Dem Congresswoman: Biden Not Running
Psst. Don't tell anyone.
Taegan Goddard draws my attention to this exchange in an otherwise unremarkable NYT interview with Rep. Carolyn Maloney:
Eleanor Randolph: Should President Biden run again?
Off the record, he’s not running again.
Jyoti Thottam: Not off the record. On the record.
On the record? No, he should not run again.
There was no follow-up and, as best I can determine, she hasn’t issued any sort of clarification. If, in fact, the President is not running for re-election, I absolutely understand why he’d keep that quiet until after the midterms. I have no idea, though, why he’d tell Carolyn Maloney.
UPDATE: In the comments, @Mister Bluster points to a follow-up interview with Maloney wherein she apologizes to President Biden and pledges to support him if he runs again. She comes across as something less than polished.
In this clip from CNN Representative Maloney apologizes to President Biden. Her apology is at the very end of the clip.
@Mister Bluster: She seems rather out of it, frankly.
I was going to leave it to you to say that considering OTB’s comment policy.
I think that you are being kind.
Why did the NYT publish something the interviewee declared to be off the record?
@MarkedMan:..Why did the NYT publish something the interviewee declared to be off the record?
Re: off the record/on the record I found this:
“Won’t run again” is different from “shouldn’t run again.”
@CSK: Yeah, but isn’t that distinction also why publishing the “off the record” comment may be a breach of trust?
(Not that I’m troubled, just devil’s advocating.)
@Just nutha:
I don’t know. I thought it was interesting that Maloney used a different verb for the on-the-record comment.
Maloney said the same in her first debate with Nadler. She’s 76 years old, Nadler is even older, and their primary contest illustrates so much that is wrong with today’s Democratic Party.