By Steve Holland and Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – As president Joe Biden will survive pressure to abandon his re-election campaign after a poor performance in his debate with Donald Trumphe has to endure a great many events in the coming days.
As calls for some of his own Democrats to step aside grow louder and support grows for Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place in the November election, Biden must show voters and donors that he has staying power and mental acuity.
Biden will host families at the annual Fourth of July Independence Day festivities at the White House on Thursday, will be interviewed by ABC News on Friday and will travel to Wisconsin the same day for a campaign rally with hundreds of supporters.
On Sunday, Biden and his wife, Jill, will speak to thousands at the National Education Association in Pennsylvania. Next week, he will host dozens of world leaders at the NATO summit in Washington and hold a rare solo press conference. He has also done several radio interviews.
Dozens of House Democrats are watching closely and are prepared to ask Biden to step aside if he falls short in the ABC interview, a source told Reuters.
Biden’s already weak poll numbers relative to Trump fell slightly after last week’s debate in Atlanta, but a new Reuters/Ipsos poll showed Biden keeping pace with Trump this week, a sign the race remains tight.
Trump and Biden each had 40% support among registered voters in the two-day poll that ended Tuesday. An earlier Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted June 11-12 showed Trump with a marginal lead of 2 percentage points, 41% to 39%.
Biden, who would be 86 when his second term ends, is being asked by some former supporters to step aside to protect his legacy and reduce the chances of a second Trump presidency.
In an interview with Earl Ingram of “The Earl Ingram Show” on Wednesday, Biden said he would keep fighting.
“I messed up, I made a mistake. That’s 90 minutes on stage. Look what I’ve done for the last three and a half years,” he said.
Biden met with a group of Democratic governors at the White House on Wednesday to make his case, with some telling reporters afterward that they were sticking by his side.
“President Joe Biden intends to win,” New York Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul told reporters after the talks.
Maryland’s Democratic Governor Wes Moore said: “We know we have work to do. It’s going to take all of us to make it happen.” Gavin Newsom, the California Governor who is often mentioned as an alternative to Biden, said on X, formerly Twitter, that he was “all for” Biden.
Raul Grijalva of Arizona called on Biden to withdraw from the race, while Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts pointed to Biden’s age as a stumbling block.
“The unfortunate reality is that the status quo will likely give us President Trump,” Moulton said in a statement. “President Biden is not getting any younger.”
(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Heather Timmons and Stephen Coates)
