U.S. President Joe Biden is facing the worst crisis of his 50-year political career.
The recent debate against rival Donald Trump seems to have confirmed some people’s worst fears. Critics said the oldest sitting president in U.S. history is in a state of cognitive decline.
That’s because two weeks ago, Biden appeared in a nationally televised debate to be physically frail, confused and befuddled.
Now, several members of Biden’s party are calling for the president’s withdrawal from the presidential election. Over 10 Democrats in the House of Representatives have urged Biden to step aside, and Vermont Senator Peter Welch became the first Democratic senator to make this request.
“People within Biden’s own party are calling for him to step aside and let the Democratic convention pick another candidate for a three-month race against Trump,” Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua.
On Wednesday, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, a long-time ally of Biden, did not directly respond when asked if she supports Biden’s continuation in the campaign. Instead, she stated that “it’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run” and noted that “time is running short.”
The media chorus has been going strong for the two weeks since the debate, with a daily avalanche of opinion pieces calling on Biden to withdraw.
The New York Times’ chief White House correspondent, Peter Baker, wrote that Biden’s “halting and disjointed performance” prompted a “wave of panic among Democrats.” National Public Radio reported that private fears within the Democratic Party about Biden are “slowly going public.”
NATO PRESS CONFERENCE
Biden hosted a major NATO summit in Washington this week. With persistent concerns within the Democratic Party, all eyes were on the president as he made a concerted effort to alleviate fears of his age and mental fitness.
In a speech before the press conference, he misnamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin.” During the press conference, Biden accidentally referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump.”
Biden’s press conference started later than scheduled. For about an hour, he answered questions from roughly 10 media outlets, much of which focused on whether he should continue to run for office. Biden firmly reiterated his intention to stay in the race.
Analysts said Biden answered reporters’ questions on foreign policy and NATO policy and stumbled somewhat on other answers.
Answering questions on his cognitive condition, Biden told reporters: “The only thing age does is create a little bit of wisdom.”
“No one will be satisfied no matter how many tests Biden agrees to, no matter how many interviews he does, etc.,” said Ashley Parker, a White House reporter for The Washington Post. “And again, that’s the challenge, because he needs to do something that will put this discussion about his fitness to rest, and allow the Democrats to return to talking about Trump.”
