Biden expected to make decision about future in ‘next couple of days,’ Hawaii governor says

by Mike Brest Washington Examiner, July 7, 2024

President Joe Biden could determine his political future within the next couple of days, according to a Democratic governor.

The entire world is anxiously awaiting whether Biden decides to stay in the 2024 presidential race as the Democratic nominee or chooses to drop out and let someone replace him atop the ticket. Speculation has swirled about Biden’s candidacy following his presidential debate performance against former President Donald Trump, though the president has remained steadfast thus far in his candidacy.

“We’ll probably know in the next couple of days how the president feels about all this,” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green told the Associated Press on Saturday.

“I think the president stays in this race unless he feels that it is not winnable, or he feels that he has to hear other voices in his inner circle that he shouldn’t run,” Green said. “If the president felt that he wasn’t up to it and truly not up to it, he would step down."

Biden has long faced questions about his age and mental acuity following several gaffes and moments over a number of years, though his debate performance raised questions about the severity of his condition. He is the oldest sitting president in the country’s history, currently 81 years old. Biden will turn 82 a couple of weeks after the election and would serve until the age of 86 if he’s reelected.

His performance during the debate — frequently looking lost, losing his train of thought, and occasionally incoherent — highlighted those concerns about his fitness for office. A handful of House Democrats have called on him to step down, while a portion of the party has defended the president.

Another Biden ally, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said the president needs to prove to he’s still capable of handling the rigors of the presidency, and described this week as “really critical for him.”

“I think the president needs to do more,” Murphy said on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. “I’m not advising this campaign, but if I were, I would probably suggest that the president get out there and do a town hall, then you do a press conference.”

Green also threw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris if Biden ultimately decides to withdraw from the race. He said, “there are no credentials that are better than what the current vice president has.”