President Joe Biden insisted again Monday that he will not withdraw from the US election race, while the White House denied that he has Parkinson’s disease after a poor performance in a debate.
The 81-year-old challenged Democratic critics to either challenge him at next month’s party convention in Chicago or support him against Donald Trump on the November ballot.
The president made the remarks in a letter to Congress and a rare call to arms on a television appearance. The attack comes at the start of a crucial week that includes a NATO summit in Washington, where he will face fresh scrutiny.
“I remain firmly committed to staying in this race,” Biden wrote in the letter.
“It’s time to come together and defeat Donald Trump,” he said. “It’s time to put an end to this.”
The embattled president phoned in to MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” television program to say he was becoming “very frustrated with the party’s elites.”
He said, “Whoever among these people does not think that I should contest the election, should contest against me. Announce their name for the post of President, challenge me in the convention.”
Trump has been unusually silent since the debate, but he said on Fox News on Monday that he thinks Biden will resist the pressure and stay in the race.
“He has an ego and he doesn’t want to leave office,” Trump said in an interview with Sean Hannity.
But as he doubled his term, the pressure on the oldest president in US history grew.
Congressman Adam Smith, a senior Democrat on the US House Armed Services Committee, has become the sixth Democratic lawmaker to publicly say that Biden should step down.
“I think it’s become clear that he’s not the best person to carry the Democratic message,” he told CNN.
However, other senior Democrats expressed support for Biden.
“I made it clear publicly after the debate that day that I support President Joe Biden and the Democratic ticket. My position has not changed,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told CNN.
Parkinson’s rebuttal
Biden’s attack was an apparent attempt to allay growing concerns about his health following a June 27 debate against Republican Trump, whom he is trailing in the polls.
During the debate, Biden frequently lost his focus, stared blankly, and spoke at times incoherently and in a raspy voice. Biden attributed this to jet lag and a cold.
The White House has also felt the pressure and there were tense exchanges at a press conference on Monday.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre invoked “respect” even as reporters challenged her over her refusal to confirm reports that the Parkinson’s specialist had visited the White House eight times.
The visit by Kevin Cannard, a neurologist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where Biden receives his medical exams, was recorded in a publicly available visitor log.
“Has the president been treated for Parkinson’s disease? No. Is he being treated for Parkinson’s disease? No, no. Is he on medication for Parkinson’s disease? No,” Jean-Pierre said.
On Monday night, the White House released a letter from Biden’s personal physician, Kevin O’Connor, in which he stressed that the president has not seen a neurologist other than his three annual medical checkups.
The White House also denied reports that NATO allies attending the 75th anniversary summit held in Washington this week had expressed concerns about Biden.
“We’re not getting any indications of that kind from our partners,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
But NATO leaders are seeking reassurances in any case amid polls predicting a Trump victory in November.
The former president has long criticized the defense alliance, praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, and insisted he could quickly end the war in Ukraine.
‘all in’
The NATO summit begins on Tuesday, the same day Democrats, returning to Capitol Hill after a brief recess, will hold a caucus meeting where Biden’s fate will be discussed.
The Democrat trails Trump in most polls, though his rival was recently convicted of a felony for allegedly raising money to silence a porn star.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
