President Biden is scheduled to meet with several Democratic governors in a closed session at the White House on Wednesday to reassure the president’s supporters that he can still win the November election despite his debate debacle last week.
The White House has not announced the names of the governors who will meet with Mr. Biden in the Roosevelt Room, just off the Oval Office.
The meeting was added to the president’s schedule even as he tries to maintain a semblance of normality amid the biggest political crisis since he took office nearly four years ago. Before meeting with the governors, Mr. Biden will posthumously present the Medal of Honor to two Civil War Army soldiers for their actions fighting the Confederacy in 1862.
But the situation surrounding the president is anything but normal.
Democrats are openly debating whether Mr. Biden, 81, should abandon his bid for re-election because he is too old to fight effectively against former President Donald J. Trump. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, Democrat of Texas, called on Mr. Biden to resign on Tuesday.
At the same time, the first independent polls since the debate are emerging showing that the president has lost ground to Mr. Trump. A CNN poll showed Mr. Biden losing to Mr. Trump by six percentage points, 49 percent to 43 percent. A series of polls from a pro-Biden super PAC leaked to the news site Puck showed the president slipping in battleground states as well as New Mexico, New Hampshire and Virginia, where he had previously won.
Privately, Mr. Biden and his top officials are trying to convince lawmakers, donors and activists that he can change things. Publicly, the White House and the campaign have planned a series of events to show voters that the debate was just a sideshow.
Mr. Biden will conduct an interview with ABC host George Stephanopoulos on Friday, his first lengthy interview since the debate. He will travel to Madison, Wisconsin, for a campaign rally that same day. He will campaign in Philadelphia on Sunday.
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2024-07-03 13:28:18
www.nytimes.com
