Former President Joe Biden will be feted by South Carolina Democrats later this month, to mark the sixth anniversary of his Palmetto State primary landslide, a comeback victory that rocketed Biden to the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and later the White House.
But with many Democrats still smarting from their party’s major 2024 election setbacks, fueled in part by a very unpopular Biden presidency and the then-president’s dropping his re-election bid amid serious questions about his physical and mental abilities following a disastrous debate with now-President Donald Trump, the South Carolina celebration appears to be an outlier.
As they seek office in gubernatorial and congressional races in this year’s elections, nine candidates who served in the Biden administration appear to be keeping their distance from the former president, according to a new report from Axios.
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Biden ended his presidency with approval and favorable ratings well underwater, and the 13 months since he left office have not apparently healed the damage done to his standing among those in his own party.
“Biden remains a liability,” a veteran Democratic strategist who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, told Fox News Digital. “Being associated with the Biden administration is doing some candidates no favors as they run this year.”
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That’s a switch from the 2018 elections, the previous midterm cycle when Trump was in office and the Democrats were out of power, when former President Barack Obama as well as then-former Vice President Biden were in demand on the campaign trail.
Among those not highlighting Biden this cycle is Deb Haaland, a former House member from New Mexico who served as Department of the Interior secretary in the Biden administration and is now running for governor in the blue-leaning state. The former president isn’t mentioned on Haaland’s campaign website.
Another example is Xavier Becerra, who served as secretary of Health and Human Services under Biden and is now running for California governor. The former president isn’t mentioned in Becerra’s campaign launch video.
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But some Biden alumni running in solidly blue areas are mentioning their service during his administration. That includes Democratic congressional candidate Sanjyot Dunung, who is seeking office in Illinois 8th District. She mentions in her launch video that she served on Biden’s foreign policy working group.
It’s still too early to tell if the former president could end up being a drag on potential 2028 presidential contenders that served in his administration. Both former Vice President Kamala Harris and Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg are seen as possible White House contenders.
For Democrats hoping Biden stays out of the limelight, the former president has mostly obliged. Biden has only made a handful of high-profile public appearances and sat for just a couple of major interviews since the end of his presidency.
Fox News reached out to Biden’s post-presidency team for comment, but didn’t receive a response at the time this story was published.
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