(DCWatchdog.com) – Should Democrat President Joe Biden decide not to seek reelection, his Vice President, Kamala Harris, would be the top choice to succeed him, according to Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), the Majority Whip in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In an interview for CNN’s New Day, the South Carolina Democrat declared full support for soon-to-be-80 Biden’s current plans to seek his party’s presidential nomination in 2024 and to run for reelection.
He also noted that Biden has made it clear that he would like to keep Kamala Harris as his veep.
However, Clyburn stressed that if Biden does decide against seeking reelection for some reason, Harris would naturally succeed him as the Democratic presidential nominee in two years.
“We know that [Biden’s] forecast includes Vice President Harris. I support her. And I’m just saying that if he chooses not to run again, first on my list after him would be Kamala Harris,” the House Majority Whip said.
He was commenting on a report by The Wall Street Journal alleging that the Democratic Party expects their President to run for a second term in 2024. Still, many in the party aren’t sure how they feel about that decision and his prospects for winning the next presidential election.
In his interview, Clyburn praised Biden’s performance in charge of the U.S. executive branch, arguing that the Democrat President has a key role to play in the “survival” of the American democracy.
“There’s no question in my mind that Joe Biden is doing exactly what needs to be done for this great country of ours… We need a Joe Biden to get us through this rough patch, and I think he’s doing great with that,” the senior South Carolina Democrat declared.
Clyburn, however, predicted that Biden’s decision on whether to seek reelection will depend a lot on the outcome of the 2022 midterm elections, which in turn is to be determined to a major extent by the impact of the President’s policies.
At the same time, though, the House Majority Whip mentioned that “none of us are getting any younger,” an apparent hint that Biden’s age may also play a major role in his decision on whether to try to secure a second White House term.
That was after Clyburn explicitly made it clear that he views a 2024 presidential nomination of Kamala Harris as the “next best” option.
