Biden says only 'Lord almighty' can convince him to drop out of presidential race, rejects low approval ratings

Emphasising his desire to continue his re-election bid, US President Joe Biden insisted that only “the Lord almighty” could persuade him to exit the 2024 US Presidential race. The remarks from the 81-year-old American Commander-in-Chief came in a make-or-break TV interview with ABC News which was aimed at quelling concerns about Biden’s age.

When asked why he wants to continue to run in the race against former US President Donald Trump, Biden said that he is more qualified to be the country’s president than his Republican rival.

“I’ll feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the goodest job as I know I can do, that’s what this is about,” the president averred. The interview which was published on Friday came at a critical time as the POTUS strives to salvage his imperilled re-election campaign after a disastrous performance from the debate.

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Biden remains defiant

While speaking to George Stephanopoulos in Madison, Wisconsin, after a fiery campaign rally, the embattled president remained defiant over the matter. “Look. I mean, if the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get outta the race,’ I’d get outta the race,” he said, his voice sounding strained after the rally. “The Lord Almighty’s not comin’ down.”

He insisted that Democratic leaders such as Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi and state governors continue to back his bid to the White House. When asked what was the reason behind Biden’s bad performance in the debate, the president called it a “bad episode”. “No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and – I had a bad night," he replied.

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The president went on to claim that he was sick before and during the debate. “I was sick. I was feeling terrible. Matter of fact, the docs are with me. I asked if they did a Covid test because they were trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, you know, a virus. I didn’t. I just had a really bad cold,” he furthered.

Biden also dodged the question of whether he would be willing to have an independent cognitive evaluation. “Look, I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I’ve had tests. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, I’m running the world. And that sounds like hyperbole but we are the essential nation in the world," the president remarked.

Biden will be at peace even if he loses

The American Commander-in-chief also indicated that he would be at peace if he lost to Trump. “I’ll feel, as long as I gave it my all, and I did as good a job as I know I can do, that’s what this is about,” the president responded when asked how would he feel if Trump won the election against him.

During the interview, Biden also denied that his approval rating could be as low as 36 per cent and the fact that Democrats wanted him to step aside.

With inputs from agencies.