'I know what I’m doing': Biden claps back at House Dem who called on him to step aside
President Joe Biden is continuing to dig in amid more Democrats in Congress calling on him to end his reelection campaign. On Friday, he curtly responded to one House Democrat who asked him to allow another Democrat to be the 2024 presidential nominee.
According to CNN reporter Annie Grayer, the 81 year-old Biden directly addressed concerns Rep. Mike Levin (D-California) raised about his continued viability as a presidential candidate. Levin reportedly asked the president to reconsider his decision to stay in the race during a call with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, prompting Biden to issue a lengthy response.
"That's why I'm going out and letting people touch me, poke me, ask me questions. I think I know what I'm doing — because the truth of the matter is, I'm going to say something outrageous: No president in three years has done what we have done in three years because of your help. That's not hyperbole, that's a fact. No president," he said.
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"And so that doesn't answer the question. That's, 'that was great when you were feeling good, Biden, are you okay now?' That's what's underlying," he added. "That's what people are worried about. 'I've got a grandfather who's 85 years old and he can't walk.' It's a legitimate concern for people, but that's why I think I gotta get out and show people everything from how well I move to how much I know and that I'm still in good charge."
CNN political commentator Kate Bedingfield, who is also a former Biden White House communications director, praised the president's response to Levin, tweeting: "A very good answer. Not defensive, recognizes the concern, proposes what needs to be done."
As of this writing, 19 Democrats — 18 from the House of Representatives and Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vermont) — have called on Biden to allow another nominee to be selected to face former President Donald Trump in November. Almost immediately after Biden's well-received press conference at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, Rep. Jim Himes (D-Connecticut), who is the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, called on Biden to step aside. Other Democratic state-level officials, including New York Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado most recently, are also encouraging Biden to end his 2024 campaign.
On Thursday, the president held his first solo press conference since his disastrous debate against Trump in late June, which was also his first such presser in roughly eight months. Biden fielded questions from nearly a dozen reporters for roughly an hour and spoke at length about complex domestic and foreign policy topics.
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"Donald Trump couldn't come within 1,000 miles of having this kind of substantive policy conversation on any topic, period. And everyone knows that to be true," tweeted Tim Tagaris, who was an advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) 2016 campaign.
However, despite Biden's demonstrated expertise on the issues, he nonetheless committed a noticeable gaffe early on in the press conference by mistakenly referring to Vice President Kamala Harris as "Vice President Trump." That was his second major gaffe of the day: He previously introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as "President Putin," before correcting himself and saying he was going to "beat Putin."
Biden traveled to Michigan on Friday for a campaign event in Detroit. The Mitten State is considered one of three states Biden must win if he hopes to capture a 270-electoral vote majority in November.
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