US President Joe Biden has made a forceful bid to quell anxieties over his unsteady showing in his debate with former President Donald Trump.
Biden’s halting delivery and meandering comments, particularly early in the debate, have fuelled concerns among members of his own party that at 81 he’s not up for the task of leading the country for another four years.
“I know I’m not a young man. State the obvious,” he told supporters at a rally in North Carolina.
“I don’t walk as easily as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to. But I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done. I know, like millions of Americans know, when you get knocked down you get back up.”
Speaking at the event in Raleigh for 18 minutes, Biden appeared far more animated than he did during Thursday night’s CNN debate.
He slammed Donald Trump for his “lies” and for running a campaign aimed at ‘revenge and retribution.”
“I would not be running again if I didn’t believe with all my heart and soul I can do this job because quite frankly the stakes are too high,” he said.
Biden’s performance in Thursday’s televised debate against Donald Trump left members of the Democratic party questioning whether he should be gunning for re-election.
The president spoke with a raspy voice and appeared to lose his train of thought as he attempted to answer a question on tax policy, ending his sentence referencing Medicare.
At other times, he pivoted to seemingly unrelated topics and failed to make his points come across.
Meanwhile, Trump appeared poised, even as he made repeated provocative and false statements.
As the debate went on, Trump himself stumbled over questions on how he would respect his oath of office following the January 6 attacks on the US Capitol.
Biden fired a set of criticisms against the former president calling him a “convicted felon” with the morals of an “alley cat”.
Trump was found guilty last month on 34 counts of falsifying business records over a hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016.
The candidates also spoke briefly about age, with Trump claiming he “aced” his cognitive tests before turning the conversation to golf, saying that Biden “couldn’t hit a ball 50 yards”.
Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged that Biden had a “slow start,” as several Democrats raised concerns over whether he was fit enough to beat Trump in the November elections.
