President Biden swiftly left the East Room of the White House on Wednesday following the Medal of Honor ceremony, ignoring questions about his health.
The embattled 81-year-old commander-in-chief has faced mounting pressure to withdraw his bid for reelection following a disastrous debate performance last week.
After bestowing the Medal of Honor to two Union soldiers who fought during the Civil War at the ceremony, he quickly headed for the exit while dodging questions.
Despite a media scrum stationed near the exit of the East Room, a scowling Biden looked straight ahead and ignored a barrage of questioning.
On Wednesday, Biden assured campaign staff on a call that despite mounting calls for him to stand down he remains in the 2024 race for the presidency.
After bestowing the Medal of Honor to two Union soldiers who fought during the civil war in a ceremony on Wednesday, he quickly exited and dodged questions
He said: ‘Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can as simply and straightforward as I can: I am running – no one’s pushing me out.
‘I’m not leaving. I’m in this race to the end and we’re going to win.’
The assurance comes after a New York Times report that said Biden told a key he was considering ending his reelection bid.
‘He knows if he has two more events like that, we’re in a different place’ by the end of the weekend, the ally said in reference to the debate performance and upcoming events for the president.
The White House denied the report with Biden’s deputy press secretary Andrew Bates writing on X: ‘That claim is absolutely false. If the New York Times had provided us with more than 7 minutes to comment we would have told them so.’
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also told reporters during her briefing on Wednesday that Biden is not preparing to exit the race.
Jean-Pierre, spent the best part of an hour being grilled on the President’s health and confirmed that while he still has a cold, he hasn’t seen a doctor.
Jean-Pierre claimed ‘jet lag’ from his two back-to-back international trips 12 days before the debate contributed to the president’s poor showing.
She also confirmed Biden hasn’t had a medical examination since February.
Biden speaks during a presidential debate with Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, Thursday, June 27, 2024
New poll shows Donald Trump three points ahead on average in all seven swing states after the debate with Joe Biden last week
Biden himself even admitted that he nearly dozed off on stage during a fundraiser in the ritzy D.C. suburb of McLean, Virginia Tuesday night.
He told the crowd he ‘wasn’t very smart’ for ‘traveling around the world a couple times’ before his televised showdown with former President Donald Trump.
Biden did back-to-back trips to France for a D-Day anniversary celebration and then onto Italy for the G7 in June.
Upon his return, the president took a holiday at his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
Then Biden spent a whole week at the presidential retreat Camp David resting and preparing for the debate.
The New York Times reported Tuesday that Biden was so drained from the jet-setting that advisers cut debate prep short by two days – in order to fit in the beach trip.
While at Camp David, debate prep didn’t start before 11 a.m. and Biden was given time each day in the afternoon to take a nap.
The president made the clear at the Tuesday campaign event his travel is ‘not an excuse but an explanation.’
President Joe Biden speaks during a Medal of Honor Ceremony at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, July 3, 2024
Biden is holding the annual Independence Day party at the White House on Thursday and traveling to Madison, Wisconsin on Friday where he will sit down with ABC News for his first post-debate interview.
The President will then head to a campaign stop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Sunday.
Both Wisconsin and Pennsylvania are key swing states that will help determine the outcome of the 2024 race.
In those states and the five other battlegrounds, Trump has pulled ahead in polling following their debate in Atlanta, Georgia on Thursday, June 27.
Since the debate, Biden and his team have conducted widespread damage control and reached out to reassure party members, staff, lawmakers, donors, allies and voters that Biden is still a viable candidate that can beat Trump again.
But many within the party are looking for other options and are floating those like Vice President Kamala Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
None are able to beat Trump in nationwide and battleground state polling and all fall behind Biden in his chances of winning against the former president.