President Joe Biden has “zero interest in stepping aside” following his disastrous first debate against Donald Trump in Georgia last week, RadarOnline.com has learned.
In the latest development to come after Biden, 81, disappointed Democrats with his less-than-mediocre performance on the debate stage in Atlanta on Thursday night, sources close to the embattled president insisted that Biden would not withdraw from the 2024 race for the White House.
Instead, President Biden and his closest advisors plan to “charge ahead” and stay in the race with just four months left before election day on November 5.
“They're all-in, and want him to stay in,” one source close to Biden’s campaign told Axios on Monday morning.
While some Democratic insiders blamed Biden’s staffers for the president’s abysmal debate performance last week, Biden himself refused to condemn those who prepped him for the important night.
“The aides who prepped the president have been with him for years, often decades, seeing him through victories and challenges,” campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz told Axios. “He maintains strong confidence in them.”
“In 38 years of working with Joe Biden, we've had many successes and some failures,” former chief of staff Ron Klain, who led the president’s prep team, added. “I'm always happy to share in the good results and assume my share of the responsibility for the times we've come up short.”
Meanwhile, Biden reportedly refused to withdraw from the 2024 race for the White House and emphasized that nervous Democrats “don’t get to decide” who the party’s nominee should be.
Although President Biden created newfound concerns with his performance at the first presidential debate last week, he still won the Democratic primaries overwhelmingly.
“You guys don't get to decide,” an insider close to Biden’s campaign said regarding skeptical Democrats. “That's not how this works. We don't have smoke-filled rooms.”
“They just have to cool down,” the source added. “We live in a democracy, at least for now.”
As RadarOnline.com reported, President Biden faced increasing calls to end his re-election bid in the wake of the first presidential debate in Atlanta on Thursday night.
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Some Democrats called for an open convention, while others speculated about who could convince the president to step aside.
“I’m on a lot of chains of people gaming out how Biden withdraws,” one former Obama official said after the debate. “Need open convention. He has to go.”
“The movement to convince Biden to not run is real,” a House Democrat echoed.
But at least one Democrat dismissed the talk about Biden being replaced on the 2024 ticket – although that Democratic also acknowledged the concerns brought on by the president’s disastrous debate performance.
“First, it was a pretty shocking performance by Biden, obviously,” that insider admitted. “And any thoughtful person has to ask themself: Should this man be leader of the free world for another 7 months, let alone 55?”
“But he’s not going to step aside and there is no clear process for replacing him,” the insider added. “So, we’ll have a few days of frenzy. Then everyone will realize the main contours of the race haven’t really changed.”