Scripps News spoke with 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang on Monday about the Democratic reaction to President Joe Biden’s repeated statements that he will stay in the race.
President Biden is “a different guy in 2024 than he was in 2020,” Yang said. “I debated him seven times in 2020, and that Joe Biden never would have had the kind of performance he did last Thursday night in front of 50 million Americans. I saw the president in person earlier this year and there are very, very real tangible differences between Joe Biden now and Joe Biden even a few short years ago. And that’s why we’re having this conversation right now.”
Yang lamented that there was not a more robust primary process this cycle.
“If there had been, let’s say, televised debates between Joe Biden, Dean Phillips, Gavin Newsom, JB Pritzker and the like, it’s a completely different landscape,” Yang said of potential Democratic challengers. “If you’d had a genuine process, we’d be having a very, very different experience right now.”
Yang told Scripps News he was aware of additional plans from Democrats to challenge President Biden more directly — though he did not share details.
“I happen to know that some of the people that are publicly demurring are actually staffing up and getting ready for a campaign,” Yang said. “I also happen to know there’s a Democratic member, at least one, that told me they’re coming public this week. So there are a lot of things going on behind the scenes.”
You can watch Scripps News’ full interview with Andrew Yang above.
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