Press
Joe Biden’s poll numbers are falling, and some party members are openly calling for him to withdraw from the presidential race. Now his deputy is coming into focus.
Washington – The air is getting thinner for President Joe Biden in the US election campaign: After his disastrous performance in the TV debate against challenger Donald Trump, the Democrat’s poll ratings are deteriorating. In addition, there are increasing voices within his own party calling for the 81-year-old to withdraw from the presidential race. Biden still wants to secure a second term in the US election in November and prevent Trump from returning to the White House. But it seems questionable whether and for how long he can withstand the pressure.
Poll numbers in the basement
In recent weeks, Trump and Biden have been neck and neck in the polls. The Republican has always been one to two percentage points ahead – despite his scandals and conviction in a New York criminal trial. Since the televised debate, however, Trump has been able to significantly increase his lead in voter approval, as recent polls show. Surveys by the New York Times, CNN and Wall Street Journal now put him six to eight percentage points ahead of Biden. This is increasing nervousness among Democrats – and apparently also their willingness to consider another candidate.
In the USA, such surveys play a major role – although they are often relatively inaccurate due to various factors. If the poor results for a politician increase, this can send an important signal to his supporters, including the donors who are indispensable in the US election campaign.
Pressure on Biden grows
Top politicians from Biden’s party had refrained from public criticism in recent days. On Tuesday, the first Democratic representative in the US House of Representatives, Lloyd Doggett of Texas, publicly called on Biden to drop out of the race and make room for another candidate. A second Democratic representative, Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, joined the calls on Wednesday.
But it is mainly behind the scenes that things are simmering: Biden himself picked up the phone for crisis talks, the White House announced. According to the report, he spoke on Wednesday with high-ranking Democrats such as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and other parliamentarians.
In the evening, Biden met with more than 20 Democratic governors – presumably with the aim of securing their support. The governor of Maryland, Wes Moore, described the conversation afterwards as “sincere”. He said they supported Biden, but were concerned about the Democrats’ position in the presidential race.
In the White House, Biden’s chief of staff Jeff Zients tried to limit the damage. In a telephone conference with more than 500 government employees, Zients called, according to consistent media reports, to block out the “noise” surrounding Biden and concentrate on government work. The past few days have been challenging. The focus of all employees on government work will be even more important in the hot election campaign phase, he said.
White House: Biden stays in the race
The government headquarters continues to vehemently try to dispel any doubts about the president’s suitability for his office. White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre, who normally only speaks from her podium on government matters and not explicitly on the election campaign, stressed several times that Biden will remain in the race.
The White House had previously rejected media reports suggesting that Biden was considering withdrawing. The New York Times report said that the president had spoken to an “important ally” about it. According to the ally, Biden said in the conversation that he knew that he might not be able to save his candidacy if he could not convince people of his suitability as a presidential candidate in the coming days. “This claim is absolutely false,” a spokesman for the government headquarters said in response.
Biden plans to make several appearances in the coming days: a television interview is planned for Friday, followed by campaign appearances in the states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania in the coming days, and a press conference at the NATO summit in the US capital Washington next week.
Vice President Harris comes into focus
Meanwhile, the focus is increasingly on Biden’s deputy, Kamala Harris. She could replace Biden in the presidential race. While there was a lot of speculation about a possible change, especially on social media, a team of supporters of former President Donald Trump launched a verbal frontal attack on the Democrat. “The Democrats are beginning to rally behind Kamala Harris because it can no longer be denied that Joe Biden is unfit for office,” said a statement from the campaigners. dpa
#Biden #dropping #election #campaign #Democrats #nervous