MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Biden quitting presidential race by the weekend?

Biden's chances of defeating Donald Trump are nearing zero. Thus, Obama would also favor his withdrawal as donors keep fleeing the Democratic Party

Former US President Barack Obama believes Joseph Biden should drop his reelection bid, The Washington Post reported. Despite his endorsement after the debate in which Biden trailed former President Donald Trump, Obama has been deeply engaged in conversations about the future of Biden’s campaign” because the 81-year-old man who served twice as Vice President under him should “seriously consider” ending it after his chances of victory have “greatly diminished.” The incumbent Democratic head of state is self isolating after testing positive for Covid-19. Other US media noted that Biden's decision is to be announced in a matter of days, probably around the weekend.

 As per the WaPo, Obama has in some conversations “ told people he is concerned that the polls are moving away from Biden, that former president Donald Trump’s electoral path is expanding and that donors are abandoning the president.”

Given Biden's succession of embarrassing public performances in which he referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as ”Vice President Trump“ or introduced Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky as ”President Putin,“ Obama's concerns ”have only grown deeper,” the Post claimed.

At any rate, it is a widespread belief among Biden’s friends and allies that he will withdraw his candidacy by this weekend, Axios reported on Thursday.

In addition to mounting pressure from within the Democratic Party to step down, a recent survey has found that 70% of US nationals think he should due to his questionable mental and physical capacity to stay in office for another term. The AP-NORC Public Affairs Research Center study also detected that among Democrat voters alone those favoring Biden's departure amounted to 65%.

For the time being, Biden has been reluctant to step aside, insisting that what happened at the debate was a consequence of being sick and tired.

In the same BET (Black Entertainment Television) in which he admitted he would only quit the race on doctors’ advise, Biden forgot the name of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and ended up referring to him as “the black guy.”

Although the most likely scenario is Biden endorsing Harris to pick up the baton, there are those within the party who would rather have a new candidate chosen altogether. Harris would nevertheless have the backing of Biden, Obama, former President Bill Clinton and former Scretary of State Hillary Clinton.