Joe Biden urged to steal Donald Trump’s big moment

Some social media users are urging President Joe Biden to steal former President Donald Trump‘s big moment at the Republican National Convention on Thursday.

“If democrats still have any fight left in them, they would announce Biden stepping down during the middle of Trumps speech,” Meghan McCain, the daughter of the late Senator John McCain, wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

On Thursday, Trump is expected to deliver a speech at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to celebrate his Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election.

However, there have been numerous reports and speculation regarding Biden’s stance on remaining in the presidential race, following calls for him to step down.

Biden has faced growing calls to withdraw from the race after his debate performance against Trump on June 27. He sounded hoarse and appeared to stumble through several answers, doing little to quell concerns about his age.

The president and the White House previously indicated that Biden has no plans to drop out of the race but on Wednesday, a report from CNN detailed that a senior Democratic adviser has said that the president, who was diagnosed with COVID earlier in the day, has become “more receptive” to calls for him to step down.

Similarly, a report from the Washington Post on Thursday said that former President Barack Obama is concerned about the polls inching away from Biden, the loss of donors to the president and Democrat party, and an expanded electoral path for Trump, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter.

On Thursday, the Biden campaign directed Newsweek to remarks from Principal Deputy Campaign Manager Quentin Fulks at a presser in Milwaukee today where he said, “Look, I talk to the president every day like I said. He is not wavering on anything. The president has made his decision. I don’t want to be rude but I don’t know how many more times we can answer that. Joe Biden has said he is running for President of the United States. Our campaign is moving forward, drawing a vision and a contrast between that of Project of 2025 and what we’ve seen for the past three days here in Milwaukee—the extreme agenda of Republicans—and that’s where our focus is.”

Fulks added, “There are no plans being made to replace President Biden on the ballot,” and noted, “We have always said this race was going to be close. We know it is a margin of error race in all the battleground states. And we’re going to continue to do the work to make sure we win it.

“So our focus in this election is very very clear and we have a job to do over the next several months and I look forward to doing it,” Fulks said.

Ed O’Keefe of CBS News reported on X that Biden recently told Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries that he plans to stay in the race.

White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said, “The President told both leaders he is the nominee of the party, he plans to win, and looks forward to working with both of them to pass his 100 days agenda to help working families,” O’Keefe reported.

Amid these reports, many other social media users have called on Biden to make an announcement about a decision to step down from the race during Trump’s speech.

Responding to a report from Axios about the potential for Biden to step down, journalist Mehdi Hasan said, “I also wish that, if he’s going to do it this weekend, he just moves it forward and does it tonight, 60 seconds before Donald Trump stands up to speak.”

“All the news channels would have to cut to Biden. Trump would meltdown…,” Hasan said.

Editor Michael Weiss said, “Biden should announce he’s dropping out in the middle of Trump’s RNC speech. A Doc Holliday finale for Dark Brandon, which would infuriate all the right people.”

Newsweek reached out to Trump’s spokesperson via email for comment.