Democratic questions swirl over whether he’ll stay in the presidential race
President Joe Biden’s campaign insisted Friday he will not drop out of the 2024 race, but fractures between those in the president’s orbit insisting on trudging forward and the broader Democratic world seeking a last-minute change were growing after Biden’s disastrous debate performance. Biden acknowledged the weak performance while giving a much more animated speech in North Carolina on Friday, saying, “I know I’m not a young man. I don’t walk as easily as I used to. I don’t talk as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to, but i know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job, I know how to get things done. And I know what millions of Americans know: When you get knocked down, you get back up.” From the West Wing to Wilmington, Biden advisers spent Friday morning calling Democratic members of Congress, donors and other key supporters in hopes of allaying some of the widespread panic about the debate with former President Donald Trump on CNN Thursday night. Biden’s performance — rife with a raspy voice, an often mouth-agape facial expression and one painful moment in which the president lost his train of thought and suddenly stopped speaking — laid bare the potential political costs of nominating the oldest-ever president for a second term. Asked whether Biden would exit the race, Biden campaign spokesperson Seth Schuster responded: “No.”
The New York Times Editorial Board on Friday called for Biden to withdraw from the race, writing, “The greatest public service Mr. Biden can now perform is to announce that he will not continue to run for re-election.”
The board said in part that “there is no reason for the party to risk the stability and security of the country by forcing voters to choose between Mr. Trump’s deficiencies and those of Mr. Biden.” The board, though, wrote that it would still support Biden as its “unequivocal pick” if he remains in the race and against his predecessor.