As the US begins its July 4th celebrations, president Joe Biden faces the fight of his six-decade political career as he tries to assure senior Democratic Party colleagues and donors that he can continue his bid this November to remain in the White House.
Mr Biden met a number of Democratic governors in Washington on Wednesday to try to quell the waves of anxiety over whether or not he has the mental and physical acuity and stamina to lead the party into what has been depicted as an elemental battle to preserve democracy against a Republican campaign led by Donald Trump.
Biden campaign staff flatly denied a New York Times report quoting an unnamed ally of the president as saying that he privately conceded he may be unable to recover from the controversy caused by his alarming debate performance against Mr Trump a week ago in Atlanta.
“He knows if he has two more events like that, we’re in a different place,” the ally was reported as saying. But two events would seem like an optimistic degree of latitude. A series of senior Democratic figures made television appearances that framed their support in very equivocal terms.
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At Wednesday’s White House briefing by press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, Mr Biden’s rigorous travel schedule, during which he reportedly acquired a cold, was forwarded as the chief explanation for his terrible performance. “This is not an excuse. You asked for an explanation, and we are giving that,” she said over an hour-long back and forth.
[ Anger mounts at Joe Biden’s inner circle after debate debacleOpens in new window ]
Mr Biden told a campaign event in Virginia on Tuesday that as a result of the jet lag he suffered, he “nearly fell asleep on stage” during the debate. He had failed to listen to his staff and “wasn’t very smart”, he said.
“Look, he had an opportunity to talk to supporters and laid out what happened on that night,” said Ms Jean-Pierre. “He talked about how he understands it was not his best night and that it is fair for people to ask that question. But we cannot forget his record and how he has been able to deliver for people for the past four years.”
He has been very clear, and Mr Biden was very clear that “he is going to continue to build on his unprecedented record. That is his focus right now,” she said.
Mr Biden is scheduled to sit down for a recorded, comprehensive television interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News on Friday and is to appear at campaign rallies in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin over the weekend. He is due to host world leaders at next week’s Nato summit in Washington. But the attempt by the campaign team to return to business as usual has not silenced a growing chorus of Democratic colleagues who have begun to openly voice the possibility that the president may decide to end his campaign.
“Joe Biden is going to be the nominee unless he decides otherwise,” said Illinois governor JB Pritzker, who has been touted as a possible replacement candidate.
“Joe Biden is the nominee and ultimately that decision on continuing or not will fall to him,” said Kentucky’s governor, Andy Beshear.
[ Scranton Joe, the perpetual scrapper, intends to go nowhereOpens in new window ]
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a Democratic member of the House of Representatives, went further.
“We all saw what we saw,” she said in a CNN interview. “You can’t undo that. And the truth I think is that Biden is going to lose to Trump.”
Even Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker and one of the president’s closest allies, conceded that the general debate over his health and fitness was appropriate. “I think it is a legitimate question to say: is this an episode or is this a condition?”
Asked how Mr Biden felt this week, Ms Jean-Pierre confirmed he had not been treated for last week’s reported illness “He did not get checked out by the doctor. It’s a cold, guys. I saw him today. He looked great. He was with the vice-president and they both looked great.”
