Biden admits ‘I don’t debate as well as I used to’ after car crash performance but insists he can still beat Trump and ‘do this job’
President Joe Biden insisted at his first campaign rally after his disastrous debate performance that he can still win the election.
The 81-year-old man’s car accident with Donald Trump on Thursday created a crisis within the Democratic Party.
The president used a rally in Raleigh on Friday afternoon to allay those fears.
‘I know I’m not a young man. To state the obvious,” Biden said. ‘People, I no longer walk as easily as I used to. I no longer speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to.’
“But I know what I know, I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done,” the president argued.
He also assured the crowd: “I give you my word as Biden.”
“I would not run for re-election if I didn’t believe with all my heart and soul that I could do this job,” Biden said.
President Joe Biden has no plans to withdraw from the presidential race after Thursday night’s poor debate performance against former President Donald Trump
President Joe Biden insisted he can still win the election at his first campaign rally after his disastrous debate performance
The president used the 20-minute speech in North Carolina to clarify many of the arguments he attempted to make against his Republican opponent on the debate stage.
“I don’t know about you last night, but I debated on stage for 90 minutes with a man with the morals of an alley cat,” Biden said.
“Did you see Trump last night? “I think he has set a new record – I mean this sincerely – for the number of lies told in one debate,” the president continued.
“He lied about the kind of economy he created. He lied about the pandemic he botched, which killed millions of people,” Biden continued.
The president insisted that Trump lied in his denial by calling military members “suckers and losers,” a claim made by the Republican’s former chief of staff, John Kelly.
‘He tried to deny it. But are you going to believe a four-star Marine general?” Biden asked. “Or a disgraced, defeated lying Donald Trump?”
Biden also rejected Trump’s claims that crime has risen under the Democrat’s watch.
“And then I pointed out that the only convicted felon on stage last night was Donald Trump,” the president said, making his performance seem much smoother than it actually was.
“Well, I was thinking about his 34 felony convictions, his assault on a woman in a public place, his $400 million fine for business fraud,” Biden continued. “I thought to myself that Donald Trump is not just a convicted criminal – Donald Trump is a one-man crime spree.”
That prompted a chant of “Lock Him Up!” from the audience.
Trump has historically led his supporters in a “Lock Her Up!” cheer against his 2016 opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Biden initially seemed to express some discomfort with those words, but also smiled.
The Democratic president said Trump’s “biggest lie” was not accepted on January 6.
“We’ve all seen it with our own eyes,” Biden said.
The president argued that the debate also taught the American public some truths about Trump.
“Most dangerously, we have learned that Donald Trump will not respect this year’s election results,” Biden said. “Three times Trump was asked by the moderators last night… three times he refused to answer.”
“Folks, Donald Trump refused to accept the 2020 results and we all saw what happened on January 6, it was a direct result of that,” he said. ‘It was an international disgrace.’
First lady Jill Biden, who helped her husband off the stage after his CNN disaster, wore a dress with the word “vote” on it and defended his performance during the debate.
“What you saw on the debate stage last night was Joe Biden — a president of integrity and character who told the truth. And Donald Trump told lie after lie after lie,” Dr. Biden said.
She was surprised when the crowd joined in and called Trump a liar.
Dr. Biden praised her husband for his efforts in recent years to “heal the country.”
He “helped us heal from the chaos of the last administration.”
“We can’t choose our chapter in history, but we can choose who leads us through it,” she said. “There’s no one I’d rather have in the Oval Office right now than my husband.”
Behind the scenes, there are calls to replace him on the 2024 ticket, with just 130 days until the nominating convention in Chicago.
‘Deflated’ White House staffers have reportedly filled group chats with messages saying their boss’s performance was “ugly” and “terrible.”
Congressional leaders even admitted that Biden’s debate performance, in which he squirmed and struggled to finish his sentences, was poor.
But publicly they are standing behind their man, who refuses to back down and has even pledged to hold a second debate with Trump in September.
First Lady Jill Biden, who helped her husband off stage after his CNN disaster, wore a dress emblazoned with the word “vote” and defended his debate performance.
First Lady Jill Biden, who helped her husband off the stage after his CNN disaster, wore a dress with the word “vote” on it and defended his performance during the debate
A devastating DailyMail.com poll of the debate found that a clear majority of independent voters believe Biden should no longer be the nominee.
About 62 percent thought he should be removed from the list.
Biden appeared 81 years old Thursday evening as he repeatedly lost the thread of his thoughts and wandered off into silence.
Trump, 78, was able to land his punches while his Democratic opponent struggled to push back on some of his more outlandish claims.
JL Partners polled 805 independent voters immediately after the 90-minute clash and found that 68 percent said the former president had won over his successor in the White House.