US President Joe Biden has pledged to stay in the presidential race and defeat his opponent, despite growing calls from Democrats to drop out.
The 81-year-old, who has been isolating at his beach house in Delaware since being diagnosed with COVID-19, posted a series of online posts Friday criticizing his rival Donald Trump, who wrapped up the Republican National Convention, and said he would return to the campaign trail next week.
Trump’s “dark vision of the future is not who we are as Americans. Together, as a party and as a nation, we can and will beat him at the ballot box,” Biden said. “The stakes are high, the choice is clear. Together, we will win.”
I was stuck at home because of COVID and unfortunately missed seeing Donald Trump speak at the Republican National Convention.
What on earth is he talking about?
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 20, 2024
But 12 Democratic politicians, including two senators and a group of congressmen, have called on the president to resign.
Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is in a tight reelection race, said in a statement late Friday that he agreed with the “many Ohioans” who have called on Biden to suspend his campaign.
New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich, who is up for reelection, became the third Senate Democrat to call for Biden to resign.
“Passing the torch allows him to secure his legacy as one of our country’s greatest leaders and support the candidate best able to defeat Donald Trump and secure the future of our democracy,” he said.
According to media reports, leading Democrats including Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries and Nancy Pelosi have also been informally pressuring the president to resign.
“He’s not going anywhere,” Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon told MSNBC’s Morning Joe show, calling him “the best person to run against Donald Trump.”
She noted that while there is growing unease among senior Democrats about a Biden candidacy, that does not reflect the overall sentiment across the party.
And in a call with donors on Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris said, “We are going to win this election.” The US media reported, “We know who will put the American people first in this election: our president, Joe Biden.”
‘Pass the Torch’
Biden’s Democratic critics are trying to reach him directly through television ads.
The ad, produced by a new group called Pass the Torch, will air starting Monday on Morning Joe and other daytime programs on MSNBC, one of Biden’s favorite shows and one he reportedly watches regularly.
“We want to get the message out there: We appreciate all you’ve done, and now it’s time to pass the torch directly to President Biden,” said Pass the Torch Steering Committee member Aaron Regenberg.
“We plan to stay up until we hear an announcement that he’s going to be on his favorite show and that he’s going to do the right thing and step down. Hopefully, we’ll be able to go off the air in the near future.”
Niambi Carter, an associate professor at the University of Maryland, told Al Jazeera that if Biden were to drop out of the race now, the Democratic Party would be in serious trouble.
“I think people who are calling for him to step down need to get used to that idea and support Joe Biden if he chooses to stay in the race,” she told Al Jazeera. “He can do that because he won the primary almost unchallenged.”
Carter said Democrats appear less willing to move forward than their Republican rivals have shown.
“A lot of things have to happen very quickly for this to happen because the money that the Biden campaign makes can’t be transferred to a new candidate. So I think this is a really short-sighted move on behalf of the Democratic Party.”
White House physician Kevin O’Connor said Friday that the president still has a dry cough and hoarseness, but his COVID-19 symptoms have improved.
Next week, Biden is expected to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will address the U.S. Congress on July 24 amid Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip.
