(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) Continuing to fend off criticism of his mental and physical decline—as well as his toxic politics in the wake of an assassination attempt on his top political rival, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump—President Joe Biden hinted for the first time about conditions under which he might withdraw from the 2024 race.
In an interview Tuesday with BET News reporter Ed Gordon, the 81-year-old president suggested health problems might force him to make an early exit.
“If there had some medical condition that emerged, if the doctors came to me and said you got this problem, that problem,” Biden told Gordon, according to RBC-Ukraine.
He then went on to explain that the reason he decided to run a second term was that he had made things too divisive and failed to get the job done in the first one, despite initially promising to bow out gracefully.
“Look, when I originally ran, you may remember Ed I said that I was going to be a transitional candidate,” Biden said. “I thought that I’d be able to move from this, just pass it on to someone else. … but I didn’t anticipate things getting so, so, so divided.”
While Biden has rarely been seen as the sharpest tool in the shed throughout his career, and seems to be fading cognitively in his twilight years, he suggested that the dire situation he had put the country in as a septuagenarian was one that only an octogenarian could solve due to the advanced intellect required.
“Quite frankly—and I think the only thing age brings a little bit of wisdom,” Biden said. “And I think I’ve demonstrated that I know how to get things done for the country, in spite of the fact that we couldn’t get it done,” he continued. “But there’s more to do, and I’m reluctant to walk away from that.”
Nonetheless, talk of his withdrawal comes not only with his support among fellow Democrats—and, most importantly, donors—continuing to wane, but also amid speculation that Biden may have suffered a serious medical condition recently while on a flight home from a fundraising trip.
Some reports indicated that Biden experienced a panic attack that resulted in an elevated heart rate.
Today, Joe Biden had what’s being described as a panic attack with tachycardia (HR was ~160) and he experienced a brief episode of AFib. He was given Metoprolol, plus a blood thinner by IV and oxygen by nasal cannula.
— Tony Seruga (@TonySeruga) July 6, 2024
Biden is known to suffer from sleep apnea and to use a CPAP machine to regulate his nightly breathing, as he sometimes has emerged from his mid-day naps with the strap impressions still on his face.
Just days after the reported Air Force One incident, further reports emerged that Biden had been visited eight times in eight months by a doctor specializing in Parkinson’s disease.
Truly incredible clip.
Jean-Pierre is asked over and over again why a Parkinson’s expert visited the White House multiple times.
She says she can’t answer for “security” and “privacy” reasons.
Literally the worst press secretary ever.
pic.twitter.com/7ZUKLSWH6t— Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 8, 2024
If Biden were to drop out, it would introduce an entirely new dynamic into a race in which all the momentum appears to be tilting in Trump’s favor, with a growing number of Democrats admitting publicly and privately that they’re “beyond f**ked” at the moment.
Some have called for an open convention when the party meets in Chicago in late August, while others suspect the only alternative moving forward may be Vice President Kamala Harris, with Biden’s name soon to be finalized on the ballot in some states.
Here is what happens if the DNC removes Biden from the ticket:
Both North Carolina and New Jersey allow the Democrat Party to withdraw their presidential candidate and replace him with a new nominee at anytime. If ballots have already printed votes for the withdrawn candidate…
— @amuse (@amuse) June 28, 2024
The timing for withdrawing before any ballots (including key battlegrounds Ohio, Wisconsin, Nevada and Georgia) might be impacted, if it hasn’t already passed, is fast approaching, raising the possibility that Biden might even take the opportunity to drop out this week, potentially upstaging Trump’s acceptance speech at the RNC convention on Thursday.
Ben Sellers is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/realbensellers.
