Biden Vows to Stay in Race as More Democrats Ask Him to Drop Out
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - US President Joe Biden has promised to remain in the presidential race and beat his opponent despite growing calls from members of his Democratic Party asking him to withdraw.
The 81-year-old, who is isolating at his beach house in Delaware since his COVID-19 diagnosis, took aim at his rival Donald Trump –who just wrapped up the Republican National Convention– in a series of posts online on Friday, and said he would return to campaigning next week.
Trump’s “dark vision for the future is not who we are as Americans. Together, as a party and as a country, we can and will defeat him at the ballot box,” Biden said. “The stakes are high, and the choice is clear. Together, we will win.”
But 12 more Democratic politicians, including two senators and a group of Congress members, called on the president to step aside, Al Jazeera reported.
A group of Biden’s Democratic detractors are trying to reach him directly through a television advertisement.
The advertisement, created by the new group Pass the Torch, will start running on Monday on Morning Joe, one of Biden’s favorite shows which he is known to watch regularly, and other daytime MSNBC programming.
“We want to get this message – that we’re so grateful for all you’ve done, and now it’s seriously time to pass the torch – directly to President Biden,” said Aaron Regunberg, a member of Pass the Torch’s steering committee.
White House doctor Kevin O’Connor said on Friday that the president still had a dry cough and hoarseness, but that his COVID-19 symptoms had improved.
Next week, Biden is scheduled to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will address the US Congress on July 24 amid Israel’s war on Gaza.
