California Gov. Gavin Newsom responded to concerns surrounding President Joe Biden’s debate performance on Thursday night, saying he “would never turn my back” on the president.
While speaking to reporters at the CNN headquarters on Thursday, the Democrat governor dismissed a question about whether President Biden would step down or be replaced by another Democrat for the 2024 presidential race.
“I will never turn my back on President Biden. Never turn my back on President Biden, I don’t know a Democrat in my party that would do so,” Mr. Newsom said when asked about other top Democrats possibly replacing him.
The governor had been considered by some in the media as a possible presidential candidate.
A reporter shouted to Mr. Newsom, “Governor, are you ready to replace Joe Biden if you’re asked?” He responded, saying he was “very proud of the president.”
“So from my humble perspective, this is not about style. This is about delivering results for the American people,” Mr. Newsom said.
“You don’t turn your back because of one performance,“ he said. ”What kind of party does that?” According to Mr. Newsom, President Biden “has delivered” and “we need to deliver for him at this moment.”
President Biden has faced questions about his age and health since he took office in early 2021, with a number of polls suggesting that a majority of Americans view him as too old to perform his duties as president.
But after Thursday night, some Democrats and media pundits openly suggested that the president step down and have another Democrat take his place.
Vice President Kamala Harris, meanwhile, said after the debate that she believed President Biden started slow but ultimately “finished strong.”
“It was a slow start. That’s obvious to everyone. I’m not going to debate that point,” the vice president said in an interview with CNN after the debate. “I’m talking about the choice for November. I’m talking about one of the most important elections in our collective lifetime.”
As she acknowledged the president’s uneven performance, Ms. Harris highlighted certain comments made by former President Donald Trump, namely about the Jan. 6 Capitol breach and his comments about the forthcoming election.
“I got the point that you’re making about a one-and-a-half-hour debate tonight. I’m talking about three and a half years of performance in work that has been historic,” she said in a tense exchange with CNN anchor Anderson Cooper.
Ms. Harris continued: “The Joe Biden that I work with every day is someone who, as I have said, has performed in a way that has been about bringing people into the Oval Office, Republicans and Democrats, to compromise in a way that is extraordinary these days.”
As for former President Trump, his surrogates on social media, including campaign staffers, proclaimed that he won the debate.
“President Trump emerges from the stage victorious,” Trump political director James Blair wrote on X, formerly called Twitter. Chris LaCivita, the former president’s senior adviser, called it “the most lopsided win in debate history.”
Thursday’s debate occurred before both President Biden and former President Trump are slated to be formally nominated by their respective parties. The Republican National Convention is slated to be held on July 15, while the Democratic National Convention will convene on Aug. 19.
The next debate is scheduled for September, with ABC News hosting the event.
