Biden committed to finishing second term as questions swirl over fitness for office

Alex Gangitano, Brett Samuels, and The Hill

5 hours ago

President Biden is committed to serving a full second term if he wins reelection in November, the White House said Tuesday amid questions about his mental acuity and fitness for office following a disastrous debate performance.

“Does President Biden commit to serving a full second term if reelected?” Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asked at a press briefing.

“Yes,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded.

Jean-Pierre faced another barrage of questions Tuesday about whether the president felt like he had moved past the calls from a handful of elected Democrats for him to step aside after elected officials huddled on Capitol Hill earlier in the day.

“We respect members of Congress, we respect their view. But I also want to say there is a long, also a long list of congressional members who have been very clear in support of the president,” she said.

She specifically emphasized the support from the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Hispanic Caucus for Biden to argue that there is broad unity in the Democratic party behind the president.

When questioned on if Biden feels like he’s weathered the storm following the criticism over his dismal debate performance, Jean-Pierre replied,  “I think that he is more determined than ever to continue to get the job done.”

“The whole Congressional Black Caucus, they support the president. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus supports the president. Those are pretty impressive numbers,” Jean-Pierre said.

She also pointed to support from Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.).

When questioned if that’s enough support to start turning the page postdebate, Jean-Pierre said the president is ready to move forward.

“The president’s going to move forward, he’s going to move forward. and he’s going to continue to go out there, engage with the American public like you saw in Pennsylvania,” she said.

Jean-Pierre added “absolutely” when asked if Biden has the party united behind him. And she said Biden plans to continue to engage with lawmakers in the coming days.

The Democratic Party has been engulfed in conversations over the past two weeks over whether Biden is the best candidate to beat former President Trump following his halting debate performance on June 27.

Six House Democrats have called for Biden to step aside, while several other lawmakers in the House and Senate have said Biden has to do more to prove to voters he can vigorously campaign to defeat Trump in November.

But the vast majority of elected officials have signaled they are ready to rally behind Biden as long as he appears committed to staying atop the ticket.

“I feel we’ve hit a turning point,” Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), who is backing Biden, said after the meeting. “As the president said, I think yesterday, it’s been 10, 11 days or so since the debate, and it’s time to move on. And I think that’s where many more members are today than they were last week.”