Washington, DC [US], July 20: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's running mate, JD Vance, on Friday took a shot at US President Joe Biden, asking how he can remain in office if he doesn't have the "cognitive function" to run for re-election.
Taking to X, the Ohio Senator asked, "If Joe Biden doesn't have the cognitive function to run for re-election, then he certainly doesn't have the cognitive function to remain as Commander-In-Chief. How can any Dem pushing him to drop out of the presidential race, argue in good faith that he should stay on as POTUS?"
His statement came as several Democrats have called for Biden to step aside as the party nominee. Biden has been under intense scrutiny following his incoherent performance in the nationally televised 90-minute debate with Trump earlier this month. However, Biden has vowed he will be "running this race to end" of the November election.
In the debate, Biden looked notably hoarse and exhibited limited vocal range, struggling at times to articulate clear differences from Trump. His attempts to cite statistics and legislative achievements were often marred by stumbling and a lack of vocal clarity.
Calls from Democrat members became louder on Friday, when Senator Martin Heinrich became the third Democratic senator to call for Biden to move aside, and four House Democrats issued a joint statement urging the president to end his re-election bid.
Last week, it was reported that nearly 20 Democrats in the United States Congress have urged Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race. The majority of those who urged Biden to withdraw from the race are rank-and-file lawmakers, even as the Democratic Party leadership continues to publicly back the president's re-election, US-based media outlet Politico reported.
The lawmakers calling for Biden to exit the race include top national security Democrats like Jim Hines and Adam Smith, the ranking members on the Intelligence and Armed Services Committees, respectively, Politico reported.
Most of these hailed from "safe districts" in which the President won by healthy margins in 2020. Lloyd Doggett, a lawmaker from Texas, the first lawmaker to call for Biden to end his re-election bid, represents 'safe' seat and has been in Congress for nearly 30 years.
Despite the calls from Democrats, Biden said on Friday that he is looking forward to getting back on the campaign trail next week. He slammed former US President Donald Trump's speech at the Republican National Convention and called it a 'dark vision for the future,' The Hill reported.
In a statement, Biden said, "Donald Trump's dark vision for the future is not who we are as Americans. Together, as a party and as a country, we can and will defeat him at the ballot box," The Hill reported.
He further said, "I look forward to getting back on the campaign trail next week to continue exposing the threat of Donald Trump's Project 2025 agenda while making the case for my own record and the vision that I have for America: one where we save our democracy, protect our rights and freedoms, and create opportunity for everyone."
Biden has been isolating at his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, home after testing positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday while he was campaigning in Las Vegas.
Source: Times of Oman