Biden, facing race pressure, admits debate skills decline but vows truth

Days after his disastrous presidential debate with his Republican rival Donald Trump, President Joe Biden, under pressure to quit the race, on Monday acknowledged his advancing age but underlined that what he knows is "how to tell the truth."

Panic seems to have gripped sections of his Democratic Party following 81-year-old Biden's rambling and at times incoherent 90-minute debate performance in Atlanta on Thursday night.

Amidst reports that Biden's family on Sunday encouraged the president to stay in the 2024 race, he indicated on Monday that he is not quitting the race.

"Folks, I might not walk as easily or talk as smoothly as I used to. I might not debate as well as I used to. But what I do know is how to tell the truth," Biden, the presumptive presidential candidate of the Democratic Party, posted on his personal X account.

 

Biden's family on Sunday encouraged the president to stay in the 2024 race and privately discussed whether top aides should be fired on the heels of Biden's stunningly poor debate performance, which has thrown his campaign into turmoil, CNN reported.

Biden's family, including first lady Jill Biden, son Hunter Biden and their grandchildren, convened at Camp David for a previously scheduled get-together and implored the president to keep fighting in his bid for reelection, Biden advisers told CNN.

One adviser described the family members as having offered their unequivocal support.

The family clearly frustrated with the team that prepared President Biden ahead of his alarming debate with former President Trump discussed whether any of Biden's top advisers should be fired and whether campaign staffing changes should be made, one adviser was quoted as saying by CNN.

The family gathering at the presidential retreat came as Biden and his campaign are confronting an avalanche of calls for the president to drop out after Thursday's CNN presidential debate. The discussions also focused on how members of the Biden clan could help the president and not whether he should reconsider his candidacy, one of the advisers said.

A CBS News/YouGov poll released on Sunday indicated that 72 per cent of registered Democratic voters believe the president does not have the mental and cognitive health to serve as president. Nearly half said he should step aside.

Concerns about the age of both candidates - Biden is only three years older than Trump who is 78 - were present before Thursday's debate.

But Biden's weak voice and muddled answers renewed concerns about his candidacy and left some calling for him to step aside from the November 5 race.

The New York Times Editorial Board said in an opinion piece on Friday that the "greatest public service (Biden) can now perform is to announce that he will not continue to run for re-election".

Trump was also criticised for his performance - he made several false assertions including his long-held grievance that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

Republicans are doubling down on Biden's incoherent debate performance.

"All of America saw it. And you know who else saw it? Our adversaries saw it. Putin saw it, Xi saw it, the Ayatollah saw it, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, a potential Trump vice presidential pick, said on NBC's Meet the Press, referring to the leaders of Russia, China and Iran.