Joe Biden faced growing calls among Democrats over the weekend to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, despite stepping up his public appearances to prove he has the mental capacity to take on Donald Trump.
Biden is scheduled to make two campaign appearances in the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Sunday after a prime-time interview on Friday night failed to reassure Democrats panicked by his shaky performance in last week’s debate.
“This is the worst outcome,” one veteran Democrat told the Financial Times after Biden’s interview aired on ABC News. “It’s not strong enough to reassure us, but it’s not weak enough to persuade Jill either.” [Biden] To encourage them to take him off life support.”
David Axelrod, who managed Barack Obama’s successful 2008 presidential campaign, warned after the interview that Biden was “dangerously out of touch with the concerns people have about his ability to go forward and his position in this campaign.”
Calls from Democrats for Biden to withdraw were joined Saturday by Rep. Angie Craig, a battleground state of Minnesota.
“President Biden is a good man and I thank him for his lifetime of service,” Craig wrote on the social media platform X.
“But I think he should step aside for the next generation of leadership because the stakes are too high.”
NBC News reported that House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries plans to discuss his presidential candidacy with colleagues on Sunday.
During the roughly 20-minute interview with ABC, Biden rejected polls that showed he was lagging behind Trump nationally and in key battleground states that could determine the election.
“I don’t think there is anybody more qualified to be president or to win this election than me,” Biden said.
The president also avoided questions about whether he would be willing to undergo cognitive or neurological testing, at one point saying, “I undergo cognitive testing every day. I undergo that testing every day.”
Biden added, “You know, I’m not just campaigning, I’m trying to run the world. For example, before coming here today, I spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu, well, I shouldn’t go into too much detail, but I also spoke with the new prime minister of the UK,” appearing to refer to calls he had with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday and new UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Friday.
In another exchange, Biden said, “If God almighty tells me to, I might do it,” appearing to suggest no one could convince him to give up on reelection.
“Biden is the only one who believes he should still be in the race,” one major Democratic donor said. Another Democratic donor called the interview “pathetic,” while another said it was “too little, too late.”
Many Democratic lawmakers, party officials and major donors have privately called on Biden to end his reelection campaign after last week’s debate rekindled questions about his age and fitness to serve as president, but in recent days, a growing number of critics have publicly voiced their concerns.
Massachusetts Democratic Gov. Maura Healey on Friday became the first governor to suggest Biden step down. Healey was one of several governors who held emergency talks with the president at the White House this week.
She issued a statement calling on Trump to “listen to the American people and carefully evaluate whether he remains our best hope of defeating Donald Trump.”
Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported on Friday that Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia is putting together a group of Democratic senators to urge Biden to drop out of the race. A spokesman for Warner did not respond to a request for comment.
Biden gave a defiant speech in the battleground state of Wisconsin on Friday, telling supporters he would not cave in to growing pressure for him to resign.
“Let me be very clear: I’m going to continue my campaign. I’m going to beat Donald Trump.”
Reporters accompanying Biden saw several people standing outside the venue where Biden spoke in Wisconsin holding signs urging him to “step out” and “pass the baton.” Another sign read, “Give up, Joe.”
The Trump campaign announced Friday that it would spend an additional $50 million on advertising in July, including on ad slots that will air during this month’s Republican National Convention and the Olympics.
Vice President Kamala Harris, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who are seen as possible candidates to replace Biden if he leaves office, have all openly pledged allegiance to the presidential campaign. At a White House banquet on the evening of Thursday, July 4, Biden held hands with the vice president, and some in the crowd chanted “four more years!”
But other prominent Democrats have been reluctant to share the stage with the president. Biden visited Wisconsin on Friday, accompanied by the state’s Democratic governor, Tony Evers, but not by the state’s Democratic senator, Tammy Baldwin, who is well ahead of the president in opinion polls.
Trump is leading Biden in Wisconsin by just 2 points, according to the latest FiveThirtyEight polling average.
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