Biden says 'I'm not going anywhere' as calls to quit

race grow
reuters.com/world/us/bidens-july-4th-party-kicks-off-events-that-may-reassure-democrats-2024-07-04

Steve Holland, Andrea Shalal, Jeff Mason

Item 1 of 5 U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a July Fourth barbecue for active-
duty U.S. military members and their families at the White House in Washington, U.S.,
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[1/5]U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a July Fourth barbecue for active-duty U.S.
military members and their families at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 4, 2024.
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WASHINGTON, July 4 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden said "I'm not going anywhere" as
he faced calls by many Democrats to end his re-election bid, using the Fourth of July
celebrations on Thursday to hit back at doubts about his stamina and mental acuity to
continue his campaign.
The 81-year-old Democrat's shaky showing at a June 27 debate with Republican rival
Donald Trumpmeans his every appearance is now closely scrutinized. Many Democratic
voters are worried about whether he can keep up a grueling pace of work for the next 4-
1/2 years and some in his party have urged him to step aside.

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Biden was hosting the annual U.S. Independence Day festivities at the White House on
Thursday, including a barbecue for a few thousand active-duty military service members
and their families.

Biden, in a suit with no necktie, began his remarks with a forceful “Happy Independence
Day!"

Reading from a teleprompter, Biden made no major errors in delivering brief remarks, but
at one point appeared to go off script to make reference to a war cemetery that Trump
declined to visit while in office.

"By the way, you know, I was in that World War One cemetery in France. The one that
one of our colleagues, a former president didn't want to go...," he said, his voice dropping
to a low volume and trailing off.

"I probably shouldn't have said, anyway," Biden added, before continuing his remarks.

As Biden mingled and took selfies with guests, someone called out for him to "Keep up
the fight."

"You got me, man. I'm not going anywhere," Biden said, repeating his pledge to remain in
the race despite the growing calls to step aside.

Abigail Disney, granddaughter of Walt Disney who founded the company that bears his
name (DIS.N) , opens new tab and who has been a major Democratic donor, became
the latest donor to call for Biden to withdraw from the presidential election, telling CNBC
on Thursday that she will halt donations to the Democratic Party until he does so.
Vice President Kamala Harris is the leading contender to take his place in the Nov. 5
election if Biden were to drop out, sources have said, though his allies believe he can
assuage the concerns of voters and donors.

Among the events on Biden's calendar being closely scrutinized is an interview with ABC
News on Friday that will be aired in full at 8 p.m. ET (0000 GMT Saturday). He also
travels to Wisconsin the same day for a campaign rally.

Dozens of Democrats in the House of Representatives are watching closely and prepared
to ask Biden to step aside if he falters in the ABC interview, a source told Reuters.
Democrats see capturing control of the House in November as critical, as it could be their
last hold on power in Washington if Trump returns to the White House and Republicans
capture the Senate.
Biden faces a new reality since last week's debate - even if he doesn't falter verbally or
physically, serious concerns about his viability as a candidate are likely to linger. If he
mangles words or looks unfocused or confused, he will face renewed pressure to depart.
If reelected, Biden would be 86 at the end of a second term. He is being asked by some
former supporters to step aside to preserve his legacy and lessen the chances of a
second Trump presidency. With just four months to go before the election, a decision
needs to be made soon, they say.

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Democrats, including top allies, have left the door open to having Harris at the top of the
Democratic ticket.

SEEN BY DOCTOR
The White House has repeatedly said the president was suffering from a cold and jet lag
on the night of the debate. On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-
Pierre said Biden had not had any kind of medical exam since his annual physical in
February.

"He did not get checked out by the doctor. It's a cold, guys. It's a cold," she said at a news
briefing.

However, spokesperson Andrew Bates said on Thursday that Biden saw a doctor after
the debate. "Several days later, the president was seen to check on his cold and was
recovering well,” he said.

Trump, 78, who made multiple false statements from the debate stage in Atlanta, falsely
claimed in a video that was circulated on social media that he had driven Biden out of the
race. He made disparaging comments about Harris in the same video.
Asked in a radio interview with WURD that aired on Thursday morning, whether there
was any reason for the American people to be concerned after last week's debate, Biden
demurred.

"No, I had a bad debate," he said, adding that this should not erase what he has done as
president for three and a half years.

Biden's standing in opinion polls took a hit after the debate. Some 59% of Democrats
responding to a Reuters/Ipsos poll said that Biden was too old to work in government, a
concern that has shown up persistently in public opinion polling over the past year.
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Reporting by Steve Holland, Andrea Shalal and Jeff Mason; writing by Simon Lewis;
Editing by Heather Timmons, Ross Colvin and Deepa Babington

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Jeff Mason
Thomson Reuters

Jeff Mason is a White House Correspondent for Reuters. He has covered the
presidencies of Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden and the presidential
campaigns of Biden, Trump, Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain. He served as
president of the White House Correspondents’ Association in 2016-2017, leading the
press corps in advocating for press freedom in the early days of the Trump administration.
His and the WHCA's work was recognized with Deutsche Welle's "Freedom of Speech

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Award." Jeff has asked pointed questions of domestic and foreign leaders, including
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong Un. He is a winner of the
WHCA's “Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure" award
and co-winner of the Association for Business Journalists' "Breaking News" award. Jeff
began his career in Frankfurt, Germany as a business reporter before being posted to
Brussels, Belgium, where he covered the European Union. Jeff appears regularly on
television and radio and teaches political journalism at Georgetown University. He is a
graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and a former Fulbright
scholar.

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