Biden Challengers Issue Warning to Democrats If Biden Becomes Nominee

Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson prepares for a television interview after the Democratic Presidential Debate at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, Mich., on July 30, 2019. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Two Democrat 2024 candidates issued warnings on Tuesday that President Joe Biden’s 2024 reelection launch won’t energize younger voters and has strayed from traditional Democrat values.

“I think that video was very out of touch, and that’s what people are feeling,” self-help author Marianne Williamson, a Democratic candidate, told The Hill on Tuesday. “I think an entire younger generation would stay home in droves in response to what that video is advancing as the administration’s pitch to the American people.”

Her remarks came after Biden announced that he will run for reelection, releasing a pre-recorded video that criticized former Republicans. Biden’s video and statement did not specifically name any of his GOP rivals, but he used images of the Jan. 6 Capitol breach and posted images of former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).

“Every generation has a moment where they have had to stand up for democracy. To stand up for their fundamental freedoms. I believe this is ours. That’s why I’m running for reelection as President of the United States. Join us. Let’s finish the job,” Biden, 80, wrote on social media. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is joining Biden, is also featured prominently in the clip.

“For those of us committed to Democrats winning the White House in 2024, the president’s campaign announcement today was concerning,” Williamson, considered a long-shot candidate, wrote Tuesday. “His remark that he has fought so that everyone ‘is given a fair shot’ contradicts his refusal to fight for a higher minimum wage, permanentize the child tax credit, or side with railroad workers trying to negotiate for sick pay.”

During the 2020 presidential campaign, Williamson was also a Democrat candidate but eventually bowed out in early 2020 before endorsing Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who announced a Democratic 2024 presidential bid last week, also criticized Biden’s launch. Like Williamson, Kennedy—the son of former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of John F. Kennedy—is viewed as a long shot against Biden.

“I have known and liked Joe Biden for many years, but we differ profoundly on fundamental issues such as corporate influence in government, censorship, civil liberties, poverty, corruption, and war policy, among others. I look forward to engaging him in debates and town hall meetings,” he wrote.

Kennedy added that “I am a multi-generational Democrat, but I think our party has gone off track. Remember when we upheld the interests of the poor and middle class against big corporations and Wall Street? Remember when we were the party of peace, civil liberties, and people power? I aim to reclaim my party and its traditional values.”

“The Biden administration is riddled with Neocons, war hawks, Wall Street people, and former corporate lobbyists. That’s what the party elite has become. But I know the rank-and-file—and the American people as a whole—don’t share their priorities. It’s time to return our party and our nation to the people.”

Both Kennedy and Williamson have complained that their chances will be unfairly harmed by the Democratic National Committee’s 2024 schedule. Kennedy and several other Democrats, including former Ohio Democratic House candidate Nina Turner, have claimed that the DNC won’t be holding any presidential debates.

“In 2020, the RNC didn’t hold presidential primary debates. In 2024, the DNC doesn’t plan on having primary debates. Both moves take away from the democratic process. The DNC should hold debates,” wrote Turner, a former co-chair of Sanders’ presidential campaign.

And left-wing commentator Cenk Uygur similarly claimed: “DNC has already announced that it will not allow any debates in 2024 primary. Biden is not to be challenged. Everyone on the Democratic side must shut up and fall in line. Not having debates is undemocratic and ridiculous. No progressive should agree to this kind of power grab.”

The Epoch Times has contacted the Biden campaign for comment.