US President Joe Biden speaks next to Vice President Kamala Harris as he delivers a statement at the White House on July 14.
His initial statement had not included an endorsement of Ms Harris, but he followed up a few minutes later with an expression of support. Former President Trump, the Republican candidate in the Nov 5 election, told CNN on July 21 that he believed Harris would be easier to defeat. Days later he raised fresh concerns in an interview, shrugging off Democrats’ worries and a widening gap in opinion polls, and saying he would be fine losing to Mr Trump if he knew he’d “gave it my all.”- invoking Russian President Vladimir Putin’s name when he meant Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and calling Ms Harris “Vice President Trump” - further stoked anxieties.for a third time, forcing him to cut short a campaign trip to Las Vegas.
His team had hoped a strong performance at the June 27 debate would ease concerns over his age. It did the opposite: a Reuters/Ipsos poll after the debate showed that about 40 per cent of Democrats thought he should quit the race.V-P Harris’ ancestral India village tracks her rising prospects in US vote