Who could replace Joe Biden to face Donald Trump in 2024 presidential election?
Chatter about replacing Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential candidate has continued to increase. Who stands the best chance against Donald Trump?
Three weeks after President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump faced off in a debate, calls for President Biden to step aside and allow another Democrat to lead the ticket in November have only grown louder.
Last weekend’s assassination attempt against Trump galvanized the Republicans into unity, while the Democratic Party has appeared to be increasingly divided into those who want Biden to continue his re-election bid, and those who want him to withdraw.
Biden’s poorly perceived performance at the presidential debate, where Trump was seen as the winner despite him spouting numerous known lies, caused alarm bells to go off among Democratic movers and shakers. High-ranking Democrats and high-profile supporters have since called on the president to make way for another candidate that would have a better chance at beating Trump.
The question that has been floating around is now front and center: Who could replace Biden as the Democratic presidential candidate?
READ ALSO: President Obama’s silence and what it means for Joe Biden’s 2024 chances
This year’s Democratic primary was not very competitive. With no major challenger entering the race against Biden, he easily secured the votes necessary to win the nomination at the convention in August.
If the president does step aside, naming his replacement as soon as possible would be paramount with less than four months to go before election day.
READ ALSO: Biden position at top of the ticket looking ever more untenable
Who could replace Joe Biden to face Donald Trump in 2024 presidential election?
The name of Vice President Kamala Harris is one that crops up the most as a possible candidate. The advantage of naming Harris is that she would be able to spend the $92 million that has already been donated to the Biden-Harris ticket. There are worries, however, that she is even more unpopular than Biden.
Nevertheless, some supporters believe these numbers could be turned around before election day, as a recent poll showed her down relative to Donald Trump but with better numbers than President Biden. Harris also performed better with independent voters than Biden, and whereas Biden would lose this group (based on the poll), Harris could win.
CNN, who published the poll, reported on increased “chatter” among Democratic leaders as the president had earlier “dug in” on his decision to stay in the race. Some of them indicated a clear preference of Harris over the incumbent at that point.
Democrats that have a chance against Trump
One voice that many Democratic strategists don’t often consider is that of Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican and Trump supporter. Senator Cruz thinks that the Democrats have an ace up their sleeve. He said after the debate on his podcast ‘Verdict’ that because of Biden’s “disastrous” performance, he believes “the odds have now skyrocketed.” “I believe the odds are north of 80% that the Democrat Party will remove Joe Biden from ticket and replace him…. with Michelle Obama,” he said.
This isn’t the first time he has put this idea on his podcast. In September last year, he considered the scenario of the former First Lady parachuting in at the August convention as “perhaps the most likely and most dangerous”. He viewed it as a “serious danger.” He isn’t the first to think she could easily win the presidency if she ran in 2024. Sports commentator Stephen A. Smith said on Kevin Garnett’s podcast, KG Certified, that she would win “hands down.”
However, he acknowledged a fact that Michelle Obama has made clear many times in the past. “Now, that obviously is not gonna happen. She doesn’t seem to have an interest,” he added. As a matter of fact, she has said on several occasions that she has no intention to run for president.
Other names being tossed around
Other names that have been mentioned as potential replacements for Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee include governors Gavin Newsom of California, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and JB Pritzker of Illinois among others.
Possible contenders also include some high-profile US senators who had previously tossed their hats into the 2020 primary race, including Amy Klobuchar and Cory Booker, as well as Sherrod Brown.