"I am not going anywhere."
President Joe Biden is making clear that he will not be pushed aside by Democrats who fear his disastrous debate performance and advanced age could doom his reelection hopes.
After a catastrophic week following the debate against ex-President Donald Trump, the president is finally fighting back — even if he's not yet taking the kind of aggressive steps and exposing himself to spontaneous and unscripted situations that even his strongest supporters want to see.
On Monday morning, Biden called into his favorite morning news show on MSNBC to insist that he is the best, and the only, Democrat who can prevent Trump from returning to the Oval Office.
"I've not lost. And I haven't lost. I beat him last time. I'll beat him this time," the president said. Biden also appeared to echo the famous "I Alone Can Fix It" line uttered by Trump during the 2016 campaign.
"The rest of the world is looking — our allies are looking for US leadership. Who else — who else do you think could step in here and do this?"
Biden also sent a letter to congressional Democrats on Monday morning, which gave notice that he's done talking about the debate, his cognitive condition and whether he'll stay on the ticket.
The president's proud and obdurate attitude is underscoring that any attempts by Democratic lawmakers to try to push him aside in favor of an alternative nominee would cause an ugly scene. And since the president has the votes of millions of Democrats and sufficient convention delegates to claim the nomination, no one can make him go away.
So far, at least six House Democrats have publicly called on the president to step aside as the party's nominee, but many more have privately expressed disquiet about his fitness to serve a second term that would end when he's 86.
But Biden is getting strong support from the Congressional Black Caucus. Black voters were critical to the president winning the Democratic nomination in 2020 and his victory over Trump four years ago.
But that doesn't mean the concern has dissipated. A senior Democratic senator, Patty Murray of Washington state, issued an exceedingly strong statement on Monday evening, calling on the president to do far more to prove he's up to the job.
"We need to see a much more forceful and energetic candidate on the campaign trail in the very near future in order for him to convince voters he is up to the job. At this critical time for our country, President Biden must seriously consider the best way to preserve his incredible legacy and secure it for the future."
But Biden is clearly trying to run out the clock. If he can make it through the NATO summit this week in Washington without any more disasters, attention will start to turn toward next week's Republican National Convention in Milwaukee and Trump's announcement of his vice presidential pick.
Then, Democrats will effectively be stuck with a candidate who will be 82 a few weeks after the election, who is currently losing to Trump, and who super majorities of Americans tell pollsters is too old to be president.
No wonder Republicans are confident.
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