Joe Biden 'absolutely' staying in presidential race despite calls to step down, says campaign chief
President Biden is “absolutely” staying in the presidential race, his campaign chief has said.
Jen O’Malley Dillon said Biden, who is 81 and off the campaign trail after contracting Covid, was still the best prospect for the Democrats to defeat Donald Trump in the November election.
Speaking on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Friday, she called Biden the “best person to take on Donald Trump.”
However, her assessment comes amid growing calls from Democrats for Biden to step aside with the prospect of deputy president Kamala Harris stepping in.
President Biden has maintained that he would only step aside if medically he was deemed unfit. This is despite close allies including former president Obama and Democrat big hitter Nancy Pelosi reportedly indicating that they think he should step aside.
The fears that Biden’s chance of winning are slimming come after a TV head to head debate in which Biden, who later blamed jet lag, gave a stuttering unconvincing performance. That has been compounded by a string of gaffes including one in which he introduced Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky as Vladimir Putin.
Meanwhile the Republican’s have been basking in improving polls since a would be assassin tried to kill Donald Trump at a rally. A legal case against him for allegedly hording secret documents after his presidency was dropped.
He has also taken JD Vance, 39, a firebrand senator for Ohio, as his running mate which has been viewed as a successful freshening up of his team with new blood. .
Trump and Vance plan to appear together at a rally in Michigan on Saturday.
Biden is isolating in Delaware after testing positive for the coronavirus this week.
Trump's address to the Republican Convention was the longest convention speech in modern history at just under 93 minutes.
It marked the climax and conclusion of a massive four-day Republican rally that drew thousands of conservative activists and elected officials to swing-state Wisconsin as voters weigh an election that currently features two deeply unpopular candidates.
"The discord and division in our society must be healed. We must heal it quickly, Mr Trump said, wearing a large white bandage on his right ear, as he has all week, to cover a wound he sustained in the Saturday shooting.“As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny. We rise together. Or we fall apart," Mr Trump said.
"I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America."