A former U.S. ambassador to Canada says Americans are “not convinced” that President Joe Biden is the best candidate to prevent Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
In a statement posted to social media, Bruce Heyman said Democrats must now consider alternative candidates for the 2024 presidential race.
“While I deeply respect President Biden and acknowledge his significant accomplishments, recent events have raised concerns about his ability to effectively campaign for and serve another term,” Heyman said.
Confronted by his statements in 2020 about being a ‘bridge candidate’ to prepare the way for a new generation of Democratic leaders, U.S. President Joe Biden said the ‘gravity of the situation’ was what convinced him to seek re-election.
Heyman was the U.S. ambassador to Canada from 2014 to 2017, under President Barack Obama. He was sworn into the job by then-vice president Biden.
Heyman’s statement was posted just before Biden took the stage for a highly anticipated solo news conference marking the end of the NATO summit in Washington. It was Biden’s first since his shaky presidential debate performance just two weeks earlier.
Facing the media, Biden reaffirmed his intention to seek a second Oval Office term “to complete the job I started,” despite mounting calls for him to drop his reelection bid.
In that news conference, Biden made an attention-grabbing gaffe when he mistakenly referred to Vice-President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump.”
“I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president if she was not qualified to be president,” Biden said, while answering a question from Reuters about his confidence in Harris.
At the end of his NATO press conference address, U.S. President Joe Biden introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but accidentally called him ‘President Putin.’ Biden corrected himself shortly after: ‘I’m so focused on beating Putin…. You are a hell of a lot better,’ he said to Zelenskyy.
That mix-up came a few hours after a NATO event where Biden mistakenly referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Russian President Vladimir Putin, before correcting himself.
Heyman is not the only Democrat suggesting Biden may not be fit to lead the United States for another four years.
Earlier this week, Hollywood actor and Democratic mega-donor George Clooney publicly joined the chorus of voices calling on Biden to quit the presidential race. More than a dozen Democratic lawmakers have called on the president to step aside.
Several of those Democrats have suggested Harris could be the party’s nominee in Biden’s place. Reporting by the New York Times suggests Biden’s campaign team is polling to see how Harris would fare against Trump.
Heyman said that while Harris “deserves respect,” the party should avoid naming her the nominee for president “without a fair and robust selection process.”
“The Democratic Party boasts a wealth of talented individuals who could potentially lead us into the future,” he said. “I propose a series of town halls, debates and interviews to showcase these candidates, culminating in a convention in Chicago to select our nominee.”
The Democratic National Convention is set for August 19 to 22 in Chicago. That is where the party will officially nominate its candidate for president.
Heyman said that, “given the high stakes of this election,” he will support the Democratic nominee, regardless of who it is.
“However, we owe it to the American people to present the strongest possible candidate to lead us forward and safeguard our democracy,” he said.
