White House Scrambles to Respond Bombshell Biden Report

Will President Joe Biden Withdraw from the Presidential Race?

Many Democrats began urging President Joe Biden to withdraw following his poor debate performance against former President Donald Trump last week.

During the debate, Biden’s apparent cognitive decline was evident. The president frequently mumbled, made incoherent statements, lost his train of thought, sounded hoarse, and overall did not appear to be mentally well.

Despite calls from Democrats for him to step down, Biden’s team has consistently stated over the last several days that he intends to see this election cycle through to the end.

However, a report from The New York Times on Wednesday suggested this stance might be changing.

The report claimed the president told an anonymous source (referred to by the Times as an “ally”) within the last 24 hours that if he is unable to recover his reputation in the coming days, he will consider stepping down.

“He knows if he has two more events like that, we’re in a different place,” the ally said.

The source indicated that the upcoming events on Biden’s schedule, including a Friday interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos and multiple campaign stops, must go well for him to recover from the debate debacle.

The White House strongly denied the authenticity of the report shortly after it was published on Wednesday.

“That claim is absolutely false,” White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates stated in a post on X.

“If the New York Times had provided us with more than 7 minutes to comment we would have told them so,” Bates added.

According to Politico reporter Elena Schneider, Biden vowed during a campaign call Wednesday afternoon that he will not drop out.

“Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can, as simply and straightforward as I can: I am running … no one’s pushing me out. I’m not leaving. I’m in this race to the end and we’re going to win,” the president said, according to Schneider.

The “ally” was not the only anonymous source cited by the Times.

According to the Wednesday report, a “top adviser” also mentioned that Biden is aware of his current predicament.

This person said the questions about his well-being trouble the president, who believes he is mentally sharp and “doesn’t get how others don’t accept that.”

Given the post-debate poll numbers, Democrats have reason to be concerned as the November election approaches.

A Wednesday CBS News/YouGov poll of likely voters found Trump leading Biden 50 percent to 48 percent nationally.

In battleground states, the presumptive Republican nominee’s margin widened to 51 percent over Biden’s 48 percent.

The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.