Biden clenches his fist and gives bizarre interview
In these days, content takes a back seat in the US election campaign, but rather focuses on one thing: How is President Biden doing? Resistance against his candidacy is forming up. Meanwhile, the 81-year-old tries to dispel doubts with an interview. It's not really working.
There's an unwritten law about the White House. Anyone who makes it there is supported by their own party for a second term. Therefore, the primaries for a US President are a walk. No campaigning. For Joe Biden, it only began in the last week. But with such force that it could cost him the candidacy among the Democrats. He defends himself with everything, but resistance within his own party is growing.
Since the 90 disastrous minutes of the TV debate against Donald Trump, the 81-year-old has found himself in a storm. His family and closest advisors assure him: Stand firm. You will win. Only you can stop Trump. But outside, doubts rage through Washington and the country, the Democratic Party, the media. Is Biden physically and mentally capable of leading the United States for another four years? Can he win the election in November against the Republican?
Biden has visibly aged in the past four years. Now, as his condition dominates the news, he and his team are relying on transparency ("I don't speak like I used to") and fighting spirit ("Who falls, gets up again"). Moreover, he is taking on the campaign, presenting himself in public with clenched fist at fundraising events, and, a week after the TV debate, for the first time in a television interview without a teleprompter. He wants to prove that he can still ask critical questions and react spontaneously. It is to be a performance that banishes doubts among the party and voters.
Too heavily marked by age
During the 20 minutes on the US network ABC during prime time on a Friday evening, Biden makes a better impression; with more color in his face, calmer, more alert. But the whole situation is absurd. There sits a US President confessing and having to explain his performance from a week ago. He becomes the accused, who testifies to his innocence and tries to calm the panic in the party and among the voters about his condition and dwindling chances in November.
Journalist George Stephanopoulos grills him in a calm tone with uncomfortable questions. Are you the same man as three and a half years ago? Are you weaker? Have you taken this test or that one? More fallers in the past months? Would you submit to a neurological and cognitive examination? Are you capable of governing for another four years? And he asks a question that could burn Biden: Are you honest with yourself? When you say you have the mental and physical ability for another four years? Yes, answers the US President.
Answers are nearly irrelevant, this interview is about how Biden handles the criticism. The sentences he utters, the words he speaks, his facial expressions and body language. He is unable to dispel the doubts; for that, he is too heavily marked by age. Biden can barely win at this point, every step he takes is more closely scrutinized than it is for US presidents in general. However, party support will not wane, as he shows in the interview multiple times, convinced as he is that he can govern. Were he not confident, he would not be running again: "Only the Almighty can force me out of the race."
The increasingly poorer polling numbers than before the TV debate are dismissed, as is his approval rating, which has dropped to 37 percent. No president has been re-elected with such a low approval rating. But you must face reality, insists Stephanopoulos. You led in voter polls in 2020, but still only won narrowly. If you lose and Trump is elected, how would you feel in January? Is it a risk worth taking?
Democratic crisis and concerned donors
On Sunday, the Democrats held a virtual session in the House of Representatives, according to US media, where Biden was the topic. A few representatives have spoken out publicly against his candidacy. Senator Mark Warner is currently trying to convince other senators to go to the White House together on Monday and persuade Biden to resign, writes the "Washington Post".
More and more Democratic donors are now openly criticizing Biden, some are reportedly holding back their support for "The New York Times". Many of them are convinced that another candidate has better chances against Trump. An initiative is underway to raise as much as $100 million for a replacement candidate X as quickly as possible. The name: "Next Generation PAC". There is not much time left before November, and the Democratic nominating convention already takes place in mid-August.
Biden knows that his political future is decided in these days, he is too long in politics to be ignorant. But he does not think about making the doubts of others public. "I will not let the work of three and a half years be erased in 90 minutes of debate," he firmly rejected the demands. Whether this decision lies only with him, as the unwritten law states, remains to be seen.
In the midst of speculations about his abilities for the US presidential election 2024, President Biden participated in a TV debate, sparking concerns about his capacity to lead for another four years. Despite his attempts to dispel doubts in subsequent interviews, the 81-year-old's age and performance have become a topic of debate among Democrats, media, and the public.
Amidst escalating criticism, some Democrats have openly expressed their dissatisfaction with President Biden's candidacy. Senator Mark Warner, for instance, is reportedly attempting to convince other senators to persuade Biden to withdraw, prompting the rise of a $100 million initiative, "Next Generation PAC," to back a potential replacement candidate.
