06/07/2024 – 18:05
Under pressure from within his party to reconsider his participation in the race, the 81-year-old president downplayed his poor performance in the debate against Trump. “No one is more qualified to win this election than me,” he said. US President Joe Biden persisted on Friday (05/07) in defending his candidacy for reelection, during an interview in which he tried to dodge questions about his mental agility.
The interview with ABC was intended to turn the page on his poor performance in the first electoral debate against Donald Trump. “I don’t think anyone is more qualified to be president and win this election than I am,” said the 81-year-old Democratic president, in an attempt to silence voices within his own party who have been asking him to reconsider his presence in the electoral race.
Biden responded evasively to journalist George Stephanopoulos’ questions about his cognitive ability. When asked if he would be willing to take a test, the president replied: “I take a cognitive test every day. I’m not just campaigning, I’m running the world.”
Debate
For 22 minutes, Biden attributed his poor performance in the debate against Trump, during which he appeared confused and tired, to a “bad night” caused by a cold and extreme fatigue.
“I was sick, I felt terrible,” explained the president, who does not believe in the polls that give Trump an advantage nationally and in key states. For him, the race with the Republican is tight.
In response, Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt wrote on X Network that “Biden is in denial and in decline.”
Pressure
Biden’s allies were less harsh but critical. “The president is rightfully proud of his record, but dangerously out of touch with people’s concerns about his ability to advance and his standing in this race,” former Obama strategist David Axelrod wrote on the social network X.
Four Democratic congresswomen have also called on Biden to drop out of the race. Massachusetts Democratic Gov. Maura Healey urged him to “carefully consider his candidacy.” “The decision has to be made by the president. In the coming days, I urge him to listen to the American people and carefully consider whether he remains our best hope to defeat Donald Trump,” said the governor, who has been tipped as a possible replacement for Biden by US media.
The president has ignored the pleas: “If the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, leave the race,’ I would leave the race. But he’s not going to,” Biden said.
The Democrat seemed far less energetic in the interview than he had been at a rally he had spoken to earlier in Wisconsin, where he said, “I am a candidate and I will win again.”
“Let me be clear: I’m still in the race. I’m going to beat Donald Trump” in November’s election, Biden insisted before thousands of supporters. Combative and determined, he tried to address concerns about his age. “Do you think I’m too old to beat Donald Trump?” he asked, to an emphatic “No!” from the crowd.
jps (AFP, Reuters, EFE)
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