President Joe Biden remains defiant having written to congressional Democrats insisting he will remain in the race for the White House after more members of the party added their voices to calls for him to step aside on Sunday – an unwelcome distraction as the president prepares to host a major Nato summit in Washington, DC this week.
In behind-closed-door crisis talks convened by House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, several representatives suggested it was time for Biden, 81, to make way following his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump.
Five Democrats have now come forward publicly to say the same, with Vice President Kamala Harris tipped to take over as the party’s 2024 nominee and praised by the influential Adam Schiff yesterday.
But the president insisted in an ABC interview on Friday that only “the Lord Almighty” could persuade him to go, saying he remains convinced he is the right man to challenge Trump. He doubled down on that in a call to MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Monday morning after spending the weekend on the campaign trail in Pennsylvania.
On Monday afternoon, the White House denied Biden has Parkinson’s disease at the daily briefing.
