Two days after his weak performance in the TV debate against Donald Trump, US President Joe Biden tried to convince donors at several campaign events on Saturday that he can still win the election in November. Biden was accompanied at the events in New York and New Jersey by First Lady Jill Biden, who vehemently defended her husband in the face of growing calls for his resignation.
“Joe is not just the right person for the job – he is the only person for the job,” Jill Biden said at an event hosted by actors Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, among others.
“I didn’t have a good night, but neither did Trump,” Biden said. “I promise you we will win this election,” he added.
Biden’s campaign team acknowledged on Saturday that the TV debate did not go as hoped, but stressed that this would have no impact on the close race between the two candidates.
Biden’s campaign manager Jennifer O’Malley Dillon said that polls showed that “voter opinion” had not changed. During and after the TV debate, there was an increase in donations – $27 million (around 25 million euros) had been raised by Friday.
Biden – at 81 years old, the oldest president in US history – spoke with a hoarse voice during the TV debate with his challenger Trump on CNN on Thursday evening and repeatedly got tangled up in his formulations. He also left sentences unfinished and began to stutter. The New York Times then called on the US president to withdraw his candidacy. Biden, however, remains combative.
