'I'll beat him again': President Biden defiantly vows to stay in race at Madison rally
MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- For the sixth time in a little more than six months, President Joe Biden visited Wisconsin. This time, however, the mood was different as the president's Friday rally at a Madison middle school sought to shore up support in this critical swing state after a debate performance that left even Democrats questioning Mr. Biden's fitness to serve a second term.
President Biden took the stage in a crowded gymnasium at Sherman Middle School the Wisconsin's most liberal city, where massive turnout is one of the biggest ingredients in any Democratic statewide election win.
The Biden campaign has sought to reassure supporters in the eight days since the first presidential debate, when the president at times struggled to complete sentences and finish thoughts before time ran out.
During an 18-minute speech, Mr. Biden had several high-energy moments. There were also times his words mashed together, or his voice became soft, in a way that made it difficult to understand what he was saying.
The president directly addressed his debate performance, telling the crowd, "I can't say it was my best day."
Mr. Biden then acknowledged the talks of top Democratic donors considering a push to remove him as the party's presidential nominee. He defiantly stated he would remain at the top of the ticket and win re-election in November.
"Well, guess what? They're trying to push me out of the race. Let me say this as clear as I can: I'm staying in the race! I'll beat Donald Trump. I'll beat him again in 2020," Mr. Biden said in an apparent gaffe. "By the way, we're gonna do it again in 2024."
While the president touched on several key issues, such as abortion, health care, child care and guns, his remarks had a clear theme: Democracy is at stake in this election, and returning former president Donald Trump to the White House would lead to an unpreceded presidential power grab in the wake of a Supreme Court opinion granting immunity for "official acts."
"For over two centuries, America's been a free democratic nation," Mr. Biden said. "And I'll be damned if the year 2024, just two years before our 250th anniversary as a nation, I'll let Donald Trump take this away."
Among the supporters who crowded into the school, Howard Rosen said he felt questions about the president's faculties were valid, but the Madison resident said he believed voters should be far more worried about Trump, and whether he would severly undermine American democracy should he return to the White House.
"I think there's legitimate concern, but I don't see the balance," Rosen said. "I don't see the concern that Republicans, or anyone on the other side, has for what Trump has been saying about the world, what he would do, the lies and everything else."
On a virtual press call Friday morning, GOP Senate candidate Eric Hovde, Congressman Bryan Steil and Republican Party of Wisconsin Chairman Brian Schimming singled out candidates who did not appear with Mr. Biden in Madison.
Gov. Tony Evers spoke at the Friday rally two days after being the only Democratic governor to not join a Wednesday evening call with Mr. Biden to discuss his future as the party's presidential nominee.
Evers told supporters, "the future of democracy runs right through the great state of Wisconsin."
Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Peter Barca, former state revenue secretary who's challenging Steil for a seat in Congress, did not appear Friday.
Schimming derided a reported $50 million ad purchase for July by the Biden campaign as "the most expensive Band-Aid."
Baldwin's campaign spokesperson pointed to Baldwin's comments in a Capital Times article reaffirming her support of Mr. Biden and said Baldwin was instead committed to a previously announced series of campaign stops elsewhere in the state as she seeks to fend off Hovde and win a third term in the Senate.