The German chancellor has become the latest European leader to publicly express confidence in the president's cognitive abilities and political tenacity, even as members of his own party question him. Politico.
In an interview with PBS in Washington, the German leader said he would consider it a “big mistake” if they underestimated Biden and described the US president as an excellent candidate. He praised NATO for its continued support and commitment to the transatlantic alliance.
From my perspective, I can say that Biden is very focused and doing very intensively what the US President should do to lead the coalition.
The German Chancellor said.
Schulz’s comments follow statements by other European leaders defending Biden. At the NATO summit this week, world leaders were asked about Biden’s age in light of his disastrous debate performance against former President Donald Trump last month. There have been concerns on both sides of the Atlantic that a second Trump presidency could lead to less U.S. engagement in transatlantic security and support for Ukraine.
Newly elected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer added that Biden was in “really good shape” during bilateral talks at the White House on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Finnish President Alexander Stubb stressed that he had no doubts about the current US president’s ability to lead his country, NATO and fight for Ukraine.
Despite this, a growing group of Democratic members of Congress and even several Hollywood stars are calling for Biden to withdraw from the US presidential election, and increasing numbers of members of his party have publicly expressed doubts about the president’s mental strength.
This could happen to anyone, even to me tomorrow.
Keir Starmer dodged questions about Biden's withdrawal: “I would encourage everyone to look at what we have achieved in these two days. We have a bigger and stronger NATO, and we feel real determination. President Biden has led all of this. It is an amazing outcome from this summit.”
Olaf Scholz defended his country's decision not to deliver long-range Taurus missiles, arguing that the US and the UK were only doing the same thing, the previous ATACMS missile system. However, Germany refused, despite supplying Kiev with howitzers and tanks, but was not ready to deliver “long-range weapons and we cannot adequately control what will happen if they are deployed on distant targets.”
Neither Barack Obama nor Nancy Pelosi are certain Joe Biden will succeed
Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi spoke face-to-face about Joe Biden and the future of the 2024 campaign. Both the former president and the former speaker of the House expressed concern about how difficult they believe it will be for the president to defeat Donald Trump. Neither of them knows exactly what to do, writes A CNN.
Democrats are looking to former President Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi to help persuade Joe Biden to step down. Many of Pelosi’s colleagues are hoping to end the turmoil that has plagued Democrats over the past two weeks. For many of them, that end will come if Biden is asked to step down.
Pelosi has spoken to Biden since the debate, but has since made clear that she does not consider Biden’s decision to stay in the race final. But he declined to say more than that.
In the case of Barack Obama, the picture is not so clear. Many believe that the former president is behind George Clooney's statement, which constitutes a clear betrayal of the Democrats who support Biden. However, according to some, by not belittling the Hollywood actor, who is also his friend, he wanted to declare his neutrality on the matter.
The newspaper reported that Obama's growing doubts about Joe Biden's ability to win re-election are one of the worst secrets in Washington.
