US President Joe Biden said on Friday that only “the Lord Almighty” could convince him to give up on his effort for re-election, despite growing calls from fellow Democrats to do so following a disastrous debate against his Republican opponent Donald Trump.
During a prime time interview with ABC, Mr Biden blamed a cold and exhaustion for his “bad night” last week, insisting that he was mentally and physically fit for a second term.
He did, however, refuse to commit to taking a cognitive test and having the results released to the public.
“I wouldn't be running if I didn't think I did” have the capacity for a second term, he said, but that he is staying in the race “because I think I understand best what has to be done”.
He contested the accuracy of current polling, saying “I remember them telling me the same thing in 2020, I can't win, the polls show I can't win” before he was ultimately successful.
Mr Biden said that all the pollsters he has talked to have said the election is “a toss-up”.
“I don't think anyone is as qualified to be president or win the race as me,” he said, adding that he would only step aside if the “Lord Almighty” came down and told him to.
The President projected similar strength during an earlier event in Wisconsin, telling supporters he had beaten Republican candidate Trump once and “I will beat him again”.
“You probably heard we had a little debate last week. Can’t say it was my best performance,” he said, referring to his frequent stumbles and meandering answers when he faced off against Trump in Atlanta at the end of last month.
“But ever since then, there’s been a lot of speculation. ‘What’s Joe going to do? Is he going to stay in the race? Is he going to drop out? What’s he going to do? Well, here’s my answer: I am running and going to win again.”
The Biden campaign announced it would be putting $50 million towards advertising for the month of July, according to Politico, with the President scheduled to headline the NAACP and UnidosUS conferences in Las Vegas, Nevada, during the Republican National Convention.
The announcement came as a report showed that a group of Democrats – led by Senator Mark Warner – was forming, with the aim of asking Mr Biden to step down.
The Washington Post reported on Friday that Mr Warner, whose state of Virginia must be won by Democrats in November to keep the White House, is telling politicians in his party that the President can no longer remain in the election following his debate performance.
Also on Friday, US Representative Mike Quigley became the fourth Democrat to call on Mr Biden to step aside.
Amid the panic in Democratic circles, the front-runner to potentially replace Mr Biden on the ticket is his own vice president.
Following the debate, Ms Harris threw herself into the wagon-circling by the administration and Democratic politicians, highlighting how the event was one moment in a long string of achievements.
In a testy exchange during a CNN interview, she said: “I’m not going to spend all night with you talking about the last 90 minutes when I’ve been watching the last three and a half years of performance.”
She conceded later during a donor conference in San Francisco, that the President’s performance was “not his finest hour”, but insisted that “the outcome of this election cannot be determined by one day in June”.
Her dogged support for her boss has not dissuaded speculation that she could replace Mr Biden on the Democratic ticket.
The Trump campaign has already gone on the offensive, with Axios reporting the former president is planning a public relations assault against Ms Harris.
In a video leaked earlier this week, a golf cart-riding Trump can be heard calling the President “broken down” and on the verge of “quitting the race”, while expresses hope that Ms Harris will be named the candidate.
“I think she’s going to be better” as an opponent, Trump said in the video, adding: “She’s so bad. She’s so pathetic.”
But Trump may be engaging in this advance attack for a reason: polling released since the debate has offered more encouraging signs for Ms Harris than other possible contenders, with a CNN survey finding she trailed Trump 45 per cent to 47 per cent, respectively, in a hypothetical matchup. In comparison, Trump led Mr Biden 49 per cent to 43 per cent.
A Reuters/Ipsos had her at 42 per cent to Trump's 43 per cent. The same poll had Mr Biden and Trump in a dead heat.
The differences are slight but are a marked improvement over pre-debate polls.
Bloomberg cited an anonymous Democratic operative as saying that more sceptics within the party are moving into the “K-Hive”– a nickname for the Vice President’s supporters.
Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina, historically a major supporter of the President, said following the debate that Mr Biden should keep fighting. But he noted in an interview that, as “a Biden-Harris person”, he would support Ms Harris if the President was not an option.
