‘I’m going to keep running’

“I learned a long time ago that when you get knocked down, you get back up,” he said, adding that he would not allow a 90-minute debate to erase his accomplishments over the past three and a half years.

As Biden faces calls to drop out of the 2024 race, Democratic allies have said he must campaign more vigorously to prove he can serve a second term. And both party members and donors will watch speeches like Friday’s to assess Biden’s fitness for office.

Earlier in the speech, Biden mocked Trump for his own verbal stumbles, noting that Trump said on a Fourth of July when he was president that George Washington’s army won the Revolutionary War by taking control of airports from the British.

“They talk about me saying bad things,” Biden said. “Airports and the British in 1776. It’s true, he’s a stable genius.”

Biden also directly confronted his age, which polls indicate is a top concern for voters as he seeks re-election.

“Do you think I’m too old to return Roe v. Wade? Wade to all lands? Do you think I’m too old to ban assault weapons again? To protect Social Security and Medicare?” he asked a series of call-and-response questions that the audience responded with a resounding “No!”

His last question: “Do you think I’m too old to beat Donald Trump?”

As the audience chanted “no” again, Biden added, “I can’t wait.”

Now 81, Biden would finish a second term at 86. Trump, 78, is almost the same age as Biden, but voters indicate in polls that they are more concerned about Biden’s age.

A New York Times/Siena Survey conducted after the debate found that 74% of voters considered Biden too old for office.

Throughout his comments, Biden attacked Trump with lines he used during the debate and previous campaign events. He argued that the former president “has the morals of a stray cat” and is “a one-man crime wave.”

The Biden-Harris campaign called the event one in which the president would “highlight what is at stake in this election for our democracy, our rights and freedoms and our economy”. This marked his fifth trip to state this year.

While in Madison, Biden sat down for an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, which is scheduled to air at 8 p.m. ET on Friday.

After the interview, Biden told reporters he was “completely ruling out that possibility” when asked if he would drop out. He said he was “positive” he could serve another four years, adding that he spoke with “at least 20” members of Congress who told him to stay in the race.

The president also said he was “committed now, absolutely” to debating Trump again. The second of two scheduled presidential debates is scheduled for September.

Following Biden’s widely criticized debate performance last week, the campaign made clear it is ramping up its general election activities throughout July, including an “aggressive travel schedule led by President Biden.”

The day after the June 27 debate, Biden held a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, where the president was applauded by an enthusiastic audience of supporters. Speaking more forcefully than during the debate, Biden told the crowd, “I know I’m not a young man. I don’t debate as well as I used to, but I know what I know – I know how to tell the truth!”

This month, the President, Vice President Kamala Harris, First Lady Jill Biden and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff are scheduled to travel and campaign across the country, including all of the swing states, to tout the administration’s accomplishments, the campaign said.

Biden will speak at the NAACP and UnidosUS conferences in Las Vegas while the Republican National Convention takes place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 15-18. Harris will speak Saturday at the 30th ESSENCE Culture Festival in New Orleans, the campaign said.

The campaign said it is also investing in a $50 million paid media campaign throughout the month that will specifically target large audiences like those at the RNC and the 2024 Olympic Games, which begin July 26.