‘I’m staying in race’ says Biden as US president scrambles to save re-election
President Joe Biden, fighting to save his endangered re-election effort, has defiantly declared that “I’m staying in the race”.
Mr Biden made the comment during a campaign rally in a critical battleground state as he prepares to sit down for a television interview where his every answer is sure to be scrutinised for evidence of his competency and fitness to run for office.
In front of roughly 300 supporters at a Wisconsin middle school, Mr Biden again acknowledged his subpar debate last week.
He said he “can’t say it was my best performance” but that amid speculation over what he would do, he had an answer: “I am running, and I’m going to win again.”
“I beat Donald Trump,” Mr Biden said. “I will beat him again.”
The TV interview could be a watershed moment for Mr Biden, who is under pressure to bow out of the campaign after his disastrous debate performance against Republican Donald Trump ignited concern that the 81-year-old Democrat is not up for the job for another four years.
The interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, being taped after a campaign rally in Madison, Wisconsin, is expected to be intensive and probing, and two people familiar with the president’s efforts said he had been preparing aggressively.
They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning.
There was broad agreement that Mr Biden cannot afford to have another “bad day,” which is how he wrote off his debate flop.
It was not clear that even a so-so performance would be enough to satisfy concerns about his fitness to serve.
The White House itself was raising the stakes for Mr Biden’s interview with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre that it expects “millions of Americans” to watch.
While private angst among Democratic legislators, donors and strategists is running deep after Mr Biden’s damaging debate performance, most in the party have held public fire as they wait to see if the president can restore some confidence with his weekend travel schedule and his handling of the Stephanopoulos interview.
It will air in full on ABC on Friday night.
But at least three House Democrats have called for Biden to step down as the nominee, with Seth Moulton expressing his concerns in a Thursday radio interview and joining Lloyd Doggett and Raul Grijalva in seeking an alternative.
“President Biden has done enormous service to our country, but now is the time for him to follow in one of our founding father, George Washington’s footsteps and step aside to let new leaders rise up and run against Donald Trump,” Mr Moulton told the radio station WBUR on Thursday.
Biden’s re-election campaign is pushing ahead with aggressive plans despite the uncertainty.
It plans to pair his in-person events with a fresh 50 million dollar ad campaign this month meant to capitalise on high viewership moments like the Summer Olympics that begin in Paris on July 26.
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