US President Joe Biden does not appear to have dispelled doubts on Saturday about his ability to govern the country for a second term, the day after a crucial interview in which he defended his candidacy without really convincing anyone.
“The president is proud of his record, and rightly so. But he appears dangerously disconnected from people’s concerns about his ability to move forward and his position in this campaign,” said influential David Axelrod, a former strategist for Barack Obama, on X on Friday evening.
In what was billed as a decisive television interview, the 81-year-old Democrat said no one else was “more qualified” to beat Donald Trump in November, denying the reality of the polls that place him in clear difficulty against his Republican opponent.
In his interview with ABC reporter George Stephanopoulos, he also repeatedly dodged questions about whether his physical and mental health had deteriorated during his tenure.
However, it is his cognitive abilities that have been the subject of heated discussions since his catastrophic debate with Donald Trump on Thursday, June 27.
“I take a cognitive test every day,” he said. “Not only am I campaigning, I’m also running the world,” he added, after explaining his underperformance in the debate by “exhaustion.”
The Democratic candidate therefore still has a lot to do to erase the disastrous impression left by his debate against Donald Trump, whose immediate consequences he was not at all successful in managing: a wave of calls for his withdrawal in the press and a surge in concerns about his mental health within his party.
He has at least one supporter: Donald Trump, who sarcastically advised him on his Truth Social network Saturday to “ignore his many detractors and move forward.” The Republican candidate, who has been unusually quiet in recent days, is relishing the divisions among Democrats.
Crisis meeting
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is scheduled to hold a virtual crisis meeting of top Democrats on Sunday to discuss how best to proceed as Congress returns to session in the coming days.
Democratic Senator Mark Warner is reportedly trying to organize a similar forum in the upper chamber.
Four Democratic congressmen have already unequivocally called on Joe Biden to drop his candidacy.
A fifth congresswoman, Angie Craig, joined them Saturday, saying in a statement that “without a strong response from the president himself following this debate, I do not believe the president can run an effective campaign and win against Donald Trump.”
Joe Biden’s campaign team is, despite everything, moving forward.
Although the American president has nothing on his agenda on Saturday, he is due to take part in several campaign meetings in the eastern state of Pennsylvania on Sunday.
His team unveiled an intense battle plan for July on Friday, including a flurry of television spots and trips to key states, including the southwest during the Republican convention, which will be held July 15-18.
Before that, Biden is set to take part in an intense international sequence by hosting a summit of NATO leaders next week. And he will hold a press conference on Thursday that will be closely watched far beyond the country’s borders.