The day after a debate in which he appeared weakened against Donald Trump, Joe Biden strove this Friday to insist that he was able to “do the job”. “I don’t speak as easily as I used to. I give you my word from Biden. I wouldn’t run again if I didn’t believe I could do this job.”
“I can do the job”: Joe Biden tried on Friday to silence the chatter about a possible withdrawal of his presidential candidacy, after a calamitous debate against Donald Trump which deeply shook his supporters.
“I wouldn’t run again if I didn’t believe I could do this job.”
“I don’t speak as easily as I used to, I don’t speak as easily as I used to, I don’t debate as well as I used to,” admitted the 81-year-old Democrat at a meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina. “I give you my word from Biden. I would not run again if I did not believe, with all my heart and all my soul, that I can do this job,” however added the American president, saying his “intention to win” this disputed southeastern state.
No question of withdrawal of candidacy, therefore, for a president almost unrecognizable on Friday, after the 90 painful minutes he spent Thursday evening facing his 78-year-old Republican rival, between swallowed words, unfinished sentences and haggard expression. The leader subsequently received the strong support of Barack Obama, who remains one of the most respected voices in the Democratic Party. “Bad debates happen,” brushed off the former president, assuring that this election “remained a choice” between someone “who fought all his life for ordinary people” and Donald Trump, “who does not only cares about himself.”
In Raleigh, Joe Biden – helped, unlike the day before, by a teleprompter – repeated all the attacks that fell flat during the debate, praised his record and his ideas. He even took a few running strides when arriving on stage. Donald Trump “is a crime wave all by himself,” he said of the first former American president to be criminally convicted and prosecuted in a series of cases.
“Joe Biden, a good man, a good president, is not in a position to seek re-election.”
At his side, his wife Jill Biden, very involved in this re-election attempt, wore a dress with multiple “Vote” inscriptions. The Biden camp therefore wants to believe that by November, the terrible impression left Thursday evening could fade, while the “lies” spouted by Donald Trump and the concerns for American democracy would take over.
It will be difficult. The Raleigh speech obviously has nothing comparable, in terms of audience, to the debate organized by CNN. According to the Nielsen institute, the latter gathered 48 million viewers. “Joe Biden, a good man, a good president, is not in a position to seek re-election,” wrote a columnist for the New York Times, Thomas Friedman, on Friday, even saying that he “cried” at the performance of his “friend” Joe Biden.
Even Donald Trump’s supporters were careful not to add more. “The guy almost made me sad. Trump ate him alive,” commented Paul Meade, a 65-year-old retiree met by AFP in Chesapeake, Virginia, where the 78-year-old billionaire is expected in the early afternoon.
A wave of “panic” among Democrats
The American media are reporting a wave of “panic” among Democrats, four months before the election and about six weeks before the convention that is supposed to swear in the president. For the moment, however, no heavyweight of the Democratic Party has publicly relayed this feeling. Joe Biden is now going to New York, for a ceremony commemorating one of the very first LGBT mobilizations in the United States, in June 1969, and for a meeting with donors.
On Saturday, he will raise funds in the very chic Hamptons resort area, an opportunity also to take the pulse of his financial supporters, in an extremely expensive electoral race. Vice-President Kamala Harris herself recognized that Joe Biden had made a “laborious” start but felt that he had finished “strong” against an opponent who multiplied false assertions without ever losing his calm or his poise. The 59-year-old Democrat will campaign in Nevada on Friday.
His name obviously appears on the list of those who could replace Joe Biden in the event of his withdrawal before November, with those of some prominent Democratic governors, such as Gavin Newsom in California or Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan.
