OCEANPORT, United States: US President Joe Biden attended a triple-header of campaign fundraisers Saturday, seeking to reassure high-dollar donors he can still win reelection in November despite a debate performance that sparked panic among many Democrats.
Accompanying him at the fundraisers in New York and New Jersey was First Lady Jill Biden, who has fiercely defended her 81-year-old husband amid calls for him to step aside.
“Joe isn’t just the right person for the job — he’s the only person for the job,” she told one gathering, which featured a-list actors Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick among the co-hosts.
The president is facing a wave of doubts following Thursday night’s debate against Republican rival Donald Trump, after he frequently stumbled over his words and lost his train of thought — exacerbating fears about his age and mental acuity.
Many political commentators called for Biden to stand down following the debate, including The New York Times editorial board.
The Washington Post’s editorial board meanwhile urged him to do some soul-searching over the weekend after his “calamitous” debate performance raised “legitimate questions about whether he’s up for another four years in the world’s toughest job.”
No high-ranking elected Democrat has yet joined the call, and former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton both publicly reiterated their backing on Friday.
Biden attempted to tamp down the nay-saying with a fiery campaign speech Friday in North Carolina in which he pledged to keep fighting.
“I don’t walk as easy as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to,” Biden admitted to supporters.
“But I know how to tell the truth. I know how to do this job,” he said to huge cheers, vowing “when you get knocked down, you get back up.”
Biden’s campaign has accepted that the debate did not go how they had hoped, but insists the neck-and-neck race against Trump has not been significantly altered.
Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, chairwoman of Biden’s campaign, said in a public memo Saturday that internal post-debate polling showed that “voters’ opinions were not changed.”
She said there had actually been a surge of support during and following the debate, with $27 million raised by Friday evening.
“I didn’t have a great night but neither did Trump,” Biden told one of the gatherings Saturday.
“I promise you we’re gonna win this election,” he added.
Later he and the first lady flew to neighboring New Jersey to attend a fundraiser with the state’s Democratic governor, Phil Murphy.
“I understand the concern after the debate,” Biden told the gathering. “I get it. I didn’t have a great night, but I’m going to be fighting harder,” he pledged.
Murphy told the crowd that Biden is “on fire and we are all with you 1,000 percent.”
Biden was later set to travel with his family to the Camp David presidential retreat, where he had spent the previous week preparing for the debate with close aides.
Biden reassures big-money donors after debate debacle
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Biden reassures big-money donors after debate debacle
- I didn’t have a great night but neither did Trump,” Biden told one of the gatherings
- Many political commentators have called for Biden to stand down following the debate
Danish intelligence report warns of US military threat under Trump
- “The strategic importance of the Arctic is rising as the conflict between Russia and the West intensifies,” said the report
- The findings and analyzes in the report echo a string of recent concerns, notably in Western Europe
COPENHAGEN: The United States is using its economic power to “assert its will” and threaten military force against friend and foe alike, a Danish intelligence agency said in a new report.
The Danish Defense Intelligence Service, in its latest annual assessment, said Washington’s greater assertiveness under the Trump administration also comes as China and Russia seek to diminish Western, especially American, influence.
Perhaps most sensitive to Denmark — a NATO and European Union member country, and a US ally — is growing competition between those great powers in the Arctic. US President Donald Trump has expressed a desire to see Greenland, a semiautonomous and mineral-rich territory of Denmark, become part of the United States, a move opposed by Russia and much of Europe.
“The strategic importance of the Arctic is rising as the conflict between Russia and the West intensifies, and the growing security and strategic focus on the Arctic by the United States will further accelerate these developments,” said the report, published Wednesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia is worried about NATO’s activities in the Arctic and will respond by strengthening its military capability in the polar region.
The findings and analyzes in the report echo a string of recent concerns, notably in Western Europe, about an increasingly go-it-alone approach by the United States, which under Trump’s second term has favored bilateral deals and partnerships at the expense of multilateral alliances like NATO.
“For many countries outside the West, it has become a viable option to forge strategic agreements with China rather than the United States,” read the report, which was written in Danish. “China and Russia, together with other like-minded states, are seeking to reduce Western – and particularly US – global influence.”
“At the same time, uncertainty has grown over how the United States will prioritize its resources in the future,” it added. “This gives regional powers greater room for maneuver, enabling them to choose between the United States and China or to strike a balance between the two.”
The Trump administration has raised concerns about respect for international law with its series of deadly strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean — part of a stepped-up pressure campaign against President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela.
Trump has also refused to rule out military force in Greenland, where the United States already has a military base.
“The United States is leveraging economic power, including threats of high tariffs, to assert its will, and the possibility of employing military force – even against allies – is no longer ruled out,” the report said.
