Joe Biden rejects calls to drop out of presidential race as calls for his resignation grow louder

News7f July 6, 2024

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Joe Biden faced a growing chorus of calls from Democrats to drop out of the 2024 presidential race over the weekend despite increasing public appearances aimed at demonstrating he is fit to take on Donald Trump.

Biden will hold two campaign events in the swing state of Pennsylvania on Sunday after a key prime-time interview Friday night failed to reassure Democrats rattled by the 81-year-old’s poor debate performance last week.

“It’s the worst possible outcome,” a veteran Democratic operative told the Financial Times after Biden’s interview aired on ABC News. “Not strong enough to make us feel better, but not weak enough to convince Jill.” [Biden] to urge him to pull the plug.”

David Axelrod, the architect of Barack Obama’s successful 2008 presidential campaign, warned after the interview that Biden “completely disregarding people’s concerns about his ability to move forward and his standing in this race.”

Democrats calling for Biden to withdraw were joined by Angie Craig, a House member from a swing district in Minnesota.

“President Biden is a good man and I appreciate his lifetime of service,” Craig wrote on the social media platform X.

“But I believe he should step aside for the next generation of leaders. The risk is too high.”

NBC News reports that House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries will discuss his presidential candidacy with colleagues on Sunday.

During the roughly 20-minute interview on ABC, Biden dismissed polls that show him trailing Trump. nationwide and in key states that will decide the election outcome.

“I don’t think there’s anyone more qualified to be president or to win this race than I am,” Biden said.

The president also dodged a question about whether he would be willing to undergo cognitive and neurological testing, at one point replying: “I have to take a cognitive test every day, I take it every day.”

Biden added: “You know, I’m not just campaigning, I’m running the world… for example, today, before I came out here, I was on the phone with the prime minister, well, I shouldn’t go into details, with Netanyahu, I was on the phone with the new prime minister of the United Kingdom.” The president appeared to be referring to a call he had on Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and another on Friday with new British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

In another exchange, Biden appeared to imply that no one could convince him to postpone his re-election bid, saying: “If Almighty God tells me to do it, I can do it.”

“It seems like the only person who still believes Biden should still be in the race is Biden,” said one top Democratic donor. Another Democratic donor called the interview “pathetic,” while another said it was “too little, too late.”

Many Democratic lawmakers, party activists and influential donors have called on Biden to suspend his re-election campaign after last week’s debate raised questions about the president’s age and fitness to serve. But many critics have been willing to publicly express their concerns in recent days.

Maura Healey, the Democratic governor of Massachusetts, became the first state governor to ask Biden to resign on Friday. Healey was among the governors who met with the president for emergency talks at the White House this week.

She issued a statement urging him to “listen to the American people and carefully assess whether he remains our best hope to defeat Donald Trump”.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported Friday that Mark Warner, a senator from Virginia, is working to assemble a group of Democratic senators to ask Biden to drop out of the race. A spokesperson for Warner did not respond to a request for comment.

Earlier on Friday, Biden delivered a defiant speech in swing state Wisconsin, telling a crowd of supporters that he would not bow to growing pressure to resign.

“Let me be as clear as I can: I will continue to run. I will defeat Donald Trump.”

Reporters traveling with Biden noted several people standing outside the venue where he spoke in Wisconsin holding signs calling for him to “stand down” and “pass the torch.” Another sign read: “Give it up, Joe.”

His campaign said Friday it would spend an additional $50 million on advertising in July, including ads that will run during this month’s Republican National Convention and the Olympics.

Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — all of whom are considered potential candidates if Biden resigns — have remained publicly loyal to the president’s campaign. At a July 4 celebration at the White House on Thursday night, Biden shook hands with his vice president as some in the crowd chanted, “four more years.”

But other prominent Democrats have been more reluctant to share the stage with the president. When Biden visited Wisconsin on Friday, he was joined by the state’s Democratic governor, Tony Evers — but not Tammy Baldwin, the state’s Democratic senator, who trails the president in the polls.

The latest FiveThirtyEight poll shows Trump leading Biden by just 2 points in Wisconsin.