DETROIT (WWJ) — During a Thursday night nationally televised press conference President Joe Biden defended his foreign and domestic policies, along with his 2024 candidacy amid calls to drop out of the race.
A night later he returned to the campaign trail, delivering a speech from Detroit Renaissance High School, where he again vowed to stay in the race.
“Folks, you probably noticed, a lot of speculation lately, what's Joe Biden going to do? Is he going to stay in the race? Is he going to drop out? Here's my answer: I am running! And we're gonna win,” Biden said Friday in Detroit.
Biden acknowledged the concerns over his age — which were strongly spurred on by a widely criticized debate performance late last month against former President Donald Trump — and his frequent fumbling of words.
“You may have noticed that since the debate, the press… they've been hammering me. I make a lot of mistakes,” Biden said. “They've been hammering me because I sometimes confuse names. I say that's ‘Charlie’ instead of ‘Bill.’”
“But guess what. Donald Trump has gotten a free pass,” noting some of the things Trump has said. “Rambling about — this is what he’s been talking about — Hannibal Lecter, he says he’s a nice guy. Donald Trump would rather be electrocuted than be eaten by a shark.”
"They would rather talk about how I mix up names. I guess they don't remember that Trump called Nikki Haley 'Nancy Pelosi,'" Biden said.
While Biden spent about a half hour railing against Trump and defending his own competency, he laid out some of his priorities for the first 100 days in what would be his second term: restoring Roe v. Wade, expanding and strengthening Social Security and Medicare and raising the federal minimum wage, among other things.
His attempt to re-energize his campaign comes as (at least a dozen) members of Congress -- including Michigan's Hillary Scholten -- have now called for him to drop out of the race.
Friday’s stop in Detroit was Biden’s fourth trip of the year to Michigan, once again a key battleground state in the 2024 election. Last fall Biden became the first sitting president to walk the picket lines when he joined striking UAW workers in Detroit.
"Remember what Donald Trump did when I was here walking the picket line? He gave a speech at a non-union shop,” Biden said Friday. “So if Trump comes here to tell you how great he is for the auto industry, remember this: when Trump was president, we lost 86,000 union jobs in the union. I created 275,000 auto jobs in America.”
Biden’s campaign earlier this week laid out what it sees as a path to keeping the White House, saying that winning the “blue wall” states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania is the “clearest pathway” to victory, according to The Associated Press.
Prior to speaking at Renaissance High School Friday, Biden made a stop at Garage Bar and Fuel Grill in Northville, where he spoke with a small crowd of supporters for about 15 minutes, according to a report from The Detroit News.
The 81-year-old president told supporters there because he wants to “finish the job” he started, according to the report.
“I know I’m only 41,” the then joked, according to the report. “We have real opportunities. Real opportunities. Got to finish the job. I promise you I am OK.”
Listen LIVE to continuing coverage of President Biden's visit to Detroit.
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