Joe Biden set to discuss future of campaign with family after debate shocker against Donald Trump
US President Joe Biden is set to discuss the future of his presidential campaign with his family after a disastrous debate against Donald Trump, it is reported.
The 81-year-old faced off against Mr Trump, 78, for their first debate earlier this week ahead of this year’s US presidential election, but the president’s performance was marred after he stumbled over words.
NBC News reported on Sunday that Biden was set to discuss the future of his re-election campaign this weekend with his family at a planned Maryland country retreat — which was already booked to serve as a break in his campaign trail around the country.
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The party’s top leaders have publicly supported Biden, including tweets by former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. The president’s deputy campaign manager, Rob Flaherty, has previously said in an email that Biden would not be dropping out.
“That is the best possible way for Donald Trump to win and us to lose,” he reportedly said.
“First of all, Joe Biden will be the Democratic nominee, period — end of story. Voters voted. He won overwhelmingly,’ Flaherty went on.
“And if he were to drop out, it would lead to weeks of chaos, internal food fighting, and a bunch of candidates who limp into a brutal floor fight at the convention, all while Donald Trump has time to speak to American voters uncontested.”
“All of that would be in service of a nominee who would go into a general election in the weakest possible position with zero dollars in their bank account.
“You want a highway to losing? It’s that.”
Labor MP and general practitioner Mike Freelander told The Australian he believes Biden had Parkinsons’ disease.
“He is expressionless and he hesitates when he talks; he hesitates to start talking and his voice is very flat,” he said.
“He doesn’t show much emotion. When he walks, he hesitates; and he doesn’t move much when he walks. He looks stiff. And he is losing concentration; you can see it in the answers to the questions.”
Dr Freelander — who is a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians — reportedly said Biden should quit the campaign and that he would struggle to see out a four-year term even if he won.
After the debate, Mr Trump boasted about his performance at a rally in Chesapeake, Virginia.
“The question every voter should be asking themselves today is not whether Joe Biden can survive a 90-minute debate performance, but whether America can survive four more years of crooked Joe Biden in the White House,” he said.
President Biden acknowledged he had a weak performance and turned attention towards Trump’s previous hush money conviction while also accusing the candidate of lying.
“I know I’m not a young man. I don’t walk as easily as I used to. I don’t talk as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to, but I know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job; I know how to get things done. And I know what millions of Americans know: When you get knocked down, you get back up.”
