President Joe Biden on Monday sent a message to top Democratic donors that his campaign is "done talking about the debate" against former President Donald Trump that prompted calls for Biden to drop out of the race.
"We need to move forward," Biden said in a private call to more than 100 major Democratic donors in his National Finance Committee on Monday, a recording of which was obtained by Politico. "Look, we have roughly 40 days till the convention, 120 days till the election. We can't waste any more time being distracted."
Biden added, "I have one job, and that's to beat Donald Trump. I'm absolutely certain I'm the best person to be able to do that. So, we're done talking about the debate, it's time to put Trump in a bullseye."
Multiple donors who participated in the call described Biden to Politico as forceful and strong, noting that he fielded several questions, including one about his plans for the second debate in September, to which Biden reportedly responded that his plan is to "attack, attack, attack."
One donor, who spoke to Politico on condition of anonymity, said that they were "hearing from a lot of people who think he should get out, and I'm not getting a whole lot of 'he should stay in.' I've also had people tell me, 'I'm not giving anymore.'"
The president reiterated multiple times on the call that he will not drop out of the election.
"I'm telling you, I'm not going anywhere folks," he said. "I'm in this to the end, and I'm going to beat Trump. I promise you."
He also thanked the donors for their support, saying, "I appreciate you hanging in there with me. I realize you're getting a lot of heat."