Biden adamant as pressure mounts on president to stop re-election bid

United States President, Joe Biden, is under intense pressure to drop out of the Presidential race.

The pressure is mounting from both members of Biden’s own Democratic Party and top donors to his campaign.

Biden is gearing up to become the 47th US President, but there have been growing concerns about the fitness and state of mind of the 81 year-old, as he continues to make slips and gaffes in his speeches at public functions.

Some of Biden’s most steadfast and deep-pocketed supporters have publicly declared that they are withdrawing their support, while some House Democrats have also come out to urge Biden to leave the race.

President Biden had been under fire since his “woeful” performance at a debate between him and the Presidential candidate of the Republican Party, Donald Trump.

The debate created a chaotic frenzy for Biden’s campaign and administration to navigate as pressure builds and Democratic allies in Congress debate whether to maintain their support for him.

Also, Biden appears to be performing badly in the various pre-election polls, as Trump, a former President, is being favoured to win the election by the results of the polls.

A poll conducted by The New York Times, in conjunction with Siena College and The Philadelphia Inquirer in May showed that Trump was ahead among registered voters in a head-to-head matchup against Biden in five of six key states, namely: Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, and Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

This, according to The New York Times was a result of the yearnings for change and discontent over the economy and the war in Gaza among young, Black and Hispanic voters.

However, at campaign events in Philadelphia and Harrisburg, President Biden insisted that he was not dropping out of the race.

Biden made it clear to his critics that he intended to stay on in the race as the Democrat nominee.

“I’m determined to run, but I think it’s important that I allay fear by letting them see me out there,” Biden said.

Responding to the allegation concerning his state of mind, Biden insisted that he remained the best candidate to beat Trump at the polls.

“I think I’m the most qualified person to run for President,” Biden said. “There are other people that could beat Trump, too… but (they would have to) start from scratch.”

“I’m not in this for my legacy. I’m in this to complete the job I started,” President Biden added.

Commenting on the issue, a foreign affairs analyst and former Nigeria’s Ambassador to Philippines and the Kingdom of Cambodia, Yemi Farounbi, said Biden’s withdrawal from the race may lead to the Democrats’ defeat at the elections.

Farounbi described the call for Biden’s withdrawal as “too late”, saying replacing Biden with another candidate may break the party.

“A lot of people believe that even if he wins and he could win, that he may be unable to govern for the next four years because of his mental and physical situation. Such people are therefore now trying to put pressure that it may be the best thing to put in place another candidate with mental alertness, physical capacity, and understanding of world politics to be able to govern for the next four years.

“But, there are also people that are praying that if he (Biden) steps out now, it may be a minus for the democratic party, because the election is almost in, and before they start another procedure of nominating a new candidate, the party itself may be fragmented in the nomination competition, and that had always been the problem of the Democratic Party,” Farounbi said.

Also speaking, a political analyst, Gbenga Gbesan, said with Biden’s advanced age, he should have stepped down from the race a long time ago even before calls for his withdrawal.

“If Biden withdraws from the race, maybe that will brighten the chances of the Democrats, but I know that it is a bit late in the day for Biden to withdraw because who is going to replace him? Although, speculations are high that perhaps Vice President Kamala Harris will replace him, but can she face Trump and defeat him?

“I think age has really caught up with Biden because part of it is that, you cannot cheat nature, and if you think you can push nature too hard, nature has a way of bouncing back, I think nature is just bouncing back on him. Biden should not have even waited this long, he should have done that a long time ago,” Gbesan said.