President Biden on Friday criticized former President Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention, calling it a “dark vision for the future,” and reaffirmed his intention to stay in the 2024 race.
“Last night the American people saw the same Donald Trump they rejected four years ago. For over 90 minutes, he focused on his grievances, with no plan to unite us and no plan to make life better for working people,” Biden said in a statement.
Biden’s team remained steadfast on Friday, insisting that he is not dropping out
Biden reiterated his confidence in defeating Trump again in November, despite increasing calls from within his party for him to step down from the Democratic ticket. On Friday, Sen. Martin Heinrich (N.M.) became the third Democratic senator to urge Biden to step aside, and four House Democrats issued a joint statement calling for the president to end his reelection bid.
“Donald Trump’s dark vision for the future is not who we are as Americans. Together, as a party and as a country, we can and will defeat him at the ballot box,” Biden said.
“I look forward to getting back on the campaign trail next week to continue exposing the threat of Donald Trump’s Project 2025 agenda while making the case for my own record and the vision that I have for America: one where we save our democracy, protect our rights and freedoms and create opportunity for everyone,” he added.
After testing positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday while campaigning in Las Vegas, Biden has been isolating at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Del. The president also pointed out that Trump “avoided mentioning his Project 2025 agenda, but still proudly flaunted the worst of MAGA extremism,” mirroring the response from his campaign chair, Jen O’Malley Dillon, to Trump’s RNC speech on Thursday night.
O’Malley Dillon noted that Trump “failed to mention Project 2025 even once.” The Biden campaign has worked to link the former president to the controversial conservative policy blueprint from the Heritage Foundation, which Trump and his team have tried to distance themselves from. Biden’s team remained steadfast on Friday, insisting that he is not dropping out despite swirling reports of an imminent announcement to step aside.
