President Joe Biden asserted on Friday his determination to defeat Republican rival Donald Trump in the upcoming November presidential election, showing no indication that he would entertain the idea of withdrawing from the race despite disappointing many fellow Democrats with his lackluster debate performance.
“I know I’m not a young man, to state the obvious,” an ebullient Biden said at a rally one day after the head-to-head showdown with his Republican rival, which was widely viewed as a defeat for the 81-year-old president.
“I don’t walk as easy as I used to, I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to, I don’t debate as well as I used to,” he said, as the crowd chanted “four more years.”
“I would not be running again if I didn’t believe with all my heart and soul that I could do this job. The stakes are too high,” Biden said.
Biden’s verbal struggles and occasionally unfocused responses during the debate heightened concerns among voters about his fitness for another four-year term. Some Democrats even considered the possibility of replacing him as their candidate for the November 5 US election.
Campaign spokesperson Michael Tyler dismissed such speculation, stating there were no discussions about replacing Biden. “We’d rather have one bad night than a candidate with a bad vision for where he wants to take the country,” Tyler told reporters aboard Air Force One.
To address these concerns, the campaign convened an urgent meeting on Friday afternoon to reassure staff that Biden was committed to staying in the race, according to sources familiar with the meeting.
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