Hours before 'decisive' interview airs, Biden says: 'I am the Democratic nominee and I will continue the race' | US Election 2024

Amid increasing pressure, US President Joe Biden reiterated on Friday (5) that he would not give up and would continue the presidential race. At an election event in Wisconsin, Biden said he was running and would win again.

“Let me say this as clearly as I can: I am the sitting president of the United States, I am the Democratic nominee, and I will continue to run,” Biden said in a speech.

Biden also mentioned the debate during his Wisconsin speech: “I’m not going to let a 90-minute debate erase three and a half years of work. I’m going to stay in the race and I’m going to beat Donald Trump,” the president said.

At the same time, A Democratic senator is seeking to form a group in the legislature to demand that Biden withdraw his nomination. (Read more below)

As Biden mingled with guests and took selfies, someone shouted at him not to give in. Biden responded, “I'm not going anywhere.”

The interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, taped after a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, should be intense and difficult for Biden, according to the Associated Press. He has been preparing aggressively, said two people familiar with the president’s efforts. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning.

There was a general consensus that Biden could not afford another “bad day,” as he described his debate failure. It was unclear whether even a mediocre performance would be enough to dispel concerns about his ability to govern.

The White House itself has been raising expectations for Biden's interview, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying it was expected to be watched by “millions of Americans.”

While private concern among Democratic lawmakers, donors and strategists deepened after Biden’s devastating debate performance, most members of the party have remained publicly silent as they wait to see if the president can regain some confidence about his weekend travel schedule and his conduct from the Stephanopoulos interview. The full interview will air on ABC on Friday night.

Press to withdraw

Biden has faced a new reality since last week’s debate — even if he doesn’t waver verbally or physically, serious concerns about his viability as a candidate are likely to persist. The pressure to yield is renewed with every stumble or potential stumbling block he makes in his next public remarks or interviews.

The American newspaper, The Washington Post, revealed today, Friday, that Democratic Senator Mark Warner is trying to rally a group of bipartisan senators to demand that Joe Biden drop out of the race. Presidential. The newspaper's sources are two anonymous people with knowledge of Warner's expression.

A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that Warner, who is the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is contacting other Democratic senators about a possible meeting next Monday (8) to discuss the Biden campaign.

Warner has not yet commented publicly on Biden's debate performance against Trump, and so far no Democratic senator has publicly called for Biden to withdraw.

A spokesman for Warner would neither confirm nor deny the senator’s efforts to The Washington Post. “Like many others in Washington and across the country, Senator Warner believes these are critical days for the president’s campaign, and he has made that clear to the White House,” the newspaper quoted a spokesman for his office as saying.

Disney heiress Abigail Disney announced on Thursday (4) that she will cut off donations to the Democratic Party until the president withdraws from the race. Support is growing among Democrats for the idea of ​​Vice President Kamala Harris taking Biden's place in the November elections.

Dozens of Democratic lawmakers are ready to call on Biden to step down if he does not perform well in the ABC interview, a source told Reuters. In fact, Democrats see winning control of the House of Representatives in November as crucial.

Polls showed Biden taking a slight hit after last week’s debate in Atlanta. However, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Biden tied with Trump, a sign that the race remains close.

Both Trump and Biden had 40% support among registered voters in the two-day poll that ended Tuesday (2). An earlier Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted on June 11-12 showed Trump with a marginal advantage of 2 percentage points: 41% to 39%.

In an interview with Earl Ingram, of the radio program “The Earl Ingram Show”, on Wednesday (3), Biden said that he will continue to fight.

“I made a mistake, I made a mistake. I spent 90 minutes on stage. Look at what I've done in the last three and a half years,” he said.

Biden met with a group of Democratic governors on Wednesday at the White House to make the case for staying in the race, and some told reporters they stood with the president.