White House fights anxiety as Democrats go public over Biden’s future
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US President Joe Biden planned to meet Democratic governors on July 3. One of them explained they asked to hear from him directly.
PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON – Democrats shocked by US President Joe Biden’s dismal debate performance urged him on July 2 to be transparent about his mental fitness as he faced the first call from his own side to drop out of the election.
Some supporters have expressed growing doubts about the 81-year-old’s candidacy after the June 27 televised showdown with former US president Donald Trump, when Mr Biden stumbled over his words and lost his train of thought – exacerbating fears about his age.
Representative Lloyd Doggett became the first Democratic lawmaker to publicly call on Mr Biden to make way for another candidate, saying he was hopeful the US President would “make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw”.
Mrs Nancy Pelosi, a Democratic Party heavyweight and former speaker of the House, said it was “legitimate” to ask whether Mr Biden’s debate disaster
Mr Biden has not given a live interview since the debacle, but he will be interviewed by ABC on July 5, with the first clips released later that day.
On July 2, he blamed exhaustion from international travel for his debate flop.
Speaking at a fund-raiser, Mr Biden said he “wasn’t very smart” for “travelling around the world a couple times… shortly before the debate.”
“I didn’t listen to my staff,” he said. “And then I almost fell asleep on stage
‘Horrified’
Mr Biden travelled to France from June 5 to June 9 to commemorate the 1944 Allied landings, headed back to the United States, and then flew to Italy for a Group of Seven summit, followed immediately by a visit to California.
He then returned home, and went to a presidential retreat for several days of rest and preparation for the debate.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on July 2 admitted the debate was “a bad night” but added that Mr Biden “knows how to come back” from adversity.
She dismissed questions about him needing a cognitive test, and said the US President would hold a news conference during a Nato summit in Washington next week.
The polling margins between the US President and his Republican predecessor have been razor-thin for months, with Trump showing a slight advantage.
Mr Biden pushed for an unusually early first debate in hopes that he could jolt the race while there was still time – but the plan backfired.
Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse told WPRI-TV he was “pretty horrified” by the US President’s performance during the 90-minute CNN match-up, watched by more than 50 million Americans.
Representative Jared Golden, a vulnerable Democrat in a conservative-leaning House district, raised eyebrows with an op-ed in his local paper in Maine in which he said Mr Biden’s poor showing “was not a surprise”.
“The outcome of this election has been clear to me for months: While I don’t plan to vote for him, Donald Trump is going to win,” he wrote.
The White House said Mr Biden would meet with Democratic governors on July 3.
One of them, Mr J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, explained that the governors had asked for the opportunity to hear from the US President directly.
“Right now, Joe Biden is our nominee, and I’m 100 per cent on board with supporting him as our nominee, unless he makes some other decision, and then I think we’re all going to be discussing what’s the best way forward,” he told CNN.
Slowing down
Mr Biden has visibly slowed over the last year.
It has been several months since the US President, who has tripped or fallen in public on several occasions, stopped using his plane’s high gangway, preferring a shorter, more stable staircase.
He has also surrounded himself with aides for the short walk from the White House to his helicopter on the lawn, hoping to prevent cameras from focusing on his stiff gait.
Mr Biden, who has always been gaffe-prone, has not given a long news conference since January 2022 and spends most weekends in one of his Delaware homes, with no official schedule.
US Vice-President Kamala Harris – a leading contender to replace Mr Biden if he exits the race – said on July 2 she was proud to be his running mate.
“We beat Trump once, and we’re going to beat him again,” she said. AFP
