Some Democrats raised new questions about US President Joe Biden’s bid for re-election in 2024.
One Democrat loyal to the president urged him to step aside, a shift after many defended him following last week’s shaky debate results.
Biden is under pressure. Some urged him to resign, while other Democrats were openly concerned that he was not prepared to defeat former President Donald Trump in November.
According to a House Democratic aide, 25 Democratic House members are preparing to call on Biden to resign if he feels unsteady in the coming days. A Reuters/Ipsos poll taken after the debate found that one in three Democrats believed Biden should abandon his bid for re-election.
US Representative Lloyd Doggett became the first Democrat in Congress to call on Biden to drop out of the presidential race on Tuesday.
It looks like the dam has broken.
However, former House speaker Nancy Pelosi highlighted Biden’s numerous legislative accomplishments during an interview with MSNBC on Tuesday. She stated that she was not prepared to discuss whether the debate performance was a one-time failure or a broader health issue.
“I think it’s a legitimate question to say, ‘Is this an episode or is this a condition?’ And so when people ask that question, it’s legitimate, of both candidates.”
Backing Biden
US Vice President Kamala Harris also responded to Doggett’s demand.
Look, Joe Biden is our nominee. We beat Trump once and we’re gonna beat him. Period.
Meanwhile, Biden, speaking at a campaign event in Virginia on Tuesday night, blamed a lack of sleep for his poor performance. He also claimed his campaign raised $38 million after the debate.
“The fact is that you know, I wasn’t very smart. I decided to travel around the world a couple times, going through around 100 time zones… before… the debate. Didn’t listen to my staff and came back and nearly fell asleep on stage. That’s no excuse but it is an explanation.”
Biden’s campaign office claimed he and his Democratic allies raised $264 million in the second quarter, including $127 million in June and a record grassroots fundraiser on the day of Biden’s debate.
Orbán endorsed Trump
The US ambassador to Budapest, David Pressman, criticised Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, on Tuesday for siding with Donald Trump in the upcoming US presidential election.
Speaking at an Independence Day reception in Budapest, Pressman said Orbán “continues to remind us, daily, of who he would like to win that election, who he would vote for if he were an American, which he is not.”
We have no other ally or partner — not a single one — that similarly, overtly and tirelessly, campaigns for a specific candidate in an election in the United States of America, seemingly convinced that, no matter what, it only helps Hungary, or at least helps him personally.
Orbán was the first EU leader to endorse Trump when he ran for president in 2016. In 2023, he urged Trump to “keep on fighting” amid his legal troubles.
