'Clear-eyed' Joe: White House dismisses rumours of internal rumblings, says Biden is 'staying in the race'

Just days after Joe Biden's abysmal performance in the debate opposite rival Donald Trump, the White House in a statement on Wednesday (July 3) said that the Democrat leader is "absolutely not" pulling out of the US presidential race.

'Clear-eyed' Joe

Speaking to the press, Biden's spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre rejected reports about internal rumblings about finding a replacement candidate before Novemberelection. She said that "The president is clear-eyed, and he is staying in the race".

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Biden too, in a call with campaign and party staffers said that he is going nowhere.

"I'm in this race to the end and we're going to win because when Democrats unite, we will always win. Just as we beat Donald Trump in 2020, we're going to beat him again in 2024," he said, as quoted by AFP.

Biden repeated the message in an emergency meeting with Democratic governors. The attendees later told AFP that they have pledged their continued support.

Amid toppling rumours Democrats back Biden

"As the president continued to tell us, and show us, that he was all in... we said that we would stand with him," said Maryland Governor Wes Moore to reporters speaking alongside Minnesota's Tim Walz and Kathy Hochul of New York.

Walz told the press that Biden was "fit to serve."

In a post on X, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who was also present at the meeting at the White House, said that "he is in it to win it and I support him."

Biden's abysmal debate performance

Biden, himself, has gracefully admitted that he performed poorly in the debate. In a radio interview recorded Wednesday with Wisconsin's Civic Media, he bluntly said: "I screwed up. I made a mistake. That's 90 minutes on stage. Look at what I've done in 3.5 years."

In another interview, this one with Pennsylvania's WURD radio on Thursday, he said "I had a bad debate."

The debatelast week(Thursday, June 27)has shaken Biden's standing in the 2024 US election race. During the debate, an audience of more than 50 million people saw Biden's hoarse, halting delivery that once again led to questions and debate about his age and his ability to lead the US.

A recent survey by CBS News, shows that following his debate with Trump an increasing number of voters, including Democrats, do not believe that Biden should be running for president.

The survey shows that most voters said that Biden should not run given his campaigning and his effectiveness in office, along with his age. By contrast, Trump among Republicans finds a wide view that he should be running.

A CNN poll conducted by SSRS found that Trump has a 6 per cent lead on Biden — 49 per cent to the Democrat's 43 per cent. Not only that, as per the poll, most people would rather have Kamala Harris run for president.

(With inputs from agencies)