U.S. President Joe Biden鈥檚 struggle to prove he鈥檚 got the strength and cognitive capacity for a second term is becoming an excruciating personal and national ordeal.
Watching a visibly aged Biden answer frank questions Friday about his health on primetime television 鈥 which would normally remain between a patient and their doctor 鈥 felt like an affront to presidential dignity. It was sad to see a person who鈥檚 respected and beloved by many Americans suffer such a plight. And it would be a hard heart that did not empathize with Biden as he confronts the painful human realities of aging in the most public manner imaginable.
Yet Biden鈥檚 position, his shocking presidential debate performance and his defiant refusal to contemplate its implications for his reelection campaign, mean he鈥檚 forcing the country to have the conversation.
The political tide may be turning against Biden, but the interview underscored his deep pride in a presidency that it took him nearly half a century to achieve. And he鈥檚 not close to giving up his lifelong mantra to stand up and fight when he鈥檚 knocked down 鈥 a factor that will exacerbate the Democratic Party鈥檚 dilemma.
While his interview performance was far stronger than the president鈥檚 often incoherent showing at the CNN debate in Atlanta, that鈥檚 not saying much. It did not contain any new disasters that would push him immediately out of the race. But it equally did little to quell the storm assailing his campaign and raised fresh intrigue about his health amid increasing signs his Democratic power base is beginning to crack.
It鈥檚 becoming clear that the president, his party and the country are slipping inexorably into a political crisis that raises the extraordinary possibility that a presumptive nominee could be pushed aside weeks before his party鈥檚 national convention and four months before one of the most critical elections in history.
The threats to Biden鈥檚 prospects are quickly mounting. Two more Democratic congressman Friday called on the president to cede the nomination to a younger candidate. Virginia Sen. Mark Warner moved forward with an effort to get Senate Democrats on the same page about Biden鈥檚 future and is reaching a place where he thinks it鈥檚 time for Biden to suspend his campaign, a source familiar with his efforts told CNN. And House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries scheduled a virtual meeting with ranking party committee members as he faces increasing pressure from his conference over Biden鈥檚 position, a Democratic lawmaker said.
Biden鈥檚 campaign had scheduled the interview with ABC News to try to prove that the president鈥檚 stumbling debate performance last week was an aberration and to shut down growing doubts about his position as his party鈥檚 2024 nominee.
He appeared more composed and fluent than at the CNN debate. He made a far more robust argument for his own successes in office and more effectively prosecuted a case against Trump than he did in the debate. And he dug in deeper despite calls by a handful of a Democratic lawmakers for him to fold his reelection bid and the growing panic among many others yet to break cover.
He also dismissed concerns about his health, insisting that he was not frailer than before. 鈥淐an I run the 100 (in) 10 flat? No, but I鈥檓 still in good shape,鈥 Biden said.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think anybody鈥檚 more qualified to be president or win this race than me,鈥 Biden said in the interview conducted in swing state Wisconsin.
鈥淚f the Lord Almighty came down and said, 鈥楯oe, get out of the race,鈥 I鈥檇 get out of the race,鈥 Biden said, but added: 鈥淭he Lord Almighty鈥檚 not coming down.鈥
But Biden鈥檚 admission that he felt 鈥渢errible鈥 in the days before his clash with the Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump only posed new questions about his health. Those questions come at a time of growing anxiety that he鈥檚 well enough at 81 to shoulder the exhausting demands of the presidency and the strain of a reelection bid.
Biden compounded those doubts by seeming unsure about whether he鈥檇 watched a playback of the debate 鈥 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think so, no,鈥 he said when asked if he鈥檇 watched the event 鈥 and other moments in which he trailed off in some sentences. And he added yet another explanation for his poor debate performance to add to his allies鈥 claims he was overloaded with facts by staff, jet-lagged and suffering from a cold. The president said Trump鈥檚 insistence on speaking even though his microphone was muted had put him off.
Asked whether he was the same man who took office three years ago, Biden deflected by offering a litany of his achievements. 鈥淚n terms of successes, yes,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 also was the guy who put together a peace plan for the Middle East that may be coming to fruition. I was also the guy that expanded NATO. I was also the guy that grew the economy. All the individual things that were done were ideas I had or I fulfilled. I moved on.鈥
The president was adamant that the debate was a only 鈥渁 bad night鈥 for which he took responsibility. But more than a week after the event, and amid rising fear among Democrats about his prospects in November and the possibility of what it will mean for democracy if Trump wins a second term, one thing is becoming increasingly clear.
One bad night on such a high-profile stage before millions of viewers may be all it takes to irretrievably damage the campaign of president who will be 82 two weeks after Election Day, who large majorities of Americans worry is unfit to serve and who is asking the country to keep him in office until January 2029.
Biden and his supporters warn that his painful 90 minutes on stage in Atlanta should not overshadow the achievements of his time in office. And they say that the threat posed by Trump and his autocratic instincts and vow to dedicate a second presidency to 鈥渞etribution鈥 far outweigh concerns over Biden鈥檚 capacity.
But the question that millions of Americans are asking has less to do with a review of Biden鈥檚 first-term legacy and is more about whether he can function for four more grueling White House years.
The interview also begged the question of whether the president is fully aware of the corrosive impact of the debate on confidence among Democrats over his chances of beating Trump. He quarreled with ABC News鈥 George Stephanopoulos over polling that showed him slipping further behind the former president nationally and in swing states.
The interview was one of a series of events, including the Friday rally and a planned news conference at the NATO summit next week in Washington, that the campaign has held up as moments to prove Biden鈥檚 fitness.
But Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman of California told CNN that the president needed to do a prolonged and live television interview unlike the recorded one on ABC. Other members are demanding the president get out far more to prove his stamina, even though the campaign on Friday promised an 鈥渁ggressive鈥 program of events in July.
But that pledge did not stop the growing demands for Biden to step aside.
鈥淧resident Biden has done enormous service to our country, but now is the time for him to follow in one of our founding father, George Washington鈥檚, footsteps and step aside to let new leaders rise up and run against Donald Trump,鈥 Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton told Boston radio station WBUR in an interview that went out before the ABC interview aired. And Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley said Biden鈥檚 continued presence in the race has 鈥渁lmost no hope of succeeding.鈥
鈥淚 would say Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude. The only thing you can do now to cement that for all-time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this,鈥 Quigley told MSNBC. He later added on CNN: 鈥淲hat we need right now 鈥 and what I think takes a spine 鈥 is to step aside and recognize the president of the United States doesn鈥檛 have the vigor necessary to overcome the deficit here and it鈥檚 going to affect us all.鈥
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey did not go quite so far but said in a statement to CNN that Biden needed to 鈥渃arefully evaluate whether he remains our best hope to defeat Trump. Whatever President Biden decides, I am committed to doing everything in my power to defeat Donald Trump.鈥
The agonizing over Biden鈥檚 fate is especially painful for Democrats because many of them believe that the president has done a good job in reviving the post-COVID-19 economy, powering job growth, harnessing US allies overseas and passing big-ticket infrastructure and climate change plans. But increasingly, it seems as though the fear of a Trump term may be overwhelming satisfaction with Biden鈥檚 achievements.
To temper such worries, Biden used the rally to pivot from questions about his age to try to refocus attention on what he鈥檇 actually done in office.
鈥淚 keep seeing all those stories about I鈥檓 being too old,鈥 he said. 鈥淟et me say something. I wasn鈥檛 too old to create over 15 million new jobs. To make sure 21 million Americans are insured under the Affordable Care Act. Was I too old to release student debt for nearly 5 million Americans? Too old to put the first Black woman on the Supreme Court in the United States of America?鈥
After the debate, Biden鈥檚 every word is under intense scrutiny and risks bolstering a critical narrative about his age and mental acuity after he seared an image of a struggling, president diminished by age in the mind of viewers.
So, one fatalistic statement in the ABC interview about how he鈥檇 feel next January if Trump won is likely to inflame concerns of many Democrats about his mindset, his understanding of his situation and what will happen in November.
鈥淚鈥檒l feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the goodest job as I know I can do, that鈥檚 what this is about,鈥 Biden said.
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