Biden vows to keep White House, undeterred by Democratic panic after debate disaster
President Biden ignored the chorus of Democratic officials and pundits who say he should step aside as the party's nominee after his widely panned debate performance and vowed to win North Carolina and the White House at a rally on Friday.
Democrats and liberal media figures are in reported "panic" after Biden stumbled over his words, gaped at TV cameras and sounded sick and tired during Thursday's presidential debate on CNN. But the president shrugged off his critics and focused his fire on former President Trump in front of an enthusiastic audience the next day in Raleigh.
"I know I'm not a young man … I don't debate as well as I used to," Biden told the crowd, "but I know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth."
Trump "set a new record for the most lies told in a single debate," the president claimed, delivering energetic and forceful attacks on Trump's record that were more muted on stage Thursday night in Atlanta.
Biden said Trump lied about his handling of the economy, the COVID-19 pandemic, health care for veterans and crime.
"On my watch, violent crime has hit a 50-year low," Biden said. "Then I pointed out that the only convicted felon on stage last night was Donald Trump. Well, I thought about his 34 felony convictions, his sexual assault on a woman in a public place. He's been fined $400 million for business fraud."
"I thought to myself, Donald Trump isn't just a convicted felon. Donald Trump is a one-man crime wave," he added, as the crowd began eager chants of "lock him up," referring to Trump.
After his face-to-face showdown with Trump in Atlanta, the 81-year-old Biden sought to reassure voters and members of his party that he's capable of being president amid intensified concerns about his age.
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Pundits declared Trump the winner of the debate based not on the strength of his answers but rather Biden's comparative weakness. The incumbent president spoke haltingly and at times appeared to lose his train of thought as he traded jabs with Trump over the economy and inflation, immigration and border security, abortion, the Jan. 6 2021 Capitol riot and other issues.
At one point in his answer to a question on the economy, Biden said "Excuse me, with, dealing with," before concluding with "we finally beat Medicare" as time ran out.
Trump immediately pounced: "That’s right, he did beat Medicaid, he beat it to death. And he’s destroying Medicare."
In another stand-out moment minutes later, after a rambling answer from Biden on immigration, Trump called out his opponent's incoherent speech.
"I really don’t know what he said on this, and I don’t think he knows what he said either," Trump said.
The optics led to a full-on meltdown in Democrat-friendly media, with journalists at various outlets reporting on dozens of Democratic Party officials who said Biden should consider refusing his party's nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.
Biden gave no indication he would do so at his rally in Raleigh, insisting that he is capable of beating Trump.
"I can do this job, because, quite frankly, the stakes are too high," Biden said. "Donald Trump is a genuine threat to this nation."
Biden has about four more months and a second debate — to be hosted by ABC News on Sept. 10 — to make his case against Trump before Americans head to the polls in November. Undeterred by his critics, he insisted in Raleigh that he will win both North Carolina and the White House.
"I know, like millions of Americans know, when you get knocked down, you get back up," he said.
Fox News Digital's Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.