US President Joe Biden said he could drop his reelection bid if doctors found he had a medical condition, as a top Democrat on Wednesday, July 17 urged the 81-year-old to step aside.
Biden's comments were the first time he has even slightly opened the door to abandoning the White House race, and came as Representative Adam Schiff, a key ally from California, urged Biden to "pass the torch."
"If I had some medical condition that emerged, if somebody, if the doctors came and said 'you've got this problem, that problem,'" Biden told the Black media outlet BET in an interview taped Tuesday, July 16, when asked what could make him rethink.
Biden however defended his decision to stay on for a rematch with Republican Donald Trump in November and explained why he had not handed over to a younger generation after one term. "I said I was going to be a transitional candidate and I thought I'd be able to move on from this, pass it on to someone else," he said. "But I didn't anticipate things getting so, so, so divided."
Biden has been fighting for political survival since a disastrous debate against Trump nearly three weeks ago, in which his tired and confused appearance sparked concerns about his age.
Schiff became the first Democrat to call for him to step aside since the assassination attempt against Trump on Saturday, which had briefly silenced the growing chorus against Biden. "A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the President can defeat Donald Trump in November," Schiff said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times.
Schiff, who is expected to win a Senate seat this November, is a key White House ally in the legislature and shot to nationwide prominence as lead prosecutor during then-president Trump's first impeachment trial.
Biden was set to make a fresh attempt to prop up his candidacy in a speech to crucial Latino voters in the battleground state of Nevada later Wednesday.
Around 20 House Democrats and one senator have now called on Biden to leave the White House race but Biden has refused, insisting he is best placed to beat Trump.
Most polls show Biden trailing in a tight race, with Trump pulling ahead in key swing states but no dramatic movement since the debate debacle or shooting.