WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden Thursday opened a critical stretch in his effort to save his imperiled re-election campaign, amid a growing sense that he may have only days left to convincingly demonstrate his fitness for office before Democratic support for him evaporates entirely.
In the wake of Biden’s disastrous performance in last week’s debate against Republican Donald Trump, some donors have postponed or canceled 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 July 4 barbecue on the South Lawn of the White House.
Later, during the evening fireworks, he stood on the balcony with his family and Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, in a clear show of support. At one point, Harris grabbed Biden’s hand and raised it high in the air, and then the two hugged.
In a meeting Wednesday night with Democratic governors, Biden acknowledged that he needed to get more sleep and limit evening events so he could go to bed earlier to be rested for his job, according to three people familiar with the meeting, who also spoke on condition of anonymity. One said the president joked that his health was good, but that it was his brain that was having problems.
California Governor Gavin Newsomwho was present 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. It was more of a rhetorical framework about just being fit and rested.”
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Newsom, who was campaigning for Biden in western Michigan, added: “I love it when a president acknowledges that he’s human.”
Biden has argued that his political future is not the only one at stake. In an interview with a Wisconsin radio station that aired Thursday, he said: “The stakes are really high. I know you know that. For democracy, for freedom … for our economy, everything is at stake.”
The interview on the Earl Ingram Show on the Civic Media Radio Network, recorded Wednesday, was part of a media blitz and public events that the Democratic president and his team have recognized as a watershed moment.
At the July 4th barbecue, Biden formally greeted military families from a lectern. He then went to greet the crowd personally for a few moments. He suddenly grabbed a microphone and stood in the middle of the grass, explaining that there were thousands of people waiting to get into the party and that he had to go inside because the grounds were closed while he was there.
“Keep fighting!” shouted one supporter.
“You got me, man,” Biden replied.
He also made a tentative reference to Trump, who in 2018 canceled a visit to a World War I cemetery in France that Biden recently visited.
The president is expected to campaign in Wisconsin on Friday and give an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that will air in prime time that evening.
He plans to be in Philadelphia on Sunday and hold a full news conference at the NATO summit in Washington next week.
It’s not clear his campaign will survive that long if he doesn’t do well on ABC. Talk that was once a whisper Who should intervene? in his place should he reverence are getting stronger and stronger.
For now, Biden is not ready to walk away, and he has made that clear in conversations with Democratic governors, close allies and campaign staffers.
But time is running out for any change. The Democratic National Committee announced weeks ago that it would hold a virtual roll call for a formal nomination before the party’s national convention, which begins Aug. 19.
“I am proud to run for re-election as a president who has made his promises and kept them,” Biden said in the radio interview.
“I had a bad night. A bad night. I blew it,” 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 a separate interview with WURD Radio in the Philadelphia area.
In his private conversations, Biden has focused on how to reverse the trajectory of his heated debate and emphasized the critical nature of this year’s presidential election.
In a phone call, when asked what would happen if his course-correction efforts didn’t work, Biden stressed that he understood the importance of the race and would put the country first, according to a person who spoke directly with the president. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Biden’s meeting with Democratic governors on Wednesday lasted more than an hour and drew more than 20 of them, some in person and others virtually. They later described the conversation as “frank” and said they supported Biden despite their concerns about a Trump victory in November. Details of Biden’s comments about getting more sleep were first reported by The New York Times.
At that meeting, Biden told the leaders that he had been examined by his doctor after his debate performance, according to two people familiar with the discussions who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the private conversation. Hours earlier, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden had not been examined by the doctor.
The White House blamed Biden’s performance during the debate, where he appeared pale and his raspy voice trailed off at times, in the coldBiden also said he was suffering from jet lag after two consecutive overseas trips that ended 12 days early.
Biden staff has resisted repeated calls to release more complete medical records for the 81-year-old president. After his last full physical exam in February, his doctor declared him fit for service.
Two Democratic lawmakers publicly called on Biden to give up the race. Most Democratic lawmakers, however, are taking a wait-and-see approach, waiting to get a better sense of how things are going through the lens of new polls and the television interview, according to Democratic lawmakers who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak candidly about the president.
Some have suggested that Harris is emerging as the frontrunner to replace Biden if he steps down. People involved in private discussions acknowledge that California’s Newsom and the governor. Gretchen Whitmer Michigan candidates remain viable alternatives. But some insiders see Harris as the best candidate to quickly unify the party and avoid a messy and divisive convention fight.
Newsom was asked directly whether, if Biden stepped down, he would support Harris. He responded, “I don’t even like to play the what-ifs.”
Trump was seen on video declaring Harris his new rival, saying: “She’s so pathetic.” It’s unclear 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.”
Even as other Democratic allies have remained silent since the debate, private frustration is growing over the Biden campaign’s response at a crucial moment in the campaign — particularly when Biden waited several days to directly limit damage with senior members of his own party.
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Associated Press journalists Joey Cappelletti in South Haven, Michigan, and Lisa Mascaro and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
