I can still win election, Biden assures Americans

United States President, Joe Biden, has assured the Democrat donors that he could still win the presidential election coming up in November against his predecessor, the Republican candidate, Donald Trump, after a poor debate performance fuelled concern about his candidacy.

The 81-year-old president attended a series of fundraising events in New York and New Jersey on Saturday, and defended his performance in CNN’s Presidential Debate. Speaking at one of the events, Biden admitted: “I didn’t have a great night, but neither did Trump on Thursday. I promise you we’re going to win this election.”

Biden’s debate performance was marked by hard-to-follow and shaky answers, raising fresh fears among some Democrats over whether he is the right candidate to contest this high-stake election.

Former Democratic House speaker, Nancy Pelosi said Biden’s debate performance wasn’t great, while his former communications director, Kate Bedingfield, said it was really disappointing.

Voters in the US have regularly shared doubts about Biden’s mental and cognitive health, and early polling after the debate showed that the number who doubt his ability to serve as president has grown.

On June 9, a CBS news poll found that 65 percent of the registered voters said the president does not have the mental fitness to serve as president. The network released a new poll yesterday, which showed that the number had jumped to 72 percent after his poor debate performance.

Biden’s campaign chairwoman, Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, said on Saturday that internal post-debate polling showed that voters’ opinions were not changed. “It will not be the first time that overblown media narratives have driven temporary dips in the polls,” she said.

While the Biden campaign has acknowledged that the debate had not gone as it had hoped, it has maintained its stance that the president would not step aside for another nominee. Biden has also said he understands the concerns, but pledged to fight harder.

New Jersey’s Democratic governor, Phil Murphy, attended the fundraising in his state alongside Biden and the First Lady, and told Biden that “we are all with you 1,000 percent.”

Former President Barack Obama, who remains a popular figure in the Democratic party, said on social media that ‘bad debate nights happen.’

“This election is still a choice between someone who fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself,” Mr Obama wrote.

Hours after the debate, Mr Trump told his supporters that he considered the debate a big victory for his campaign.

“Joe Biden’s problem is not his age. It’s his competence. He’s grossly incompetent, the 78-year-old Trump said.

Biden’s performance was not only criticised by those in politics. A prominent editorial in the New York Times described his determination to run again as a reckless gamble, and urged him to do some soul-searching this weekend.

It said Democrats should “acknowledge that Biden can’t continue his race, and create a process to select someone more capable to stand in his place.”

Voters across the United States have also expressed concerns over voting for either candidate following Thursday’s debate.

Long-time Democrat, Lori Gregory, told the BBC that she could not handle watching the debate, and asked: “Is this the best our country can do?”

Republican Crystal Myers-Barber said it was painful to watch, but added that she thought “Trump came across very level-headed and presidential and Biden came across very weak.”

Democrat Shana Ziolko said she was frustrated watching the debate, and thought there was no clear winner. A post-debate poll by liberal pollster, Data for Progress, found that 62 percent of likely voters who watched or read about the debate found Trump won. Only 30 percent of those polled said Mr Biden won the debate.

Until further polling is conducted, fundraising could be another indication of continued enthusiasm for Biden’s candidacy. In a memo, O’Malley Dillon said the campaign had raised more than $27m (£21.3m) from Thursday’s debate to Friday evening.

“Following Thursday night’s debate, the beltway class is counting Joe Biden out. The data in the battleground states, though, tells a different story. This election was incredibly close before Thursday, and by every metric we’ve seen since, it remains just as close,” she added.