A memo that was written by Faiz Shakir, Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-VT) campaign manager during his 2020 presidential run, revealed that the 80-year-old senator has not ruled out a third presidential run, should President Joe Biden not run again. The memo was shared with and first reported on by Sean Sullivan with The Washington Post.
The memo, from Shakir noted that "In the event of an open 2024 Democratic presidential primary, Sen. Sanders has not ruled out another run for president, so we advise that you answer any questions about 2024 with that in mind."
Sullivan noted that "The memo was shared by a person with direct knowledge of its contents on the condition of anonymity because it was not released publicly, and confirmed by a second person with direct knowledge of the contents."
While the memo was leaked, Sanders spokesperson Mike Casca confirmed the memo, in a way. "While it’s frustrating this private memo leaked to the media, the central fact remains true, which is that Senator Sanders is the most popular officeholder in the country," Casca said.
A Harvard-Harris poll from 2017 found that Sanders was regarded as the country's most active politician, in that he was viewed favorably by 57 percent of registered voters.
President Biden has said numerous times that he intends to run for re-election. As Madeline covered on Tuesday, Biden had told former President Barack Obama, who recently visited the White House, that he will run in 2024.
Biden appears to be particularly excited by the idea of running against former President Donald Trump, a stance that he has reiterated. As Daniel Chaitin highlighted for The Washington Examiner on Wednesday, POLITICO's Eugene Daniels pointed out that Biden believes he is "the only person" who can beat Trump and that he is telling "anybody, it seems, behind closed doors" that he plans to run again, "especially" if it is Trump.
Last month, Biden claimed that "I'd be very fortunate if I had that same man running against me."
Biden on a potential 2024 rematch with Trump: “I’d be very fortunate if I had that same man running against me” pic.twitter.com/MWFzABL4yy
— Axios (@axios) March 24, 2022
Biden can dream all he wants. As Matt pointed out recently, a Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll last month shows that if a hypothetical 2024 rematch were held at the time, Trump would have 47 percent compared to Biden's 41 percent support. Twelve percent were undecided.
This is consistent with other polls similarly showing Trump with an edge.
Even as potential candidates are stressing that their plans are contingent upon Biden not running again, that Democrats or those who would run for president as Democrats are announcing such plans is certainly telling. On Sunday I highlighted a piece from The Washington Post which ranked 10 Democratic candidates for president in 2024. Granted, Biden was the top pick, but that such a list was put together at all is also telling.
Further, as polls also show, not even Democrats want Biden to run again.
News of the memo has led to "Bernie" trending on Twitter for Wednesday night.