RALEIGH, N.C. — President Joe Biden's visit to Raleigh on Friday — hours after a struggling performance in the first presidential debate of 2024 — is the latest sign of how important the battleground state is to his reelection campaign as he trails in the polls.
Biden's debate performance against former President Donald Trump, who won North Carolina's electoral votes in the past two presidential elections, did little to ease concerns about his age (81) and ability to serve in the highest office for another four years.
"I think we did well," Biden told reporters in Georgia. He dismissed calls for him to drop out of the race. "It's hard to debate a liar."
WCNC Charlotte's Julia Kauffman spoke with some North Carolina voters who attended Biden's rally in Raleigh on Friday. While some noted their disappointment about Biden's debate performance, others stood by it.
"With his age, he's going to have good days and bad days," voter Jonathan Geair said.
"I think Biden clearly won because he was the only one speaking the truth," Arthur Axelbank added.
For many Biden supporters, the rally re-energized hope for the 2024 election. "I’m really hoping out of this that people still have faith," Camden Hoffman said.
Teo Debela said the rally had a lot of good energy and people left feeling inspired. "I'm not the biggest Biden fan or Trump fan, but if Trump got in office we'd have a lot more problems to worry about," Debela added.
People are calling Biden's competency into question after Thursday's presidential debate.
"He rambled and didn’t finish complete thoughts," Geoff Bishop said. "I’m more concerned that he’s compromised mentally."
Bishop told WCNC Charlotte he plans to support Trump in the 2024 election. He came to the Biden rally in hopes of seeing how the president acts and talks in person after concerns were raised the night prior.
"There is no way that guy can perform at the level needed for four more years," Bishop added.
Voters on both sides of the aisle may differ on several issues, but many people WCNC Charlotte spoke with agree on one thing: They wish there were different candidates on stage.
"I think there’s a next generation out there that they probably should’ve welcomed in maybe this cycle," Geair said.
"I think we all feel pretty bad that we’re in this spot where we're voting for these folks," Bishop agreed.
Contact Julia Kauffman at jkauffman@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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