With President Joe Biden facing intense scrutiny about his stamina and mental strength following his lackluster debate performance, he tried to speak loudly and passionately in a brief public address delivered via teleprompter from the White House on Thursday.
The 81-year-old Democrat’s shaky performance in a June 27 debate with Republican candidate Donald Trump has raised questions about whether he can maintain the grueling pace of work over the next four and a half years, prompting calls from within his party for him to resign.
Vice President Kamala Harris is the front-runner to replace Biden in the Nov. 5 election if he withdraws, but Biden’s allies believe they can ease voter and donor concerns. Biden hosted the annual Fourth of July Independence Day celebration at the White House on Thursday, hosting a barbecue for thousands of active-duty military personnel and their families.
Biden, wearing a suit but no tie, began his speech with an emphatic, “Happy Independence Day!”
Biden delivered his brief remarks reading from a teleprompter and made no major errors, but at one point he appeared to go off script, referring to a war cemetery that Trump refused to visit while in office.
Biden mingled with some family members and posed for selfies before leaving to return to the White House. He gave an interview to ABC News on Friday that will air in full at 8 p.m. ET (midnight Saturday) before traveling to Wisconsin for a campaign rally the same day.
Dozens of House Democrats are watching closely and are prepared to call for Biden to resign if he makes any gaffes in the ABC interview, a source told Reuters. Democrats see it as crucial to control the House majority in November because it could be their final power grab in Washington if Trump returns to the White House and Republicans take control of the Senate.
Biden faces a new reality since last week’s debate: Even if he doesn’t falter verbally or physically, serious concerns about his viability as a candidate are likely to remain. If he stumbles or appears disoriented or confused, he will face renewed pressure to walk out.
If Biden is re-elected, he will be 86 at the end of his second term. Former supporters of Biden have urged him to step down to protect his legacy and reduce Trump’s chances of reelection. With just four months until the election, they say, he needs to make a decision quickly.
Democrats, including key allies, are leaving open the possibility of placing Harris at the top of the Democratic field.
A doctor’s examination
The White House has repeatedly said the president was suffering from a cold and jet lag on the night of the debate. On Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden had not had any medical check-ups since his annual physical in February.
“He hasn’t seen a doctor. He has a cold, guys. He has a cold,” she said at a news conference. But press secretary Andrew Bates said Thursday that Biden had seen a doctor after the debate. “The president went in a few days later to be evaluated for a cold and was doing well,” he said.
Trump, 78, who made several false statements during the Atlanta debate, falsely claimed he had thrown Biden out of the race in a video that went viral on social media and was backed by his campaign, in which he also made disparaging remarks about Harris.
Asked in a radio interview on WURD that aired Thursday morning if last week’s debate gave Americans reason to be concerned, Biden denied it. “No, the debate was awful,” he said, adding that it shouldn’t be written off after three and a half years of work as president.
Mr Biden’s approval rating in the polls has slumped since the debate, and some 59% of Democrats responding to a Reuters/Ipsos poll said Mr Biden is too old to serve in government, a concern that has appeared repeatedly in polls over the past year.
Biden met with Democratic governors at the White House on Wednesday to make his case, with some of them telling reporters after the meeting that they would support Biden.
On Sunday, Biden and his wife, Jill, are scheduled to address a crowd of thousands at the National Education Association in Pennsylvania, and next week he will host dozens of world leaders at a NATO summit in Washington where he will hold a rare solo news conference.