USA: 72% of Voters Believe Biden Should Abandon His Candidacy

A public opinion poll commissioned by CBS News days after the first presidential debate between Trump and Biden found that 72% of US voters believe that “US President Joe Biden really doesn’t have the necessary mental and cognitive health” to serve as head of state. The same percentage stated that the president “should not run for the second term in the White House.”

Meanwhile, Mark Esper, former US Secretary of Defense, expressed concern about the image broadcast by President Joe Biden around the world during the failed debate in favor of Democrats. In an interview with CNN, Esper said Biden’s apparent “physical and mental” weakness could raise doubts among US allies and adversaries about the president’s ability to adequately fulfill his institutional responsibilities. “This is really very serious. So, if you’re a foreign actor, ally or partner, you watch this spectacle and you begin to question, does Biden have the strength to serve another four years?” stated Esper, according to whom “it’s impossible not to conclude that the answer is no.”

But despite all the criticism, the White House denies that Biden “intends to abandon his candidacy” for the November presidential election after his disappointing performance during the first presidential debate. Biden’s deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty also denied NBC News rumors that “Biden and his family are meeting at Camp David to decide the future of the campaign and consider leaving before the Democratic Party’s national convention, scheduled for August 19-22.”

Although the Hill newspaper writes that the decision to continue the campaign “will ultimately be up to Biden himself,” the Axios news site suggested that “major donors to the Democratic Party will judge the damage actually caused by President Biden’s poor performance.” According to Axios, “it is the big donors who can determine whether Biden can continue his presidential campaign or whether he will be forced to give up and let the Democratic Party pick another candidate, regardless of the outcome of the primaries.”