President Biden 'in the midst of a siege'

In recent days, whether or not incumbent White House owner Biden will continue his campaign has become the most prominent topic in the US media about the presidential election scheduled to take place in early November. Many newspapers have published analysis and editorials suggesting that Mr. Biden should give up his candidacy to another candidate from the Democratic Party.

Salvage efforts fail

In one week, Mr. Biden gave two interviews in an effort to salvage his weak image in the live televised debate with former US President Donald Trump on June 27.

President Biden in the debate on June 27

Specifically, on July 5 (US time), Mr. Biden gave an interview to ABC and had over 8.5 million viewers. On the evening of July 11, Mr. Biden held a press conference lasting about 1 hour after the NATO Summit on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the founding of this alliance. According to The New York Times , the press conference attracted up to 23 million viewers on television, more than this year's Oscars. The reason for such a large number of viewers is because the "solo" press conference that President Biden participated in was a test of his ability while facing concerns about his health and mental health.

However, Mr. Biden's efforts to salvage his image on the night of July 11 did not seem to go as expected when he mistakenly called US Vice President Kamala Harris "Vice President Trump" and mistakenly called the title "commander-in-chief" that he holds when referring to the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. Previously, at the NATO conference, he even mistakenly introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as "President Putin". That made President Biden, although still showing the image of a seasoned politician, not enough to calm concerns about him.

Not only that, on July 9, a clip went viral on social media, recording ABC host George Stephanopoulos accidentally commenting that Mr. Biden was not fit to be the US president for another 4 years. Mr. Stephanopoulos was the one who interviewed President Biden on July 5.

Therefore, the recent interviews and press conferences are seen as unsuccessful efforts to salvage the image of the current White House owner.

Pressure mounts

What happened made the call for Mr. Biden to stop becoming more popular among Democrats. The pressure doesn't stop there! CNN reported on July 12 that former US President Barack Obama and former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had a private conversation about Mr. Biden's election campaign. Both are close allies of Mr. Biden and have a lot of influence in the Democratic Party, but both expressed concerns about the possibility that President Biden could win against his opponent Trump.

Even through discussions with many congressmen as well as people close to Mr. Obama and Ms. Pelosi, CNN cited opinions that Mr. Biden's withdrawal is only a matter of time. Or actor George Clooney, an influential fundraiser for the Democrats, recently spoke out: "I love Mr. Joe Biden but we need another candidate." Mr. Clooney's statement as well as information about the exchange between former President Obama and former Speaker of the House Pelosi are considered extremely unfavorable developments for Mr. Biden.

In such a context, some recent polls have shown that Mr. Biden's support rate is not too far from Mr. Trump's. However, an analysis in The Washington Post on July 12 compared poll data from many surveys with previous elections and came to the conclusion: "Mr. Biden will lose and other Democratic candidates may have better results." Not only that, the analysis also pointed out that Mr. Biden is gradually losing support from many African-American and Latino communities... who tend to support the Democratic side.

In a comment sent to the writer on July 12, expert Alex Kliment, of Eurasia Group (USA) - the world's leading political risk research and consulting company, said that Mr. Biden should spend the next few days "arranging a gentle - and polite - departure to maintain the ability to help, rather than hinder, whoever replaces him as the candidate for the US presidency".

Meta lifts restrictions on Trump's account

Mr. Donald Trump at a recent election campaign

The Guardian reported on July 13 that Meta Company has removed restrictions on former US President Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts less than 5 months before the US presidential election.

Meta suspended Trump’s accounts indefinitely after he praised those who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Meta reinstated Trump’s accounts in early 2023, but will continue to monitor his shares for further violations that could result in a suspension of between one month and two years. However, Meta announced on July 12 that Trump’s accounts will no longer be subject to such monitoring.

Mr. Trump was also banned from using the social network Twitter, now known as X, in 2021. American billionaire Elon Musk restored Mr. Trump's account shortly after buying Twitter in 2022.

Minh Trung

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tong-thong-biden-giua-muon-trung-vay-185240713204338048.htm