Outside the Beltway

Outside the Beltway

Dem Congresswoman: Biden Not Running

Psst. Don’t tell anyone.

James Joyner
9

Taegan Goddard draws my attention to this exchange in an otherwise unremarkable NYT interview with Rep. Carolyn Maloney:

Eleanor Randolph: Should President Biden run again?

Off the record, he’s not running again.

Jyoti Thottam: Not off the record. On the record.

On the record? No, he should not run again.

There was no follow-up and, as best I can determine, she hasn’t issued any sort of clarification. If, in fact, the President is not running for re-election, I absolutely understand why he’d keep that quiet until after the midterms. I have no idea, though, why he’d tell Carolyn Maloney.

UPDATE: In the comments, @Mister Bluster points to a follow-up interview with Maloney wherein she apologizes to President Biden and pledges to support him if he runs again. She comes across as something less than polished.

9 responses to “Dem Congresswoman: Biden Not Running”

  1. Mister Bluster Avatar
    Mister Bluster

    In this clip from CNN Representative Maloney apologizes to President Biden. Her apology is at the very end of the clip.

  2. James Joyner Avatar
    James Joyner

    @Mister Bluster: She seems rather out of it, frankly.

    1
  3. Mister Bluster Avatar
    Mister Bluster

    I was going to leave it to you to say that considering OTB’s comment policy.
    I think that you are being kind.

    3
  4. MarkedMan Avatar
    MarkedMan

    Why did the NYT publish something the interviewee declared to be off the record?

  5. Mister Bluster Avatar
    Mister Bluster

    @MarkedMan:..Why did the NYT publish something the interviewee declared to be off the record?

    Re: off the record/on the record I found this:

    The exchanges about Biden began when Randolph asked Maloney if Biden should run for a second term. “Off the record, he’s not running again,” Maloney said. She did not say how she knew Biden would not seek a second term in 2024.
    “Not off the record. On the record,” insisted journalist Jyothi Thottam. According to the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, journalistic ethics stipulates that a source cannot unilaterally go off the record. The reporter must agree.
    “On the record? No, he shouldn’t run again,” Maloney said in response to Thottam’s signal.
    Source

  6. CSK Avatar
    CSK

    “Won’t run again” is different from “shouldn’t run again.”

    1
  7. Just nutha Avatar
    Just nutha

    @CSK: Yeah, but isn’t that distinction also why publishing the “off the record” comment may be a breach of trust?
    (Not that I’m troubled, just devil’s advocating.)

  8. CSK Avatar
    CSK

    @Just nutha:
    I don’t know. I thought it was interesting that Maloney used a different verb for the on-the-record comment.

  9. Ken_L Avatar
    Ken_L

    Maloney said the same in her first debate with Nadler. She’s 76 years old, Nadler is even older, and their primary contest illustrates so much that is wrong with today’s Democratic Party.

    3

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