Pritzker says no ‘serious’ Democrats are expected to run against Biden

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) on Sunday predicted that no “serious” Democrats will enter the 2024 primary ring with President Biden, who is expected to run for re-election, just a day after Democrat Marianne Williamson officially launched a bid. 

Host Margaret Brennan asked Pritzker on CBS’s “Face the Nation” whether Biden should “make it official and say he’s running” to quell speculation and “people considering other options.  

“I don’t think there’s anybody that’s serious, that’s actually considering running against Joe Biden, because he’s done such a great job,” Pritzker said. 

The comment comes a day after Williamson, who also ran in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, officially kicked off her campaign, becoming the first Democrat to launch a challenge to the sitting president, assuming he runs as expected. 

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) appeared earlier on the CBS program Sunday to say he wanted to “wait until we see who all the players are” in the Democratic primary, sidestepping a question about whether he’d support a Biden re-election bid. 

“The bottom line is, let’s see who’s involved. Let’s wait until we see who all the players are. Let’s just wait until it all comes out,” Manchin said. 

Prtizker said Manchin’s suggestion surprised him “a bit,” and went on to tout Biden’s legislative successes.

“Joe Biden has an awful lot that he gets to run on here,” Pritzker said.