Biden not giving up on election race despite lagging behind Trump – India TV

Washington: US President Joe Biden, who was widely criticised for his poor performance in the presidential debate with Republican rival Donald Trump, said on Wednesday (local time) that he is the Democratic Party’s nominee and there was no pressure on him to withdraw from the race. His statement contradicts numerous reports of internal party rumblings that he should withdraw his presidential bid after his poor performance in the debate.

“I am the Democratic nominee. No one is pushing me out. I am not quitting, I am in this race to the end and WE will win this election. If that’s all you need to hear, throw in a few bucks to help (Vice President Harris) and me defeat Donald Trump in November,” Biden said in his fundraising email Wednesday.

Biden, whose ratings plummeted after the debate, said the campaign was about everything Democrats stood for that was at stake in this year’s election and was seeking support to defeat Trump in 2024, just as he did in 2020. “Let me say this as clearly and simply as I can: I am running,” he said in a mass email to supporters.

“I wouldn’t run again if I didn’t believe with all my heart and soul that I could do this job. That I could finish the job that Kamala and I started on January 20, 2021. My word as Biden. There’s no other team I’d rather fight than this one. Let’s come together and do this,” the president added.

That’s because a new Wall Street Journal poll showed Trump developing a six-point lead over Biden, with 80 percent saying the current occupant of the White House is too old to seek a second term. The poll showed Trump’s lead over Biden in a two-person race, 48 percent to 42 percent, is the largest in Journal polls dating to late 2021 and compares with a 2-point lead in February.

White House denies Biden has dropped out of race

Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also said Biden is not considering dropping out of the race, despite calls from Democratic leaders and editorial boards of major US media outlets for him to withdraw his candidacy and let others run for president in the November election.

Asked if the 81-year-old president was considering resigning, Jean-Pierre said: “Absolutely not. And you heard, I think, directly from the campaign… Given the outpouring of concern from fellow Democrats, donors, supporters, doesn’t he owe it to the American public to consider whether he should resign?”

“He understands that people have the right to ask that question, but we can’t forget his accomplishments and what he’s been able to do. We can’t forget how he’s been able to serve the American people for almost four years,” the spokesman said, adding that Biden has the most “historic” administration record in modern politics.

Jean-Pierre also defended Biden’s debate performance after the president blamed jet lag following two international trips. “There’s a cold. There’s jet lag. And you put that together, he’s still working for the American people day in and day out, 24/7, stuff happens, stuff happens. And that cold thing is something that you all noticed during his debate. We didn’t even notice it. You all noticed it when you heard his voice rasp because he knew he had to get through,” he said.

Kamala Harris Leads Biden in Polls

Meanwhile, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is the top alternative to U.S. President Joe Biden if he decides not to continue his reelection campaign, according to seven senior sources in the Biden campaign, the White House and the Democratic National Committee with knowledge of ongoing discussions on the issue. A CNN poll found Harris trailing Trump in a hypothetical showdown: 47 percent of registered voters support Trump, 45 percent support Harris, a result within the margin of error that suggests there is no clear frontrunner in such a scenario.

Some influential Democrats have floated alternatives to Biden besides Harris, including popular Democratic Cabinet members and governors such as Gavin Newsom of California, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania. But trying to bypass Harris is wishful thinking and would be nearly impossible, said the sources, who did not want to be identified by name.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Tuesday showed Harris trailing Trump by one percentage point, 42% to 43%, a margin of error within the poll’s 3.5 percentage points, which is statistically as strong as Biden’s. She has already been vetted for national office and has withstood intense scrutiny from Republicans, they say. In addition, U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, a man who played a key role in Biden’s 2020 victory, told MSNBC that he would endorse Harris as the Democratic nominee if Biden concedes.

Meanwhile, the Democratic governors of New York, Minnesota and Maryland on Wednesday said they would support President Joe Biden’s re-election after speaking frankly with him about his poor performance in last week’s debate.

(with information from the agency)