Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich reacted to President Biden’s highly-anticipated press conference at the 2024 NATO Summit on Thursday, saying the commander-in-chief made it clear that he’s not stepping away from the 2024 race.
Blagojevich told Fox News host Jesse Watters on “Jesse Watters Primetime” he believes Biden will stay in the race despite growing calls from members of his own party to step aside.
“The only way they can get a new candidate is if [Biden] willingly agrees, if he willingly agrees to step aside. He’s made it clear that he’s going to run. It sure looks like all the indications are that he’s going to run,” the former governor said.
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US President Joe Biden at a news conference during the NATO Summit in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, July 11, 2024. Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Getty Images)
Blagojevich added that Democrats are in a “real bind” because millions of people have already voted in state primaries for Biden to be their party’s nominee, but actor George Clooney, Hollywood elites and others are saying he should withdraw.
“What’s happened to the Democratic Party is really a question of whether they’re going to stand with the working people that supposedly they’re for, which they’ve actually abandoned, or whether they’re going to listen to their Hollywood Wall Street financiers and Silicon Valley billionaires with regard to what they want,” he told Watters.
Biden remained defiant during his press conference in Washington, D.C., telling reporters he is the “best-qualified person” to do the job of president.
Multiple House Democrats and one Democratic senator have called on the president to withdraw from the 2024 race after his disastrous debate performance last month, according to Fox News.
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Blagojevich said he ultimately believes that despite the growing pressure, Biden will stay in the race because he’s thinking about his legacy and resents “Democratic ward bosses” calling on him to exit.
Former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden. (Getty Images)
“I think he resents the fact that Obama, behind the scenes, and Nancy Pelosi, behind the scenes, are acting not like statesmen or stateswomen, but like old-time Chicago Democratic ward bosses who are going to decide who the candidate for president ought to be,” he explained.
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“My guess is Biden’s going to stay.”
