President Biden on Friday put vim and vigor in a stump speech in Wisconsin to put to bed speculation that he’s thinking about quitting the race because Democrats doubt his mental and physical fitness for the job.
He told the crowd of supporters that he was not going anywhere.
Mr. Biden said the first debate against Mr. Trump, in which he appeared confused and sometimes incoherent, was not his “best performance” before addressing the elephant in the room.
“Ever since then, there has been a lot of speculation,” Mr. Biden told the rally crowd. “What is Joe going to do? Is he going to stay in the race? Is he going to drop out? What is he going to do?”
“Well, here is my answer: I am running and going to win again!” Mr. Biden said, triggering chants of “Let’s Go, Joe!”
“I’m staying in the race! I will beat Donald Trump,” he said.
Heading into the first presidential debate, the biggest challenge facing Mr. Biden was quelling doubts about his age and convincing voters he has what it takes to win reelection and serve another four years.
But the 81-year-old’s verbal miscues and at times unintelligible responses reinforced his party’s doubts. Three House Democrats have publicly called for him to step aside.
On Friday, Mr. Biden poked fun at the idea that he is too old to do the job, asking the crowd if he was too old to create millions of jobs, lower insulin costs, relieve student debt, put the first Black women on the Supreme Court, and sign new gun restrictions into law.
Mr. Biden said he is not done, vowing to push to restore Roe v Wade abortion protections into law, ban assault weapons, protect Social Security against cuts, and hike taxes on the wealthy.
“Let me ask you do you think I am too old to beat Donald Trump?” he said, eliciting cries of “No!”
The rally in Madison, Wisconsin, came amid a rising sense the clock is ticking on Mr. Biden to revive confidence in his mental fortitude.
The Biden-related anxiety expanded well beyond the presidential race.
Democrats are fighting to flip control of the House and defend a slim Senate majority. More political blunders from Biden could make it a harder task.
Some Democrats have already jumped ship.
Reps. Lloyd Doggett of Texas, Raúl Grijalva of Arizona and Seth Moulton of Massachusetts have called on Mr. Biden to pass the baton. Others are openly mulling alternatives.
Scrambling to pull out of the political nosedive, the Biden campaign on Friday announced a massive ad blitz and said Mr Biden would be making more media appearances.
That included an ABC News interview set to air as a primetime special on Friday night.
At his rally, Mr. Biden leveled sharp attacks against Mr. Trump.
He called him a liar and the biggest threat to Democracy in the nation’s history.
He reminded voters that he was convicted of falsifying business records to cover up payments to a porn star before the 2016 election and that a separate jury found Mr. Trump liable for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996.
“DT isn’t just a convicted criminal. He is a one-man crime wave,” he said — a line Mr. Biden often uses in his stump speeches.
Mr. Trump is set to return to the campaign trail next week. He plans to hold rallies in Miami and Butler, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Biden narrowly won Wisconsin four years ago. The state is key to his re-election hopes.
Libertarian Chase Oliver and Jill Stein, who is expected to be the Green Party contender, are also expected to be on the ballot there.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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