Former Democratic governor says there should be a "short, competitive process" if Biden withdraws

Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is pictured during an interview with CNN on July 6. 

CNN

Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said on Saturday that as long as President Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee, “I’m with him.” But he added that if Biden steps aside from the presidential race, there needs to be a quick and intensive process to find the next nominee. 

“If he does withdraw … I do believe there needs to be, albeit a short, competitive process to arrive at who our nominee ought to be going for. And I think that’s a real opportunity for us,” Patrick told CNN’s Victor Blackwell.  

“I don’t want to presume to be trying to push our presumptive nominee out of that position. He has to make that decision, but he has to make that decision, and not just pretend like there’s not a lot of concern expressed, certainly externally — and probably internally — about his capacity to handle his campaign and the next four years,” he said. 

Patrick, who is one of only three elected Black governors in US history, said that Biden has to decide and not “just try to power through this moment.”

“At the same time, there is tremendous depth on the Democratic bench. So I’m not worried about that. I think that a competitive process gives us a chance to showcase that depth of talent. It also gives us a chance to appeal to the disaffected in our own party and beyond,” he added.

Patrick, who made his own bid for the White House in 2020, was asked if he would throw his hat in the ring if Biden steps aside. “If the president makes a decision to withdraw, I think I, like a whole lot of other people, will have to look at this seriously. And we have to look at whether the process is, in fact, open. I hope it is. And if it is, then I, my family and my team will look hard at that,” he said.