Although nine Democratic members of Congress have already called on Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential race, the current president is not worried about stepping down. “It’s an untenable situation,” says America correspondent Jan Postma. “A big interview on ABC didn’t allay those concerns.” The most influential Democrats are expected to speak out against Biden today.
Biden fell through the ice, and it's not going well.
Today, many members of Congress are returning from vacation. Many are expected to speak out against Biden’s candidacy because of his age and poor health. “You see the rumblings everywhere, the storm for Biden has not subsided.” However, Biden himself says he does not want to concede and feels supported by influential Democrats and delegates who support him.
“Those allies continue to support him, and you also see a lot of frustration with Biden’s critics and the media,” he added. Biden supporters, according to Postma, believe the media is being too critical. It points to a split within Democrats — including on Capitol Hill, where Kamala Harris is being discussed openly. As vice president, he would be a logical successor.
through the ice
ABC News did a major interview with Biden last Friday, but that won’t help him, Postma believes. He’s fallen through the ice, you can compare that to ten good performances, but that’s what sticks. That’s the picture, it’s just been completed.
And this time, too, Biden’s answers were not convincing, Postma notes: “He didn’t do much better.” The picture was of a man who didn’t realize how serious his condition was, who didn’t realize that something might be wrong with his health, and who didn’t want to look at it at all. That wasn’t reassuring at all.
However, in the end, it is entirely up to Joe Biden himself whether or not to withdraw, Postma says. After all, Biden has the delegates behind him. So it is entirely up to him to decide whether or not to resign.
NATO Summit
Biden’s age and health are not just an issue in the American media or within the Democratic Party, but also within NATO. Tomorrow the NATO summit begins in Washington, and Joe Biden will want to seize this opportunity with both hands to show that he is still relevant and respected as an international statesman. “It is also a hot topic at the NATO summit,” says Postma. Trump has been hanging over NATO like a dark cloud for some time, he notes, but now the host is also under fire.
Biden will hold a news conference on Thursday, and all eyes will be on him, Postma says. He was at the news conference, and what surprised him was that many of the questions were about the president’s health, not NATO. The big question, he says, is whether events are also planned after 8 p.m. The big one: Biden has indicated that he doesn’t want to go to work after 8 p.m. “Which doesn’t suit the president.” That’s not going well, and it continues to go badly, and next week will again be about Biden and his age and his health.
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