President Joe Biden appeared energetic as he rallied with supporters in Wisconsin on Friday and attempted to silence calls for him to get out of the presidential race.
Speaking to a crowd in Madison, President Biden acknowledged that last week’s debate wasn’t his best performance but stated emphatically, “I am running and going to win again.”
He added, “I’m not letting one 90-minute debate wipe out three-and-a-half years of work.”
The president went on to talk about issues he feels will energize his base, including protecting abortion rights, voting rights, and lowering the cost of prescription drugs.
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President Biden also tried to lay out why he is a better choice than his Republican counterpart, former President Donald Trump.
“Trump is a convicted felon, found guilty — 34 felonies,” President Biden said.
The president went on to lay out Trump’s other legal troubles, noting that he was found liable for sexual abuse.
“Ultimately, the presidency is about character,” President Biden said, also warning that Trump could become a dictator after the Supreme Court ruling that grants a president some level of immunity.
“For over two centuries, America’s been a free democratic nation, and I’ll be damned if in the year 2024, just two years before our 250th anniversary as a nation, I’ll let Donald Trump take this away,” President Biden said.
It’s unclear whether President Biden’s speech will silence his critics.
As of Friday, two House Democrats — Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett and Arizona Rep. Raúl Grijalva — had already called for the president to leave the race.
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