Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) shut down speculation Wednesday around former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) comments regarding whether President Biden should step aside from the 2024 race.
Coons, a close Biden ally, joined CNN’s Kaitlan Collins to discuss the president’s political future as concerns remain nearly two weeks after his poor debate performance.
Earlier Wednesday, Pelosi said it’s up to Biden to “decide if he is going to run” and that Democrats are “all encouraging him to make that decision.”
Her comments have been questioned, since Biden sent a letter Monday to congressional Democrats bluntly rejecting the calls for him to step aside.
Coons said he didn’t think his colleagues were signaling that they want Biden to make a different decision.
“I think Nancy Pelosi is fully capable of speaking clearly if she thinks that he should make a different decision,” he said.
Coons said that the former Speaker is “one of the most capable, most agile politicians” he’s ever met and dismissed the idea that there was some subliminal message to her statement.
“If she wants to give a message directly to our president, I think she knows how to do it,” he said.
Coons continued, noting that he thinks Pelosi was addressing the concerns of voters across the country who think Biden won’t be able to beat former President Trump in the election this fall, as well as serve another four years in office if he’s reelected.
The president has insisted he is staying in the race and intends to win.
“There’s lots of casual and out-in-the-public conversation about what’s next. He has made a decision. He has communicated that to all of us,” Coons said, later adding, “I’m clear about what’s next. … He’s going to be our nominee at the convention. He is going to be our candidate for president. … He is going to be our next president of the United States.”