No one really knows what’s going to happen during the 2024 Presidential election, but Jen Psaki has a better idea than most. The former White House press secretary stopped by “Late Night With Seth Meyers” on Thursday to explain what the line of succession may look like if President Joe Biden were to step down as the Democratic nominee.
“There’s lots of talking behind closed doors right now in Washington and around the public,” Psaki told Meyers. The current MSNBC host of “Inside With Jen Psaki” pointed to Vice President Kamala Harris as the obvious next choice as who could take over as the Democratic nominee if Biden drops out.
“The Vice President is the clear alternative for a range of reasons,” Psaki said. “She could take all the money from the campaign and campaign on it. I think she’s an undervalued communicator as well. And she would be the first African-American woman to be a presidential candidate.”
Though Harris has several “structural advantages,” Psaki also pointed to Michigan’s Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom, Pennsylvania’s Gov. Josh Shapiro and Maryland’s Gov. Wes Moore as other possibilities.
“For anyone who feels really dark right now who’s a Democrat, there is an amazing crop of people who are going to be running if there’s a democracy still around in a couple of years,” she offered.
That being said, the road to being the nominee will be more difficult for anyone who isn’t Harris. “They would have to inject themselves in and argue that they should skip over the Vice President, that they can raise the same amount of money, that they can match the structural advantages. So I think it’s more challenging for them,” Psaki explained.
Following the debate between Biden and Donald Trump in June, many are questioning whether the president should stay on as the Democratic option. Most recently, actor and prominent political donor George Clooney penned and op-ed for the New York Times calling for Biden to step aside. For his part, Biden and his campaign have refused to leave the race.
