By EFE
Jun 28, 2024, 2:17 PM EDT
Washington – US President Joe Biden held his first electoral rally this Friday after Thursday’s debate against former Republican president Donald Trump (2017-2021), in which his performance was highly questioned, and he stressed that he is qualified and that plans to win the November elections.
“I’m in North Carolina for a reason, because I intend to win this state in November. If we win here we win the elections,” he said at a time when voices are beginning to grow within his own party about the need to consider an alternative candidate.
In that mass meeting, where supporters constantly interrupted his speech in favor of four more years in power, Biden tried to calm the fear aroused in his ranks by defending his ability to hold office.
“I wouldn’t run again if I didn’t believe with all my heart and soul that I could do the job. There’s too much at stake,” he stressed.
The 81-year-old Democratic president admitted that he does not walk “as easily” as he used to, that he does not speak “as fluently” and that he does not debate as well as in the past. “But this is what I know. I know how to tell the truth. I know how to do my job. Obviously I know I’m not a young man.”
In his opinion, there is a clear choice in the elections on November 5: “Donald Trump will destroy democracy. I will defend it. (…) Are we going to let Trump attack our democracy again? I don’t think so.”
Biden took advantage of the opportunity to emphasize that in their face-to-face meeting on Thursday, which took place on the CNN studio set in Atlanta, the Republican politician “set a new record for lies in a single debate.”
“I spent 90 minutes debating with a guy who has the morals of a stray cat,” he stressed, repeating an expression also used the day before.
The president was accompanied by the first lady, Jill Biden. Wearing a black dress printed with the word “VOTE” in white, she was the first to defend her husband’s questioned performance on Thursday.
“Yesterday you saw Joe Biden, a president with integrity and character, who spoke the truth. Joe has helped heal our country and is helping us all recover from the chaos of the previous administration,” he concluded.
Biden has a six-point disadvantage against Trump in the average of polls in North Carolina and if the debate negatively affects the intention to vote for the Democrat, the margin would be an abyss in statistical terms.
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