The White House affirmed on Wednesday that Joe Biden is remaining in the election as the presumptive Democratic nominee. This comes as the US president reportedly told his campaign team, “I’m in this race to the end,” amid increasing pressure for him to step down over concerns about his age, at 81.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the press secretary, informed reporters that “the president is not dropping out,” despite acknowledging his poor performance in the first debate against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. She attributed his performance to a cold brought on by strenuous foreign travel, despite skepticism from some reporters at the daily briefing.
Biden, in a separate call with staffers, stated, “No one is pushing me out. I’m not leaving. I’m in this race to the end and we’re going to win.” Vice-president Kamala Harris also joined the call, emphasizing to staffers that they are in this fight for re-election “together.” She is seen as a potential replacement if Biden drops out, although several Democratic governors are also considered serious rivals in that scenario.
The White House denied a report that Biden is considering the viability of his candidacy. An ally of the president told the New York Times that Biden remained fully committed to his re-election effort, but acknowledged the need for successful public appearances for his candidacy to remain viable.
However, the article under the headline “Biden told ally that he is weighing whether to continue in the race” was refuted by Andrew Bates, the senior deputy press secretary and deputy assistant to the president.
The latest Siena College / NYT poll shows Trump widening his lead on Biden since the TV debate, with a 6-point advantage, 49-43%, among likely voters. Only 49% of Democrats believe Biden should remain the nominee.
On Wednesday, President Biden made his first public appearance at a White House ceremony to award posthumous Medals of Honor to two Union soldiers for acts of bravery in the civil war. The president spoke clearly, assisted by a teleprompter. There were cracks in support among Democratic leaders, with reports of concerns from Barack Obama about Biden’s re-election path and suggestions from House Democrat Jim Clyburn for the party to hold a “mini-primary” if Biden steps aside.
Potential contenders to replace Joe Biden as Democratic nominee include Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, JB Pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer, Sherrod Brown, and Dean Phillips. While most elected Democrats continue to publicly support Biden, there are some voices urging him to step aside, such as congressman Lloyd Doggett of Texas and Raúl Grijalva of Arizona. At a Virginia campaign event, Biden attributed his poor debate performance to extensive international travel and not heeding his staff’s advice.
Despite publicly supporting Biden, former President Obama reportedly expressed concerns about Biden’s re-election prospects in private conversations with Democratic allies. Additionally, Bloomberg reported that several House Democrats are mulling over signing a letter calling for Biden to withdraw from the presidential race, according to an unnamed ‘senior party official’.
