ANPJoe Biden at a campaign rally in North Carolina Friday
NOS News•Friday, 20:44•Adjusted Saturday, 02:42
US President Joe Biden has made his first public appearance following his debate with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. According to US media, that debate was “disastrous” for Biden; he made a tired impression, spoke softly and occasionally looked confused.
On Friday, Biden looked a lot fitter and more energetic than he did on Thursday night. During a speech to Democrats in North Carolina, the 81-year-old Biden responded to his debate performance. He admitted that he is no longer the youngest. “I may not walk as well as I used to, I may not debate as well as I used to, but I know how to tell the truth.”
The president also once once more took aim at rival Trump, whose campaign was said to be based on lies, revenge and retaliation. “Donald Trump will destroy our democracy. I will defend it.”
Trump responded later in the day at a campaign rally of his own, where he called Biden “the most incompetent president” in American history. “The question every voter should be asking themselves is not whether Joe Biden can survive a 90-minute debate, but whether America can survive another four years with the devious Biden in the White House.”
Excerpts from Biden’s speech:
Joe Biden responds following debate: ‘After falling comes rising’
After Thursday’s debate, Democrats expressed their doubts regarding Biden as a presidential candidate more openly than ever before, and the Democratic Party was said to be in “an aggressive state of panic,” according to media reports.
“I would not run once more if I didn’t believe with all my heart and soul that I might do this job,” Biden said Friday. “When you get knocked down, you get back up.”
A discussion regarding another presidential candidate is therefore not on the agenda, says the spokesman for Biden’s campaign team. “We do not intend to deviate from the current strategy.”
The US presidential election is on November 5 of this year. A final election debate between the two candidates is scheduled for September.