Sharpton brushes off calls for Biden to drop out despite fallout

Rev. Al Sharpton acknowledged Friday that the scrutiny over President Biden’s debate performance is “not going anywhere,” he largely brushed off calls for Biden to step aside.

Sharpton joined MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace to discuss the political fallout from Thursday night’s debate and the widespread fear among Democrats after Biden stumbled over his words and showed low energy on the stage.

Since the debate, people on both sides of the aisle and even media outlets have called for Biden to drop out of the race and make room for another candidate to challenge former President Trump in November. The White House and Biden’s campaign have slammed the requests, signaling the incumbent was in for the long haul.

Biden made a campaign stop in North Carolina Friday, where he sought to tame the panic within his own party. While in Raleigh, he argued that he is a politician who knows how to “get back up” after being knocked down.

“That is the Joe Biden story,” Sharpton said in the interview Friday.

“I’ve gotten calls all night and I’m sure I will get calls. This is not going away for a long time,” he added, referring to the fallout from the debate.

Still, Sharpton noted, if there’s anybody who knows how to turn a situation around, it is Biden, the former Delaware senator.

“He’s taken some lickings before, but he keeps kicking and that’s what I think he can sell,” the pundit said.

Since there have been calls for a new candidate to take the stage, Sharpton questioned who, if anyone, is capable of taking on and beating Trump.

“What I say to all these people talking about a brokered convention or should he step out, I say one, that’s up to him. But second, who steps in that you can tell me can beat Donald Trump?” he said. “The only one I’ve known to ever beat him is Joe Biden.”