Biden hits campaign trail, visits Black church as pressure mounts

PHILADELPHIA: Embattled US President Joe Biden sought out safe ground on Sunday, courting Black voters at a church as he hit the campaign trail to salvage his reelection bid and silence growing calls to quit.

“We´re all imperfect beings,” the 81-year-old told a welcoming congregation in Philadelphia, where he received a jolt of rejuvenation from worshippers who chanted “four more years.”

Biden has dug in despite an uprising among some Democratic lawmakers, analysts and voters concerned he lacks the mental acuity and physical fitness to serve a second term -- worries brought to the fore by a disastrous debate performance last month against Republican challenger Donald Trump.

But the president has unequivocally declared he is fit to serve, the only one who can defeat Trump, is staying in the race.

On Sunday, he embarked on a two-stop swing in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, before he hosts the Nato leaders´ summit in Washington later this week.

So far, five Democratic lawmakers have called on Biden to drop out, with the drumbeat of dissent slowly rising.

Two high-profile congressional Democrats on Sunday stopped short of calling for Biden to step aside, but warned he still needed to win over worried voters.

“There´s only one reason” the race between Trump and Biden “is close, and that´s the president´s age,” Representative Adam Schiff told NBC´s “Meet the Press.”