Biden makes campaign sweep as Democratic pressure mounts

Harrisburg, United States – AFP

Embattled US President Joe Biden hit the campaign trail Sunday seeking to reassure voters he was up for a grueling reelection fight, even as more top Democrats reportedly joined the chorus urging him to quit the race.

The 81-year-old remained defiant as he hop-scotched across Pennsylvania — first to the relative safe ground of a predominantly Black church and a campaign field office, and then to a rally with union workers.

As Biden arrived in the state capital Harrisburg, reporters shouted questions including whether the Democratic Party was behind him, to which the president grinned and loudly responded: “Yes.”

But an uprising has swelled among some fellow Democrats, analysts and voters concerned he lacks the mental acuity and physical fitness to serve a second term — worries brought to the fore by a disastrous debate performance last month against Republican challenger Donald Trump.

So far, five Democratic lawmakers have publicly called on Biden to drop out.

The drip-drip of dissent increased Sunday as four senior congressmen, including ranking House Judiciary Committee Democrat Jerrold Nadler and ranking Armed Services Committee Democrat Adam Smith, said on a call with senior party lawmakers that it was time Biden exited the race, according to The New York Times and Politico, citing people familiar with the call.

The president, however, has unequivocally declared he is fit to serve, the only one who can defeat Trump, and that he is staying in the race.

Two high-profile congressional Democrats on Sunday stopped short of calling for Biden to quit, but warned he still needed to win over worried voters.

“There’s only one reason” the race between Trump and Biden “is close, and that’s the president’s age,” Representative Adam Schiff told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said “the president needs to do more,” including unscripted events, to reassure voters.

“This week is going to be absolutely critical,” Murphy told CNN.

Biden himself largely avoided discussing the crisis when he gave a seven-minute address at Mt. Airy Church of God in Christ, speaking to a constituency he has embraced throughout his half-century political career.

“It’s good to be home,” he said to cheers, before joking briefly about his age.

“I know I look like I’m only 40 years old but I’ve been around a little bit,” he said.