Biden re-election bid gets boost from influential congressional ally
Al Jazeera
Representative James Clyburn, a key ally of the president, has said that Biden has ‘earned the right’ to decide to run.
South Carolina Representative James Clyburn has said that US President Joe Biden should remain in the race for a second term, giving a boost to the president amid growing calls to step aside after a disastrous debate performance underscored concerns about his age.
In a TV interview on Friday, Clyburn, a close ally of Biden who played a key role in his victory in the 2020 presidential primary, said discussion about the president’s fitness to run should end.
“The conversation should focus on the record of this administration, on the alternative to his election, and let Joe Biden continue to make his own decisions about his future,” Clyburn, an influential figure among Black voters, an important constituency of the party, said in an interview with the news outlet NBC.
“He’s earned that right. And I’m going to give him that much respect.”
Clyburn also noted that Vice President Kamala Harris, seen as a likely pick to replace Biden if he were to step aside, would “absolutely” have his support if she were to be the party’s candidate.
