Biden plans to campaign again

Washington, July 19

US President Joe Biden will return to the campaign trail next week, the head of his re-election campaign said on Friday, even as the Democratic incumbent faces growing calls to leave the race.

“He is absolutely in it,” Biden campaign chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillon told MSNBC in an interview, despite several Democratic officials telling Reuters earlier Friday that Biden’s upcoming campaign events had been cancelled.

O’Malley Dillon’s remarks come after several reports that Biden is now taking calls to step aside seriously. Several Democratic officials think an exit is a matter of time, Reuters reported on Thursday.

A Democratic Party committee will meet on Friday to discuss a virtual voting process to bring forward the official nomination of the 81-year-old to before the party’s in-person convention, starting August 19 in Chicago. It is unclear how the nominating process would unfold if Biden were to abandon his reelection bid. — Reuters