President Joe Biden said he “fully intends” to win the November election during a fiery campaign rally in North Carolina, brushing aside calls to resign.
US President Joe Biden sought to project an image of confidence at a rally in North Carolina after a dismal performance in a debate with Donald Trump heightened concerns about his age and mental acuity.
In his remarks Friday, Biden appeared to dismiss suggestions that he should step aside to make way for a younger candidate to take on Trump in the high-stakes November election.
“I intend to win this election. When you get knocked down, you get back up,” Biden said, referring to his performance in the previous day’s debate.
The lively crowd loudly chanted “four more years, four more years” and “USA, USA, USA.”
The speech follows what many political observers called Biden’s disastrous performance in Thursday’s debate against Trump, which pushed false claims and inflammatory rhetoric but was overshadowed by Biden’s responses that at times seemed disjointed and inconsistent.
My friends, I may not walk as easily or talk as easily as before.
I may not debate as well as I used to.
But what I do know is how to tell the truth.pic.twitter.com/ep5D0EhT5P
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) June 28, 2024
“A bad night”
Trump, meanwhile, criticized Biden’s performance and leaned on the ominous rhetoric that now defines his political style in remarks at a political rally in Chesapeake, Virginia, on Friday.
“We have to take back this party (the Democrats) – it’s an evil party,” he said. “Despite the fact that crooked Joe Biden spent the entire week at Camp David (a presidential retreat) resting, working, studying. He studied very hard, he studied so hard that he didn’t know what he was doing.
Trump later added: “Joe Biden’s problem is not his age, it’s his competence.”
Ahead of the debate, many voters expressed concerns about Biden’s age, and his shaky performance led to a wave of calls for him to step down and make way for a replacement candidate.
It’s unclear how potential voters will react to Biden’s debate performance, but media reports have painted a picture of panic among Democratic Party officials. Concerns about Biden’s age have been seen for years as a political vulnerability.
“I’m afraid they’re going to replace him (Biden) and put in someone more competitive,” Mike Boatman, a Trump supporter, said before the rally in Virginia on Friday.
Biden campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said there were no conversations about that possibility. “We’d rather have a bad night than a candidate with a bad vision for where he wants to take the country,” he told reporters.
Seeking to regain his composure and reassure his supporters, Biden went on the offensive against Trump in fiery remarks during his Friday rally.
“I know I’m not a young man, to state the obvious,” Biden said. “I wouldn’t run again if I didn’t believe with all my heart and soul that I could do this job. The stakes are too high.”
“Overreacting is dangerous”
The 81-year-old president also blasted Trump – his conservative rival who tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election based on the false claim that it was “rigged” against him through massive fraud – for his history of attacks on democracy.
“The choice in this election is simple: Donald Trump will destroy our democracy. I will defend him.
For now, Democratic Party officials appear determined to support Biden, despite growing doubts about his strength as a candidate.
“People were just worried. And I told everybody that being worried is healthy, but it’s dangerous to overreact,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Democratic lawmaker. “And I think I wouldn’t advise anybody to make any rash decisions right now.”
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News Source : www.aljazeera.com
