Biden’s campaign, however, reported that it has raised $33 million since the debate
Washington:
Democratic leaders rallied on Sunday in support of US President Joe Biden following his poor debate performance last week, as the White House denied a report that he was meeting with family to consider his candidacy.
No major party figure has broken ranks to call for Biden’s resignation, with prominent Democrats including former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton expressing full support amid a torrent of doubt from ordinary Americans – and even a phone call from the New York Times editorial board to step aside.
The party’s wave of support follows the 81-year-old’s shaky performance on Thursday in the debate against Republican nominee Donald Trump, in which Biden often hesitated, stumbled over his words and lost his train of thought, highlighting concerns about your age.
“It’s not about performance in terms of debate, it’s about performance in the presidency,” Representative Nancy Pelosi, former speaker of the House, told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
“On one side of the screen you have integrity, on the other side you have dishonesty,” she said, echoing a number of party figures who have tried to shift the focus from what they say has been Biden’s dismal performance to the barrage of lies that came from Donald Trump during the debate.
According to a CBS News poll conducted in the two days following the debate, nearly three-quarters of registered voters now believe Biden should not run for president, including 46% of Democrats.
Biden and his family traveled to the Camp David presidential retreat on Saturday night, where NBC News reported he was expected to assess the future of his re-election campaign following his performance.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates, however, posted on X that the trip had been planned since before the debate, questioning the publication and claiming that it had not requested comment on the matter.
‘Only Democrat’ for job
Biden’s campaign, meanwhile, reported that it has raised $33 million since the debate, including $26 million from grassroots donors.
Biden “absolutely should not” drop out of the race, Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
“It’s our job to make sure he gets over the finish line in November. Not for his sake, but for the sake of the country.”
On Friday, Biden tried to quell criticism with a fiery campaign speech in North Carolina in which he vowed to keep fighting.
He appeared alongside his wife, first lady Jill Biden, who fiercely defended her husband amid calls for him to step aside.
“In that campaign in North Carolina, I saw a strong, engaged and capable Joe Biden,” Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Biden’s home state of Delaware said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
“I think it was a poor debate performance by President Biden,” Coons said, adding that, however, “side by side, Donald Trump had a horrible debate performance where, yes, he spoke clearly, but what he said was lie after lie after lie.”
Biden, he added, is “the only Democrat who can defeat Donald Trump.”
(Except the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
This story originally appeared on Ndtv.com read the full story
