Biden says he still thinks he can beat Donald Trump in November

President Joe Biden put on a confident front as he faces more calls to stand down from the 2024 presidential race amid questions over his fitness to compete for and serve out a second four-year term.

As he departed Washington for a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, on Friday, the 81-year-old chief executive was asked whether he still believes he can defeat his likely opponent, former president Donald Trump, in November’s general election.

“Yes,” Biden said, taking a pausing before he ascended a set of air-stairs to board Air Force One.

The president’s hastily-arranged travel to the Badger State capital comes on the same day he is set to participate in a make-or-break television interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopolous in a desperate effort to turn around flagging support for his candidacy among prominent Democratic donors and some officeholders.

In the days since his shambolic performance against Trump in the first debate between the two men since they last faced off during the 2020 election, a small but growing chorus of elected officials has said Biden’s best course of action to head off a defeat at Trump’s hands is to stand aside in favor of another candidate, most likely Vice President Kamala Harris.

Among those former surrogates and supporters who are now calling for Biden to step back is Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, who said in a statement on Friday the president “saved our democracy in 2020 and has done an outstanding job over the last four years.”

“The best way forward right now is a decision for the President to make. Over the coming days, l urge him to listen to the American people and carefully evaluate whether he remains our best hope to defeat Donald Trump,” she added.

Several members of Congress have also called for Biden to consider withdrawing his candidacy, and a growing number of top Democratic donors — including Disney heiress Abigail Disney and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman — have said the 46th president should take his name out of consideration as his party’s nominee, while threatening to withhold donations to Democratic candidates until he does.

To date, Biden has refused to even consider standing aside, and in a succession of public statements since the disastrous debate has said he is staying in the race.

But privately, he has told confidantes that he may yet have to bow to the pressure to pull out, though he still believes he can convince doubters with strong performances in his Friday television interview, at the NATO summit he is hosting next week in Washington and in a press conference he has scheduled during the summit.