Residents of the small handful of states that will decide which candidate wins a majority of Electoral College votes are speaking out about which way they’re leaning after President Joe Biden's rocky post-debate week.
The Wall Street Journal recently interviewed several residents of battleground states like Arizona, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to gauge their voting preferences in the November election, given the wave of scrutiny Biden is facing from both the media and his own party about the 81 year-old's continued viability. These interviews took place after Biden's Friday evening rally in Madison, Wisconsin and his nationally televised interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos.
51 year-old Pennsylvania voter Johanny Manning told the Journal she voted for Biden in 2020 and plans to vote for him in 2024. However, she said Biden's interview didn't assuage concerns she had about his candidacy after the debate.
READ MORE: 'I care about who tells the truth': swing state voter defends support for Biden after debate
“I will still vote for Biden,” Manning said. “But I don’t know if there will be enough of us.”
The registered Democrat indicated she hoped that there would be a different Democratic nominee come November, and that she was worried about the president digging in and refusing to even acknowledge the numerous calls from other Democrats to step aside.
"We still have an ability to choose someone different to run,” she continued. “But he’s saying it’s not going to happen. Like, nope, I’m not stepping down, and that’s a problem. You’re not listening to what we’re saying.”
North Carolina voter Gloria Ashe — a 71 year-old registered Democrat — told the Journal she's voted for Democrats in every presidential election going back 20 years. But in 2024, she's leaning toward voting for former President Donald Trump after seeing Biden's "scary" showing on the debate stage.
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"I’m sad more than anything," Ashe said. "It feels like elder abuse... Like him or not, Trump does have that zest, he has that vinegar."
Independent voter Mak Kielselah of Milwaukee, Wisconsin voted for Biden in 2020. But he told the paper he's frustrated with a lack of action on issues pertaining to racial justice and homelessness. He said right now, he's likely going to vote for independent candidate Cornel West. Kielselah noted that his worries about the president being too old for the job were not alleviated when watching Biden talk to Stephanopoulos.
"If the object of this interview was to prove to me that you’re not old, it didn’t work,” Khielselah said. “Everybody knows you’re old. You know you’re old. So if you’re trying to prove that you’re not old, you just did a [bad] job.”
Click here to read more of the Journal's interviews with swing state voters (subscription required).
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