In an “off the record” comment, top Democrat Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) has said that President Joe Biden is “not running again” in 2024.
Maloney, chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, made the remark during an interview published over the weekend.
The exchange about Biden began when NYT editorial board member Eleanor Randolph asked Maloney whether Biden should run for a second term.
“Off the record, he’s not running again,” Maloney said.
The powerful congresswoman did not specify how she knew Biden would not seek a second term in 2024, however.
“Not off the record. On the record,” New York Times journalist Jyoti Thottam insisted.
According to the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, journalistic ethics stipulate that a source cannot unilaterally go off the record.
For a comment to be off the record, the reporter must agree.
“On the record? No, he should not run again,” Maloney said in response to Thottam’s prompting.
Maloney’s remarks come as recent polling shows that a strong majority of Americans are concerned with Biden’s mental fitness for office.
Bloomberg News reported last week that Biden was planning to launch his re-election bid following the upcoming midterm elections.
However, surveys have found that an overwhelming majority of Democrats — 75% — do not want him to run again.
When asked last month during an appearance on ABC’s “The View” whether Biden “intends to run in 2024,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded by claiming that Biden is running.
“So let me just say this and the president has been asked this question multiple times. So have I,” she claimed.
“The president intends to run in 2024.
“That is something that he’s, again, has said multiple times.
“It is so far away right now.
“It is a long time away and what we are going to focus on, on how do we continue to deliver for the American public today, and the next day and has we have been doing the past 18 months.
“I will say this from that same poll that you are reading off of, is that in a head-to-head, the president beats Donald Trump.”
During a debate earlier this month against primary rival Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Maloney said she did not think Biden would run again and then apologized the next day.
“Mr. President, I apologize,” Maloney said on CNN.
“I want you to run.
“I happen to think you won’t be running, but when you run or if you run, I will be there 100%.
“You have deserved it.”
“You are a great president, and thank you for everything you’ve done for my state and all the states and all the cities in America,” she added.
“Thank you, Mr. President.”
