President Biden has told key allies that he knows the next few days are crucial and that his disastrous performance in last week's debate means he may not be able to sustain his candidacy unless he can convince voters that he is worthy of being the presidential nominee.
Biden remains committed to his reelection fight, but stressed he understands his chances as the nominee are at risk, according to two allies who have spoken to him.
As White House officials seek to calm tensions within the Biden administration, the president sought to project confidence in a call with campaign staff on Wednesday.
“Nobody is trying to get rid of me,” Biden said on the call. “I'm not quitting.”
Vice President Kamala Harris also joined the call.
“We will not back down. We will follow the president's instructions,” she said. “We will fight, and we will win.”
Still, Biden allies said the president has privately acknowledged that his next few hearings leading up to the July Fourth holiday, particularly his scheduled interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos on Friday and campaigning in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, will have to go well.
“The president knows if he holds two more events like this, that will completely change by the end of the weekend,” said one supporter, referring to Biden's halting and unfocused performance at the debate, who spoke with the president within the past 24 hours and spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive situation.
The conversation with the ally was the first public sign that the president is seriously considering whether he can recover from his disastrous defeat at last Thursday's debate in Atlanta.
Former President Donald J. Trump currently leads Biden in approval ratings among voters nationwide, 49% to 43%, according to a new New York Times/Siena College poll, giving him a three-point lead over the Republican candidate just a week before the debate. The six-point gap highlights the growing challenges in the campaign and could make it harder to hang on, but some insiders worry it could be even worse.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president had directly communicated to allies that he was not discussing withdrawing from the election.
“That's completely false,” Jean-Pierre said at the news conference. While denying speculation that Biden would step down, Jean-Pierre called Harris, whose support among Democrats has surged, “the future of the party.”
A Biden ally and top adviser to Biden, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the president “understands well the political challenges he faces.”
The person said Biden recognizes that the outcome of his campaign may not be what he aims for, but that he believes he is a mentally astute and competent leader and “doesn't understand why other people don't accept that.”
The Times reported Tuesday that current and former administration officials who met privately with the president had noticed that he became confused, lethargic and disoriented in the weeks or months before the debate.
Biden still strongly believes his performance in the debate was poor and not indicative of his ability to serve for another four years, the people said.
Major party donors have made private calls to representatives, senators, super PACs, the Biden campaign and the White House to let them know they think Biden should step aside, according to Democrats familiar with the discussions. On Wednesday, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, who has become one of the biggest donors to Democrats in recent years, called on Biden to relinquish his spot at the top of the list of potential candidates.
“Biden must step aside so strong Democratic leadership can defeat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous,” he said in an email to The Times.
A Democratic lawmaker, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the political sensitivity of the matter, said the decision was ultimately up to Biden. “The only thing that matters is his decision whether to waive it or not,” the person said.
Inside the White House, officials tried to ease tensions in an all-staff conference call. White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients told his staff to keep their heads down and “run, run, run.” He also told them to “hold their heads up” and be proud, though Mr. Zients acknowledged there was an element of humor in the contradiction.
Later that day, Zients appeared on another conference call, Biden's weekly meeting of Cabinet members, and repeated many of the talking points he shared with staff, a person familiar with the call said.
Biden's slowness to reach out privately to key Democrats to ease their concerns has fueled anger within his party and frustrated some of his own advisers.
Jean-Pierre said the president is currently “connected” with House Democratic leader Rep. Akeem Jeffries of New York, majority leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, former speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, Rep. James E. Clyburn of South Carolina and Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware.
The president had lunch with Harris at the White House after which the two met with Democratic governors. Biden has so far focused on talking to trusted advisers and family members who have urged him to continue on in the campaign.
Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., said in an interview on MSNBC that Biden needs to do more to appeal to the public rather than continuing to debate with his advisers.
“He has to show the American people he can do the job,” she said. “He can't stay in his bubble right now.”
Major donors are upset that Trump did not attend a campaign conference call on Monday meant to appease him, and some Democrats are increasingly suspicious that the president's team has not said enough about how aging has affected him.
Democratic leaders in the House and Senate did not call on their lawmakers to endorse Biden on Wednesday, instead listening to myriad complaints from across the party, including from moderates and progressives, about the president's handling of the situation.
Several Biden allies stress that he is still in the thick of the political action and sees this moment as an opportunity to bounce back from obscurity, as he has done so many times in his half-century career. At the same time, they say, Biden is well aware of how uphill it will be to convince voters, donors and politicians that his debate performance was an anomaly, not a disqualification.
As unrest within the party continues to grow, some of the president's advisers have grown increasingly pessimistic in recent days, reflecting dissatisfaction not just with the debate performance but also with the response since.
Many of Biden's family members, including his son Hunter Biden and first lady Jill Biden, support the president's decision to continue campaigning.
“Because there's a lot of rumors out there,” Dr. Biden told a crowd celebrating the opening of his campaign office outside Traverse City, Mich., “I'm going to reiterate what my husband has said loud and clear: Joe is the Democratic nominee, and he's going to beat Donald Trump, just like he did in 2020.”
Biden's team had sought to build a firewall by persuading Democratic lawmakers and prominent figures in the party not to publicly call on Biden to withdraw.
But Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas on Tuesday became the first Democrat to say the president should step down. Two other Democrats, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine and Rep. Marie Grusenkamp Perez of Washington state, said they believe the president will lose the November election.
Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton, in a statement Wednesday night, cast doubt on Biden's chances of winning the presidential election in November.
“While I have deep respect for President Biden and all that he has accomplished for America, I have serious concerns about his ability to defeat Donald Trump,” he said. “Winning will require him to prosecute this case in the media, in town halls and at campaign events across the country. President Biden will need to demonstrate that he can do that. Unfortunately, the reality is that as things stand, we are likely to see a President Trump.”
Others have privately suggested they might follow suit and speak out.
Peter Baker, Nicholas Nehamas, Simon J. Levine, Michael D. Shear Mitch Smith, Theodore Schleifer and Luke Broadwater Contributed report.
