The president of the United States, Joe Biden, rejected this Friday, the 28th, the possibility of withdrawing from the race for the White House, following Thursday night’s debate with the Republican candidate Donald Trump, in which the performance of the president was considered a disaster.
Speaking at a rally in the state of North Carolina, Biden said he will continue in the race for president. “I’m here in North Carolina for a reason, because I intend to win this in November,” said the 81-year-old president, admitting the effects of age on his mobility and ability to communicate.
“I know I’m not a young man. I may not walk as fast. I may not speak as softly. I may not debate as much as I used to. But I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. I know how to do this job,” the president said.
“I know how millions of Americans get up when they get knocked down,” Biden added, while his supporters shouted “four more years.”
Biden’s energetic appearance at today’s rally was a stark contrast to what happened at the debate, where his verbal stumbles and meandering, sometimes confusing answers caused anxiety among Democrats, with growing doubts about his continued status as the Democratic Party’s candidate for the election.
Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern told reporters that “I would be lying if I said it was a great debate.” Asked if it was time for the party to consider another candidate, he replied: “I haven’t reached any conclusion yet.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom – who could be a leading Democratic alternative – rejected the idea that Biden could be replaced. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, another possible replacement, urged Democrats to stop worrying.
However, a campaign donor, who requested anonymity, described Biden’s debate performance as “disqualifying” and three analysts from the influential New York Times opinion page called on Biden to drop out of the race. The headlines of American and international newspapers were, in fact, unanimous in pointing out Biden’s insufficiencies.
Biden campaign co-chair Mitch Landrieu immediately rejected that possibility. “That shouldn’t happen,” Landrieu said. Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi also disputed the idea.
Democratic Congressman Jim Clyburn said Democrats should calm down. “Calm down. Stay the course,” Clyburn said.
Can Biden be replaced?
The issue was raised shortly after the presidential debate with Donald Trump by commentators and several elements of the Democratic Party who said they were “panicked” given the Democratic candidate’s performance.
Several internal voices claimed that only the first lady, Jill Biden, and Barack Obama could effectively influence the US president.
The President has already been designated as the Democratic presidential candidate during the primaries held between January and June. And, if all goes according to the initial plan, Joe Biden will be formally nominated as the Democratic candidate at the party’s convention in Chicago in August.
Under Democratic National Committee rules, there is no mechanism through which party leaders can remove Biden from the race.
However, if Joe Biden were to withdraw from the race before the convention, the final say would lie with the party’s 3,900 delegates – obtained by Biden in this year’s primaries – with very diverse profiles, most of whom are completely unknown to the general public. Joe Biden could try to influence the delegates by naming a replacement.
It would then be “the type of convention in which all bets are off”, with each side trying to assert its candidate, predicts Elaine Kamarck, a researcher at the Brookings Institute, in a recent note.
A more or less comparable scenario occurred on March 31, 1968, when President Lyndon B. Johnson publicly announced that he would not run for a second term, in the midst of the Vietnam War.
What if Joe Biden dropped out between the convention and the election? The party’s “national committee” would then hold a special session to nominate the candidate.
Who can replace Biden?
In this imaginary scenario, the question arises: who can replace Joe Biden? Vice President Kamala Harris or California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has a tailwind among Democrats.
However, Newsom considered that this type of “talk” “is not good for our democracy”.
The names of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro have also been discussed. But for now they seem to be on hold.
By João Santa Rita, Paula Alves Silva
2024-06-28 23:22:42