Biden uses Michigan trip to push forward the sprint to the “blue wall” and continues to promote his candidacy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Four years ago, candidate Joe Biden stood before his supporters at a Detroit high school, flanked by Kamala Harris and other rising Democratic stars, and described himself as a bridge to the next generation of leaders.

Biden, now seeking re-election as president, returns to town on Friday, and many in his party are now calling on him to fulfill that very promise and resign. But Biden remains defiant, insisting he will stay in the race, despite a catastrophic debate performance This triggered a wave of calls for him to withdraw his candidacy.

During a Press conference on ThursdayWhen asked why he no longer sees himself as a “bridge” to the next generation of leaders, Biden replied: “What has changed is the gravity of the situation that I inherited on the economy, on foreign policy and on the domestic divide.”

“We’ve never seen this before,” Biden continued. “And that’s the other reason, you say, why I haven’t handed over to another generation. I have to finish the job.”

In the two weeks since his debate debacle, Biden and his team have tried tirelessly to convince anxious lawmakers, nervous donors and a skeptical electorate that he can still be president at age 81. But a series of trips to swing states, interviews with journalists and a rare solo news conference have done little to dampen anxiety within the party about Biden’s candidacy and his prospects against Donald Trump in November.

So far, one Democratic senator and 16 Democrats in the House have publicly called on Biden to resign. The latest comments — from Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, California Rep. Scott Peters and Illinois Rep. Eric Sorensen — came as the president’s highly anticipated press conference wrapped up Thursday night. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, has suggested that Biden has yet to make a decision on whether to run, though the president has made clear he is still in the race.

Meanwhile, his re-election campaign team indirectly acknowledged that Biden’s path to the White House was becoming increasingly narrow. They said the so-called “blue wall” of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania was now the “clearest path” to victory, even if other swing states such as Arizona and Nevada were not out of reach.

That strategy is reflected in how Biden is doubling down on his efforts in Midwestern states, traveling to Detroit nearly a week after campaigning in Madison, Wisconsin, Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Generating enthusiasm in Detroit and among its sizable black population could be critical to Biden’s chances of winning Michigan, which Biden recaptured in 2020 after Donald Trump won it by just over 10,000 votes four years earlier.

But at a critical time when Biden needs to consolidate support, key Democratic leaders in the state will be absent from Friday’s event, where Biden plans to speak about the Project 2025 agenda, a Major planned overhaul of the federal government, written by longtime allies and former Trump administration officials.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is co-chair of Biden’s campaign team, will not be in the state. Sen. Gary Peters, a staunch Biden supporter, and Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who is vying for Michigan’s vacant Senate seat, will also not be in attendance. Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers union, which Biden actively courted during last year’s strikes and which met with him and other union leaders on Wednesday, is traveling to a conference.

Meanwhile, Rep. Hillary Scholten, who is running for re-election in a swing district in western Michigan, joined a growing list of national Democrats who have called on Biden to step aside in favor of another candidate.

“Given the challenges our country faces in 2025 and beyond, it is crucial that we have the strongest possible candidate at the top of the electoral list – not only to win, but also to govern,” Scholten said in a statement on Thursday.

But Biden continues to enjoy support in a swing state he won by nearly 3 percentage points in 2020. Michigan Reps. Debbie Dingell, Haley Stevens, Shri Thanedar and AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler will all attend the Detroit event, which will be Biden’s fourth trip to the state this year. Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer is also scheduled to attend. And more than a dozen Detroit-area legislators signed a joint letter on Thursday “to express our unwavering support for President Joe Biden.”

“As the Detroit Caucus, we are committed to mobilizing our communities, raising awareness and advocating for policies that benefit Black Michiganders,” the state lawmakers wrote in the letter. “We encourage all of our members and allies to join us in supporting President Biden and Vice President Harris.”

As he returns to Michigan, Biden hopes to rekindle the energy he felt during his March 2020 appearance at Renaissance High School in Detroit, where Biden held hands with Harris, Whitmer and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker.

“I see myself as a bridge, not anything else,” Biden said. “I have a whole generation of leaders behind me. They are the future of this country.”

In 2016, Trump won Michigan by a narrow margin, partly due to lower voter turnout in predominantly black areas like Detroit’s Wayne County, where Hillary Clinton received far fewer votes than Barack Obama in previous elections.

Biden was able to regain much of that support four years ago when he defeated Trump in Michigan by 154,000 votes, but he still has a lot of work to do. Detroit, whose population is nearly 78 percent black, saw a 12 percent turnout in the Feb. 27 primary, nearly half the state’s overall turnout of 23 percent.

Key parts of Biden’s coalition in Michigan are also angry about the Israeli offensive following the October 7 Hamas attack. Michigan has the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the country, which led to over 100,000 people voting “undecided” in Michigan’s February Democratic primary.

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Cappelletti reported from Lansing, Michigan.