U.S. President Joe Biden will face the media Thursday for a highly important news conference that comes amid pressure that he drop his bid for re-election.
The 81-year-old Biden has been participating in a NATO summit this week in Washington and the news conference — scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET — could prove pivotal in assuring American voters that he’s fit to serve another four years in the Oval Office.
Biden, the presumptive nominee for the Democrats, has been fighting to keep his re-election bid alive in the wake of a much-panned debate performance against Donald Trump, his 78-year-old presidential predecessor and Republican rival, two weeks ago.
U.S. President Joe Biden will close out the NATO summit in Washington with a news conference on Thursday amid growing questions over his mental fitness to serve another four years in office.
At least 10 House Democrats have since publicly said that Biden should exit the ballot, along with one Democrat senator.
Rep. Hillary Scholten of Michigan said on social media Thursday that Biden should “pass the torch.”
Biden has also seen key Democrat donors and supporters demanding the same, including Hollywood actor George Clooney who earlier this week wrote an op-ed calling for the president to step aside.
So far, Biden has resisted the calls to go, arguing he is best-placed to defeat Trump in the November election.
Some of the president’s closest advisers — including Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon — met with Democrat senators on Thursday to shore up support for his re-election bid. That did not seem to assuage all who attended.
“Some of my concerns are allayed, some others have been deepened,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said afterward.
