(MENAFN- Live Mint) While President Joe Biden was away at Camp David for a long-planned family gathering, key US Democratic leaders firmly supported him, rejecting calls for him to end his 2024 re-election campaign despite his faltering debate performance last week against former President Donald Trump, reported Voice of America (VOA).
Biden's Democratic supporters acknowledged the 81-year-old president's shortcomings during the nationally televised 90-minute debate, where he struggled to complete sentences and mistakenly claimed to have ended Medicare, the government's health insurance program for older Americans.
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A recent CBS-YouGov poll revealed that 72% of Americans believe Biden lacks the "mental and cognitive health to serve as president," a seven-point decline from three weeks ago. However, national polling still shows a tight race between Biden and Trump.
Prominent Democratic officials dismissed suggestions from some party members and editorials in The New York Times and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Biden should step aside for a younger candidate. "The unfortunate truth is that Biden should withdraw from the race, for the good of the nation he has served so admirably for half a century," stated The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Georgia Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock countered on NBC's "Meet the Press," saying, "Bad debates happen. The question is, 'Who has Donald Trump ever shown up for other than himself and people like himself?' I'm with Joe Biden, and it's our assignment to make sure that he gets over the finish line come November."
Representative Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, a prominent Biden supporter, told CNN's "State of the Union," "I do not believe that Joe Biden has a problem leading for the next four years because he's done a great job of leading for the last three-and-a-half years. I always say that the best predictor of future behavior is past performance." He attributed Biden's debate performance to "preparation overload."
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Maryland Governor Wes Moore commented on CBS's "Face the Nation" that "the president had a difficult night just like every single one of us do" but argued it should not force him out of the race. "Joe Biden is not going to take himself out of this race, nor should he," he asserted.
Biden's campaign echoed this sentiment in a fundraising appeal, warning that replacing him would lead to chaos before the August national party convention and jeopardize the election. Kate Bedingfield, a former Biden White House communications aide, told CNN that the campaign had raised $33 million since the debate.
However, some Republicans saw Biden's continued candidacy as problematic. Reince Priebus, former chairman of the Republican National Committee, described Biden staying in the race as "just all downside for Joe Biden," calling his debate performance "an incoherent, almost impossible mess." Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, stated, "He's a decent man. He's a failed president. He is compromised. That's the storyline here."
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After spending the weekend at campaign events in New York and New Jersey, Biden went to Camp David for a family gathering. He has not indicated any intention to drop out of the race. On Friday, the day after the debate, Biden told supporters, "I know I'm not a young man. I don't walk as easily as I used to. I don't speak as smoothly as I used to. I don't debate as well as I used to, but I know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth!" He affirmed his commitment to running, saying he would not seek a second term if he did not believe "with all my heart and soul I can do this."
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