Staying in the race till the end, time to unite: Biden tells Dems on the Hill

Washington: US President Joe Biden, who remains the presumptive Democratic nominee for the 2024 elections, told his party colleagues on Monday that he is “firmly committed to staying in the race, to running this race to the end, and to beating Donald Trump”.

US President Joe Biden and First lady Jill Biden walk to the White House in Washington, DC, on Sunday, as they return after attending campaign events in Pennsylvania. (AFP)

As concerns about the viability of his candidacy have persisted and grown, Biden, in a letter to Democrats who returned to the US Congress after the July 4th recess, claimed that he was aware of the responsibilities that came with the job and believed he was the best person to beat Donald Trump and it was time to look ahead.

Biden also sought to end the debate about the Democratic ticket. “The question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now. And it’s time for it to end. We have one job. And that is to beat Donald Trump. We have 42 days to the Democratic Convention and 119 days to the general election. Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us. It is time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump.”

The Democratic Party is mired in turmoil after the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump on June 27, when Biden’s age-related vulnerabilities came into sharp focus. The President struggled to complete his thoughts and sentences; he appeared physically frail; he was unable to either defend his record or rebut Trump effectively. His performance confirmed not just the suspicions of critics about his health. It also persuaded sympathisers that Biden may neither be the best person to compete against only a slightly younger but far more energetic Trump, but it may also be difficult to ask, in good faith, voters to trust Biden with the presidency for four more years. Most polls conducted after the debate have seen Trump’s lead increase, and an overwhelming number of respondents, including Democrats, say that Biden is too old to run for the job.

To counter the perception, Biden participated in campaign rallies and fundraisers, gave a set of interviews, and attended a Black church congregation in the swing state of Pennsylvania on Sunday. While the President has sought to explain away his debate performance by attributing it to a “bad night” and general fatigue, and insisted that only the “Lord Almighty” can get him to quit, it hasn’t allayed concerns among Democrats. Over the weekend, House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries held a call with senior Democrats, four of whom were reported to have said that it was time for Biden to go. In the Senate, the head of the Senate intelligence committee Mark Warner — who is also the co-chair of the India caucus — has attempted to get other Senators together to persuade Biden to leave.

But the President, his family and his close aides believe that he continues to both retain the support of the Democratic base — including Black and working class voters — and that Biden is best placed to defeat Trump. Those concerned about the messy transition to another candidate, or the fact that Vice-President Kamala Harris may not be able to compete with Trump either, have also supported Biden’s candidacy.

In his letter, Biden said that he had engaged in extensive conversations with both Democratic leaders and voters in the past ten days and understood that their concerns came from a place of affection and regard for his public service — but then reiterated that he won’t have run if he didn’t think he was the best person to defeat Trump.

Biden also sought to underline the legitimacy of the primary process that had made him the presumptive nominee. “I received over 14 million votes…I have nearly 3,900 delegates.”

Biden didn’t mention that his dominance also came from the fact that he was the incumbent and the party rarely chooses to challenge a sitting president seeking a second term. He, however, said that the process and voters mattered and he owed it to Democratic Party voters who had placed their faith and trust in him to run. “It was their decision to make. Not the press, not the pundits, not the big donors, not any selected group of individuals, no matter how well-intentioned.” Biden then touted his record in office to claim that he was confident of beating Trump.