Sunday, 17 November 2024

Biden To Discuss Future Of His Campaign With Family After Shaky Debate Performance: Report


US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden step off Air Force One upon arrival at Hagerstown Regional Airport in Hagerstown, Maryland enroute Camp David on June 29, 2024.(Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

President Joe Biden may be on the verge of reconsidering his run for a second term in the White House after a fumbling debate performance last Thursday.

Sources told NBC News that Biden is expected to discuss the future of his re-election effort with members of his family at Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland on Sunday.

The report noted how the White House announced Biden’s return to Camp David — where he spent several days preparing for the debate — last weekend.

Biden’s campaign responded by pointing to a post-debate memo from its chairwoman, Jen O’Malley, expressing confidence in Biden’s ability to defeat former President Donald Trump.

A senior Biden official also told CNN the president’s family, including children and grandchildren, is expected to be photographed by well-known photographer Annie Leibovitz.

Many Democrats are reportedly panicking after Biden’s halting debate presentation in which the 81-year old failed to instill confidence about his fitness to serve another four years.

Sources came forward in the middle of the face-off in Atlanta, which was hosted by CNN, suddenly claiming to news outlets that Biden had been suffering from a cold.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison and Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez sought to reassure leading members of the party in a call on Saturday.

But the Associated Press reported how committee members felt like they were being gaslighted by the pep talk about Biden and no questions were allowed while the chat function was disabled.

Pressure is building on Biden to drop out and give the party the opportunity to pick another person to be selected as the nominee at the Democratic National Convention in August.

A source told The New York Times that donors are wondering who they can contact to read first lady Jill Biden, who could try and persuade her husband to end his campaign.

Polling released by CBS News on Sunday showed 72% of registered voters do not believe Biden has the mental and cognitive health to serve as president. Half said the same of Trump, who is 78.

Biden himself sought to assuage concerns at a campaign rally in North Carolina on Friday, telling supporters that he is no longer a young man. “I don’t debate as well as I used to,” he said, adding later, “but I know how to do this job.”

Trump said at a rally in Virginia on Friday that Biden’s “problem” is not his age, but rather “his competence.” He also called the debate a “big victory against a man that really is looking to destroy our country.”


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