(Detroit) A galvanized Joe Biden once again brushed aside speculation about his withdrawal from the race for the White House, campaigning Friday in Michigan.
Assailed by parliamentarians who are asking him to step down and by strong criticism of his physical and mental state, Joe Biden has assured that he will indeed be a candidate.
“There’s been a lot of speculation lately. What’s Joe Biden going to do? Is he going to stay in the race? […] “Here’s my answer: I’m a candidate and we’re going to win,” he told supporters in Detroit, a major city in Michigan.
“I promise you I’m fine,” the 81-year-old Democrat added earlier at a restaurant in Northville, a suburb of Detroit, responding to criticism of his ability to lead the country.
To beat Donald Trump in November, he will absolutely have to win Michigan, an industrial state in the Great Lakes region. Joe Biden has attacked his rival, presenting him as “a threat to the nation.”
PHOTO CARLOS OSORIO, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Joe Biden at a rally in Detroit
He denounced the “2025 project”, a vast government program bearing the imprint of the radical right, and from which the former president seeks to distance himself, although it was drafted by close allies.
“Americans want a president, not a dictator,” he said, referring to Donald Trump’s statement that he would be a dictator “for a day.”
The American president “understands that there is still anxiety (in Congress). That is why he is focused on a single task: to show that he is best placed to confront Donald Trump in November and beat him,” assured a campaign spokesman, Michael Tyler, on Friday.
“I’m going to stay on the move,” the 81-year-old Democrat promised on Thursday, during a press conference presented as crucial for his political destiny, very uncertain since a calamitous debate on June 27 against the 78-year-old Republican billionaire.
The president’s supporters were pleased with his knowledge of issues, particularly international ones.
Bleeding
PHOTO MANDEL NGAN, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a stop at Garage Grill & Fuel Bar in Northville, Michigan, ahead of a campaign event in Detroit, July 12.
In the other camp, his haphazard speech and two monumental slips of the tongue were pointed out.
At a pre-press conference event, the US president announced “President Putin” when he wanted to welcome Ukrainian head of state Volodymyr Zelensky. He immediately corrected himself.
Then, in front of reporters, he mentioned “Vice President Trump,” instead of his running mate Kamala Harris, to the delight of his opponent. “Good job, Joe!” Donald Trump quipped.
“Joe Biden has been making gaffes for 40 years, he made a few last night and he’ll probably make more,” said his spokesman Michael Tyler.
The slow bleeding within the Democratic Party continues, without yet turning into a hemorrhage.
Press release after press release, nearly twenty parliamentarians have now asked Joe Biden to withdraw from the race for the White House.
Finances
On Friday, however, one of the architects of the Democratic leader’s victory in 2020, African-American elected official James Clyburn, assured NBC that he was “totally committed” to Joe Biden.
Did the president gain enough time on Thursday to truly relaunch himself, or did he only postpone an inevitable withdrawal?
The answer will be partly financial: a sudden drying up of fundraising would be difficult for Joe Biden to overcome.
According to New York Timesmajor contributors have suspended pledges to one of Joe Biden’s largest campaign funding structures, reportedly freezing $90 million.
Eyes are now on two major party figures: former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former President Barack Obama.
The former, a politician of formidable skill, insistently asked Joe Biden this week to “make a decision,” pretending to ignore his determination to stay in the race. The latter, who was seen campaigning with his former vice president, is so far silent.
Former Democratic lawmakers urge Biden to let other candidates run
More than 20 former Democratic congressmen released a letter Friday calling on President Joe Biden to hold an open convention and give other candidates a chance to run.
“President Biden would better serve the nation he loves by releasing the delegates who are to nominate him for a second term. If he chooses to do so, it would mean an open convention in August. We are asking him to make that decision,” the former elected officials wrote in the open letter.
“We do not mean to say that we prefer another candidate in his place” but “we are confident that one or more competent Democratic candidates will come forward,” they added.
“The President’s integrity and vision are intact. However, the energy and stamina he needs for an election campaign and a new term are diminished,” the letter reads. “This problem has been gnawing at the country for months and came to a head during and after the June 27 debate.”