President Biden left no ambiguity about his intentions to stay in the 2024 election during a Michigan rally on Friday.
Speaking in Detroit to a crowd that Democrats say passed 2,000 attendees, Biden characterized himself as a people’s champion under siege by elitist powers in Washington, D.C.
‘I’m the nominee of this party, because 14 million Democrats like you voted for me in the primaries,’ Biden told the crowd.
He continued, ‘You made me the nominee, no one else. Not the press, not the pundits, not the insiders, not donors — you the voters. You decided, no one else, and I’m not going anywhere.’
The Detroit crowd offered multiple coordinated cheers in support of Biden, including ‘Don’t you quit’ and ‘We’ve got your back.’
Biden faces increased calls to step down as the Democratic nominee following his performance at the first presidential debate, however, strategists with knowledge of presidential campaigns say irreversible damage has not been done to his re-election efforts.
‘You’ve probably noticed a lot of speculation lately. What’s Joe Biden going to do? Is he going to stay in the race? Is he going to drop out?’ Biden shouted during the rally. ‘Here’s my answer — I am running, and we’re going to win.’
Democrats are nervous as the calendar marches towards August, when the national convention will be held to confirm the party’s nominee.
Biden has stated on several occasions that he will not be stepping down as the nominee, but he continues to face pressure from members within his own party to consider dropping out of the 2024 race.
‘The president has been clear — he’s the elected nominee, and he is not budging from that position unless god himself intervenes,’ Democrat strategist Mark Penn told Fox News Digital when asked about the state of Biden’s campaign.
‘Right now, Donald Trump is clearly leading, but it’s nowhere near double digits, so the race remains within the ability of a few percent of switching voters to change the outcome and, as events like the debate show, there’s plenty of game-changing possibilities.’
Reports have also surfaced that former President Barack Obama has been working ‘behind the scenes’ to force Biden out of the race. Multiple media outlets reported Thursday morning on Obama’s alleged efforts, including Politico, which stated that the former president had been given a ‘heads-up’ by Clooney about his guest essay.
A source close to Obama declined to comment on the reports but pointed Fox News Digital to the former president’s statements in support of Biden, both at the Los Angeles fundraiser that became the subject of Clooney’s op-ed and following the debate.
Fox News Digital’s Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.