Biden campaigns in Michigan and promises to stay in the presidential race
President Joe Biden will return to Michigan on Friday to recover from his first debate of 2024 against Republican Donald Trump, according to two sources familiar with the plans.
Biden, the incumbent Democrat, will visit Detroit, according to the sources, who asked not to be identified because they were not yet authorized to speak publicly about the campaign stop.
It is Biden’s fourth trip to Michigan this year and comes 116 days before the presidential election on November 5. Four years ago, Biden defeated then-President Trump in Michigan by 154,000 votes, or 3 percentage points (51% to 48%).
But Biden’s campaign has been in turmoil since the June 27 debate, during which he gave a series of rambling and confusing answers, including at one point saying, “We finally beat Medicare.”
The 81-year-old’s result prompted some pundits and politicians to call on him to step down and allow Democrats to nominate someone other than their nominee to run against Trump in the fall. Biden has rejected their calls and claimed he will win the election.
“I will not allow a 90-minute debate to undo three and a half years of work,” Biden tweeted on Friday. “I am staying in the race and I will beat Donald Trump.”
On Saturday, he posted: “I beat Trump in 2020. And I will beat him again in 2024.”
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Biden was in Wisconsin on Friday, he is visiting Pennsylvania on Sunday and he will be back in Michigan next Friday. Together, the three states helped Biden win in 2020 and will have 44 electoral votes in 2024.
Biden was interviewed by ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos in Wisconsin on Friday.
“I’ve convinced myself of two things: I’m the best qualified person to beat him, and I know how to get things done,” Biden said of Trump during the interview.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and California Governor Gavin Newsom, both of whom could be future Democratic presidential candidates, have continued to voice their support for Biden. Newsom campaigned for Biden in Michigan on Thursday.
“Joe Biden is our president,” Newsom said during a stop in South Haven. “He said he’s all in. I doubled down and said I’m all in. And not only that, I’m here with you to prove it.”
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Trump’s last trip to Michigan was on June 15, when he spoke at a Detroit church and a convention of conservative activists. Trump attacked Biden in a post on the social media platform Truth Social Friday.
“The fraudulent Joe Biden should ignore his many critics and move forward with his powerful and far-reaching campaign with zeal and vigor,” Trump wrote.
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