Biden says 'I'm not going anywhere' as calls to quit race grow

WASHINGTON, July 05 (Reuters): President Joe Biden said "I'm not going anywhere" as he faced calls by many Democrats to end his re-election bid, using the Fourth of July celebrations on Thursday to hit back at doubts about his stamina and mental acuity to continue his campaign.

The 81-year-old Democrat's shaky showing at a June 27 debate with Republican rival Donald Trumpmeans his every appearance is now closely scrutinised. Many Democratic voters are worried about whether he can keep up a gruelling pace of work for the next 4-1/2 years and some in his party have urged him to step aside.

Biden was hosting the annual US Independence Day festivities at the White House on Thursday, including a barbecue for a few thousand active-duty military service members and their families.

Biden, in a suit with no necktie, began his remarks with a forceful "Happy Independence Day!"

Reading from a teleprompter, Biden made no major errors in delivering brief remarks, but at one point appeared to go off script to make reference to a war cemetery that Trump declined to visit while in office. "By the way, you know, I was in that World War One cemetery in France. The one that one of our colleagues, a former president didn't want to go...," he said, his voice dropping to a low volume and trailing off.

"I probably shouldn't have said, anyway," Biden added, before continuing his remarks.

As Biden mingled and took selfies with guests, someone called out for him to "Keep up the fight."

"You got me, man. I'm not going anywhere," Biden said, repeating his pledge to remain in the race despite the growing calls to step aside. Abigail Disney, granddaughter of Walt Disney who founded the company that bears his name and who has been a major Democratic donor, became the latest donor to call for Biden to withdraw from the presidential election, telling CNBC on Thursday that she will halt donations to the Democratic Party until he does so.

Vice President Kamala Harris is the leading contender to take his place in the Nov. 5 election if Biden were to drop out, sources have said, though his allies believe he can assuage the concerns of voters and donors.

Among the events on Biden's calendar being closely scrutinised is an interview with ABC News on Friday that will be aired in full at 8 pm ET. He also travels to Wisconsin the same day for a campaign rally. Dozens of Democrats in the House of Representatives are watching closely and prepared to ask Biden to step aside if he falters in the ABC interview.