Biden says he ‘made a mistake’ but vows to keep going as polls show Trump with six-point lead | Joe Biden

Joe Biden said on a radio show that he “made a mistake” in last week’s debate against Donald Trump, but vowed to stay in the race for re-election, even though a series of polls now show him trailing the former president by about six points.

In two interviews Wednesday with local radio stations in the key states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, the president urged voters to judge him on his time in the White House.

“I had a bad night,” Biden told Milwaukee radio host Earl Ingram. “And the fact is, I made a mistake. I spent 90 minutes on stage. Look what I’ve done in three and a half years.”

In front of Ingram’s mostly Black audience, Biden highlighted the accomplishments of his presidency that have increased representation.

“I chose a Black woman as my vice president. I appointed the first Black woman to the Supreme Court,” Biden said. “I appointed more Black justices, more Black women to the Supreme Court than all the other presidents in American history combined.”

Biden also attacked Trump for comments the former president made about black workers during their televised debate a week ago, when Trump said migrant workers could fill as many as 20 million black jobs.

“He’s done terrible things in the community, and he has as much interest and concern for black and minority communities as the man on the moon,” Biden said.

A growing number of opinion polls taken after last week’s debate, in which Biden appeared at times to lose his train of thought or to have lost it altogether, appear to show that this hurt Biden with voters.

According to a Wall Street Journal poll released Thursday, Trump opened up a six-point lead nationally, 48 percent to 42 percent, with 80 percent of respondents saying the president is too old to seek a second term — a seven-point increase since February.

The survey also found that Biden is viewed favorably by 34% of voters, and unfavorably by 63%. Less than 40% approve of his handling of the economy, immigration or his term in office in general.

Another poll, conducted by The New York Times/Siena and released Wednesday, also showed Trump with a six-point lead, up from three a week earlier. Among registered voters, Trump had an eight-point lead.

According to a Journal poll, a third of respondents, including 31% of independents — a key bloc of American voters on whom the election could swing — said the debate made them more likely to vote for Trump, while just 10% said they would vote for Biden.

A similar percentage of Democrats and Republicans — about three-quarters — said they considered Biden too old to run. Two-thirds of Democrats said they would replace Biden with another candidate.

Biden will hold rallies in both states over the weekend. He will also give another interview Friday to ABC News and then to Good Morning America over the weekend.

The president himself reportedly told a key ally that the coming days of public appearances would be major tests of whether he could successfully make his reelection case to the public, though the White House disputed that.

The interview and event come as speculation mounts that more elected Democrats may call for his removal: Only two members of Congress have done so so far. Potential candidates for reelection, including Kamala Harris, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, have strongly stated their support for Biden’s reelection.

In a phone call to members of his campaign on Wednesday, Biden reportedly said, “I am the nominee of the Democratic Party. Nobody is pushing me to leave. I am not leaving.” In a fundraising email sent after the call, Biden said, “Let me say this as clearly and simply as I can: I am running.”

Trump had a lead of about two points in polls earlier in the year, though his lead appeared to be narrowing and the candidates appeared to be neck and neck heading into the debate.