Commerce secretary says it’s counterproductive for Democrats to talk about running against Biden in 2024

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Sunday agreed with the notion that it is counterproductive for Democrats to talk about other candidates who could run against President Biden in 2024.

During an appearance on CBS’s “Face The Nation,” moderator Margaret Brennan asked Raimondo about her own political future since being touted for a possible run for president.

“There’s a lot of speculation about your own political future. And do you think when you hear that, you must hear it?” Brennan asked Raimondo. “Is that counterproductive for Democrats to be openly talking about anyone other than Joe Biden running in 2024?”

“Yes, I think it is. The president is a great president. He’s doing a great job, he’s going to run and he’s the man for the job,” Raimondo replied. “So I do think it’s unproductive.”

Brennan then asked Raimondo about her own political future, mentioning speculation of moves to the Treasury Department and a 2024 presidential run, but Raimondo wouldn’t address those rumors.

“And you and your political future. What is it?” Brennan asked Raimondo. 

“Doing a great job of the Commerce Department,” Raimondo replied. 

“Well, there’s speculation you can move to Treasury. There’s speculation you could run for president” Brennan said. 

“You know, by this time next week, I’m going to have $52 billion of the Commerce Department to rebuild the semiconductor manufacturing industry and that is going to keep me more than busy,” Raimondo replied. 

Raimondo said earlier this month that Democrats aren’t justified to critique Biden’s actions as president amid the fallout over the Supreme Court ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade, the constitutional right to an abortion for women, adding that Biden is already pushing his limits of authority to stand up to women rights. 

“These issues have to be solved by Congress, or in this case the Supreme Court and Congress,” Raimondo told NBC’s “Meet The Press” host Chuck Todd at the time. “So he’s doing what a good executive does, which is go to his team and say: give me every option, every tool in my toolbox. And that’s what this executive order does.”