Article information
- Author, Editorial
- Role, BBC News World
-
12 julio 2024
Perhaps no election campaign in American history has been under as much public scrutiny as Joe Biden’s — not for his policies, or alleged scandals, or his performance of duties, but for the possible decline in his mental capacity due to his advanced age.
Every step the 81-year-old president takes, every expression on his face, every word that comes from his lips is under increasing scrutiny from his own party, his powerful donors and broad swaths of the Democratic electorate.
These past two weeks have been particularly difficult for the president, with a very poor performance in the first debate with his Republican rival, Donald Trump, a fluctuation in his energy levels, a lack of clarity in his interventions and growing doubts expressed publicly by his own supporters.
This is how Joe Biden’s endless ordeal has unfolded over the past 15 days.
The disastrous debate
By mid-year, at private events and other limited-profile events such as a June 15 fundraising conference for his campaign, Joe Biden’s lackluster appearance began to worry those close to him.
However, they did not openly express their doubts regarding the president’s abilities at that moment. Biden had just returned from an exhausting trip to Europe and this noticeable fatigue was accepted as a valid excuse.
But things took a turn for the worse on June 27 in front of an audience of more than 50 million viewers, when Biden had a disastrous performance in the presidential debate in Atlanta once morest his Republican opponent Donald Trump, who, although he did not say much in substance, seemed more attentive, energized and aggressive.
Caption: Biden did not challenge Trump’s wild statements during the debate.
From the start, the president appeared downcast, distracted and at times completely lost. He stammered his sentences and was unable to articulate his ideas.
The Democratic ranks were in a panic and rumors began to emerge regarding a possible change of candidate. But that change, according to the party rules, is in the hands of the president himself and he made it clear that he would not withdraw.
The Democratic leadership, including the important governors of California and Michigan, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris, who are among those mentioned as viable replacements, came out to express – at least in front of the cameras – their absolute support for the president.
Face to face interview
President Biden explained that his hoarse voice and low energy in the debate were due to the flu. The next day, in a prepared speech to supporters in Wisconsin, he no longer showed any signs of the flu. He later acknowledged in a radio interview that he had “messed up” but asked the electorate to judge him by his handling of the White House.
To calm any concerns that were brewing, the president agreed to be interviewed face-to-face by ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos for more than 20 minutes on July 5.
Stephanopoulos repeatedly pressed him on whether he was in denial regarding his health and whether he had a chance of being elected to a second term. But Biden insisted that there was no one more qualified than him to be president or win the race, declaring resolutely that only the “Lord Almighty” would make him resign.
Caption: Biden hoped to allay doubts with a face-to-face interview with George Stephanopoulos.
However, apart from this divine invocation, the interview did not make the desired impression. Once once more, the president’s voice sounded weak, hesitating in his answers, with long pauses between one sentence and another. The vagueness of his thoughts created more doubts than it might clarify.
His poor performance might no longer be blamed on the flu or a bad start, like the one he had during the debate. It gave the impression of being a chronic problem that was not going to improve.
Still, the Democratic machine went on the offensive, with the Biden campaign planning an aggressive resumption. His wife, Jill Biden, as well as Vice President Harris, planned a marathon trip to all the so-called “swing states,” where the election outcome is uncertain.
But, as reported by The Washington Post, Biden’s team is aware of the pressure coming from certain sectors of the Democratic Party to make a decision on his candidacy.
Democratic lawmakers break ranks
Caption: Veteran and respected Democratic Representative Nancy Pelosi was very ambiguous in her support for Biden.
Five days following the debate, House Democratic Representative Lloyd Doggett of Texas was the first to say that the time had come for Biden to “make the painful decision to abandon” his candidacy.
A few days later, reports emerged that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries had scheduled a meeting on Sunday with senior House Democrats to discuss Biden’s candidacy.
To date, at least 15 House Democrats in Congress have called for him to withdraw from the presidential race.
“I do not believe the President can effectively campaign and win once morest Donald Trump,” Congresswoman Angie Craig said in a statement Saturday. “I respectfully call on President Biden to step aside as the Democratic nominee for a second term as President and allow a new generation of leaders to step forward,” Craig said.
While Biden’s campaign notes that no senior Democrat has called on him to resign, veteran and respected Representative Nancy Pelosi, a former House speaker, was highly ambiguous when asked regarding it. “I want him to do whatever he decides to do,” she said, adding that “time is running out” for him to make that decision.
Reluctant donors
President Biden is also facing pressure from some major Democratic donors in these critical days of his re-election campaign.
Several donors have publicly warned that they will restrict funding unless the party replaces Biden as its nominee.
Donors have been weighing their options. Abigail Disney, heiress to the family Disney fortune, told financial news channel CNBC that she did not believe Biden might defeat Trump.
He clarified that his intention to withdraw support was based on “realism, not disrespect.”
“Biden is a good man and has served his country admirably, but the stakes are too high,” he said.
According to Federal Election Commission records, Disney has donated thousands of dollars to liberal-leaning political groups this year, but a Biden campaign spokesperson told BBC News that it has not donated directly to the campaign this cycle.
Caption: Abigail Disney, heiress to the family Disney fortune, said she would be slowing down her donations to Democrats.
A group of other wealthy donors have expressed similar intentions.
Philanthropist Gideon Stein told the New York Times that his family was withholding $3.5 million from political organizations and nonprofits active in the presidential campaign unless Biden stepped aside.
Ramesh Kapur, an Indian-American industrialist based in Massachusetts, has organized fundraisers for Democrats since 1988.
“I think it’s time for me to pass the baton to her,” Kapur told the BBC this week. “I know she has the drive, but you can’t fight Mother Nature.”
Some are concerned that there is not enough time left for a new candidate to enter the presidential race and have decided to back Biden if he continues in the campaign.
One major donor the BBC spoke to last week, who asked not to be named, said he planned to go ahead with a fundraiser for the president scheduled for late July at his home in Virginia.
Biden’s campaign said it raised $38 million from debate day through the following weekend, mostly through small donations, and a total of $127 million in June alone.
The skeptical influential figures of Hollywood
Caption: The opinion column written by actor George Clooney was devastating.
The liberal wing of Hollywood has always been a staunch supporter of Democratic causes. But some of its most influential figures have decided not only to distance themselves from the president, but to ask him to step down.
Rob Reiner, a renowned Hollywood director and staunch Democrat, had already reacted with an insult on social media following the debate and directly called for Biden to resign.
Meanwhile, Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Michael Moore appealed to Biden to “not let your enablers force you to do what your body is begging you not to do.”
But the most devastating blow came from actor George Clooney, who in an opinion column published in The New York Times made a forceful call for Biden to drop out of the presidential race.
Clooney had been at the fundraiser on June 15 and wrote that while it was “devastating to say,” the person he saw was not the same Biden from 2010. “It wasn’t even the same Biden from 2020,” he said.
The actor and prominent Democratic fundraiser acknowledged that the president had won many battles throughout his career, “but the only battle he will not be able to win is the fight once morest time.”
Another Hollywood star and equally accomplished fundraiser, Michael Douglas, later told the BBC he was “worried” regarding Biden’s chances of being re-elected.
Two glaring lapses in one hour
Caption: Biden introduced Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin,” but quickly corrected his mistake.
Joe Biden continues to insist that he is fit enough to continue his presidential campaign despite mounting pressure from members of his party.
The problem is that with every action he takes, every speech he makes, every answer he gives, he is risking his hopes of being re-elected, his presidential legacy and his political life.
On Thursday, following hosting the NATO summit, Biden made another gaffe that ended up in headlines all over the media: he introduced the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, as “President Putin,” to the gasps of surprise of those present.
An hour later, in an unscripted news conference, the president referred to his own vice president Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump,” a painful misstep in front of a national television audience.
Biden quickly corrected the first lapse with Zelensky standing next to him. But the second slip slipped past him, leaving several of his cabinet members frozen in place.
These moments, although they were the only stumbles in a firm but dispirited press conference, will make his followers wonder if there will be more lapses to come later.
Biden insisted he did not need to undergo a cognitive test, as some have suggested, telling reporters that whether he saw “two doctors or seven,” his critics would not be satisfied.
Biden said he would consider dropping out if his staff showed him reliable numbers that he might not win, but that polls still indicate the race is tied.
In that respect, he is on solid ground, says BBC correspondent Anthony Zurcher in Washington, who attended his recent press conference. An Ipsos poll released on Thursday, for example, had Biden just one point behind his opponent, well within the margin of error.
“If there’s one thing that’s been clear since the beginning of the year, it’s that support for both candidates has remained remarkably stable despite the unprecedented drama surrounding both men,” Zurcher said.
“But polls alone will not calm the panic that has set in among many Democratic officials, and the storm clouds that persist around Biden’s campaign will not dissipate so easily,” the correspondent concluded.
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