US President Joe Biden on Friday said that he intended to defeat Republican rival Donald Trump in the November presidential election, giving no sign he would consider dropping out of the race after a feeble debate performance that dismayed his fellow Democrats.
“I know I’m not a young man, to state the obvious,” Biden said at a rally one day after the head-to-head showdown with his Trump, which was widely viewed as a defeat for the President.
“I don’t walk as easy as I used to, I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to, I don’t debate as well as I used to,” he said, as the crowd chanted “four more years.” “I would not be running again if I didn’t believe with all my heart and soul that I could do this job. The stakes are too high,” Biden added.
Biden’s verbal stumbles and occasionally meandering responses in the debate heightened voter concerns that he might not be fit to serve another four-year term and prompted some of his fellow Democrats to wonder whether they could replace him as their candidate for the November 5 US election.
Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic Party leader in the US House of Representatives, avoided answering directly when asked whether he still had faith in Biden’s candidacy. “I support the ticket. I support the Senate Democratic majority. We’re going to do everything possible to take back the House in November,” he told the media.
Some other Democrats likewise demurred when asked if Biden should stay in the race. “That’s the president’s decision,” Democratic Senator Jack Reed told a local TV station in Rhode Island.
However, several of the party’s most senior figures, including former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, said they were sticking with Biden.
“Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and somebody who only cares about himself,” Obama said in a post on X.
