Joe Biden’s press conference in which he was expected to prove that he is still fit to remain in the presidential race, has failed to silence critics from his own party.
Three politicians from the Democratic party have added their voices to the list of those calling on Biden to step aside.
There have been calls for the 81-year-old to drop from the presidential race since his below-expectation-performance in a TV debate with his Republican rival, Donald Trump in June.
During a one-hour media chat on Thursday night, he was more confident, but not without gaffes.
When answering the first question posed to him, he mistakenly referred to his deputy, Kamala Harris, as “Vice President Trump”.
At a NATO session two hours earlier, he introduced Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin” before correcting himself.
These are clear indications that all is not well with Biden’s candidacy and that the possibility of more defections abound in the coming days.
Actor George Clooney is among donors in the party who have withdrawn their financial support, saying he is not competent to carry out another four-year term.
A party fundraiser who also wants Biden to step aside told the BBC that Biden might have done well at the news conference but not enough to sway Democrats’ opinion in his favour.
The situation in the Democratic party would demand that concerned party men, especially the critics place Biden under constant scrutiny at every event to seize on any slip or mistake as evidence that he is incapable of running for a second term.
Immediately after the press conference, Connecticut congressman Jim Himes posted on X praising Biden for his achievements in office, but called on him to drop from the presidential race.
He believes that Trump poses a “threat” to the Democrats desire to win the November election, but that Biden was no longer the strongest candidate to confront him.
Eric Sorensen, congressman from Illinois reminded Biden in his post on social media that he ran in 2020 “with the purpose of putting country over party. Today I am asking him to do that again”.
California congressman Scott Peters followed by saying the “stakes are high, and we are losing course”.
These bring the number of politicians from Biden’s party calling on him to step down to 19.
Source: BBC News
