Andrew Yang discusses ‘the problem’ with Joe Biden and the DNC
Samuel Schaffer
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Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang said political tradition could lead to a split ticket for Democrats in 2024. His comments came as he discussed what he sees as issues with the Democratic National Committee and President Joe Biden.
“I think that people should be running in a more competitive environment against Joe, even though he is the sitting president,” Yang said in a conversation with Axios.
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“The problem is that the DNC and Joe do not want Joe debating [Robert F. Kennedy] Jr. or anyone else, and it’s a real problem,” he said.
According to Yang, “If you don’t debate RFK Jr., then he has a stronger case to say, look, I didn’t get a fair shake, so I’m going to run in the general.”
A FiveThirtyEight poll from Wednesday showed Biden leading the Democratic 2024 presidential primary candidate with 63.8% of support compared to Kennedy’s 13.2%. While that would be enough to secure Biden the nomination, in the event that RFK Jr. runs in the general election, the portion of the vote taken by Kennedy could lead to a hypothetical Biden loss to former President Donald Trump.
Biden was neck and neck with Trump in a hypothetical 2024 matchup Tuesday, according to FiveThirtyEight. If RFK were to siphon support from Biden in a general election, it could result in Trump taking the lead.
Calls for Biden to participate in primary debates are nothing new, and Jim Kessler, a Democratic operative and executive vice president of policy at a centrist think tank, told the Hill in June that Biden should not debate other Democratic primary candidates.
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“You have to earn your way to the debate stage,” he said to the Hill. “These folks are light years short of that.”
No sitting president has participated in a primary debate, according to the University of Virginia Center for Politics.