Biden's Commitment to Stay in the Election Following Acknowledgment of Debate Failure

As reactions to Joe Biden's performance in his first debate with Donald Trump continue, the U.S. President acknowledged his failure in the debate on Friday while emphasizing that he will remain in the election. On the evening of June 27 (early July 8), the 82-year-old Democratic candidate and the 79-year-old Republican candidate faced each other again in the presidential race. This confrontation immediately sparked a wave of doubts regarding Biden's ability to govern the country for another four-year term. One of the notable issues in this debate was Biden's distraction. The U.S. President, who had a faint and hoarse voice from the start of the debate, often appeared with a blank and bewildered expression towards his opponent or stared blankly at the television cameras during Trump's remarks. Biden's performance in the debate was such that, according to media reports in the U.S., it 'terrified' Democrats, and whispers about the need to find a successor for him as the party's candidate began immediately. Hours later, in front of a crowd of his supporters in North Carolina, Biden directly addressed the issue and admitted that he had failed in the debate against Donald Trump. He acknowledged that he is no longer young and lacks youthful energy, stating, 'I no longer walk as easily as I used to, I no longer debate as well as I used to.' Biden continued, 'But I know how to speak the truth and I know how to handle this job [presidency].' A notable aspect of this debate was the baseless comments made by former President Donald Trump, who repeatedly claimed that he had no relationship with a porn actress, despite a New York court convicting him earlier this year for paying hush money to Stormy Daniels. Biden referred to Trump's unfounded statements in his speech, calling him 'a threat to democracy' and stating, 'I think he set a new record for the number of lies in a debate.' On Friday, July 8, a significant number of senior Democratic Party members defended Biden, emphasizing that one debate result should not be relied upon to predict the election winner. Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, two former presidents, and Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader in the House of Representatives, were among these senior Democrats. Simultaneously, CNN reported on Friday night that Biden's campaign members were busy contacting other senior Democrats and Biden's financial supporters in the challenging path to regain the presidency. In contrast, an editorial in the New York Times, a traditional and influential supporter of the Democratic Party, was described by some experts as a 'blow' to Biden's campaign. The newspaper called on Biden to withdraw from the campaign and allow another Democrat to compete against Trump. The New York Times stated, 'The greatest service Mr. Biden can do right now is to stop his campaign for re-election.'