Faced with growing pressure, Biden is resisting, for now

Assailed with questions about his age and isolation due to Covid, Joe Biden announced Friday that he would resume his campaign next week. Without silencing the voices that urge him à to pass the torch, fearing that the Democratic Party would come out defeated. November elections.

“Donald Trump’s dismal vision for the future does not represent who we are as Americans,” the 81-year-old president said in a statement. “Together, as a party and as a country, we can and will beat him at the ballot box,” he said.

According to his doctor , his symptoms – a cough and a hoarse voice – have “improved significantly”. And the president said he was eager to return to the campaign “next week”.

But his combative tone does not hide the growing discontent among Democratic leaders.< /p>

Several elected officials from the House of Representatives and a third senator called on Friday the president, who is seeking a second term against Republican Donald Trump, to make way for a more successful candidate. young.

In all, around thirty elected officials have asked the president to leave the race.

“We must face the reality that widespread public concerns about your age and physical condition are jeopardizing what should be a winning campaign,” four representatives, including Texas Rep. Marc Veasey, said in a statement. a joint letter published by several media.

Joe Biden in Las Vegas on July 17, 2024 © AFP – Kent Nishimura

“Passing the torch … would reinvigorate the race and inject enthusiasm and momentum into Democrats ahead of our convention next month,” they said.

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The excitement within the Democratic Party has been palpable since Mr. Biden faltered in his debate with Mr. Trump in late June. That day, a very weakened Biden, struggling to finish his sentences, appeared before the screens of his distressed supporters.

– Rush? –

The whirlwind of questions about his mental acuity has not abated since, even though the president claims to be in full possession of his intellectual capacities and to be the most capable of defeating Donald Trump.

In recent days, a number of anonymous media leaks have pointed to a possible change in Mr. Biden's mindset, which has become more receptive to the concerns of his high-ranking Democratic allies.

In what would be a major development, former President Barack Obama, still very influential within the Democratic Party, has according to the press expressed his doubts about the “viability” of the Joe Biden's candidacy.

The president's campaign manager, Jen O'Malley Dillon, responded Friday.

Donald Trump in Milwaukee on July 18, 2024 © AFP – Jim WATSON

“You've heard it directly from the president over and over again: he's running to win, he's our candidate, and he's going to be our president for a second term,” she said. told the MSNBC channel.

He remains “absolutely” in the race for the White House, she insisted, while recognizing that the last few weeks had been “difficult.”

Other voices have been raised to express concern over calls for Mr. Biden to step down. The elected representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a figure on the left wing of the party, warned against any haste, claiming not to have “seen an alternative scenario which, in my opinion, does not expose us to enormous perils” .

A series of polls show Mr. Biden lagging behind Mr. Trump, whom he beat in 2020.

The contrast between the two rivals is currently striking, and reflects the twists and turns of a campaign like no other.

While Mr. Biden faces a crisis, Mr. Trump seems to be living in a state of grace as he has spent the last few months appearing before judges – he has also become the first former president to be criminally convicted.

On Saturday, he miraculously survived an assassination attempt. And Thursday evening, he was crowned candidate of the right during a grandiose party.

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