New Delhi: US President Joseph R. Biden Jr. vowed to continue running publicly, but privately told his key allies that he “may not be able to salvage” his campaign if his next few appearances do not go well after last week’s disastrous debate performance, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
In a call with the staff of his re-election campaign, Biden made it clear that “no one is pushing me out” and that he is in the race to “win”. Vice-President Kamala Harris was also on the line and iterated her support to the president.
According to the Times report, at least two unnamed allies in touch with Biden highlighted that the US president “understands” that the next few appearances, including an interview this Friday to George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, along with a couple of campaign stops “must go well” for the race to be competitive.
The White House, however, denied the claim, with the press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre calling it “absolutely false”, as reported by the newspaper.
The report indicates that there is concern amongst the Democratic Party and those close to the president over whether the race is still competitive, especially as a couple of opinion polls released post the debate have shown a slight advantage for his challenger, former president Donald J. Trump, especially in battleground states.
A poll published by CBS Wednesday, shows Trump leading by 3 points in battleground states against Biden, and 2 points nationally. Biden had delivered a halting and meandering performance last Thursday in the first of the two presidential debates scheduled to be held before the US goes to polls later this year.
Post the debate, Republican voters are more likely to go out and vote, especially after the performance of Trump, found the poll by CBS.
Battleground states are specific states that, very likely, will define the votes in the Electoral College and the final election results. According to CBS, the states considered as battlegrounds for the polls are: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Nevada and Wisconsin.
The 81-year-old president has faced challenges over his age, with one poll by Gallup indicating that it is the biggest electoral liability for the Democratic incumbent.
About 69 percent of those surveyed by CBS believe that Biden should not be running for the presidency given his age, while only 31 percent believe that he should.
The disastrous debate performance also saw cracks open between Biden and his team and alumni, who worked with former President Barack H. Obama. According to Politico, the Biden campaign team took aim at certain “podcasters” like Jon Favreau, Dan Pfeiffer, Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor, after they seemed “inconsolable” over Biden’s debate performance. All of the aforementioned individuals were aides to President Obama.
According to media reports, the Biden camp has reached out to staff, leaders in Congress and senior Democratic representatives to calm their worries in the last few days. Representative Lloyd Doggett from Texas became the first Democratic lawmaker Tuesday to call for Biden to exit the race and allow a different candidate to represent the party in the elections.
Biden is the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party, and should receive its nomination in August at its national convention scheduled to be held in Chicago. Unless he withdraws from the race, it is unlikely that the party would replace him at the convention.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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