The Democrats’ 2024 Party Platform made multiple references to President Joe Biden running in 2024 even though he bowed out of the race in July as Kamala Harris struggles to distance herself from his failures.
The Platform, a 92-page document outlining Democrats’ planned policies, makes a considerable number of references to a second Biden term.
“In President Biden’s second term, he will continue selecting judges who will protect fundamental rights and who represent the diversity of the American experience,” the document reads on page 46.
“In President Biden’s second term, he will push Congress to pass legislation that is consistent with our values as a nation,” it says again on page 65.
In total, the phrase “second term” appears 20 times throughout the text, in addition to other language which indicates Biden is still running.
“President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Democrats are running to finish the job,” the platform reads on just the second page.
Wait so is Joe Biden back in the race?
“President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Democrats are running to finish the job.” – from the final 2024 Democrat platform. pic.twitter.com/1fRqbIQnBU
— Francis Brennan (@FrancisBrennan) August 19, 2024
The specter of Biden’s incumbency looms large over Harris’ candidacy she tries to distance herself from the unpopular president. (RELATED: ‘Radioactive Waste For Voters’: Kevin O’Leary Says Kamala Harris ‘Has To Get Rid Of Biden’ To Win Over Americans)
While publicly, Harris and the White House maintain there’s “no daylight” between her and the President, anonymous staffers have been leaking that she’s trying to distance herself from Biden on economic policy and other issues.
Through anonymous staffers, Harris has reversed course on a number of her previous positions that align with Biden-Harris administration stances.
She attempted to forge her own course, making first major public policy statements during a Friday rally in North Carolina.
During the roughly 28 minute campaign speech, her longest appearance of any kind since Biden dropped out, she outlined an economic policy agenda that included expanding the child tax and earned income tax credits, a $25,000 grant for first-time homebuyers, and a price-control plan to prevent grocery store price-gouging which critics largely panned.
“This is not sensible policy,” Jason Furman, an Obama administration chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, told the New York Times. “I think the biggest hope is that it ends up being a lot of rhetoric and no reality. There’s no upside here, and there is some downside,” he concluded.
