US President Joe Biden has rejected Democrats' calls for him to withdraw from running for a second term, calling for an end to what he called the "drama" within the party.
“The question of how to move forward has been well-posed for more than a week, and it is time to end this issue,” Biden wrote in a two-page letter.
Biden stressed that the party has "one mission" and that is to defeat presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in November.
“We have 42 days before the Democratic Convention and 119 days before the general election. Any weakness of resolve or lack of clarity about the mission at hand will only help Trump and hurt us. It is time to come together and move forward as a unified party to defeat Donald Trump,” he added.
Biden followed up the message with a phone interview with MSNBC, where he insisted that rank-and-file Democrats want him to stay in the race and said he was frustrated by calls from party officials for him to step down.
He added: "The big names want me to step down, but I don't care what those big names think."
He threw the ball into his critics' court, saying if they were serious, they should either announce a president, challenge me at the convention or rally behind him (Biden) against Trump.
Biden appeared firm in his speech to Democratic lawmakers in Congress, calling on them to "end" the drama within the party's corridors that has divided Democrats since his poor performance in the general debate with Republican candidate Donald Trump.
Nice move!
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