Are Democrats putting Biden on a pedestal for 2024?
‘The Five’ discuss President Biden’s lack of momentum in his 2024 campaign and Jill Biden's role in his decision to run for re-election.
President Biden's re-election campaign claimed Thursday that the Democratic Party "has never been more united" behind the president and vice president than it is now, despite recent polling and reporting that showed concern from members of the party about the president's ability to serve another term in office.
Dismissing concern from Americans over whether the president is fit for another term in office, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, a former White House aide who now serves as the campaign manager for President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris' re-election campaign, said in a strategy memo first obtained by Politico that Biden "can deliver historic results for the American people."
"Polls and pundits have underestimated Joe Biden his entire life, and he’s proved them wrong time and time again," Rodriguez wrote, before asserting: "Our Party has never been more united than under President Biden’s and Vice President Harris’s leadership,"
"Our campaign is being smart, strategic, and maximizing the tremendous foundation of existing resources and infrastructure that allowed Democrats to defy expectations in 2022," the campaign manager said.
WHITE HOUSE DISMISSES POLLS SHOWING CONCERN FOR BIDEN'S AGE, DEMOCRATS NOT WANTING HIM TO RUN AGAIN
President Biden, 80, announced in April that he would seek re-election, despite concern from members of his own party about his age and ability to serve. (OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)
"Democrats are most successful when we run together," she added. "Working collaboratively with candidates and state parties, we’ll build a diverse campaign that’s focused on a unified message, tailored to the communities we need to register, persuade and turn out to vote."
Rodriguez's memo comes amid widespread concern in the president's own party over whether he should seek re-election or if he can complete a second term in office.
Just days prior to Biden's announcement that he would seek re-election, an NBC News poll in April revealed that nearly 3 out of 4 Americans did not believe he should seek the White House again and expressed worry about his age.
According to the survey, 70% of Americans, including 51% of Democrats, did not think Biden should run for reelection.
Almost half of the respondents who voted no cited Biden's age as their "major" concern with Biden running again — 48% categorized their concern as "major" while 21% said it was a minor concern; 29% of respondents said the issue of his age did not weigh in their choice whatsoever.
Similarly, a Washington Post report from April found that Democrats are "reluctantly" standing behind Biden as their party's 2024 nominee because they feel like there's "no other choice."
"Across a wide range of demographic and ideological groups that make up the Democratic coalition, the reactions revealed a party accepting Biden as its standard-bearer — but only reluctantly," the report stated. "They are lukewarm about picking Biden as their nominee, but many believe he may be the best hope of preventing a second Trump term and fighting extremism."
From left to right: 2024 Democratic presidential contenders Marianne Williamson, President Biden, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Scott Olson/Ting Shen/Joseph Prezioso)
Biden is currently facing Democratic longshot primary challenges from environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and spiritual guru and self-help author Marianne Williamson.
A Fox News poll from late April revealed that a combined 28% of Democrat primary voters had shifted their support from Biden to Kennedy and Williamson. Kennedy took 19% of Biden’s supporters while Williamson took 9%.
In an effort to defend the president against damning poll data, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in April that voter concern over Biden's age is the "same thing that we heard in 2020."
"We heard that over and over in 2020. And if you look at what the president has done this past two years, he's been able to deliver and get things done. Right? Where Republicans are trying to — Republicans in Congress, Republicans on the other side of Pennsylvania — are trying to pull us back, not move us forward," Jean-Pierre said when asked about recent surveys that showed split support among Democrats for the president.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily news briefing at the White House on May 09, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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Biden, who will turn 81 this November, admitted in February that concerns over his age were "totally legitimate" amid growing concerns from both his critics and supporters.
"It’s legitimate for people to raise issues about my age. It’s totally legitimate to do that. And the only thing I can say is, watch me," Biden said at the time.
Fox News' Aubrie Spady and Brandon Gillespie contributed to this article.
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