Leading Democrats yesterday ruled out replacing President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee party after its weak performance in the debates and called on party members to focus on the consequences of a second presidential term of Donald Trump, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
After days of frustration over Biden's poor showing in the debate with Trump, Democratic leaders flatly rejected calls for their party to choose a younger presidential candidate for the Nov. 5 election.
Meanwhile, 81-year-old Biden spent yesterday with his family at the "Camp David" residence.
The newspaper "New York Times" cited sources familiar with the matter as saying Biden's family had urged him to stay in the race and continue to fight. The paper claims that some of his close associates expressed irritation with the way his staff had prepared him for Thursday night's event.
Calls for Biden to drop out have continued since Thursday, and a CBS poll conducted after the debate showed a 10 percent jump in the number of Democrats who think Biden should not run for president, from 36 the percentage in February to 46 percent.
"The sad truth is that Biden must withdraw from the race for the good of the country he has served so admirably for half a century," said an editorial in the "Atlanta Journal Constitution". According to the publication, the time has come for Biden to retire.
Democratic leaders rejected that.
"Absolutely not," replied Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, one of several Democrats seen as a possible Biden replacement.
"Bad debates happen," he said on the program "Meeting with the press" on NBC. "The question is: "Who has Donald Trump ever stood for but himself and people like him? I'm with Joe Biden and our job is to make sure he crosses the finish line in November."
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who could become speaker of the House next year if his party takes control of the House in November, acknowledged that Biden had suffered a setback but that it was "nothing more. from preparation for return".
"So the moment we are in right now is a moment of return," he told MSNBC.
Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, a leading Biden advocate, said on "This Week" to ABC that Biden must stay in the race to ensure Trump's defeat. "I think he is the only Democrat who can beat Donald Trump," Coons said.