WASHINGTON — The White House announced Tuesday that President Joe Biden will meet with congressional leaders and Democratic governors, sit for a network TV interview and hold a press conference in the coming days, a blitz designed to push back against growing pressure for the 81-year-old president to step aside in the 2024 race after his disastrous performance in last week’s debate with Republican Donald Trump.
“We really want to turn the page on this,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said of the intensifying calls for Biden to bow out of the race. She added that the president had no intention of stepping aside, characterizing his debate failings as simply evidence of “a bad night” when he had a cold.
During a campaign event later Tuesday, Biden blamed it on jet lag after two back-to-back European trips. “I wasn’t very smart. I decided to travel around the world a couple of times,” he said. The president added that he “didn’t listen to my staff” about travel and joked that he “fell asleep on stage” during the debate.
But Democratic leaders were increasingly signaling that they were not buying White House attempts to brush off Biden’s performance in the face-off as a momentary lapse, after he gave halting and nonsensical answers and trailed off at times.
There’s growing anxiety among donors and on Capitol Hill about the president’s ability to win come November, according to people who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss internal conversations. And it’s not helping that Biden has yet to reach out to legislators, who are growing increasingly frustrated that the White House has not satisfactorily explained how such a seasoned politician could have performed so badly.
Questions swirled about whether this was an isolated incident or part of a pattern. Two people who spend time with Biden behind closed doors described him similarly: He was often very sharp and focused. But he also had moments, particularly later in the evening, when his thoughts seemed jumbled and he’d trail off midsentence or seem confused. Those people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the president’s interactions behind closed doors.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told MSNBC that she believes “it is a legitimate question” whether Biden’s performance was just “an episode or is this a condition.”
“When people ask that question, it’s legitimate — of both candidates,” Pelosi said.
But she did not go so far as to ask him to step aside. Pelosi said she had not spoken with Biden since the debate, but she emphasized that the president is on “top of his game, in terms of knowing the issues and what is at stake.” And a spokesperson later said Pelosi had full confidence in Biden and “looks forward to attending his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025.”
Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas became the first Democratic member of Congress to publicly call for Biden to step down. Doggett, who is 77 and has been a fixture on Capitol Hill since the mid-1990s, said Biden should “make the painful and difficult decision” to withdraw, citing the president’s inability to “effectively defend his many accomplishments” in the debate.
