“NEVER COUNT JOSEPH OUT”
In Philadelphia, churchgoers at the Mt Airy Church of God in Christ gave Biden a rousing welcome. Bishop Louis Felton praised him as “a man of vision and integrity”.
The bishop, referring to Biden’s Republican challenger without naming him, chided those who “make an issue of the president – that he is conditioned with stammering and not being able at certain times to bring forth words – while another person lies fluidly and you never challenge his lies”.
“Never count Joseph out,” Felton thundered. “Go, Joseph, you can make it.”
Biden addressed the congregation for a little more than six minutes, saying, “We must unite America again. That’s what I’m going to do.”
Carla Greene, a resident of Philadelphia, said she hoped Biden felt the support, adding, “We believe he is the man for the job.”
In a Friday interview with ABC News, Biden said only the “Lord Almighty” could persuade him to drop out, dismissing the prospect that Democratic leaders could join forces to try to talk him into standing down.
A Democratic National Committee member from Florida, Alan Clendenin, joined calls urging Biden to step aside on Sunday.
“Joe Biden will be remembered by historians as one of the finest presidents in American history, but this election is about the next four years, not the last three and a half,” Clendenin said.
The DNC has steadfastly supported Biden since his debate stumbles so any defections could suggest a deepening of the crisis. DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said on Sunday that Biden remains the party’s nominee.
“The primary is over,” he said.
CRITICAL STATE
Biden stopped at a local campaign headquarters after church, telling supporters there, “Pennsylvania is a critically important state.”
Accompanying Biden, Democratic Senator John Fetterman bellowed, “There is only one person in the country that’s ever kicked Trump’s ass in an election and that is your president.”
Biden also met briefly with Pennsylvania’s Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro.
Pennsylvania is one of the half dozen or so states alongside Wisconsin and Michigan that can swing Democratic or Republican and are expected to determine the outcome of what has been a tight race.
Sunday’s trip – Biden’s 10th to Pennsylvania during the 2024 election campaign – is part of a July voter outreach blitz by the Democratic Party that includes a US$50 million media campaign aimed at events, such as the Olympics, and travel by the president, the first lady, Harris and her husband to multiple battleground states.
Pressure from Congress is expected to ramp up in the coming days as lawmakers return to Washington from a holiday recess and donors mull their willingness to keep funding Biden’s campaign.
Biden is also preparing to host dozens of world leaders at a NATO summit in Washington this week and hold a rare solo news conference.
Five US lawmakers have publicly called for Biden to end his reelection bid, including Representative Angie Craig of Minnesota, the first Democratic member of the House of Representatives from a battleground district, with others said to be poised to join in.
Two letters are circulating among House Democrats calling for Biden to step aside, House Democratic sources have said.
US Senator Mark Warner of Virginia invited fellow senators to a meeting on Monday to discuss Biden’s campaign.
Senator Bernie Sanders, 82, who has run for the Democratic nomination for president in the past, stood firmly in Biden’s camp on Sunday, saying Democrats’ focus should be on policy.
Source link : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/joe-biden-united-states-presidential-election-democrats-worried-pennsylvania-campaign-stops-4463981
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Publish date : 2024-07-07 20:43:00
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