Hawaii governor says Biden could decide within days whether to stay in race
Biden faces reelection worries
After his performance at the first Presidential Debate of 2024, some Democrats are calling on President Joe Biden to drop out of the race in favor of a younger candidate. LiveNOW from FOX's Jeané Franseen speaks with Dr. Larry Walker, political analyst and professor at The University of Central Florida, on the effects this could have on the race.
President Joe Biden could make a decision within days whether to remain a candidate for reelection, Hawaii’s governor Josh Green told The Associated Press.
Gov. Green participated in a meeting with Biden and other Democratic governors earlier this week, and has known the president personally for years.
"I think the president stays in this race unless he feels that it is not winnable, or he feels that he has to hear other voices in his inner circle that he shouldn’t run," Green said. "If the president felt that he wasn’t up to it and truly not up to it, he would step down.
"We’ll probably know in the next couple of days how the president feels about all this," he said.
He added that he believes the president would designate Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him on the ticket if he decides not to run.
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Is Biden dropping out of the race?
President Biden has repeatedly insisted that he will remain in the race against his likely Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump.
But questions about the 81-year-old’s mental acuity have swirled since his disastrous debate performance last month.
Reports last week from New York Times, ABC News and TMZ, all citing anonymous sources, indicated Biden was weighing whether or not he should stay in the race.
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Joe Biden latest news
US First Lady Jill Biden (L) looks on as President Joe Biden speaks to supporters and volunteers during a campaign stop at a Biden-Harris campaign office in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on July 7, 2024. (Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
On Sunday, President Biden attended a Black church service in Pennsylvania, a critical swing state, where he urged supporters to stay unified and laughed off concerns about his age.
"I know I look 40," he joked, but "I’ve been doing this a long time."
"I, honest to God, have never been more optimistic about America’s future if we stick together," Biden said.
He didn’t use a teleprompter, which has become more common since his disastrous debate performance, but spoke from a prepared speech.
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The day prior, he joined a call with campaign surrogates and reiterated that he has no plans to leave the race.
Instead, the president pledged to campaign harder going forward and to hit the road more frequently, according to two people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
This story was reported from Detroit. The Associated Press contributed.