The Biden Friday Night Interview on the ABC Network

US President Joe Biden sat for an interview with ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos that wasn’t a game changer for anyone but the fact checkers were having a heyday.  Joe stated that Democratic Party leaders have urged him to stay in the race but has rejected calls from fellow Democrats for him to withdraw following last week’s disastrous debate performance. Joe stated that pollsters have told him that right now it’s a 50-50 race.  The New York Times/Siena College poll, for example, has Biden down six points among likely voters. A Wall Street Journal post-debate poll found 60 percent of likely voters either strongly or somewhat disapprove of Biden’s performance as president.  CNN’s latest poll among American adults has Biden at 43 percent versus Trump at 49 percent.  The highest quality polls show Trump in a firm lead. All things being equal, voters deserve a candidate who can compete with Donald Trump and not one who looks increasingly out of touch with reality.  Did Joe view last Thursday’s debate performance?  He admits that he has not seen it.

The poor debate performance has shaken and divided the Democratic Party and heightened concerns about Joe Biden’s age calling him old and frail.  Others have written Biden off completely, arguing that he must stand aside and allow another Democrat to run for president in his place.  Even those who said they still planned to vote for Biden added that his showing at the debate had rattled them.  Top Democratic lawmakers and donors have urged Biden to make his case directly to voters and stave off further calls for him to step aside as the Democrats’ nominee ahead of next month’s party convention.  Meanwhile, the four court cases against Donald Trump that were supposed to sink his campaign have made it stronger than ever.  In fact, the 2024 battleground map shows signs of expansion for the former president into traditionally blue states. Minnesota, New Hampshire and Virginia, which typically back Democrats in presidential elections, are being closely watched.