In recent hours, there has been speculation that Biden could withdraw from the race for re-election this weekend due to growing pressure from his Democratic Party, concerned about his physical and mental capacity to govern for a second term.
Hours after the Newsmax television network claimed that Biden would rule out seeking re-election next November, the Democratic campaign was the first to deny it. “The president is in this race,” his campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon told MSNBC, according to the AFP news agency.
“Joe Biden is more determined than ever to defeat Donald Trump,” he added. “You’ve heard the president directly time and time again, he’s in this race to win, and he’s our nominee, and he’s going to be our president for a second term,” O’Malley said.
Hours later, it was the president himself who responded in a statement.
“The stakes are high and the choice is clear. Together we will win,” Biden, 81, wrote in a statement from his beach house in Delaware (east), where he is self-isolating after testing positive for COVID-19.
Plunged into chaos
Since his debate performance against Republican Donald Trump on June 27, Biden has been in chaos.
The situation has demoralized his ranks, but Biden remains at the helm, convinced that he is the most qualified person to defeat the Republican at the polls.
In his statement from the beach where he is recovering, Biden added that “Donald Trump’s dark vision for the future does not represent who we are as Americans,” referring to the speech the former president gave to close the Republican convention days after surviving an assassination attempt.
“I will be back on the campaign trail next week to continue to expose the threat” posed by Trump’s program, he insisted.
Democrats want him out
In recent days, several Democratic congressmen have asked him to throw in the towel, because they fear the party will lose the November 5 elections. According to the Washington Post, former President Barack Obama is also reportedly asking Biden to step aside.
Other top Democratic politicians, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and current Democratic leaders in both chambers of Congress, have expressed concern.
There are now around thirty of them, including members of African-American and Hispanic groups who had until now stayed out of the controversy.
Several recent polls show the Republican as the winner, even in the swing states (those where voters choose based on the candidate and other factors and not the party) that are essential to victory.
Citing anonymous sources, the American press claims that Biden is drawing up a plan for a dignified exit in the coming days.
Time is short
Several influential Democrats believe that time is of the essence.
Pressure mounted on Thursday when press reports said Obama, Nancy Pelosi and current party leaders in Congress had expressed concerns behind the scenes.
House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was noncommittal on Friday, saying “it’s his decision” in remarks to WNYC radio.
NBC News says some Biden family members have “discussed” how he might resign but have not yet made a decision.
It is said to be a “carefully calculated plan” to give some dignity to what would be a historically late decision, less than four months before the elections.
Any decision he makes must avoid chaos in the Democratic Party over his successor as a candidate.
Vice President Kamala Harris is the front-runner, but the choice is not automatic and she may have to compete with other Democratic heavyweights.
Meanwhile, Trump was greeted by a large crowd at the Republican convention, where, flanked by his family, including his wife Melania, he recounted his experience of the assassination attempt and asked for a vote to implement his program and his motto “Make America Great Again.”
Source: EDITORIAL with information from AFP
