WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has invited Democratic governors to meet Wednesday, in an effort to shore up support among his party’s top leaders after last week’s shaky debate performance.
The discussion is likely to be largely virtual, according to two people familiar with Biden’s plan, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss a schedule that has not yet been made public. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden would meet with Democratic governors and also hold talks with party leaders in Congress.
The meeting comes after Democratic governors previously held a phone call asking Biden to speak with them, according to three people familiar with the president’s agenda.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, said governors on the previous call talked about “what was clearly a poor performance” in the debate, with participants “asking questions about what the plan is?”
Waltz said he expects Wednesday’s meeting to address “some of the same concerns.”
The exchange with governors and Democratic congressional leaders is the strongest indication yet that Biden is trying to calm fears among some Democrats who fear he may not be able to sustain a campaign, let alone defeat Donald Trump, after his sometimes hoarse and halting performance at last week’s debate in Atlanta.
Biden on Monday night condemned the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity but otherwise announced a largely politics-free, business-as-usual schedule for after the debates, including planning Fourth of July celebrations at the White House for Thursday’s holiday.
Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas called for Biden to formally withdraw from the race on Tuesday, after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on MSNBC that it was fair to ask whether Biden’s debate performance was an anomaly or part of a larger pattern.
“I think it’s a legitimate question whether this is an episode or a condition,” Pelosi said.
There is also no indication that the president is seriously considering resigning.
His campaign has downplayed the president’s political troubles in a series of memos and private meetings with donors, strategists and party insiders, insisting that Biden can put his poor debate performance behind him without hurting his long-term chances in November.
Not all of the party’s governors are expected to attend the rally. In Kansas, the office of Gov. Laura Kelly, who has broken with Biden in the past, particularly over COVID-19 vaccine mandates, declined to say whether she would participate. Spokeswoman Grace Hoge pointed to a statement Kelly released Friday after the presidential debate in which she called Biden “a decent man with a strong character” and said the governor “will support him in November.”
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Associated Press editor John Hanna contributed from Topeka, Kansas.
