Biden says ‘the voters have spoken’, refuses to consider resigning in letter to congressional Democrats

President Joe Biden tried to counter calls for his withdrawal by sending a defiant letter to congressional Democrats in which he said leaving the race would be an affront to democracy.

Biden’s missive, which he posted on his X account Monday before Congress returned to Washington, opens with a declaration that he is “firmly committed” to remaining a candidate in this year’s presidential election and “fighting this race to the end and defeating Donald Trump.”

The president also said he had had what he described as “deep conversations” with party leaders, elected officials and rank-and-file Democrats in Congress — as well as Democratic voters — in the 10-plus days since his empty, disjointed performance in his first debate with Trump left members of his party shocked and frightened by the possibility that the 81-year-old president was not up to the task of campaigning for a second term.

“I have heard people’s concerns, their fears and their genuine worries about what is at stake in this election. I am not ignoring them,” he said.

He added: “I can answer all of that by saying clearly and unequivocally: I would not run again if I were not absolutely convinced that I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024.”

Biden reiterated his claim that calls for his removal are undemocratic with a surprise phone-in on MSNBC. Hello Joe, in which he told presenters Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski that so-called “regular” voters overwhelmingly want him to stay in the race.

“I went out and wanted to make sure there was no slippage at all…with the average voter, I don’t care what the millionaires think,” he said.

He also said he didn’t care what “big names” or other media figures thought about his continued viability as a candidate.

“They were wrong in 2020. They were wrong in 2022 about the red wave. They were wrong in 2024. Come with me and watch people react,” he said.

He also told MSNBC hosts, “I’m not going to explain anymore what I should or shouldn’t do. I’m running,” and added that anyone who wanted to stop him should run against him at the Democratic nominating convention in August.

In his letter to Democrats, Biden justified his refusal to consider stepping aside in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris or another candidate because Democratic voters chose him in the primaries.

“This process was open to anyone who wanted to run. Only three people chose to challenge me. One of them did so poorly that she dropped out of the primary to run as an independent. Another accused me of being too old and was soundly defeated. The voters of the Democratic Party voted. They chose me as the party’s nominee,” Biden said.

“Are we now to say that this process doesn’t matter? That voters don’t have a say? I refuse to do that,” he added.

Biden went on to say that he had a “deep obligation to the faith and trust of the voters of the Democratic Party” and stressed that it was the decision of the voters – “not the press, not the pundits, not the big donors, not a select group of individuals” – to make him the party’s nominee despite largely symbolic opposition to his candidacy.

“It is the voters – and they alone – who decide who the Democratic Party nominees. How can we defend democracy in our country if we ignore it in our own party? I can’t do that. I won’t do that,” he said.

The president’s defiant letter comes less than 24 hours after several leading House Democrats — including Jerry Nadler, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee — reportedly called on him to drop out of the race during an all-caucus Zoom call Sunday.

Other deep-pocketed Democratic donors have also called on Biden to step down and suggested they would withhold campaign contributions until the president withdraws his candidacy.