White House insists Biden will 'absolutely not' suspend re-election campaign: 'He is staying in the race'

President Biden is "absolutely not" considering dropping out of the 2024 presidential race, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday.

The White House has maintained Biden will continue running for a second term, even amid pressure from Democrats and former staffers and allies to step aside.

A New York Times report was published Wednesday morning suggesting that Biden had spoken privately with confidants about the possibility of dropping out of the race.

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But when asked during the briefing if Biden would drop out of the race, Jean-Pierre was defiant.

"Absolutely not," she said. "And you heard, I think, I believe directly from the campaign as well."

Jean-Pierre maintained that the president’s poor debate performance was due to his having "a cold" and echoed his own explanation from Tuesday night — that he was still recovering from "jet lag" following his trip to Europe for the G-7 summit.

"It was not his best night. He understands that it is fair for people to ask that question, but we cannot forget his record and what he’s been able to do. We cannot forget how he has been able to deliver for the American people for almost four years," she said. "That matters too. And he has the most historic record, the most in modern politics, and that should matter."

Jean-Pierre said Biden "wants to continue to do that work."

"A lot of what’s on his agenda is very much popular with the majority of the American people, whether it is continuing to build a strong economic — economic policies — he’s done that, creating new jobs — he’s done that — 15 million jobs. He wants to work on that and continue to do that. And so he