US President Joe Biden has told an ally that he knows he may not be able to save his candidacy if he fails to convince the public in the coming days that he is fit for the job, following his performance at last week’s debate, the New York Times reports.
After the report was released, White House spokesman Andrew Bates wrote on social media: “This claim is absolutely false.”
The Times quoted an ally as saying, “Biden knows we’ll be in a different place at the end of the weekend if there are two more events like this.”
The report described the ally as a “key figure” but did not name the person.
The report’s headline read that Biden had told his ally that he was considering whether to continue in the race.
There is no reference to these comments in the text of the report.
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris formed the White House’s first line of defense following the dismal debate.
She admitted to several dozen donors in San Francisco that the president’s appearance was “not his finest hour.”
However, she said: “The outcome of this election cannot be decided on one day in June.”
The moment could hardly be more delicate for 59-year-old Harris, who is the first woman, black person and person of South Asian descent to assume the office of vice president.
Although some Democrats are calling her a logical successor if she resigns, others are drawing up wish lists of potential successors that do not include her at all.
Depending on how the next few days and weeks unfold, her work for Biden could lead to a political dead end or secure her future within the party by providing her with new opportunities to prove her doubters wrong.
Chad Griffin, a member of the campaign’s national finance committee, said the White House is fortunate to have a vice president who is “tough” and “out there defending the president and talking about the stakes of this election.”
“They are a team,” he said.
“And we’re seeing more and more of the other half of this team.”
A battered Biden seems to be drawing Harris closer to him.
One of their occasional private lunches was scheduled for Wednesday, and the vice president was subsequently added to the schedule for his Independence Day celebration at the White House on Thursday.
According to an AP-NORC poll conducted in June, only 39 percent of American adults have a favorable opinion of Harris, which is in line with Biden’s 40 percent.
However, their unfavorable attitude is 49 percent, below Biden’s 57 percent, and 12 percent said they are not familiar enough with Harris to form an opinion about her.
with AP