US Presidency: Only the ‘Lord Almighty’ could convince me to quit – Joe Biden

By Alagbe Shenayon On Jul 6, 2024

US President Joe Biden has stated that only the “Lord Almighty” could convince him to abandon his re-election bid, during a rare primetime interview aimed at easing Democratic concerns about his candidacy.

Speaking to ABC News on Friday, Mr. Biden also declined to take a cognitive test and make the results public to reassure voters of his fitness to serve another term.

“I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test – everything I do [is a test],” he told George Stephanopoulos.

The 81-year-old once again resisted the notion, suggested by some Democratic officials and donors, that he should step aside for a younger candidate following his disastrous debate with Donald Trump last week.

During the interview, Mr. Stephanopoulos repeatedly questioned the president about his capacity to serve another term, asking if he was in denial about his health and ability to win.

“I don’t think anybody’s more qualified to be president or win this race than me,” Mr Biden said, blaming his poor performance last week on exhaustion and a “bad cold”. In the 22-minute interview, he also:

The president answered questions more clearly than he did during last week’s debate, though his voice still sounded weak and occasionally hoarse.

This contrasted sharply with his performance at a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, on Friday, where an energized Biden acknowledged his poor debate showing. “Ever since then, there’s been a lot of speculation. What’s Joe going to do?” he told the crowd.

“Here’s my answer. I am running and going to win again,” Biden declared, as supporters in the crucial battleground state cheered his name.

The interview and the rally come at a pivotal moment for his campaign, with donors and Democratic allies weighing whether to continue their support.

The campaign recognizes that the next few days could be crucial for his re-election bid, according to various US media reports, as Biden seeks to regain ground lost to his Republican rival Donald Trump following the debate.

As he took the stage at the rally, Biden passed one voter holding a sign reading “Pass the torch, Joe.” Another voter outside the venue held a sign that read “Save your legacy, drop out!”

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“I see all these stories that say I’m too old,” Mr Biden said at the rally, before triumphing his record in the White House. “Was I too old to create 15 million jobs?” he said. “Was I too old to erase student debt for five million Americans?”

“Do you think I’m too old to beat Donald Trump?” he asked, as the crowd responded “no”.

Referencing Trump’s criminal conviction in New York and other charges he is facing in separate cases, he called his rival a “one-man crime wave.”

Pressure on Biden to step aside has only intensified following the debate, which featured several instances where he lost his train of thought, raising concerns about his age and mental fitness.

Some major Democratic donors have begun to push for Biden to step down as the party’s nominee, publicly warning they will withhold funds unless he is replaced.

His campaign is planning an aggressive comeback. His wife, Jill Biden, and Vice-President Kamala Harris are set to embark on a campaign blitz, traveling to every battleground swing state this month.

Biden, who is scheduled to speak at another rally in Pennsylvania on Sunday, thanked the vice-president for her support. She has emerged as the most likely candidate to replace him on the Democratic ticket if he were to step down.

The Washington Post has reported that Biden’s senior team is aware of the pressure from within the Democratic Party to make a decision on his candidacy within the next week.

On Friday, reports emerged that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries had scheduled a Sunday meeting with senior House Democrats to discuss Biden’s candidacy.

Four House Democrats have now called for him to withdraw from the race: Lloyd Doggett of Texas, Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, Seth Boulton of Massachusetts, and Mike Quigley of Illinois.

“President Biden has done enormous service to our country, but now is the time for him to follow in one of our founding father, George Washington’s footsteps and step aside to let new leaders rise up and run against Donald Trump,” Mr Moulton told radio station WBUR on Thursday.

However, senior Democrats have not publicly urged him to resign, as his campaign has pointed out to reporters.

On Friday, reports surfaced that Senator Mark Warner was seeking to assemble a group of fellow Democratic senators to encourage Mr. Biden to withdraw from the race. According to reports, including one from the Washington Post, Mr. Warner expressed deep concerns following the CNN debate.

Addressing reporters later on Friday, Mr. Biden acknowledged that Mr. Warner “is the only one considering that” and emphasized that no one else had called for him to step down.

Also on the same day, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, a Democrat and ally of Mr. Biden, released a statement advising the president to “carefully assess” whether he should remain the Democratic nominee.

“Whatever President Biden decides, I am committed to doing everything in my power to defeat Donald Trump,” she said.

'Lord Almighty Quit