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Biden spoke to Democratic governors to try to quell calls to withdraw from the 2024 race.
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Biden’s team is using excuses and finger-pointing to justify his poor performance during the debates.
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During the meeting, Biden said he needs to get more sleep and that he will no longer host events after 8 p.m.
Joe Biden has a new solution to calm concerns after his terrible debate against Donald Trump last week: he just needs to get more rest.
Biden, now under mounting pressure to withdraw from the race after his performance last Thursday was marked by a hoarse voice, rambling thoughts, verbal errors and blank facial expressions, met with key Democratic governors on Wednesday to silence opponents.
According to CNN and The New York Times, he again dismissed criticism of the debate as a one-time mistake.
And the 81-year-old president said he is still ready to defeat Trump, telling governors he simply needs to get more sleep and not hold events after 8 p.m., according to media reports.
(Biden’s disastrous live debate last week started at 9 p.m.)
The resolution was not well received by governors who attended the deposition, CNN reported. Biden’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider about the reports.
Biden’s campaign team had previously attributed the poor performance to a cold and jet lag from international travel he had made days earlier.
According to Politico, Biden’s family has privately blamed his top advisers, including his senior adviser Anita Dunn, Biden’s attorney Bob Bauer and Biden’s former chief of staff Ron Klain, for his underperformance.
For now, Biden’s political allies and surrogates are publicly backing him, even after the governor’s meeting.
“The president has always stood with us,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore told reporters. “We’re going to stand with him.”
Other governors said they would support Biden as he remains the nominee.
But the leak about Biden’s planned break from the evening meetings is unlikely to calm nerves about his mental capacity.
More and more Democrats in the House of Representatives are asking whether he should simply resign. Even a key Biden ally, Representative Jim Clyburn, spoke of supporting Vice President Kamala Harris if Biden were to resign. It is a sign that the once unthinkable is now being considered.
A representative told CNN anonymously that House lawmakers are giving Biden room to decide what to do next.
Meanwhile, Biden has a high-stakes event to plan. On Friday, he has a taped interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, a chance to prove he’s up to the task of running for president — or a chance to make a campaign-ending gaffe.
Read the original article on Business Insider
