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.

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At least 33 people were killed and more than 140 injured as Russian missiles on Monday struck cities across Ukraine including Kyiv, where the country’s main children’s cancer hospital was hit.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said two adults had been confirmed killed by the direct hit on the Okhmatdyt hospital. Hundreds of rescue workers and volunteers are still working to rescue patients and staff believed to be trapped beneath the rubble of a destroyed department.

Rescue operations were also under way at two Kyiv apartment buildings and a medical clinic in the east of the city. The capital was the main target of today’s attacks, with 22 killed and 82 injured.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia had fired hypersonic Kinzhal missiles, one of the most advanced weapons in the Kremlin’s arsenal and among the most difficult for air defence systems to intercept.

Monday’s barrage comes as Nato leaders, along with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, prepare to gather for a summit in Washington this week, at which strengthening the alliance’s position towards Russia and bolstering Ukraine’s defences are expected to top the agenda.

“Russia cannot help but know where its missiles are flying, and must fully answer for all its crimes: against people, against children, against humanity in general,” said Zelenskyy, who arrived in Warsaw on Monday morning.

The UN Security Council said it had convened an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss the attack.

Russian missiles also caused multiple casualties in Ukraine’s southern cities of Dnipro, where one person was reported killed, Kropyvnytskyi and the industrial city of Kryviy Rih,

Metinvest, Ukraine’s biggest mining company, said 10 employees were killed and 30 injured in a strike on an administrative building at a coal processing plant in Kryvyi Rih.

At least three people were killed in the eastern city of Pokrovsk, local authorities reported.

Alla, a nurse at the Kyiv children’s hospital who declined to give her surname, said the toxicology ward had been destroyed.

“Something hit nearby and then it hit us. After that it was chaos and I don’t remember everything,” said Alla, who works in the main building.

The blast ripped off the facade of the main hospital building and its windows. Glass and debris were still falling from the hospital structures more than two hours after the attack.

An image posted by Ukraine’s presidential office showed a child with a head injury. Hospital staff in dusty scrubs stood around in shock, while some were being treated for injuries.

Russia’s defence ministry released a statement implying that a Ukrainian air defence missile caused the strike on the children’s hospital.

The ministry also said it had hit a number of defence manufacturing sites and air bases in response to Ukraine’s attacks on Russian energy and industrial infrastructure.

Ukraine’s accusations that Russia had deliberately targeted civilian facilities were “absolutely not accurate”, it said. It claimed that footage of the strike on Kyiv “unambiguously confirmed” that a Ukrainian missile had caused the destruction, without mentioning the children’s hospital.

But videos of the attack posted to X appeared to show a missile directly striking the hospital.

In total, seven Kyiv districts suffered either damage from debris or direct hits in Monday’s strikes, according to Klitschko’s office. Ukraine’s air defence chiefs said 38 missiles were used in the attacks, 30 of which were intercepted.

Zelenskyy said the hospital was “one of the most important children’s hospitals not only in Ukraine but also in Europe”.

The president called for further western support to bolster Ukraine’s defences and for Kyiv’s allies to hold Moscow to account for its attacks.

“It is very important that the world does not remain silent about this now, and that everyone sees what Russia is and what it is doing,” he said from Warsaw, where he was due to meet Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The two leaders are expected to sign a security pact.

Nato leaders are expected to make a one-year, €40bn pledge of support for Ukraine this week as political upheaval among the alliance’s larger members limits their capacity to commit more long-term resources.

Additional reporting by Raphael Minder in Warsaw

Washington
CNN
 — 

President Joe Biden told congressional Democrats in a letter on Monday that he will continue his reelection bid despite mounting concerns about his mental fitness and the viability of his campaign, while also hitting back at party “elites” in an interview ahead of a critical week on Capitol Hill.

“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,” Biden wrote in the letter, obtained by CNN.

Biden sought to put growing concerns about his viability to rest in the forcefully worded letter.

“The question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now. And it’s time for it to end. We have one job. And that is to beat Donald Trump. We have 42 days to the Democratic Convention and 119 days to the general election. Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us,” Biden concluded. “It is time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump.”

It’s a critical week for Biden’s political future as he seeks to tamp down intensifying fallout with the House and Senate back in session for the first time since the debate. More than a handful of top House Democrats told Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Sunday that Biden needs to step aside amid concerns about down-ballot Democratic races.

Shortly after the letter was released, Biden called into MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” part of a strategy to do more “off-the-cuff,” unscripted engagements to quell concerns about his age.

But the appearance, while energetic, may not have had its intended impact.

Biden offered a lengthy and occasionally off-topic response to a question about his letter to Hill Democrats calling for unity and lambasted Trump for being on the golf course after the debate. Trump has largely stayed under the radar while Biden battles the news cycle.

“Well look — Democrats — Joe, let me say it this way, the reason I’ve been on the road so much, all over the country, while Trump is riding around in a golf cart, filling out his golf cart before, golf cart before he even hits the ball — but anyway, he hasn’t been anywhere in 10 days, I’ve been all over the country, No. 1,” he said.

He continued: “And I’ve gone over the country for several reasons, one, to make sure my instinct was right about the party still wanting me to be the nominee. And all the data, all the data shows that the average Democrat out there who voted, 14 million of them who’ve voted for me, still want me to be the nominee, No. 1.”

And in a pointed rebuke to his critics, Biden said, “I’m getting so frustrated by the elites. Now, I’m not talking about you guys, but by the elites in the party. They know so much more. But if any of these guys don’t think I should run, run against me. Go ahead. Announce — announce for president. Challenge me at the convention.”

The president will continue his outreach to Democratic lawmakers this week, a campaign official tells CNN. Tuesday will be a consequential day as members are set hold a planned caucus meeting with Jeffries, and one member told CNN they anticipate that is the day when the dam will break.

Congress returns to Washington on Tuesday for the first time since the June 27 debate on CNN that prompted widespread concern over Biden’s ability to secure a victory for Democrats in November and to serve an additional four years in office.

In the week following his disastrous debate performance, Biden personally reached out to roughly 20 House Democrats, a campaign official tells CNN, and has spoken with party leaders — including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Reps. Nancy Pelosi and James Clyburn — with a goal of reassuring them that the concerns within the party are being heard.

Since then, Schumer and Clyburn have voiced support for Biden, while Jeffries has remained mum.

Pelosi has said the questions surrounding Biden’s disastrous performance at the presidential debate were “legitimate.”

Asked about Pelosi’s comments, Biden told ABC News, “it was a bad episode. No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted.”

On a call with senior House Democrats convened Sunday by Jeffries, a half-dozen lawmakers voiced their own concerns during a conversation one aide described to CNN as “pretty brutal.”

Those lawmakers — which CNN has reported to include Reps. Jerry Nadler, Adam Smith, Mark Takano and Joe Morelle — represent the highest-ranking Democrats on the Judiciary, Armed Services, Veterans Affairs and House Administration committees.

A campaign official declined to say whether the president had spoken directly with Sen. Mark Warner, the Virginia Democrat who organized a concurrent effort among like-minded senators to explore the possibility of an official request for Biden to step aside. Warner canceled a follow-up meeting scheduled for Monday evening, a source tells CNN, after news of the group’s efforts leaked. The next meeting will be Tuesday with Senate Democrats and their leadership.

Biden told ABC News that Warner was a “good man” but has a “different perspective.”

Biden’s campaign on Monday highlighted a list of supportive statements from Hill Democrats, seeking to amplify the voices who have expressed confidence in the president’s candidacy in recent days.

Also on Monday, the Biden campaign is hosting a donor call with its national finance committee, a source familiar with the call said, another sign of outreach. A senior Democratic adviser told CNN that Biden is expected to join the call, underscoring a top concern of the campaign about whether donors will continue to back him or redirect their money to House and Senate campaign efforts if he stays in the race.

Campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon will lead the call, and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is expected to be among the speakers joining, the source said.

The call is expected to take place around 12 p.m. ET, and it’s unclear how many donors will join. The campaign held a similar call last week where O’Malley Dillon defended the president’s health and said the team was “clear-eyed, not pollyanish” about the president’s debate performance. About 500 donors joined that call.

Moore was among the governors who met with Biden at the White House last week, telling reporters after the meeting he supports the president but acknowledged the concerns from voters.

“We always believe that when you love someone, you tell them the truth. And I think we came in and we were honest about the feedback that we were getting. We were honest about the concerns that we are hearing from people,” Moore said.

He continued, “And we’re also honest about the fact that as the president continued to tell us and show us that he was all in, that we said that we would stand with him.”

CNN’s Jeff Zeleny contributed to this report.