WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has basically made it clear no matter how you ask him: he is absolutely, 100 percent, staying in the presidential race.
But in response to questions from reporters in recent weeks, the beleaguered Democratic president has offered some clues about what might prompt him to step aside — especially as calls from his own party to end his candidacy continue unabated.
Here are the things Biden has cited — some serious, some not — that would make him reconsider his candidacy:
It was a defiant response that indicated Biden had absolutely no intention of backing down.
During an interview with ABC News that marked the first major test of his fitness for office, host George Stephanopoulos asked the 81-year-old Biden whether he had convinced himself that he was the only one who could defeat his Republican opponent, Donald Trump.
“I’ve convinced myself of two things,” Biden said. “I’m the most qualified person to beat him, and I know how to get things done.”
Stephanopoulos pressed further: “If you are convinced that you cannot defeat Donald Trump, will you resign?”
“It depends,” Biden replied. “I mean, if the Lord Almighty comes out and tells me, then I could do that.”
No politician ever wants to lose. And it seems Biden would be willing to drop out of the race if he had numerical evidence that would happen.
At a news conference at the end of the NATO summit in Washington last week, Biden was asked whether he would step aside if his advisers showed him that Vice President Kamala Harris would be a stronger opponent than he was against Trump.
Biden’s initial answer was “no,” but he then provided further explanation.
“Unless they came back and said, ‘You can’t possibly win.’ I did,” he said. “Nobody says that. No poll says that.”
The limited polling that is available suggests a competitive race with months to go before the election. Several polls of voters give Trump a slight edge, while other polls show neither candidate with an advantage.
Biden was not asked directly about the hypothesis, but he nevertheless came up with a new scenario.
As Complex entertainment network host Speedy Morman wrapped up his interview with Biden in Detroit last week, he had one closing question for the president: “We will 1,000 percent see you — in your words — on the ballot in November?”
Biden joked: “Unless I get hit by a train, yeah.”
Morman replied, “Let’s hope that doesn’t happen, for your safety.”
Biden spoke with BET journalist Ed Gordon for an interview that will air Wednesday night. During the conversation, Gordon asked Biden if there were any factors that would cause him to reconsider his candidacy.
He did not repeat the other reasons he had previously listed, but came up with a new one.
“If I had a medical condition that came up,” Biden told Gordon. “If doctors came to me and said, ‘You have this problem, that problem.’”
The health of Biden, the oldest US president, had been under scrutiny long before his disastrous performance at the debate.
After his last medical examination in February, presidential physician Kevin O’Connor said Biden “remains fit to successfully perform the duties of the presidency.” A neurological exam conducted more than a month earlier showed no signs of a stroke, multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease, O’Connor said. The doctor also said a cognitive exam was unnecessary.
Biden tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday as he tries to rally support among disaffected voters, a move crucial to his reelection chances. The diagnosis prompted him to cancel a meeting with members of a Latino civil rights organization in the state of Nevada, where it is based.
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Associated Press journalists Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux in Washington and Aamer Madhani in Las Vegas contributed to this report.