Don't bet on the next presidential election to be a rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Conservative activist Gary Bauer argues there's growing evidence that many Democrats don't want Biden to run for reelection. He points a recent front-page article in The New York Times that called into question President Biden's 2024 "political viability" because the nation "is completely falling apart."
After spending most of 2020 propping up Biden, the NYT – considered by many to be the top liberal newspaper in America – issued a stunning report containing the comments of dozens of Democrats who are saying the president shouldn't run for reelection in 2024. Bauer, chairman of the Campaign for Working Families, thinks the Times article was very telling.
"[In that article] you see both named and unnamed Democrats telling The New York Times that Joe Biden should not run in 2024 – that he's too old to, that the American people are already concerned about his age and his mental capacities," he summarizes.
To quote the NYT article:
"As the challenges facing the nation mount and fatigued base voters show low enthusiasm, Democrats in union meetings, the back rooms of Capitol Hill and party gatherings from coast to coast are quietly worrying about Mr. Biden's leadership, his age and his capability."
Bauer argues that the intended audience for the article was actually one person: the president of the United States himself.
"I think what we just saw [in this article] was the party bigwigs and the party establishment – and the newspaper that liberals go to more than any other newspaper – telling the president that he needs to start coming to grips now with the fact that he will not be the candidate of the Democrat Party in 2024," Bauer tells AFN.
The Time article quotes DNC member Steve Simeonidis urging Biden to announce his intent not to seek reelection in 2024 right after the November midterms – and stating that "to say our country was on the right track would flagrantly depart from reality."
If not Trump, then who?
Meanwhile, another conservative political pundit says even though his name comes up often as an alternative to Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (pictured) has to pass some tests before he's ready to become the GOP's standard bearer. Dr. Charles Dunn, professor emeritus of government at Clemson University, contends Trump has alienated many in his party – and that a growing number of Republicans are moving toward DeSantis, who has been described as "Trump without the tweets."
"DeSantis is a very sharp mind politically. He's standing in the wings ready to spread his wings and fly – that's where he is," says the former educator. "But he's got to pass some tests before he's able to do that."
In the interview, Dunn did not specify what those tests needed to be.
And Dunn shares that he's increasingly hearing people speak favorably about Mike Pompeo, Trump's former secretary of state and a three-term House member representing Kansas' 4th Congressional District.
"[Pompeo] has some pluses I think that DeSantis doesn't have, and likewise DeSantis has pluses that he doesn't have," Dunn tells AFN. "But when you're looking at the field of international politics – which is a big weakness in the Democratic Party and with Biden – of the two Republicans, the gentleman from Kansas has by far the cutting edge on that matter."
DeSantis – despite coming out on top in a recent straw poll – continues to downplay any interest in 2024, saying he's focused on winning a second term as governor in November. Pompeo, according to a CNN report, is setting his sights on the 2024 presidential race with his launch this week of the Champion American Values PAC, aimed at supporting conservative candidates going into the midterm elections.
