The incumbent says there’s nobody “more qualified” to lead the US, regardless of public opinion
US President Joe Biden is struggling to dispel concerns over whether he is mentally and physically capable of leading the country for another four years following his halting performance in a televised debate against Republican rival Donald Trump.
The oldest US president in history appeared so frail and confused throughout the encounter last week that a survey conducted by CBS News/YouGov shortly afterwards found that 72% of registered voters do not believe Biden has the “mental and cognitive health necessary to serve as president.”
The incumbent US president has less than a 37% approval rating among likely voters, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll released on Monday. The same survey showed Trump now leading Biden 49 percent to 43 percent, widening the gap from a 3-point lead before the debate.
“Mr. President, I’ve never seen a president with 36% approval get reelected,” ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos told Biden during their sit-down on Friday.
“Well, I don’t believe that’s my approval rating. That’s not what our polls show,” Biden replied, though it remained unclear which polling data the 81-year-old was relying on.
A Suffolk University/USA TODAY poll published Tuesday found Trump beating Biden by 3 percent, while a survey conducted for CNN by SSRS found Trump 6 points in the lead.
A separate Bloomberg News/Morning Consult tracking poll showed Biden narrowing the gap over the past week and now losing “by only 2 percentage points” in the critical swing states needed to win the November election. Overall, less than one in five respondents in those states thought the 81-year-old was the “more coherent, mentally fit or dominant participant” of the debate.
“Look, you know polling better than anybody. Do you think polling data is as accurate as it used to be?” the US leader parried when Stephanopoulos insisted that Biden was close but still behind Trump even before going into the debate.
Biden defiantly insisted that there’s nobody “more qualified to be president or win this race than me” and said he would not drop out, even if top Democratic leaders asked him to, claiming that only “the Lord Almighty” could convince him to step aside.
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