Biden pledge to be ‘bridge’ candidate still stands and Harris is ‘future’ of party: White House

The White House reiterated President Joe Biden‘s promise to be a “bridge” to a younger generation of Democratic Party leaders, including Vice President Kamala Harris.

“One of the reasons why he picked the vice president, Kamala Harris, is because she is indeed the future of the party,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday.

Harris is among the top contenders to replace Biden as the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee after his poor debate performance last week exacerbated concerns about his age and mental acuity, particularly because it would be easier to transfer some of the $240 million the party has in their campaign coffers to her in Biden’s absence.

But earlier in the briefing, Jean-Pierre repeated that Biden was not considering stepping down as he reaches out to congressional Democrats and campaign aides to underscore he is taking their concerns seriously and to increase morale. One day prior, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) became the first sitting member of Congress to call on Biden to stand aside before November’s election after Biden appeared to lose his train of thought during the debate.

Regardless of the speculation, Harris has remained loyal to Biden, emphasizing that the president is “our nominee” during a short interview with CBS.

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“We beat Trump once, and we’re going to beat him again,” she told the outlet. “I am proud to be Joe Biden’s running mate.”

Biden made the “bridge” pledge during a Michigan rally held as part of the 2020 Democratic primary, a contest in which he was also asked questions about his age.