U.S. Politics

President Biden insisted on Friday that he would stay in the race. But if he decides to step aside, these individuals will determine who leads the ticket.

It’s a change from 2016, when House Republicans were the preferred candidates. At least two senators — J.D. Vance and Marco Rubio — are on the short list for the vice president slot.

After last week’s devastating debate performance, the president’s prime-time interview with ABC News was an exercise in not just damage control but reality control.

Both Democratic supporters of Biden’s campaign and those who have called for him to drop out signaled that the president’s interview with ABC News only reaffirmed their stances on his candidacy.

President Biden dismissed concerns about his age, his mental acuity and polls showing him losing his re-election bid.

Respectfully but firmly, the ABC anchor pressed President Biden on the basic questions that Americans had asked themselves over the past week.

The conversation between the president and George Stephanopoulos lasted about 20 minutes and aired Friday night.

“Every day I have that test. Everything I do,” President Biden said in his ABC News interview. “Not only am I campaigning, but I’m running the world.”

In his first television interview since the debate, President Biden tried to reassure supporters, but he spent much of the interview resisting questions about his capabilities.

“I tell you, he looked a whole lot better than the debate,” said one voter in Detroit.