President Joe Biden said he might review his decision to stay in the presidential race against former President Donald Trump if his health goes unfavorable.
The US President in an interview said if he had some medical condition that emerged, and if doctors came to him saying he had this or that problem, he would reconsider his decision.
Biden was reported to have contracted COVID-19 yesterday and is sad to be under immense pressure from members of his party to withdraw from this race. His opposition within his party ranks is increasing daily following his disastrous debate with his challenger – Donald Trump.
Biden also acknowledged his poor performance in words, “I made a serious mistake in the whole debate.” He said this in the BET interview. Representative Adam Schiff of California, heavily favored to win the powerful state’s two wanted Senate seats in November, urged Biden to step aside. More importantly, a recent survey report revealed that nearly two-thirds of Democrats say Biden should withdraw.
A survey by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, conducted as Biden works to recover his candidacy two weeks after his debate flop, found 7 in 10 Democrats are not confident about Biden’s mental capability to serve as president. The findings highlight the challenges Biden faces to prove his mental capacity.
The polls found Vice President Kamala Harris rates similar to him but the number of those who hold unfavorable opinions of her is slightly lower. The poll tells Black Democrats are among Biden’s strongest supporters, with roughly half in the survey saying he should continue running, compared to 3 in 10 white Democrats. “I do have genuine concerns about his ability to hold the office,” said Democrat Andrew Holcomb of Denver. People aren’t just sour on Biden as they size up their choices this election season.
About 6 in 10 Americans want Trump to withdraw but few Republicans are in that camp. Three-quarters of Democrats under the age of 45 want Biden to drop out, compared to about 6 in 10 of those who are older. “I just feel like these two individuals are a sad choice,” said Alexi Mitchell, 35, a civil servant who lives in Virginia.
She identifies as a Democratic-leaning independent, and while she thinks Biden is probably still mentally up to the job, she worries that the past few weeks’ unraveling of support makes him a weak candidate, no matter what happens next. “If he doesn’t have control over his party, that’s a fatal flaw,” she said. “He’s put us in a bad position where Trump might win.” Democrats are slightly more likely to say they’re dissatisfied with Biden as about half are dissatisfied. By contrast, most Republicans – about 6 in 10 – came out of the debate very or somewhat satisfied with Trump as their candidate. David Parrott, a Democrat from Soddy-Daisy said “I don’t know if he can make it another four years or not.” “Shouldn’t he be sitting at his beach house taking it easy?” The poll disclosed only about a third of Democrats believe Biden is more capable of winning than is Trump. About 3 in 10 think the two are equally capable of winning and 16% say victory is more likely to go to the Republican. By contrast, Republicans are overwhelmingly convinced that Trump is in the best position to win. Importantly Trump has also received formation from his party, while the convention that had decide about Biden was postponed till August.
Trump also has the edge on Biden when Americans consider who is most capable of handling a crisis, 38% to 28%. People found equally divided on which candidate has the better vision for the country, with 35% saying Biden and 34% Trump. The poll offers a positive spot for Biden as 40% of adults say he’s more honest than Trump. About 2 in 10 think the opposite. Most Democrats – 6 in 10 – say Vice President would make a good president, while 22% think not and 2 in 10 don’t have enough to say on it. The poll showed 43% of the US adults have a favorable opinion of her, while 48% have an unfavorable opinion.
The survey was conducted before Trump selected Sen. JD Vance of Ohio as his running mate. It showed that for most Americans, Vance is still an unknown. Six in 10 don’t know about him to form an opinion, while 17% have a favorable view and 22% view him negatively. JD Vance earlier compared Trump with Adolf Hitler.
(By Rana Kashif)
