“I’m not giving up. No one will push me away.” Joe Biden resists and does not withdraw his candidacy for the November 2024 US elections. At least for now.
The president, under pressure after the disastrous televised debate a week ago against Donald Trump, does not intend to give up despite the fibrillation in the Democratic camp and the pressure from the media, with the Boston Globe – following the New York Times and the Washington Post – taking a position essentially asking for a step back.
What happens in the next decisive days
Biden prepares for crucial weekend. To “warm up,” he recorded two radio interviews with a Wisconsin station and a Pennsylvania station. On Friday, he will answer questions from ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos in an interview that resembles a make-up exam.
Then, he will fly to Wisconsin on Friday and then continue the campaign on Sunday in Pennsylvania. The weekend, which precedes the NATO summit scheduled for Washington next week, is shaping up as a redde rationem that, according to the New York Times, could push the president to throw in the towel. Biden, says an anonymous ally, “knows that if he has two more events” like the televised debate “we are in a different situation.”
“Biden is not retiring”: denials rain down
Immediately afterward, denials rained down from the White House and the campaign: Biden has no intention of stepping aside. The president “admitted that these have been tough days” but said “unequivocally to his team that will run for re-election and will beat Donald Trump“, a source familiar with the telephone conversation the Commander in Chief had with his staff leaked to CNN.
“Nobody is throwing me out. I’m in the race until the end and we will win, because when Democrats are united, we always win,” Biden was quoted as saying by the source as saying. “Just as we beat Trump in 2020, we will beat him again in 2024.”
The same source also quoted Vice President Kamala Harris, who is resisting calls to replace the president, as saying: “We will not back down. We will follow the lead of our president. We will fight and we will win.” Biden reiterated: “There is no one I would rather be in this fight with than all of you. So let’s join arms. Let’s get this done. You, me, the Vice President. Together.”
Meanwhile, however, a second Democratic deputy is calling for a step back. Arizona Representative Raul Grijalva told the New York Times: “If he’s the nominee, I’ll support him, but I think this is an opportunity to look elsewhere.” According to the congressman, “what (Biden) has to do is take responsibility for holding that office, and part of that responsibility is to leave the race.” Before him, Texas Democratic Representative Lloyd Doggett had called for Biden to step down.
Polls fail Biden
No more flops, after the disastrous debate, are allowed. The latest polls show a complex picture for the president, to say the least. According to a survey conducted by the New York Times and Siena College, Trump leads the race for the White House with 49% of the vote, against 41% for Biden. In the previous survey, conducted before the disastrous debate of June 27, Trump was at 49% and Biden at 43%. For CNN, the score is 49%-44%, with a wider range than the 49%-47% favorable to the former president before the televised debate.
At the moment the only positive numbers for the presidential campaign come from fundraising: 127 million came in in June, for a total of 240 million in cash. The next public appearances will also have to serve above all to convince Americans that the president is capable of running the campaign.
Questions and Answers on the President’s Health
A CBS poll has highlighted that for voters, Biden’s age is the main issue and at this point it is legitimate to raise doubts about the health of the head of state. The White House, in the latest briefings, has answered questions from reporters.
Biden has not had a medical exam since February, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean Pierre said. According to the report released five months ago by the president’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the “extremely detailed” neurological exam revealed no problems that it could be linked to a stroke, multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s: “There were no new concerns” about his health.
In the CNN studio in Atlanta, where the disaster was broadcast live, according to the White House, other factors played a role, after repeated trips to Europe (France and Italy) made by the president: “The agenda and the cold have weighed”the response of press secretary Jean-Pierre, who clarified that she wanted to “give an explanation” and not an apology.
“The only reason we shared it is because I was asked to here and the president certainly wanted to explain himself. And that’s what he did,” he said in a briefing with reporters. “We understand that it wasn’t his best night. It wasn’t a great debate. We understand that. And we understand what the supporters saw, what the American people saw, and what you all saw. And so we wanted to explain.”
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