Former Obama administration official Van Jones said in an interview that Democrats are discussing “how” to replace President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee, “not whether.”
Jones made the remarks in an interview with CNN’s Jim Sciutto.
“I’m just going to be honest. Everybody comes on the air and says all this great stuff, but behind the scenes, it’s full-scale panic. People are passing around legal memos…trying to figure out what are the options? How can you replace Biden? How do you get him to do it in a way where he feels respected? Who should Kamala Harris’ vice president be? The conversation on-air and the conversation off-air are completely different,” Jones said.
“We have someone who loves this country. We have someone who has given his all – I mean, his all, to the last drop – for this country, but he may not be able to get across the finish line,” Jones added. “And a mature party has to take that into account. And that is what’s happening.”
“There is a big conversation happening right now about how this happens, not whether,” he concluded.
Van Jones on CNN: “Behind the scenes, it’s full scale panic. People are passing around legal memos trying to figure out what are the options. How can you replace Biden? The conversation on air and the conversation off air are completely different.” pic.twitter.com/umvvvgVD7b
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) July 4, 2024
Biden is facing calls from members of his own party to step aside. This week, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) became the first Democrat to call on Biden to withdraw from the race.
“Too much is at stake to risk a Trump victory,” he wrote. “President Biden saved our democracy by delivering us from Trump in 2020. He must not deliver us to Trump in 2024."
🚨 Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, calls on Biden to WITHDRAW from the 2024 election. "Too much is at stake to risk a Trump victory," he says. "President Biden saved our democracy by delivering us from Trump in 2020. He must not deliver us to Trump in 2024."
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) July 2, 2024
His full statement: pic.twitter.com/DTS0SolCnl
Shortly after, Arizona Democrat Rep. Raúl Grijalva called on Biden to withdraw from the race.
“If he’s the candidate, I’m going to support him, but I think that this is an opportunity to look elsewhere,” Grijalva told The New York Times. “What he needs to do is shoulder the responsibility for keeping that seat — and part of that responsibility is to get out of this race.”