Joe Biden set for chaotic Democratic convention

President Joe Biden is set for a chaotic Democratic National Convention after asking his critics to voice their concerns about his presidential candidacy at the event following his disappointing performance in the televised debate.

Biden doubled down on his opponents on Monday, calling on them to challenge him at the party’s major nominating rally in Chicago next month if they are serious in their calls for him to withdraw from the presidential race.

“If any of these guys don’t think I should run, run against me. Go ahead. Announce your candidacy for president, challenge me at the convention!” the president said in a telephone interview with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

Democratic Party delegates will choose the party’s presidential and vice presidential nominees at the convention, which runs Aug. 19-22.

According to the Associated Press, Biden has already secured 3,896 delegates from his state primary victories. He surpassed the 1,968 delegate threshold for the Democratic nomination with his victory in Georgia in March, on Super Tuesday.

The Democratic Party is expected to announce Biden as its nominee at the DNC, but calls for him to step aside and let another candidate take his place have intensified following his troubling performance in last month’s debate.

Several Democrats, including Biden allies, have cast doubt on the president’s ability to serve a second term, and some have even publicly called on him to withdraw from the race.

Asked about prominent Democrats who have called on him to quit the race, Biden said Monday: “I don’t care what those big names think.”

“It drives me crazy that people are talking about this,” he added.

The internal panic has strained Biden’s reelection campaign, which has sought to calm fears among staffers, voters and the party as a whole. Since the debate, Biden has given a lengthy interview to ABC News, met with Democratic governors at the White House and sent a lengthy defiant letter to congressional Democrats.

In a letter sent to lawmakers, Biden said: “We had a Democratic nominating process and the voters spoke clearly and decisively. I received more than 14 million votes, or 87% of the votes cast in the entire nominating process. I have nearly 3,900 delegates, making me our party’s presumptive nominee by a wide margin.”

“This process was open to anyone who wanted to run. Only three people chose to challenge me,” Monday’s letter reads. “The voters of the Democratic Party voted. They chose me as the party’s nominee. Are we now to say that this process doesn’t matter? That voters have no say?”

Despite speculation that Democrats would need to find a younger replacement for Biden, the 81-year-old has insisted he has no plans to step down. He reiterated his intention to stay in the race on Monday, writing: “I would not run again if I were not absolutely convinced that I am the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024.”

With Biden already having secured more than the 1,968 delegates needed for the Democratic nomination, it’s unclear how a contested convention would work unless Biden withdraws. There are only 36 unpledged delegates and seven others, according to the Associated Press. The unpledged delegates come from Hawaii, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Washington.