Democratic Representative Caroline Maloney apologized to President Joe Biden on Thursday in an embarrassing CNN interview after the New York lawmaker long said Biden would not run for re-election in 2024.
It’s the second time Maloney has been forced to undo her apparent misstep, which occurred during Tuesday night’s debate for the hotly contested Democratic primary race in New York’s 12th congressional district.
Maloney was asked several times about her comments during a tense Thursday morning interview, and each time she gave a more angry response. She pledged support for the president’s 2024 re-election bid on Thursday morning — but doubled down on skepticism that the campaign would pay off.
‘Mr. Mr. President, I apologise. I want you to run. “I guess you’re not going to run, but when you run or if you run I’m 100 percent there,” Maloney said at the end of her CNN New Day appearance.
You are a great boss. And thank you for all that you have done for my state, and for all the states and cities, in America. Thank you, Mr. President.
Empire State’s newly redrawn county lines put Maloney in direct competition with Democratic Representative Jerry Nadler.
For decades, the pair worked alongside Maloney representing much of Manhattan’s Upper East Side, as well as portions of Queens and Brooklyn, while Nadler helmed much of the West Side.
Rep. Caroline Maloney has been forced to backtrack several times after saying she doesn’t think Joe Biden will run for president again in 2024.
Their 12th congressional district includes 61 percent of Maloney’s old seat and 39 percent of Nadler’s current 10th congressional district, according to The Daily Kos.
This means that House Democrats are guaranteed to lose one of their senior leaders, either in Oversight Committee Chairman Maloney or Judiciary Committee Chairman Nadler.
During a quick round of their debate on Tuesday, lawmakers along with challenger Suraj Patel were asked if Biden should run again in 2024.
Patel quickly answered in the affirmative, while Nadler fired off a meandering explanation that it was “too early to say” and that it “doesn’t serve the Democratic Party’s purpose” to answer the question before the November midterms.
Maloney replied, “I don’t think he’s running for re-election.”
Republicans immediately seized on the video, and Biden’s critics insist it was no coincidence that a political veteran questioned the future of her party’s leader.
The New York Democrat posted on Twitter the next day that she would “fully support President Biden, should he decide to run for re-election” and insisted she was focused on the general race in November and on the upcoming primaries on August 23.
She made the comment for the first time during a debate in the hotly contested Democratic primary in New York’s 12th congressional district.
On CNN on Thursday, Maloney complimented Biden when she was first asked about the debate report.
“First of all, I think we owe tremendous gratitude to President Biden, who saved the country by running against former President Trump,” the congresswoman said.
I think he did a great job of giving us a record 2o22 run. Let’s finish the 2o22 run before we get to ’24.
Asked directly why she believed Biden would not run, Maloney insisted it was a “personal belief” — not any information she might have as a senior member of the president’s party.
She added, “I will support him if he runs, and it is entirely his decision.”
“Why do you have this personal belief?” CNN host Brianna Keilar pressed.
“Well, we’re all entitled to our own information and our beliefs,” Maloney said. “But I would support him if he ran for president. He really was an outstanding president.”
Many Democrats have refrained from supporting Biden for a second term in recent months
It comes after several other prominent Democrats refrained from announcing their support for Biden’s re-election bid.
Moderate Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin objected when asked about the president’s support during an interview on NBC’s Meet The Press last Sunday.
“I’m not going into 2022 or 2024,” Manchin said, as he pushed the Senate Democrats’ new $740 billion bill for climate change and deficit-reduction spending.
And in June, progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez declined to commit to standing behind the Biden 2024 campaign during an interview with CNN, saying, “I think if the president has a vision, it’s certainly something we’re all willing to entertain and enjoy.” Check when the time comes.
Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota issued the strongest dissent from a House Democrat so far last week in a radio interview on WCCO’s The Chad Hartman Show that he doesn’t want Biden to run.
“I believe the country will be well served by a new generation of dynamic, persuasive Democrats who are well equipped to step up.” Phillips said.
