By Staff, Agencies US President Joe Biden denied a report on Wednesday in the New York Times, which claimed that he was considering stepping out of the presidential election race. Andrew Bates, a spokesman for the White House, responded to the report earlier, calling it “absolutely false.” Biden is the Democratic Party's nominee for president, he stressed.

This comes after Biden’s ability to continue as president comes under scrutiny, prompted by a performance seen as weak in last week's debate against Donald Trump.

Biden has said that how he is viewed in the following days is critical for his presidential race.

He vowed to continue fighting, and received the public backing of many Democratic leaders.

Despite this, many Democrats in private, and at least one publicly, called for Biden to leave the race.

The debate was seen by many pundits in the media as a debacle, with Trump calling Biden “grossly incompetent.”