“The Young Turks” founder Cenk Uygur announced on his show Wednesday that he will run for president as a Democrat, directly challenging President Biden.
“[Biden] is not going to win,” Uygur said during the announcement. “It should not have been me, it should have been somebody else, but unfortunately it was not anyone else. There’s only four months left. We must change course. He has at best a 10 percent chance of winning. I’m running as a proxy. I am running to win. But I am also running as a proxy for any other candidate.”
The progressive media host has called for Biden to drop out of the race, stating repeatedly that democracy is on the line, referring to former President Trump’s 2024 run.
“We have got to get Biden out of the race,” Uygur said. “Thank you for winning in 2020. But if he loses this time around, it’s not just his problem, it’s all of our problems. I actually think democracy is on the line, and so if it takes me running, that’s what I’m gonna do.
Uygur has a big obstacle to overcome in his run for the White House.
Born in Istanbul, Turkey, Uygur immigrated to the U.S. at 8 years old. He believes that the Constitution’s “Natural Born Citizen” clause will not prevent him in his effort, believing that he can win the battle in the Supreme Court.
“I have lawyered up,” Uygur said. “I have the same lawyer [Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)] used in both of his presidential runs. And my guess is I’m going to have some strong allies in this. Arnold Schwarzenegger. I’m going to the Supreme Court. Either I’m going to win or I’m going to lose. Now this case is on our side. The precedent is definitely on our side. So, what are you going to do, brother?“
In his last congressional run in California’s 25th District, Uygur came up with 6.6 percent of the vote and finished fourth in the field of 12 candidates.
Uygur, a former MSNBC commentator, joins book author Marianne Williamson as the only other candidate challenging Biden in the Democratic primary. Environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Monday that he is switching his campaign to an independent run.
“Marianne Williamson has been in there but unfortunately, she hasn’t broken through,” Uygur said. “I have nothing but respect for her courage and her policies, but at this point, we’re not at progressives versus establishment. We’re at four months left, and things must change. Otherwise, we’re almost definitely going to lose to Trump.”
The announcement was first reported by Semafor.