A rapidly growing chorus of Democratic lawmakers called on July 19 for President Joe Biden to drop his reelection bid, even as the President insisted he’s ready to return to the campaign trail next week to counter what he called a “dark vision” laid out by Republican Donald Trump.

As more Democratic members of Congress urged him to drop out — bringing the total since his disastrous debate against Trump to nearly three dozen — Mr. Biden remained isolated at his beach house in Delaware after being diagnosed with COVID-19. The president, who has insisted he can beat Trump, was huddling with family and relying on a few longtime aides as he resisted efforts to shove him aside.

Editorial | Trump season: On the 2024 U.S. Presidential election

Late Friday, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat who is in a tough race for reelection, called for Mr. Biden to step aside.

Brown said in a statement that he agrees with “the many Ohioans” who have reached out to him. “I think the president should end his campaign,” he said.

And in a statement later Friday, Rep. Morgan McGarvey, D-Ky., also called on Biden to drop out while saying, “there is no joy in the recognition he should not be our nominee in November. But the stakes of this election are too high.”

Mr, Biden said Trump’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention showcased a “dark vision for the future.” The President, seeking to move the political conversation away from his fate and onto his rival’s agenda, said Friday he was planning to return to the campaign trail next week and insisted he has a path to victory over Trump, despite the worries of some of his party’s most eminent members.

“Together, as a party and as a country, we can and will defeat him at the ballot box,” Biden said. “The stakes are high, and the choice is clear. Together, we will win.”

Earlier in the day, his campaign chair, Jen O’Malley Dillion, acknowledged “slippage” in support for the president but insisted he’s “absolutely” remaining in the race and the campaign sees “multiple paths” to beating Trump.

“We have a lot of work to do to reassure the American people that, yes, he’s old, but he can win,” she told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show. She said voters concerned about Biden’s fitness to lead aren’t switching to vote for Trump.

Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee’s rulemaking arm held a meeting Friday, pressing ahead with plans for a virtual roll call before Aug. 7 to nominate the presidential pick, ahead of the party’s convention later in the month in Chicago.

“President Biden deserves the respect to have important family conversations with members of the caucus and colleagues in the House and Senate and Democratic leadership and not be battling leaks and press statements,” Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, Biden’s closest friend in Congress and his campaign co-chair, told The Associated Press.

It’s a pivotal few days for the President and his party: Trump has wrapped up an enthusiastic Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Thursday. And Democrats, racing time, are considering the extraordinary possibility of Biden stepping aside for a new presidential nominee before their own convention.

Among the democrats expressing worries to allies about Biden’s chances were former President Barack Obama and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who has privately told Biden the party could lose the ability to seize control of the House if he doesn’t step aside.

New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich called on Biden to exit the race, making him the third Senate Democrat to do so.

“By passing the torch, he would secure his legacy as one of our nation’s greatest leaders and allow us to unite behind a candidate who can best defeat Donald Trump and safeguard the future of our democracy,” said Heinrich, who’s up for reelection.

And Reps. Jared Huffman, Mark Veasey, Chuy Garcia and Mark Pocan, representing a wide swath of the caucus, together called on Mr. Biden to step aside.

“We must defeat Donald Trump to save our democracy,” they wrote.

Separately, Rep. Sean Casten of Illinois wrote in an op-ed that with “a heavy heart and much personal reflection” he, too, was calling on Mr. Biden to “pass the torch to a new generation.”

Campaign officials said Mr. Biden was even more committed to staying in the race. And senior West Wing aides have had no internal discussions or conversations with the president about dropping out.

On Friday, Mr. Biden picked up a key endorsement from the political arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. CHC BOLD PAC said the Biden administration has shown “unwavering commitment” to Latinos and “the stakes couldn’t be higher” in this election.

But there is also time to reconsider. Mr. Biden has been told the campaign is having trouble raising money, and key Democrats see an opportunity as he is away from the campaign for a few days to encourage his exit. Among his Cabinet, some are resigned to the likelihood of him losing in November.

The reporting in this story is based in part on information from almost a dozen people who insisted on anonymity to discuss sensitive private deliberations. The Washington Post first reported on Obama’s involvement.

Mr. Biden, 81, tested positive for COVID-19 while traveling in Las Vegas earlier this week and experienced “mild symptoms” including “general malaise” from the infection, the White House said.

White House doctor Kevin O’Connor said Friday that the president still had a dry cough and hoarseness, but that his COVID symptoms had improved.

Mr. Biden noted his illness while making a joke about Trump on social media Friday night, posting: “I’m stuck at home with COVID, so I had the distinct misfortune of watching Donald Trump’s speech to the RNC. What the hell was he talking about?”

In Congress, Democratic lawmakers have begun having private conversations about lining up behind Harris as an alternative. One lawmaker said Biden’s own advisers are unable to reach a unanimous recommendation about what he should do. More in Congress are considering joining the others who have called for Biden to drop out. Some prefer an open process for choosing a new presidential nominee.

“It’s clear the issue won’t go away,” said Vermont Sen. Peter Welch, the other Senate Democrat who has publicly said Biden should exit the race. Welch said the current state of party angst — with lawmakers panicking and donors revolting — was “not sustainable.”

However, influential Democrats including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries are sending signals of concern.

“There is of course work to be done, and that in fact is the case because we are an evenly divided country,” Jeffries said in an interview on WNYC radio Friday.

But he also said, “The ticket that exists right now is the ticket that we can win on. … It’s his decision to make.”

To be sure, many want Mr. Biden to stay in the race. But among Democrats nationwide, nearly two-thirds say Mr. Biden should step aside and let his party nominate a different candidate, according to an AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. That sharply undercuts Biden’s post-debate claim that “average Democrats” are still with him.

Amid the turmoil, a majority of Democrats think Vice President Kamala Harris would make a good president herself.

A poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about 6 in 10 Democrats believe Harris would do a good job in the top slot. About 2 in 10 Democrats don’t believe she would, and another 2 in 10 say they don’t know enough to say.

President Joe Biden walks to his car after stepping off of Air Force One at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on July 17, 2024. Biden is returning to his home in Rehoboth Beach, Del., to self-isolate after testing positive for COVID-19.
| Photo Credit: AP

US President Joe Biden is expected to make a major announcement on his re-election bid, with several senior Democratic leaders suggesting that he leave the race following his disastrous debate performance, a failed assassination attempt on his rival Donald Trump, his poor health, and falling poll numbers, according to media reports.

“Several people close to President Biden said on Thursday that they believe he has begun to accept the idea that he may not be able to win in November and may have to drop out of the race, bowing to the growing demands of many anxious members of his party,” The New York Times reported.

Also read | Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Democrats make a fresh push for Joe Biden to reconsider 2024 race ahead of convention

Mr. Biden, 81, is spending time at his Delaware residence in isolation after he was tested positive for COVID-19. Media reports said that top leaders of the Democratic party, including former president Barack Obama, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, have asked him to leave the presidential race, in the absence of which the party risks losing the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives.

“People close to top Democrats said Thursday that it now appeared it was a matter of when—not if—Biden bows out of the presidential race. In the past day or so, former President Barack Obama has told friends who have called him that Biden’s path to victory is narrow, according to people familiar with the calls,” The NYT report said.

The Washington Post reported Thursday night that Ms. Pelosi has stepped up her behind-the-scenes role in working to persuade the president to bow out of campaign. Obama has said that he has a very slight chance of winning the race.

According to The Hill, Vice President Kamala Harris has started looking for options for her running mate. The three being talked about right now are Senator Mark Kelly, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper.

Most of the media reports said that Mr. Biden’s announcement on his re-election bid might come after the conclusion of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

“One of the people close to him warned that the president had not yet made up his mind to leave the race after three weeks of insisting that almost nothing would drive him out. But another said that ‘reality is setting in’, and that it would not be a surprise if Mr Biden made an announcement soon endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as his replacement,” The NYT reported.

President Joe Biden can’t catch a break.

The president’s hopes of counter-programming the Republican National Convention were dashed Wednesday after he learned he had contracted COVID-19, forcing him to cancel an appearance before a key Latino advocacy group.

While Biden’s symptoms are mild, the diagnosis both removes him from the campaign trail and thrusts his health back into the spotlight – all at a critical moment when he is trying desperately to prove that concerns over his age and mental acuity are overblown.

Earlier Wednesday, Adam Schiff – the California congressman and Democratic candidate in that state’s US Senate race – restarted the drumbeat of allies calling for Biden to exit the race, urging him to “pass the torch.”

Then came a pair of reports from ABC News and the Washington Post that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries had warned Biden in private conversations last week about the risk his continued candidacy posed.

Biden told the leaders he was the nominee of the party and planned to win, White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement. Still, both joined forces in the following days to lobby the Democratic National Committee against a July virtual roll call that would have cemented Biden’s nomination and effectively terminated efforts to replace him atop the ticket.

The president stoked the melodrama even more by suggesting in a BET interview taped Tuesday that he would consider dropping out of the race if new health issues emerged. Meanwhile, Senator Bernie Sanders, a defender of the president, conceded in an interview with the New Yorker that Biden had trouble completing sentences.

Even worse, Biden’s struggles played out against scenes from the GOP convention, where Republican candidate Donald Trump appeared on stage for a walk-through sporting a bandaged ear from the unsuccessful assassination attempt he survived last weekend.

Trump’s defiant, fist-pumping response to the shooting proved instantly iconic, galvanizing voices of doubt within the Republican Party behind his cause. On Tuesday night, former primary foes Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis took to the stage in Milwaukee to lay out their argument for supporting Trump’s candidacy.

The events contributed to a growing sense of two campaigns headed in opposite directions: one on the rise and the other in turmoil.

Public opinion polls underscore reason for Democrats to be concerned.

Nearly two-thirds of Biden’s own party say he should withdraw from the race, according to an Associated Press-NORC poll released hours before Biden’s Covid diagnosis. Just three in 10 Democrats are extremely or very confident in his ability to serve effectively as president.

Off the Rails

Biden had hoped to reverse those perceptions over a three-day trip that quickly flew off the rails.

The president originally planned to travel on Monday to Austin, Texas to deliver remarks marking the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library. The White House had seen the address as an opportunity for Biden to link himself to previous Democratic efforts to expand protections for minorities while painting Trump as enabling new restrictions on abortion and voting rights.

But that event was scrapped in the aftermath of Saturday’s shooting at the Trump rally, and a planned interview with NBC News was moved to the White House. Without the event as a backdrop, the interview devolved into a tense and combative exchange focused largely on Biden’s rhetoric and questions about his age.

“Sometime come and talk to me about what we should be talking about,” Biden told NBC anchor Lester Holt at the conclusion. “OK? The issues.”

Biden resumed campaign events Tuesday with an appearance at the NAACP’s national convention, but quickly bungled the centrepiece of his speech: a new proposal to cap rent increases by corporate landlords at 5% annually.

Instead, Biden appeared to struggle to read his teleprompter, eventually saying the limit would be $55.

Medical Condition

After the event, BET News released excerpts from an interview with Biden where he appeared to open the door to reconsidering his reelection bid if doctors advised it.

“If I had some medical condition that emerged, if somebody, if doctors came to me and said, you got this problem and that problem,” Biden said.

On Wednesday, things didn’t improve. Biden held a call with Jeffrey Katzenberg, the Hollywood executive leading his fundraising effort, and was told that donations were drying up over concerns about his age, Semafor reported. Katzenberg subsequently issued a statement to the outlet calling it a “misread of a private meeting.”

The president then went to tape a radio interview with Univision but left it feeling unwell. A Covid test confirmed his infection and the president quickly spirited back to the Las Vegas airport to return to his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

About the only positive news for the president was that his symptoms were mild, according to the White House: a runny nose, cough, and – appropriately enough – “general malaise.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

US President Joe Biden today blamed jet lag from his recent travels overseas for his disastrous debate performance against Republican rival Donald Trump.

“It’s not an excuse, but an explanation,” he said while addressing a fundraiser.

Biden said he “wasn’t very smart” for “traveling around the world a couple times… shortly before the debate.”

“I didn’t listen to my staff,” he said. “And then I almost fell asleep on stage.”

Biden had flown to France, back to the United States, to Italy, among other travels, over a 14-day period before taking just a few days to rest at his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. He was dragging, according to several people who observed him during this period.

Joe Biden, who has always been gaffe-prone, appeared to struggle while responding to former US President Donald Trump’s charges during the debate.

A bombastic Trump lashed out at his successor, calling him a failure on the economy and the world stage. Biden looked to hit back, but his delivery was hesitant as he spoke rapidly in a soft, trailing-off voice and stumbled on his words several times.

It was the first debate ever between a president and former president — and each accused each other of being history’s worst.

The 81-year-old’s fumbling, halting performance has sparked calls from Democrats for him to end his quest for a second term and for “soul-searching”.

Biden’s remarks could invite even more scrutiny over whether the 81-year-old is fit for rigorous traveling, packed schedule.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre today admitted the debate was “a bad night” but added that Biden “knows how to come back” from adversity.

Responding to the criticism, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said people around the world were looking at what Biden has done since coming into office, not just one night, and that they appreciate his policies. 

Sydney:

Within minutes of the conclusion of this week’s presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, it became clear to many that the 81-year-old Biden may not be capable of winning the general election in November.

His inability to clearly communicate during the 90-minute debate earned harsh criticism from across the US political spectrum, most notably among Democrats.

Van Jones, a former official in the Obama administration and CNN analyst, said about Biden:

He had a test to meet tonight to restore confidence in the country and of the base, and he failed to do that.

We’re still far from our convention. And there is time for this party to figure out a different way forward.

Biden did land a few blows on his predecessor over Trump’s various personal indiscretions and the January 6 2021 insurrection on the US Capitol, saying at one point, “you’ve got the morals of an alley cat”.

But it was not enough to persuade many sceptics that Biden is capable of fighting off the Trump campaign, not to mention performing the duties of US commander-in-chief and the hardest job in the world for another four years.

If polls over the weekend show Biden is losing support after his dreadful debate performance, which seems highly likely, the move to replace him as the Democrats’ candidate will become even more intense and, ultimately, irresistible.

How would this play out in the next few weeks?

Persuading Biden to step aside

Even with the withering criticism from his party, Biden remains in control of his fate. He won 99% of the pledged delegates in the Democratic primary process earlier this year, meaning he is entitled to the nomination. As a result, any decision to move to a different candidate starts with Biden himself.

Absent dramatic health news or his removal under the 25th amendment to the Constitution, which allows for such action by the vice president and a majority of his cabinet if the president is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office”, Biden would have to agree to step down as the party’s nominee.

We should be realistic here: Biden is a very stubborn man. You don’t get to be the president of the United States without being enormously self-confident. Biden may not be the smartest or most talented politician, but he is dogged and relentless in his ambitions.

He ran for president twice before his success in 2020. He didn’t let a brain aneurysm, plagiarism charges, familial dramas or personal tragedy stop him seeking the highest office in the land. The day after the debate with Trump, he shook his fist at a campaign event in North Carolina and asserted, “When you get knocked down, you get back up”.

Persuading Biden to step down would require collaboration with his wife, First Lady Jill Biden. “Dr Jill”, as she is known, has taken a hands-on role in managing the president’s daily life and public appearances.

There are very few Democratic Party elders who can be influential with the Bidens. The list probably starts and stops with former President Barack Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. If those two go to the first lady and forcefully urge Biden’s withdrawal, it could be very difficult to resist.

How could Biden save face?

If Biden withdraws from the race before the Democratic convention in mid-August, his delegates could then vote for a new nominee at the event. Potential nominees include Vice President Kamala Harris, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.

Notably, except for Harris, none of these candidates has been vetted publicly during the Democratic primary process for the world’s most scrutinised job.

If Biden were to withdraw from the race after the convention, a special meeting of the members of the Democratic National Committee would decide on the new nominee. This committee includes around 500 leading party members from all US states and territories. (Whitmer is one of three vice chairs.)

A question senior Biden confidants might be asking themselves is, which scenario offers Biden a more graceful and successful exit?

He may want to anoint a successor and he would want to choose the method that offers him the most control. That may be the convention route, where he at least can claim the allegiance of his primary delegates.

This would require an announcement in the next few weeks. The sooner the better, so as to build as much public support as possible for a new nominee. Biden could salvage a significant amount of his reputation if his handpicked successor then defeated Trump in November.

Things look grim for Democrats right now, but in the long run, they may be in a strong position. Trump is very unpopular with most Americans. The 2021 insurrection remains a massive stain on his legacy. His vote ceiling among probable voters in November is still likely below 50%.

Veteran Obama strategist David Axelrod warned Republicans after the debate:

If, for whatever reason, there’s a change at the top of the ticket, you guys are in trouble with Donald Trump. Because the guy who was up there tonight is not a guy who’s going to inspire people.

A tough and nimble Democratic candidate who can communicate clearly could be very successful in November.

(Author:Lester Munson, Non-Resident Fellow, United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney)

(Disclosure Statement:Lester Munson receives funding from the U.S. Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He is affiliated with BGR Group, a Washington, D.C., consulting firm and is a former Republican official in the George W. Bush administration and on Capitol Hill)

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

President Joe Biden forcefully tried on Friday to quell Democratic anxieties over his unsteady showing in his debate with former President Donald Trump, as elected members of his party closed ranks around him in an effort to shut down talk of replacing him atop the ticket.

Mr. Biden’s halting delivery and meandering comments, particularly early in the debate, fueled concerns from even members of his own party that at age 81 he’s not up for the task of leading the country for another four years. It created a crisis moment for Biden’s campaign and his presidency, as members of his party flirted with potential replacements and donors and supporters couldn’t contain their concern about his showing against Mr. Trump.

Mr. Biden appeared to acknowledge the criticism during a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, saying ”I don’t debate as well as I used to.” But he added, “I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done.” Speaking for 18 minutes, Biden appeared far more animated than his showing the night before, and he excoriated Mr. Trump for his “lies” and campaign aimed at “revenge and retribution.”

“The choice in this election is simple,” Mr. Biden said. “Donald Trump will destroy our democracy. I will defend it.”

He added, alluding to his candidacy, “When you get knocked down, you get back up.”

Even before the debate, Mr. Biden’s age had been a liability with voters, and Thursday night’s faceoff appeared to reinforce the public’s deep-seated concerns before perhaps the largest audience he will garner in the four months until Election Day.

Privately, his campaign had spent the previous hours working to tamp down concerns and keep donors and surrogates on board. Democratic lawmakers on Friday acknowledged Mr. Biden’s poor showing, but tried to stop talk of replacing him as their standard-bearer, and instead tried to shift the focus onto Mr. Trump’s attacks and falsehoods that they hoped would remind voters of the daily turbulence of his presidency.

“Well, the president didn’t have a good night, but neither did Donald Trump with lie after lie and his dark vision for America,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper told The Associated Press on Friday, hours before he introduced the president in Raleigh. “We cannot send Donald Trump back to the White House. He’s an existential threat to our nation.”

Former President Barack Obama backed up his former vice president, posting on X that “Bad debate nights happen.” Alluding to his own poor showing in the first debate of his reelection campaign in 2012, Obama continued, “Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself.”

He added: “Last night didn’t change that, and it’s why so much is at stake in November.”

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries answered with a flat “no” when asked Friday if Mr. Biden should step aside.

Rep. Ritchie Torres, Democrat of New York, said, “Since performance last night, I had to take a few more antidepressants than usual.”

“People have asked me, ‘Do I feel comfortable with the debate?’ You know, a Donald Trump presidency would cause me far greater discomfort than a Joe Biden debate performance.”

Mr. Biden’s campaign billed the Raleigh event as the largest-yet rally of his reelection bid in the state Mr. Trump carried by the narrowest margin in 2020. He’ll then travel to New York for a weekend of big-dollar fundraisers that his campaign now needs more than ever, as it looks to stave off Mr. Trump.

Mr. Biden’s campaign announced that it raised $14 million on debate day and the morning after, while Mr. Trump’s campaign said it raised more than $8 million from the start of the debate through the end of the night.

Vice President Kamala Harris, whom the Mr. Biden campaign sent out to defend his performance, was set to travel to Las Vegas, Nevada. She told CNN hours after the debate, “There was a slow start, but it was a strong finish.”

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., said he could hardly sleep because of the number of telephone calls he got after Mr. Biden performed “horribly” in the debate.

“People were just concerned. And I told everybody being concerned is healthy, overreacting is dangerous,” Cleaver said. “And I think I wouldn’t advise anybody to make rash decisions right now.”

Rep. James Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat who was formerly a longtime fixture in House Democratic leadership, said he would likely speak to Mr. Biden later Friday and his message would be simple: “Stay the course.”

Mr. Biden and his allies were looking to brush aside concerns about his delivery to keep the focus on the choice for voters this November. They seized on Mr. Trump’s equivocations on whether he would accept the will of voters this time around, his refusal to condemn the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, trying to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden, and his embrace of the conservative-leaning Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade that had legalized abortion nationwide.

But Mr. Biden fumbled on abortion rights, one of the most important issues for Democrats in this year’s election. He was unable to explain Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. A conservative Supreme Court with three justices nominated by Mr. Trump overturned Roe two years ago.

As elected Democrats united behind Mr. Biden publicly, donors and party operatives shared panicked text messages and phone calls Thursday night and into Friday expressing their concern that Mr. Biden’s performance was so bad that he may be unelectable this fall.

But there were no immediate signs of organized efforts among donors, his campaign leadership or the Democratic National Committee to convince the president to step aside, according to interviews with several people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share sensitive conversations.

Still, morale was poor among some Biden campaign staffers across the country, who had been encouraged by top campaign officials in Delaware to organize hundreds of debate watch parties to get as many eyes as possible on the Biden-Trump showdown. The morning after, some embarrassed lower-level campaign staffers privately expressed their desire for Biden to quit the race.

It was the same among some top Democratic donors in New York, southern California and Silicon Valley, who talked up the need to embrace a Biden replacement during a series of text chains and private conversations. There were informal conversations between donors and those close to potential Biden alternatives to gauge their willingness to step into the race. But there was no sense that a sitting governor or member of Congress would be willing to risk the political fallout that might come with a public break from the Democratic president.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat frequently mentioned as a 2028 contender and speculated about as a potential replacement for Mr. Biden on the ticket should he step aside, released a statement backing him on Friday.

“The difference between Joe Biden’s vision for making sure everyone in America has a fair shot and Donald Trump’s dangerous, self-serving plans will only get sharper as we head toward November,” she said.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom also dismissed questions on whether he would consider stepping in for Mr. Biden, telling reporters after the debate, “I will never turn my back on him.”

Under current Democratic Party rules, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to replace Mr. Biden as the party’s nominee without his cooperation or without party officials being willing to rewrite the rules at the August national convention.

Mr. Trump, meanwhile, flew to his golf club in Virginia, a onetime battleground that has shifted toward Democrats in recent years but that his aides believe can flip toward the Republican in November. He was set to hold at rally in Chesapeake Friday afternoon.

Washington:

On June 27 Americans will tune in to the first debate of the 2024 US election — a highly anticipated showdown between President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump.

The televised face-off comes just four months ahead of the November vote, with the candidates running neck and neck in the polls, each vying for a second term.

Here are some of the major biographical details to know about Biden, a Democrat and Washington veteran, ahead of Thursday’s big event.

– Political experience –

Mr Biden is no stranger to Washington. The 81-year-old longtime politician served as vice president under Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017.

Before that, he spent 36 years in the Senate. He was first elected by Delaware voters at age 29, making him one of the youngest senators ever.

– Family and religion –

Mr Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1942 and is the eldest of four children. The Democrat often alludes to his Irish-American, middle-class upbringing.

His father worked a number of different jobs, and while his family was not poor, they did experience financial setbacks.

On the religion front, Mr Biden is a devout Catholic who attends mass regularly, but he nonetheless supports abortion rights.

A family man, Mr Biden has been quick to proclaim his love and support for his son Hunter, who was recently convicted on charges stemming from his purchase of a handgun while addicted to crack cocaine.

The president is sometimes referred to as the “mourner-in-chief” for appearing empathetic with constituents during times of tragedy.

His own life has been marked by multiple sorrows. He lost his first wife Neilia and their young daughter Naomi in a car accident in 1972. Hunter along with Mr Biden’s other son Beau were also injured in that accident.

Beau then died of cancer in 2015.

Mr Biden has been married to First Lady Jill Biden since 1977. In addition to raising Beau and Hunter, the couple has a daughter, Ashley.

– Wealth –

While Mr Biden is not a billionaire like his Republican rival Trump, he is still rich.

Biden’s fortunes are estimated at around $10 million, largely thanks to two homes the family owns in Delaware, according to Forbes magazine.

– Vibe –

Mr Biden is not a profound orator nor does he draw an ecstatic response from his supporters like Trump. Yet he is known for a certain stubborn determination, and cultivates an image of empathy.

The latter trait has recently been tainted, however, by US support for Israel in the war in Gaza, particularly among younger and Arab-Americans.

Mr Biden’s advanced years and his increasingly stiff gait have played into Republican taunting and public concern about his age.

– Legal woes –

Mr Biden was cleared early this year of any wrongdoing after keeping classified documents at his home in Wilmington, Delaware.

However in a shock for his campaign, a report from the special counsel overseeing the matter said Biden came across as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” a line that Democrats dismissed but Republicans pounced on.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)