No Holiday for Biden as Debate Crisis Cleanup Continues

AFP/APP

Washington: While Americans were celebrating the July 4 holiday with fireworks and feasts, President Joe Biden on Thursday continued to face explosive fallout from his debate against Donald Trump that has left many Democrats hungry for a replacement. 

The 81-year-old has struggled since last week’s debate to tamp down panic among his party, but he won the backing on Wednesday of Democratic governors who gathered for an emergency meeting with him at the White House.

However, a new and potentially damaging wrinkle emerged on Independence Day, with The New York Times reporting Biden told the governors he needs more sleep and plans to curtail public events after 8:00 pm.

The revelation was according to two participants in the meeting, the Times said, and could further fuel rumblings within the party about finding a replacement candidate for November’s election.

With polls showing Republican Trump extending a narrow lead after last week’s debate, Biden finds himself under pressure as never before to demonstrate his capacity to lead.

“I had a bad night,” Biden acknowledged to Wisconsin’s Civic Media in a pre-recorded radio interview that aired Thursday. “I screwed up. I made a mistake,” he added. “That’s 90 minutes on stage. Look at what I’ve done in 3.5 years.”

The Times, citing multiple sources, said Biden told the governors he had been examined by his physician at some point after the debate because he was suffering from a cold, and that he was fine.

White House spokesman Andrew Bates confirmed that Biden was seen by the physician — but that contrasted with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s remarks to reporters on Friday, when she told reporters he had had no medical checkup since the debate.

The White House has insisted Biden is “absolutely not” stepping down. Biden himself sought to appear determined he was staying in the race, telling his radio interviewer: “When you get knocked down, you just get back up.”

As a signal of the international concern swirling over Biden’s status, British magazine The Economist became the latest major publication urging Biden to withdraw, joining The New York Times and Boston Globe editorial boards.

The uncertainty simmered ahead of the embattled president’s much-anticipated television interview Friday with ABC News, an event that will be watched closely to see whether Biden can bounce back from his faltering debate performance.

All eyes will also be on a Biden campaign rally set for Friday in the battleground state of Wisconsin.