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‘I know how to do this job:’ Defiant Biden aims to limit debate damage

Updated Jun 28, 2024, 1:57pm EDT
politicsNorth America
President Joe Biden gestures during a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, on June 28, 2024.
Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters
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The News

The vigorous, defiant President Joe Biden who took the stage at a North Carolina rally on Friday stood in stark contrast to the hoarse, hesitant man who debated his Republican challenger the night before.

“I know I’m not a young man, to state the obvious,” he said to raucous applause. “Folks, I don’t walk as easy as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to. But I know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job.”

Biden’s energetic speech seemed engineered to limit damage from the night before, when his underwhelming performance against former President Donald Trump set off a fresh wave of panic through the Democratic Party.

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