Here’s how Biden would be replaced, according to Democrats’ rules

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President Joe Biden said something interesting at his rare news conference Thursday when he was asked if delegates pledged to support him at the Democratic National Convention have his blessing to support another candidate.

“They’re free to do whatever they want,” Biden said.

President Joe Biden speaks at a news conference following the NATO Summit in Washington, Thursday, July 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

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The president noted he overwhelmingly won Democratic primaries, which is why nearly all of the convention delegates are currently considered to be pledged to him. But then he added this:

“Tomorrow, if all of a sudden I show up at the convention and everyone says we want someone else, that’s the democratic process. It’s not going to happen,” he added confidently.

Biden is correct that the Democrats’ rules allow delegates to vote for the candidate of their choice. But it’s a little more complicated than he let on. During the roll call vote that officially selects the nominee, for instance, delegates who don’t vote for an acknowledged candidate would have their vote registered as “present.” Biden, at the moment, will probably be the only acknowledged candidate and in all likelihood will remain the nominee unless he steps aside.

Before Biden’s news conference I talked to Elaine Kamarck about how Democrats pick nominees. Kamarck knows more than most. She is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who has written extensively as an academic about the primary process and is also deeply involved with the Democratic