New York Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D) and Jerry Nadler (D) on Tuesday gave their full support to a 2024 reelection bid by President Biden, a week after making news by declining during a debate to say whether they thought he should run.
“I am supporting Joe Biden,” Maloney said during a televised primary debate hosted by Nexstar station PIX11 and Hunter College in New York City.
Maloney touted Biden’s first-term legislative achievements, including the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in the Senate and the signing of the CHIPS and Science Act on Tuesday.
When asked whether Biden should be the nominee in 2024, Nadler said, “Absolutely.”
“He should be the Democratic nominee, and he should be reelected president,” Nadler said. “He’s done a magnificent job.”
The decennial redistricting process left the two powerful committee chairs facing off against each other in New York’s 12th Congressional District. Maloney chairs the House Oversight and Reform Committee, and Nadler is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Attorney Suraj Patel is also running for the seat.
The statements Tuesday stood in contrast to last week’s debate during which Maloney said she didn’t believe Biden was running for reelection and Nadler said it was “too early to say” and that it didn’t serve the Democratic Party’s purpose to be speculating on that ahead of the midterm elections in November.
The comments made headlines and resulted in Maloney walking them back during an interview on CNN in which she addressed Biden, saying she apologized and wanted him to run again. Maloney and Nadler both also released statements after the debate saying they supported the president.
On Tuesday, Nadler sought to clarify his comments from last week.
“What I said in the debate last week was not to cast doubt on that,” he said. “Let’s get past the midterms. Let’s worry about the midterms. Then we can worry about how to win the election in 2024.”
Maloney expressed optimism that Democrats would win in the midterms during a post-debate interview with The Hill on Tuesday, citing Biden’s recent policy wins.
“I think we’re going to win based on our record and based on President Biden’s leadership,” Maloney said. “Look what we’ve been able to accomplish.”
However, Nadler and Maloney did take heat from Patel, who was the only candidate last week to say he believed Biden would run in 2024. Patel said that the two lawmakers spent the last week “embarrassing themselves” by walking back their comments.
An Emerson College Polling-PIX11-The Hill survey released Friday showed Nadler leading with 40 percent of very likely Democratic primary voters, while Maloney trailed at 31 percent. Eleven percent said they would support Patel, and 17 percent said they were undecided.