JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR.
July 8, 2024
Fellow Democrats,
Now that you have returned from the July 4th recess, I want you to know that despite all the
speculation in the press and elsewhere, I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running
this race to the end, and to beating Donald Trump.
I have had extensive conversations with the leadership of the party, elected officials, rank and
file members, and most importantly, Democratic voters over these past 10 days or so. I have
heard the concerns that people have – their good faith fears and worries about what is at stake
in this election. I am not blind to them. Believe me, I know better than anyone the responsibility
and the burden the nominee of our party carries. I carried it in 2020 when the fate of our nation
was at stake. I also know these concerns come from a place of real respect for my lifetime of
public service and my record as President, and I have been moved by the expressions of affection
for me from so many who have known me well and supported me over the course of my public
life. I’ve been grateful for the rock-solid, steadfast support from so many elected Democrats in
Congress and all across the country and taken great strength from the resolve and determination
I’ve seen from so many voters and grassroots supporters even in the hardest of weeks.
I can respond to all this by saying clearly and unequivocally: I wouldn’t be running again if I did
not absolutely believe I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024.
We had a Democratic nomination process and the voters have spoken clearly and decisively. I
received over 14 million votes, 87% of the votes cast across the entire nominating process. I have
nearly 3,900 delegates, making me the presumptive nominee of our party by a wide margin.
This was a process open to anyone who wanted to run. Only three people chose to challenge me.
One fared so badly that he left the primaries to run as an independent. Another attacked me for
being too old and was soundly defeated. The voters of the Democratic Party have voted. They
have chosen me to be the nominee of the party.
Do we now just say this process didn’t matter? That the voters don’t have a say?
I decline to do that. I feel a deep obligation to the faith and the trust the voters of the Democratic
Party have placed in me to run this year. It was their decision to make. Not the press, not the
pundits, not the big donors, not any selected group of individuals, no matter how well
intentioned. The voters – and the voters alone – decide the nominee of the Democratic Party.
How can we stand for democracy in our nation if we ignore it in our own party? I cannot do that.
I will not do that.
I have no doubt that I – and we – can and will beat Donald Trump. We have an historic record
of success to run on. From creating over 15 million jobs (including 200,000 just last month),
reaching historic lows on unemployment, to revitalizing American manufacturing with 800,000
jobs, to protecting and expanding affordable health care, to rebuilding America’s roads, bridges,
highways, ports and airports, and water systems, to beating Big Pharma and lowering the cost of
prescription drugs, including $35 a month insulin for seniors, to providing student debt relief
for nearly 5 million Americans to an historic investment in combatting climate change.
More importantly, we have an economic vision to run on that soundly beats Trump and the
MAGA Republicans. They are siding with the wealthy and the big corporations and we are siding
with the working people of America. It wasn’t an isolated moment for Trump to stand at Mar-A-
Lago and tell the oil industry they should give him $1 billion and he will do whatever they want.