President Biden tried to steady his campaign for a second term Friday as fellow Democrats called for him to consider stepping aside following a disastrous debate against former President Donald Trump.
“Folks, I don’t walk as easy as I used to, I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to, I don’t debate as well as I used to,” the 81-year-old Biden said at a rally in North Carolina. “But I know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth.”
“I know right from wrong,” added Biden, who would be 86 at the end of a second term. “I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done. I know what millions of Americans know: When you get knocked down, you get back up.”
The incumbent froze and repeatedly stumbled during CNN’s Thursday night debate, but kept closely to his script on Friday — reading with only relatively minor errors.
“Folks, I give you my word as a Biden, I would not be running again if I didn’t believe with all my heart and soul I can do this job, because, quite frankly, the stakes are too high,” Biden said — indicating he has no intention to step aside.
Trump, 78, “is a genuine threat to this nation,” Biden said.
“He’s a threat to our freedom. He’s a threat to our democracy. Is literally a threat to everything America stands for,” the president said. “The choice in this election is simple: Donald Trump will destroy democracy; I will defend it.”