Washington.- President Joe Biden on Thursday entered a critical stretch in his effort to salvage his imperiled reelection campaign, facing a growing sense that he may have just days to make a persuasive case that he is fit for office before Democratic support evaporates entirely.
In the wake of Biden’s disastrous performance in last week’s debate against Republican Donald Trump, some financial backers were postponing or canceling upcoming fundraisers, according to a person familiar with the plans who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss private discussions.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Biden told a crowd gathered for a Fourth of July barbecue on the South Lawn of the White House on Thursday.
In a meeting Wednesday night with Democratic governors, Biden acknowledged that he needs to get more sleep and limit late-night events so he can go to bed earlier and be rested for work, according to three people familiar with the meeting, who also spoke on condition of anonymity. One person said the president joked that his health was fine, it was just his brain that was having problems.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who was at the meeting, was asked Thursday about the idea that Biden wants to limit events after 8 p.m. and responded: “He did it with a smile on his face. It was more of a rhetorical frame of being fit and rested.”
Newsom, who was campaigning for Biden in western Michigan, added: “I like it when a president recognizes that he’s human.”
In an interview with a Wisconsin radio station that aired Thursday, Biden argued that far more than his own political future was at stake, saying: “There’s a lot at stake. I know you know that. For democracy, for freedom … our economy, everything is at stake.”
The interview on Earl Ingram’s show on the Civic Media Radio Network, taped Wednesday, was part of a media blitz and public events that the Democratic president and his team have acknowledged as a defining moment.
At the July 4 barbecue, Biden formally welcomed military families from a lectern, but then walked over to personally greet the crowd for a few moments. Suddenly, he grabbed a microphone and stood in the center of the lawn, explaining that there were thousands of people waiting to get into the party and that he had to go back inside because the grounds were closed while he was there.
“A supporter shouted at him: ‘Keep fighting!’
“You got me, man,” Biden replied.
He also made a passing reference to Trump, who in 2018 skipped a trip to a World War I cemetery in France that Biden recently visited.
The president is scheduled to campaign in Wisconsin on Friday and sit down for an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that will air as a prime-time special that evening.
He is scheduled to be in Philadelphia on Sunday and give a full news conference during the NATO summit in Washington next week.
It is not certain that his campaign will survive even that long if he does not get a strong showing at the ABC. Discussions that were once whispered about who should take his place should he withdraw are growing louder.
For now, Biden is not willing to back down, and has made that clear in conversations with Democratic governors, close allies and campaign staff.
But there is little time left for a possible change. The Democratic National Committee announced weeks ago that it would hold a virtual roll call vote for a formal nomination before the party’s national convention, which begins on August 19.
“I’m proud to run for re-election as a president who has made his promises and I have kept them,” Biden said in the radio interview.
“I had a bad night. A bad night. I screwed up,” he said of the debate, in which he gave halting and convoluted answers.
“But 90 minutes on stage doesn’t erase what I’ve done for 3 1/2 years,” he said in another interview, with Philadelphia-area radio station WURD.
In his private conversations, Biden has focused on how to reverse the trajectory of his rocky debate and stressed the critical nature of this year’s presidential election.
During a call, when asked what would happen if his efforts to correct course didn’t work, Biden stressed that he understood how important the race was and that he would put the country first, according to a person who spoke directly with the president. The person was granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Biden’s Wednesday night meeting with Democratic governors lasted more than an hour and brought together more than 20 of them, some in person and others participating virtually. Afterward, they described the conversation as “candid” and said they supported Biden despite being concerned about a Trump victory in November. Details about Biden’s comments about getting more sleep were first reported by The New York Times.
During that meeting, Biden told leaders he had been examined by his doctor following his debate performance, according to two people familiar with the conversations who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the private conversation. Hours earlier, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had said Biden had not been examined by the doctor.
The White House has blamed a cold for Biden’s debate performance, in which he appeared pale and his hoarse voice broke at times. Biden also said he was jet-lagged after two consecutive trips abroad that ended 12 days earlier.
Biden’s team has repeatedly resisted making public the 81-year-old president’s medical records. After his last full physical in February, his doctor declared him fit for duty.
Two Democratic lawmakers have publicly called for Biden to drop out of the race. Most Democratic lawmakers, however, are taking a wait-and-see approach, awaiting a better sense of how the situation plays out through new polls and the television interview. That’s according to Democratic lawmakers who requested anonymity to speak bluntly about the president.
Some have suggested that Vice President Kamala Harris is emerging as the front-runner to replace Biden if he were to drop out. Those involved in the private conversations acknowledge that Newsom of California and Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, remain viable alternatives. But for some, Harris is the best option to quickly unify the party and avoid a messy and divisive fight at the convention.
Newsom was asked directly if he would support Harris if Biden dropped out. He replied: “I don’t even like to play with hypotheticals.”
Trump was seen on video declaring Harris would be his new rival, saying: “She’s so pathetic.” It was not clear when he made the comments, which were posted on his social media account.
Later Thursday, Trump called for a second debate, “but this time, no holds barred … with just the two of us on stage.”
While other Democratic allies have remained mum since the debate, there is growing private frustration over the Biden campaign’s response at a crucial moment in the campaign, particularly because Biden waited several days to do direct damage control with senior members of his own party.
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