When the New York Times editorial board was interviewing veteran Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney ahead of this month's primary, an odd exchange happened, notes CBS News:
- Questioner: "Should President Biden run again?"
- Maloney: "Off the record, he's not running again."
- Another questioner: "Not off the record. On the record."
- Maloney: "On the record? No, he should not run again."
Maloney is media savvy and would have been aware of the standard rules for off-the-record comments, which clearly would not have applied here. As Insider notes, however, it's the not first time Maloney has publicly stated she doesn't think Biden will run. During a primary debate—her main opponent is longtime Rep. Jerry Nadler, because of newly redrawn districts in the state—Maloney also cast doubt on the idea of another Biden run.
However, she later went on CNN and publicly apologized to the president for the remarks and said she would support a second run. Nadler, for the record, has consistently dodged the question in the primary race, saying that the party shouldn't focus on that until after the midterms, per the Hill. The White House insists Biden is running again. In fact, Bloomberg reports that he plans to formally launch his re-election campaign in November. (More Carolyn Maloney stories.)