In his first major rally since calls for him to drop out reached a fever pitch, President Biden fought back against his critics Friday, forcefully declaring that he is staying in the 2024 race despite calls for him to step aside.
Biden gave his clearest indication yet that he is hearing the calls for him to drop out of the 2024 race.
“What’s Joe going to do? Is he going to stay in the race? Is he going to drop out? What’s he going to do?” Biden told a crowd at a campaign rally in Madison, Wis.
“Well, here’s my answer: I’m running and going to win again,” the president proclaimed.
Biden has been dealing with fallout from his debate performance, during which he spoke softly, in a raspy voice, and wasn’t able to finish some of his thoughts. Biden and his team have been trying to stop the bleeding, but the president, his campaign and his administration have all been under an intense microscope the entire week.
“Despite that some folks don’t seem to care who you voted for, well guess what, they’re trying to push me out of the race. Well, let me say this as clearly as I can. I’m staying in the race,” Biden said.
He also used his age to highlight a list of accomplishments, preceding each one with asking the crowd if he was too old when he did things like forgive student loan debt, create jobs and reduce health care costs.
He then went on to criticize former President Trump, hitting him over his part in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol and for a host of legal problems, including his criminal conviction.
“After what Trump did on Jan. 6, why would anybody let him be near the Oval Office ever again?” Biden said.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) spoke before Biden at the event and threw his support behind the president. Evers was reportedly not in a much-anticipated governors meeting with Biden at the White House on Wednesday as part of the debate fallout.
“Democrats are getting s‑‑‑ done and delivering for Wisconsin,” Evers said. “The choice this November is absolutely clear, there’s only president who has consistently delivered for Wisconsin and his name is Joe Biden.”
Biden opened his remarks by thanking former Sen. Gaylord Nelson (D-Wis.), looking up to the sky and saying Nelson introduced him to Wisconsin when he was a young senator. Nelson died in 2005 at the age of 89.
After his remarks, Biden will sit down for a highly anticipated interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. The interview will serve as one of Biden's only unscripted events on camera following the debate.
