MADISON, Wis. — Facing more pressure from fellow Democrats in the House of Representatives and potentially the U.S. Senate to let another Democrat become the party’s nominee ahead of November, President Joe Biden traveled to Madison on Friday to shore up his support and press forward with his campaign.
“There’s been a lot of speculation. ‘What’s Joe going to do? Is he going to stay in the race? Is he going to drop out? What’s he going to do?’” Biden said Friday. “Well, here’s my answer. I am running and I am going to win again.”
The president said he won’t let his debate performance overshadow the work he’s done during his first term. He also addressed any concerns about his age.
“I wasn’t too old to create over 15 million new jobs,” Biden said. “To make sure 21 million Americans are insured under the Affordable Care Act.”
Biden said if reelected, his priorities would be to restore abortion access nationwide, ban assault weapons, protect social security and Medicare and advocate for child care for working families.
He said those issues would fall to the wayside if Donald Trump were elected president.
“The former secretaries of defense and even his own vice president refused to endorse him,” Biden said. “That says a lot about who Trump is and says a lot about what he isn’t.”
Biden cited Trump’s desire to cut taxes for the wealthy and his lack of action on gun control. He also criticized Trump’s stance on those who participated in the Jan. 6th riot.
“You can’t be pro-insurrectionists and pro-America at the same time,” Biden said.
In a press call earlier in the day Friday, Wisconsin Republicans criticized Biden as Senate candidate Eric Hovde called him “diminished.”
“We’re dealing with a very serious subject,” Hovde said. “The President of the United States is the most important position in the world. He has to make quick decisions that impact the fate of this country and potentially the world as a whole. He’s in control of the nuclear codes, so when we have a president that is clearly is diminished in capabilities, it is a very relevant issue and a very important issue.”
Biden said ultimately, the role of the president should go to someone of good character.
“It’s about honesty,” he said. “The president’s about decency, integrity. Do they respect people? Or do they incite violence and hate? Can they honor their oath to the constitution and uphold their oath of office?”