Biden to Hold Crisis Meeting With Democratic Governors at the White House

The president is trying to reassure his supporters that he can still win in November despite his debate debacle last week.

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The meeting was added to President Biden’s schedule even as he is trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy in the middle of the biggest political crisis since he took office.

President Biden is scheduled to meet on Wednesday with several Democratic governors in a closed-door meeting at the White House, part of a push to reassure the president’s supporters that he can still win the election in November despite his debate debacle last week.

The White House has not released the names of the governors who will be meeting with Mr. Biden in the Roosevelt Room, just down the hall from the Oval Office.

The meeting was added to the president’s schedule even as he is trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy in the middle of the biggest political crisis since he took office almost 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 swirling around the president is anything but normal.

Democrats are openly talking about whether Mr. Biden, 81, should abandon his bid for re-election because he is too old to effectively campaign against former President Donald J. Trump. Representative Lloyd Doggett, Democrat of Texas, called for Mr. Biden to step aside on Tuesday.

At the same time, the first independent polls since the debate are beginning to emerge, showing that the president has lost ground against 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 by a pro-Biden super PAC leaked to the news site Puck showed the president slipping across the battleground states and in New Mexico, New Hampshire and Virginia, where he was previously winning.

Privately, Mr. Biden and his top lieutenants are trying to reassure lawmakers, donors and activists that he can turn things around. Publicly, the White House and the campaign have scheduled a series of events intended to show voters that the debate was just an off night.

Mr. Biden will sit for an interview with the ABC host George Stephanopoulos on Friday, his first lengthy interview since the debate. That same day, he will travel to Madison, Wis., for a campaign event. On Sunday, he will campaign in Philadelphia.

Michael D. Shear is a White House correspondent for The New York Times, covering President Biden and his administration. He has reported on politics for more than 30 years. More about Michael D. Shear

See more on: President Joe Biden, U.S. Politics, 2024 Elections