The Biden-Harris campaign and the Democratic National Committee held a press conference in Milwaukee Thursday morning. The event featured Biden-Harris Principal Deputy Campaign Manager Quentin Fulks, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, D-Milwaukee.
The speakers condemned Donald Trump and Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance and reaffirmed Biden’s commitment to staying in the race.
Fulks said despite growing concerns about his health and age, Biden will remain in the race.
“I know, having spoken to him personally, he’s committed to the campaign,” Fulks said. “He’s committed to winning in November because we want to continue the progress we made on his leadership.”
Fulks’ statement comes after news broke Biden had tested positive for COVID-19. Fulks said Biden is carrying out his duties as president and campaigning remotely through Zoom.
In recent speeches, Biden mistakenly referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Vice President Kamala Harris as Vice President Trump.
Despite his age and tendency to misrefer to others, Biden’s remarks on policy agendas are clear and effective, Beatty said.
“I went back and played some tapes that were from when he was in the United States Senate, he mispronounced and called people different names then… so that doesn’t bother me,” Beatty said. “When you listen to his remarks, whether it’s NATO whether it’s talking about foreign affairs, he is on point with that.”
Fulks said continuing to question Biden’s commitment to stay in the race distracts from Democrats’ goal of winning in battleground states.
“I don’t want to be rude, but I don’t know how many more times we can answer that,” Fulks said. “We know it’s a margin of error race in all of the battleground states, and we’re going to continue to do the work to make sure we win it.”
Beatty also touched on the nomination of Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, highlighting his sponsorship of the Dismantle DEI Act.
The Dismantle DEI Act would cut all diversity, equity and inclusion programs in federal agencies like the Department of Defense and educational accreditation agencies, according to Vance’s website.
Fulks also drew attention to Vance and the Trump campaign’s decision to decline to confirm dates for a vice presidential debate until after the Democratic National Convention starts on August 19.
Regarding the war in Gaza, Beatty said the Biden administration is fully committed to preserving lives during the ongoing conflict.
“We know where we stand on the Biden-Harris ticket… they have been on the right side in making sure that we’re not killing lives,” Beatty said. “We’ve sent dollars there, we’ve not sent dollars there when it was going to be to the demise of people.”
A senior official from the Biden administration disclosed that since October 7, the United States has provided Israel with security assistance amounting to $6.5 billion.
