Washington [US], July 4: U.S. President Joe Biden vowed to stay in the 2024 presidential race during a call with campaign staff on Wednesday and insisted in meetings with Democratic lawmakers and governors that he is fit for reelection despite his shaky debate performance last week.
Biden dialed in to a call with worried members of his campaign team and told them he wasn't going anywhere, according to two sources familiar with the call.
"No one is pushing me out. I'm not leaving. I'm in this race to the end," Biden said in an email blast by his campaign, urging supporters to "pitch in a few bucks" to help defeat his rival Donald Trump in the Nov. 5 presidential election.
The president met virtually and in person with 24 Democratic governors and the mayor of Washington, D.C., on Wednesday evening to reassure them he is up to the job of standard-bearer for the party after the faltering debate performance.
In that encounter with Trump on Thursday, Biden mumbled under his breath, lost his train of thought at times and, at one point, talked of beating Medicare. The president has said that he was tired after two foreign trips and the White House has said he had a cold.
Asked Wednesday if Biden was considering stepping down, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: "Absolutely not."
Soon after she spoke, two national polls suggested Biden's chances against Trump - who rattled off a series of well-worn falsehoods during the debate - had deteriorated.
A Wall Street Journal survey found Trump beating Biden by a margin of 48% to 42%, up one percentage point, while a New York Times/Siena poll found Trump's lead over Biden had widened by three points to 49% to 43%.
In a call among House Democrats on Wednesday, Arizona's Raúl Grijalva called for Biden to drop out of the race while Representative Seth Moulton from Massachusetts pointed to Biden's age as a liability.
"The unfortunate reality is that the status quo will likely deliver us President Trump," Moulton said in a statement. "President Biden is not going to get younger."
While the campaign has highlighted fundraising successes with grassroots donors and held damage control calls with donors, Reed Hastings, a major Democratic Party donor and a co-founder of streaming platform Netflix (NFLX.O), opens new tab, called for Biden to step aside.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation