In an awkward CNN interview on Thursday, Democrat Rep. Carolyn Maloney apologized to President Joe Biden after the longtime New York politician announced that Biden will not be seeking reelection in 2024.
It’s the second time Maloney has had to apologize for her apparent slip-up, which happened at a debate for the fiercely contested Democratic primary in New York’s 12th Congressional District on Tuesday night.
Maloney was questioned several times about her remarks during the uncomfortable interview on Thursday morning, and each time she responded in a more irritated manner. On Thursday morning, she vowed to back the president’s effort for re-election in 2024, but she reiterated her skepticism that the campaign would succeed.
‘Mr. President, I apologize. I want you to run. I happen to think you won’t be running, but when you run or if you run I will be there 100 percent,’ Maloney said toward the end of her appearance on CNN’s New Day.
‘You are a great president. And thank you for everything you’ve done for my state, and all the states and all the cities, in America. Thank you, Mr. President.’
Maloney and veteran Democrat Rep. Jerry Nadler are now in in competition thanks to newly redrew district lines in the Empire State.
The two have collaborated for many years, with Maloney representing a large portion of Manhattan’s Upper East Side as well as portions of Queens and Brooklyn, and Nadler overseeing a large portion of the West Side.
According to Daily Kos, the new 12th Congressional District they are vying for comprises 39 percent of Nadler’s current 10th Congressional District and 61 percent of Maloney’s former district.
As a result, one of the House Democrats’ most senior leaders—either Chair Maloney of the Oversight Committee or Chair Nadler of the Judiciary Committee—will undoubtedly leave the party.
The MPs and the challenger Suraj Patel were questioned whether Biden should run again in 2024 during a rapid-fire round of their discussion on Tuesday.
Patel responded immediately in the positive, but Nadler began rambling about how it was “too early to tell” and how answering the issue before the midterm elections in November “doesn’t serve the objective of the Democratic Party.”
I don’t think he’s running for reelection”, Maloney replied.
Republicans grabbed on the video clip right once, and Biden’s detractors said it wasn’t a coincidence that an experienced politician would question the leadership of her party.
The New York Democrat emphasized she was focused on November’s general election and her forthcoming August 23 primary in a tweet the next day, saying she “would absolutely support President Biden, if he decides to run for re-election.”
When asked about the debate report on Thursday’s CNN, Maloney praised Biden in the highest regard.
‘First of all, I think we owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to President Biden, who saved the country by running against former President Trump,’ the congresswoman said.
‘I think he’s done an incredible job in giving us a record to run on in the ’22 elections. Let’s finish the 2o22 elections before we get to ’24.’
Maloney said it was a “personal belief” rather than any knowledge she may have as a senior member of the president’s own party when asked more specifically why she thought Biden would not run.
I will support him if he runs, and it’s entirely his decision, she continued.
“Why do you personally hold that belief?” Brianna Keilar, a CNN host, pressed.
We all have the right to our own information and ideas, Maloney retorted. But if he decides to run for president, I will back him. He has already performed admirably as president.
It comes after a number of other prominent Democrats held back from endorsing Biden’s re-election campaign.
During a recent Sunday appearance on NBC’s Meet The Press, moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia resisted when he was questioned about his support for the president.
While promoting the new $740 billion Senate Democrats’ spending program to combat climate change and reduce the budget, Manchin declared, “I’m not getting into 2022 or 2024.”
Additionally, in a CNN interview in June, the liberal Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said: “I believe if the President has a vision, then that’s something surely we’re all happy to entertain and explore when the time comes.”
Last week, in a radio interview on WCCO’s The Chad Hartman Show, Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota voiced the strongest opposition from a House Democrat to Biden’s candidacy.
“I believe a new generation of compelling, prepared, and vibrant Democrats to step up would be well served to the country.” According to Phillips.