President Joe Biden proclaimed Friday that he’s staying in the presidential race – before telling a crowd in Madison, Wisconsin that he’d beat rival Donald Trump ‘again in 2020.’
Biden can’t afford to make any missteps as he hits the campaign trail this weekend after last week’s disastrous debate in Atlanta.
He’ll sit down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in Madison as well, for an interview that will air at 8 p.m. ET tonight.
‘Well, let me say this as clear as I can – I’m staying in the race,’ Biden said at the rally. ‘I’ll beat Donald Trump. I’ll beat him again in 2020. By the way, we’re going to do it again in 2024.’
Biden – using a teleprompter – was fired up during the 17-minute speech, which was scheduled during his hours of peak performance, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., according to Axios.
President Joe Biden proclaimed Friday that he’s staying in the presidential race – before telling a crowd in Madison, Wisconsin that he’d beat rival Donald Trump ‘again in 2020’
Not every Democrat is convinced President Joe Biden should stay in the race, with one attendee in Madison holding a hand-drawn sign that read: ‘Pass the torch, Joe’
The speech kicked off with Biden asking the crowd if they enjoyed their Fourths of July and then mocking Trump for an Independence Day gaffe.
‘By the way, if you’re wondering whether Trump has it all together, did you ever hear how he explained the Fourth of July, when he was president?’ Biden asked. ‘No, I’m serious. This is true.’
During Trump’s 2019 Salute to America speech at the Lincoln Memorial, the Republican said that George Washington’s continental army was successful because it ‘took over the airports’ of the British.
‘And they talk about me misspeaking,’ the 81-year-old Biden said.
‘It is true, he is a stable genius this man,’ the president continued.
He then told the crowd – again and again – that he was resisting calls to step aside.
‘Now you probably heard we had a little debate last week,’ Biden said. ‘Can’t say it was my best performance.’
President Joe Biden pushed that it would be undemocratic for him to exit the race, as Democratic primary voters chose him as the nominee
President Joe Biden meets supporters at his Madison, Wisconsin event Friday as his political future continues to remain in question
The president kicked off his speech by making fun of former President Donald Trump for saying the Americans won the Revolutionary War due to the continental army taking ‘over the airports’ of the British
‘But ever since then there’s been a lot of speculation – what’s Joe going to do? Is he going to stay in the race? Is he going to drop out? What’s he going to do?’ the president continued.
‘Well, here’s my answer – I am running and going to win again,’ Biden declared.
The president hasn’t publicly wavered about his commitment to stay in the race, while behind-the-scenes, Democrats are pondering whether they can successfully push Biden to consider that option.
As Biden was speaking in Wisconsin, The Washington Post reported that Virginia Sen. Mark Warner wished to create a group of Democratic senators to press Biden to exit the race.
Already a handful of Democratic House members have publicly said Biden should quit.
Biden pushed that his exit would be against the wishes of the Democratic voters who backed him during the primaries – primaries where he only faced self-help guru Marianne Williamson and Rep. Dean Phillips in a handful of states.
‘You voted for me to be your nominee. No one else,’ Biden said.
‘You the votes – the voters did that. And despite, despite that some folks don’t seem to care who you voted for,’ he said. ‘But guess what, they’re trying to push me out of the race.’
Reiterating his decision to stay in the race he added, ‘I learned long ago, when you get knocked down you get back up.’
‘I’m not letting one 90-minute debate wipe out three and half years of work,’ Biden said.
The 81-year-old president – who told a group of governors at the White House this week that he was going to stop scheduling events after 8 p.m. to get more sleep – peppered jokes about his age through the speech.
‘I know I look 40,’ Biden said to laughs.
‘I keep seeing all those stories about I’m being too old,’ Biden continued. ‘I wasn’t too old to create over 50 million new jobs.’
He made the same point as he walked through other parts of his resume.
The party, as a whole, remains unconvinced.
At least one audience member held up a hand-drawn sign that read: ‘Pass the torch Joe.’
Outside people held up signs that read ‘Save your legacy drop out’ and ‘Be a hero one more time.’