Ro Khanna and Beto O’Rourke say Biden's reelection bid was a mistake, urging Democrats to own up and move forward.

Democratic Voices Break Ranks Over Biden’s 2024 Run

Leading young Democrats are openly rebuking President Joe Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign, citing his cognitive decline and accusing party leadership of sidelining competition. Rep. Ro Khanna and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke expressed regret over supporting Biden’s candidacy and argued that the Democratic Party should have allowed an open primary instead.

“We should be honest as a party that we made a mistake,” Khanna told Fox News on Wednesday, admitting he had not fully grasped Biden’s declining mental acuity before the 2024 debates. “Obviously, he should not have run.”

Beto O’Rourke echoed the sentiment, calling Biden’s decision a “terrible mistake” on the “Pod Save America” podcast. “He failed this country in the most important job he had,” O’Rourke said, adding that future generations may pay the price. “We might very well lose the greatest country that this world has ever known.”

The remarks come ahead of the release of the book Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again, by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson. The book explores Biden’s health and the administration’s alleged attempts to conceal it.

Calls for Open Primaries and Future Leadership

Khanna, who served as a surrogate for Biden’s 2024 campaign and is viewed as a possible 2028 contender, acknowledged that early affirmations of Biden’s capability were based on limited knowledge. “Of course, I didn’t have the full picture,” he stated.

Both Khanna and O’Rourke argue that the Democratic Party should have held an open primary, giving voters and emerging leaders a chance to compete. “It’s important to take accountability and be straightforward with the American people,” Khanna said. O’Rourke added that “the greatest talent” of the party was sidelined, and America missed an opportunity for change.

Despite his recent criticism, O’Rourke had previously backed Biden in a February email, calling him “our best chance” to defeat Trump and praising his performance on key issues. That contrast now highlights the growing rift between the party’s younger generation and its aging leadership.

Meanwhile, Biden’s former National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, defended the president at Politico’s Security Summit. While acknowledging Biden’s debate performance as “a shock,” Sullivan rejected claims of memory lapses and affirmed the president’s leadership capabilities.

As President Donald Trump resumes office, Democratic introspection intensifies. The generational divide within the party has spilled into public view, with growing consensus among rising stars that the party must confront its failures if it hopes to rebuild credibility ahead of 2028.