Biden to Democrats in Congress: 'I am firmly committed to staying in this race'
WASHINGTON ? President Joe Biden told congressional Democrats in a letter Monday that he's not dropping out of the 2024 race.
"I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end, and to beating Donald Trump," Biden wrote.
Biden's campaign released the letter as lawmakers returned to Washington from recess. An increasing number of Democrats have called on him to step aside, reportedly including the top ranking Democrats on four House committees on an evening call Sunday.
The president is fighting back.
Biden said Friday in an interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos that it would take the "Lord Almighty" telling him to quit for him to leave the race.
Since the debate fiasco, in which he froze and trailed off at times, he has consistently said that he would continue in the race.
In the letter Monday, Biden said he'd had "extensive" conversations with Democrats since then and understood their "good-faith fears and worries" about the stakes of the election. "I'm not blind to them," Biden said.
But he asserted, as he did on Friday, "I wouldn't be running again if I did not absolutely believe I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024."
Biden argued that he had fairly won the nomination, and the time to challenge his leadership had passed. Voters chose him, he said. "It was their decision to make. Not the press, not the pundits, not the big donors, not any selected group of individuals, not matter how well-intentioned."
Several congressional Democrats have spoken out to support Biden amid the growing calls for him to drop out of the race, including Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina and Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Alex Padilla of California. Clyburn is a co-chair of Biden's campaign. Padilla sits on its national advisory board.
Fetterman, who campaigned with Biden on Sunday in Pennsylvania, said Monday that he would not "chuck" the president because of his "rough" debate performance. He said the president was "crisp" and "engaged" during stops in the pivotal swing state.
Democrats who have publicly urged Biden to step aside include Reps. Lloyd Doggett, of Texas; Seth Moulton, of Massachusetts; Mike Quigley, of Illinois; Angie Craig, of Minnesota; and Raúl Grijalva, of Arizona. Craig said Saturday that she does not believe Biden can effectively campaign and beat Trump.
“If we truly believe that Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans must be stopped, there is only a small window left to make sure we have a candidate best equipped to make the case and win," Craig said in a statement. "It’s up to the President from here.”
Biden argued in his letter that further discussion about his quitting the ticket only helps Trump. It is time for the party to come together and move forward in unison, he said as he tried once more to put the conversation to rest.
"The question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now. And it's time for it to end," he said. "We have one job. And that is to beat Donald Trump."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden to Democrats: I'm not dropping out of 2024 race