image source, Good pictures
- author, Madeline Halbert & Prajesh Upadhyay
- stock, BBC News, New York & Washington
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When Joe Biden took the stage at a rally in Detroit, Michigan on Friday evening, one of the most raucous crowds seen at any event for a US president in recent years chanted: “You don’t leave!”
The Democratic candidate said, “I’m running! I’m going to win!”
As he left the stage, the strains of Tom Petty’s hit I Won’t Back Down washed over the high school gymnasium, an implicit rebuke to the growing list of elected members of his party who advised him to step aside amid concerns about his age.
But Mr. Biden has a long list of Democrats sticking around for all the headlines dominated by the latest politician, donor or liberal actor.
At least 80 Democratic politicians have publicly endorsed the 81-year-old, and more are joining them as he insists he’s going nowhere.
For many, her political record, her policies, and her 2020 victory over Donald Trump will outweigh the damage of any debate or public appearance or health scare in the new four-year term.
At Mr Biden’s first solo news conference of the year on Thursday, he gave detailed answers about NATO and his plans for a second term, but many headlines focused on his reference to his running mate, Kamala Harris, as “Vice President Trump”. .
His allies — for now, at least — praised the troubled commander’s performance, which was watched live by more than 23 million people, a bigger audience than this year’s Oscars.
“I thought he showed a real command of foreign policy, really extraordinary,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper told reporters Friday. I don’t think Donald Trump can talk about foreign policy for a minute.
The California governor, who has been touted as a possible successor, told CBS that Mr Biden had “everyone” and that there was “no daylight” between them.
Brendan Boyle, a congressman from Pennsylvania, said Mr Biden “knows a million times more about policy” than the “criminal” Trump.
Experts say these politicians have several reasons for their support, including Mr. Biden’s record in office, his victory over Trump in 2020 and the gamble of fielding a new candidate so close to the November election.
“The president has made it clear that he wants to continue to run, and I think people really respect that,” said Simon Rosenberg, a Democratic strategist.
“It’s also true that in our system, it’s difficult and unprecedented to change a presidential candidate this late, so there’s tremendous reluctance to make a major change.”
He added that there was a “healthy debate” about who the candidate should be.
However, several groups have said Mr Biden should be the nominee, including the roughly 40-member Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the 60-member Congressional Black Caucus, which Mr Biden met with earlier this week.
Ameshia Gross, a former Obama campaign adviser, said the black caucus and many black voters see Mr Biden as a president committed to civil rights, unlike his rival Trump.
“They understand what’s at stake with a Donald J. Trump presidency,” he said. “This is DEI — who stood up for diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.”
Mr Biden has received public support from several politicians on the left, including New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Ms. Gross said many are aware of the risks a Trump presidency poses to civil and LGBTQ rights and climate change.
“These are things that are important to the progressive left, and the president has really worked on those things,” he said.
To date, most of Mr. Biden’s support has come from politicians running for re-election in reliably Democratic districts, rather than from those worried that Mr. Biden will harm their own electoral chances in tougher seats.
Mr Rosenberg said the White House should “respect their concerns and address them more aggressively”.
Amid growing calls for Mr Biden to drop out of the race, a recent poll suggests he has not lost much voter support.
The Biden campaign cited a survey from the Washington Post, ABC News and Ipsos Published this week, which, like pre-debate poll results, show him and Trump in a dead heat. But the poll found that two-thirds of Americans want Mr Biden to step aside.
The president has also lost favor with some among the Hollywood elite. Actress Ashley Judd called on Mr Biden to step down in a USA Today op-ed on Friday, saying the party needed a “stronger” candidate. His article followed George Clooney’s more scathing comment this week about Mr Biden.
Whitney Tilson, a long-time Democrat donor, told the BBC on Friday that she was increasingly confident that Mr Biden would go through. Other Democratic donors to Future Forward, a pro-Biden fundraising group, have put $90m (£69m) worth of pledges on hold until he leaves, the New York Times reported.
However, other top donors are sticking by the president.
image source, Good pictures
Shekhar Narasimhan, who has been running fundraisers for Democrats for more than two decades, said there is no change in his plans.
“Our eyes can see what is happening, our ears can hear what is being said, but we are keeping our heads down to do the work,” said Mr Narasimhan, founder of Asian American Pacific Islander Success Fund Super-PAC.
“It is the President’s decision whether he wants to run or not, we will go with whatever he decides,” he said. “But it’s better to end this discussion soon.”
He said his support for Mr Biden came from the hope that he would win.
“This election will be decided by a total of more than 50,000 votes in three states — Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — and we have the ground and the infrastructure to win there,” he said.
Frank Islam, who sits on the national fundraising committee, said he plans to hold a fundraiser at his Maryland home later this month. “I’m going full steam ahead because I know him [Mr Biden] will win,” he said.
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