White House defends Biden amid growing chorus of dissent

The White House has dismissed calls for Joe Biden to abandon his re-election bid as his popularity continues to fall, despite Democrats’ strong performance in state elections.

US President Joe Biden. Picture: Jim Watson / AFP

The White House is rejecting calls for President Biden to drop out of the race for a second term after a string of dismal polls indicated him heading towards defeat against Donald Trump next year.

With Biden’s approval rating continuing to fall one year from polling day, a growing number of Democratic voices are urging the president to abandon his re-election bid. Despite a strong performance for Democrats in state elections this week, many within the party fear that the president is sleepwalking to defeat as Trump extends his lead in the polls.

Tim Ryan, a former Democratic congressman, said this week that it was “the right thing to do” for the country for Biden to drop out.

“I love Joe Biden. He’s done a great service to this country. He saved this country by beating Donald Trump. But now it’s time for us to just take the next step,” Ryan told CNN.

With a grim fatalism gripping the party his is not the only voice to have broken ranks, calling on Biden, who turns 81 this month, to step aside for a younger candidate.

Ryan’s comments followed similar remarks by David Axelrod, a White House adviser to President Obama. After recent polls showed Biden losing to Trump in five of the six battleground states that are expected to decide the race for the White House, Axelrod urged the president to reconsider.

“If he continues to run, he will be the nominee of the Democratic Party,” Axelrod tweeted. “What he needs to decide is whether that is wise; whether it’s in HIS best interest or the country’s?”

Only @JoeBiden can make this decision. If he continues to run, he will be the nominee of the Democratic Party. What he needs to decide is whether that is wise; whether it's in HIS best interest or the country's?

— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) November 5, 2023

Biden has made it clear that he intends to run, however, and faces no serious challenge for the nomination. Dean Phillips, a little-known Minnesota congressman, launched a primary challenge last month, warning that “it looks like on our current course, the Democrats will lose and Trump will be our president again.”

A CNN poll released on Tuesday evening, as voting closed in state elections, was the latest to make glum reading for the White House. The survey showed Trump extending his lead over Biden in a hypothetical 2024 race. The former president and Republican frontrunner led by 49 per cent to Biden’s 45 per cent, widening the gap from a virtual dead heat (47 per cent to 46) in the same poll in late-August.

A CNN poll released on Tuesday showed Trump extending his lead over Biden in a hypothetical 2024 race. Picture: AFP

Biden’s 39 per cent approval rating in the CNN poll is the lowest of any president a year from an election since Jimmy Carter in 1979 and worse than Trump’s in 2019. Both slumped to defeat the following year. Most troubling for Democrats was evidence that the coalition of voters which carried Biden to victory in 2020 is fracturing, with black and Latino voters deserting him.

To the horror of party strategists, Biden is still getting no credit from voters for achievements that they consider to be his greatest assets. Despite his efforts to unite US allies in support of Ukraine and his staunch backing for Israel over the past month, only 36 per cent of voters felt that Biden had been an effective world leader, compared with 48 per cent for Trump.

Looming over every poll for months has been the persistent doubt about Biden’s age. The CNN poll found that only a quarter of Americans believe Biden has the stamina and sharpness to serve effectively as president, compared with 53 per cent for Trump, who is only three years younger.

The White House has pushed back against the growing panic, pointing to Tuesday’s results as evidence that Biden’s agenda still resonates with voters. Democrats and abortion rights campaigners won a series of high-profile victories in Republican strongholds.

The Times