President Biden has vowed to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race if polls show he has no chance of winning, after saying just a week ago it would take “Almighty God” to make him withdraw.
The 81-year-old president has faced growing calls from members of his own party to step aside amid concerns he lacks the physical and mental strength to defeat former President Donald Trump and serve another four years in office.
Biden sought to allay those concerns while answering reporters’ questions during an hour-long press conference on Thursday night. The briefing came just after a NATO summit in Washington, DC, but media questions were focused primarily on Biden’s reelection.
One reporter asked the president whether he would reconsider continuing in the campaign if his team presented data showing Vice President Kamala Harris doing better than him against Trump.
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President Biden speaks to reporters during the NATO Summit in Washington, DC, Thursday, July 11, 2024. (Getty Images)
“No,” Biden said, “unless they come back and say, ‘I have no chance of winning.’
“No one would say that. The polls don’t say that,” the president added in his trademark whisper.
But about a week ago, last Friday, he told ABC News host George Stephanopoulos that his political fate rested on the gods, not on data.
Asked whether he would withdraw if his allies convinced him he couldn’t beat Trump, Biden said, “It depends on whether God almighty comes down and tells me. I might.”
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President Biden’s press conference came after an interview with ABC News last Friday. (Screenshot/ABC)
Pressed again, he insisted, “Look, if the Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get out of the race,’ I’d get out of the race. Because the Almighty isn’t coming down.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Biden campaign for comment.
new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll The poll, released Friday morning, showed Biden leading Trump by two points in head-to-head contests, but Trump beating Biden by one percentage point when third-party options were considered — both results are within the poll’s 3.1 percentage point margin of error.
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President Biden (right) is facing calls to give up on reelection following his performance at the CNN presidential debate. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Several Biden allies praised Biden’s performance at the Thursday night press conference, arguing that he demonstrated confidence and a clear sense of foreign policy experience. “I think he’s convinced a lot of people that they should continue the campaign,” Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
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But it was too late for others: Three more House Democrats, including Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, called on Biden to resign after the press conference.
As of Friday morning, 20 Democrats had publicly called on Biden to withdraw.
