we have to show the American people and prove to the American people that when you vote to give the Democrats power, we will use it as far as we can to stand up for everyone’s civil, economic and human rights.”
During a CNN appearance earlier this month, Ocasio-Cortez declined to say whether she would support Biden in the upcoming election, offering only: “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
“I think if the president has a vision, it’s certainly something we’re all willing to entertain and examine when the time comes,” said the Democrat, who serves as figurehead in the Progressive Caucus.
That’s not a yes,” said CNN’s Dana Bash, to which the congresswoman replied, “We should be supportive when we get to that, but I think the president’s been doing a pretty good job so far, and you know, should he? I run again, I think I, you know, I think … we’ll take a look at it.
“But right now, we need to focus on winning a majority rather than a presidential election,” she said, referring to the midterm elections.
Nor did he tell conservative Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia The New York Times Whether he would support Biden, deflecting the question, “We’re just trying to do our day-to-day stuff, bro.”
“Trying to do what we need to do that’s good for the country,” said the senator, who has reportedly fielded requests from wealthy donors to run as a third-party candidate in 2024.
The report notes that Biden’s allies believe his ability to defeat Donald Trump in 2020 is reason enough to support his candidacy, which comes amid the former president’s ever-increasing hints that he is looking to run for office for the third time.
He cites left-wing Democratic voters’ frustration with party leaders at their failure to provide an adequate response to the Supreme Court overturning federal abortion protections in Roe v. Wade.
Many felt that Biden and congressional Democrats had not lived up to expectations after having spent more than a month preparing since a draft opinion written by Judge Samuel Alito was leaked to Politico early last month.
As of Wednesday, Biden’s average approval rating across the full suite of polls is 39.2 percent, according to FiveThirty Eight.
On Tuesday, Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger declined to commit to supporting Biden-Harris’ ticket in 2024. “I’m looking squarely at 2022 and my re-election is in front of me,” she said.
Pressed on whether Biden was the best fit of the Democrats to take on Trump, the congresswoman said, “I’ve been very clear that I think there are incredible leaders across the Democratic Party and that it’s time to start new leadership.”
