ELECTION 2024 WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden vowed Wednesday to keep running for reelection, rejecting growing pressure from Democrats to withdraw after a disastrous debate performance raised questions about his readiness. In an ominous sign for the president, a leading ally publicly suggested a way that the party might choose someone else. "Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can as simply and straightforward as I can: I am running .
.. no one's pushing me out," Biden said on a call with staffers from his reelection campaign.
"I'm not leaving. I'm in this race to the end and we're going to win." The president pulled every possible lever to try to salvage his reelection campaign — talking to top legislators, pumping up his campaign staff and meeting later in the day with Democratic governors before a planned weekend blitz of travel and a network TV interview.
But there were mounting signs that support for Biden is eroding among Democrats on Capitol Hill. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz.
, told The New York Times that while he backs Biden as long as he is a candidate, this "is an opportunity to look elsewhere" and what Biden "needs to do is shoulder the responsibility for keeping that seat — and part of that responsibility is to get out of this race." Meanwhile, Rep. Jim Clyburn, a longtime Biden friend and confidant, said he would back a "mini-primary" in the run-up to the Democratic National Convention next month if Biden were to leave the race.
Clyburn, a South Caro.
