US President Joe Biden has revealed the only situation that could make him drop out of the 2024 presidential election.
Speaking in a new interview, Biden said he would consider dropping out if he was diagnosed with a “medical condition” by doctors, giving the clearest indication yet that he is considering his second term plan.
The 81-year-old president made the remark in a BET interview when asked what it would take to prompt him to reconsider his candidacy.
“If I had some medical condition that emerged, if somebody, if doctors came to me and said, you got this problem and that problem,” Biden said in an excerpt released Wednesday, July 18.
In the same interview, Biden said that he feels the need to run again rather than serve as a “transitional” leader, as he said in 2020 — because the country is “so divided.”
“I said I was going to be a transitional candidate, and I thought I would be able to move on from this and pass it on to somebody else,” he said. “But I didn’t anticipate things getting so, so, so divided. And quite frankly, I think the only thing age brings is a little bit of wisdom.”
The White House has thus far insisted that Biden doesn’t need a fresh medical exam following his unsteady, confused debate performance on June 27, which provoked panic from fellow Democrats about his cognitive fitness for another four-year term.
Top Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Wednesday became the 21st House Democrat to call on Biden to step aside, saying that “it is time for him to pass the torch.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, 59, is widely considered the most likely replacement candidate should Biden drop out before the November 5 election but some Democrats fear she could fare even worse.