U.S. President Joe Biden, who has been under pressure to withdraw from the presidential race following his first TV debate, claimed that his poor performance was due to accumulated fatigue from overseas trips.
According to a White House joint press corps, President Biden admitted on the 2nd (local time) at a fundraising event held in McLean, Virginia, near Washington D.C., that he did not perform well in the TV debate and said that visiting foreign countries consecutively before the debate was "not very wise."
He said, "I made the decision to travel around the world a couple of times right before the TV debate," adding, "I did not listen to my aides. Then, I almost fell asleep on stage during the debate." After apologizing for his poor performance in the TV debate, he added that mentioning his overseas trips was "an explanation, not an excuse."
Earlier, President Biden made a state visit to France from the 5th to the 9th of last month and, after returning, attended the Group of Seven (G7) summit held in Italy from the 13th to the 15th of the same month. Afterwards, he prepared for the debate for a week at Camp David, the presidential retreat near Washington D.C. However, during the TV debate held on the 27th of last month in Atlanta, Georgia, he stammered and used inaccurate sentences, reigniting concerns about his age.
Amid growing calls within and outside the party for a candidate replacement, President Biden’s remarks on this day are interpreted as an attempt to convince supporters regarding his debate defeat. Having firmly decided to continue his presidential bid, President Biden is also scheduled to attend an online and offline meeting with Democratic governors the following day. It is expected that he will make statements to dispel concerns about his health and cognitive decline and to urge support. However, some analyses suggest that his explanation citing overseas trips may instead strengthen public opinion that the 81-year-old President Biden will find it difficult to serve another four years as U.S. president.
On this day, voices officially calling for President Biden to withdraw from the presidential race also emerged within the Democratic Party. Lloyd Doggett (Texas), a 15-term Democratic congressman, stated in a press release, "Unlike former President Donald Trump, President Biden’s top priority has always been the country, not himself," and added, "I hope he makes the painful and difficult decision to withdraw as a candidate. I respectfully urge him to do so."
Poll results also showed that President Biden is less competitive than Vice President Kamala Harris in a head-to-head match against former President Trump. According to a survey conducted by polling agency SSRS commissioned by CNN immediately after the first presidential candidate debate, in a Biden-Trump head-to-head matchup, the two candidates recorded support rates of 43% and 49%, respectively. In contrast, in a Harris-Trump matchup, former President Trump had 47% support, and Vice President Harris had 45%, confirming a close race within the margin of error (±3.5%). In this survey, 56% of respondents who were Democrats or favorable to the Democratic Party expressed the opinion that the Democratic Party would have a higher chance of winning the presidential election if it fielded a candidate other than President Biden.
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