Joe Biden, who is fighting to save his presidential candidacy, assured Thursday that he had “no intention of leaving” in a brief exchange with a supporter.
At a White House Independence Day reception, one audience member called out to the president, “Keep fighting! We need you!” and he responded, “You can count on me. I have no intention of leaving.”
The 81-year-old Democrat, unable so far to erase the disastrous impression left by his failed debate against Donald Trump a week ago, had invited military personnel and their families for a July 4 barbecue.
After a short speech read on a teleprompter, Joe Biden took a microphone to spontaneously address the audience.
“We owe you a debt,” he said of military families, whom he thanked “with all his heart.”
The American president then launched into an anecdote about road traffic.
“When I was a senator there were always traffic jams on the highways. There are no more traffic jams,” he said, making the audience laugh.
“So to get me to stop talking, they’re like, ‘The roads are closed, Mr. President,'” Biden said before leaving the event.
This is not the first time that the American president has joked about the fact that his slightest trip causes traffic jams and therefore the discontent of the motorists concerned, because the roads are closed to let his imposing convoy pass.