President Joe Biden has told a key ally that he knows he may not be able to salvage his candidacy if he cannot convince the public in the coming days that he is fit for the job, after a disastrous debate performance last week.
The president, who the ally said is still locked in a re-election battle, understands that his next appearances ahead of the long weekend — including an interview scheduled for Friday with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos and campaign visits to Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — must go well.
“He knows if he has two more events like that, we’re going to be in a different place” by the end of the weekend, the ally said, referring to Biden’s halting and unfocused performance in the debate. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive situation.
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After the article was published, White House spokesman Andrew Bates said it was “absolutely false.”
The conversation is the first public indication that the president is seriously considering whether he can recover from a devastating performance on the debate stage in Atlanta on June 27. Concerns are mounting about his viability as a candidate and whether he can serve another four years.
A top Biden adviser, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the situation, said the president is “well aware of the political challenge he faces.”
White House officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Campaign officials watched the polls nervously, aware that bad numbers could inflame the crisis. A CBS News poll on Wednesday showed former President Donald Trump leading Biden as of the debate, 50% to 48% nationally and 51% to 48% in swing states.
Biden is slowly reaching out to Democratic elected officials, and has scheduled a meeting with Democratic governors at the White House for Wednesday night. He’s also continuing to reach out to people he’s long trusted, telling at least one person he’s open to the possibility that his plans to move forward with his debate appearances — and refocus on his challenger, Trump — might not work out.
Several Biden allies, who have spoken to his family and advisers since the debate, have stressed that the president is still in the midst of the battle for his political career and that he sees this moment primarily as an opportunity to avoid being written off, as he has done so many times in his half-century career.
But he is also clear-headed, they said, about the uphill battle he faces to convince voters, donors and the political class that his debate performance was an exception.
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