Washington, DC: Top Democratic leaders in the United States have rallied behind President Joe Biden, dismissing calls for him to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race following criticisms over his recent debate performance against former President Donald Trump, as reported by Voice of America (VOA).
During the debate Biden faced challenges completing sentences and, notably, erroneously stated he had terminated Medicare, the government’s health insurance program for older Americans.
Democratic allies of 81-year-old President Biden acknowledged his shortcomings in the 90-minute debate. However, key Democratic officials unequivocally rejected calls from rank-and-file Democrats and editorials in The New York Times and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution urging President Joe Biden to step aside for a younger candidate
A recent CBS-YouGov poll revealed that 72 percent of Americans express doubts about President Joe Biden’s “mental and cognitive health to serve as president,” marking a seven-point increase from three weeks ago. Despite these concerns, national polling indicates a closely contested race between Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Georgia Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program. “Bad debates happen. The question is, ‘Who has Donald Trump ever shown up for other than himself and people like himself?’ I’m with Joe Biden, and it’s our assignment to make sure that he gets over the finish line come November.”
Representative Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, a prominent Biden supporter, told CNN’s “State of the Union” show, “I do not believe that Joe Biden has a problem leading for the next four years because he’s done a great job of leading for the last three-and-a-half years. I always say that the best predictor of future behaviour is past performance.”
Governor Wes Moore of Maryland said on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” that “the president had a difficult night just like every single one of us do” but that it should not force him out of the November 5 election.”
Kate Bedingfield, a former Biden White House communications aide, told CNN that the Biden campaign had raised USD 33 million since the debate.
Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said, “He’s (Biden) a decent man. He’s a failed president. He is compromised. That’s the storyline here. That’s what the world saw, a compromised president.”
Biden, after spending the weekend at campaign fundraising events in New York and New Jersey, went to Camp David, the presidential retreat outside Washington, for a long-planned family get-together, according to VOA.
Earlier on Friday, the day after the debate, Biden told supporters, “I know I’m not a young man. I don’t walk as easily as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to, but I know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth!”
Biden added that he would not be running for a second term if he did not believe “with all my heart and soul I can do this.”
