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Biden blames travel for poor debate as he looks to calm revolt

Jennifer Jacobs, Akayla Gardner and Justin Sink, Bloomberg News on

Published in News & Features

“We’re going to turn the page. We’re going to get out there across the country. Americans are going to see him for themselves,” Jean-Pierre told reporters.

White House chief of staff Jeff Zients will also hold an all-hands meeting on Wednesday and is expected to emphasize the importance of continuing to execute on the administration’s mission, according to people familiar with the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity. The meeting, set for 12:30 p.m. local time, is scheduled to last 15 minutes.

Democratic Fears

The effort is meant to counter brewing discontent among top Democratic donors, aides and elected officials over what happened at the debate, which has deepened their fears that Trump will return to the White House.

Three quarters of U.S. voters said Democrats would have a better chance of retaining control of the White House if someone else was atop the ticket, according to a CNN poll released Tuesday. Biden polled worse in head-to-head matchups than other prominent Democrats — including governors such as California’s Gavin Newsom and Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer — who are expected to be on Wednesday’s call.

Puck, a news site, also published a leaked memo from a pollster for a leading Democratic political action committee, finding that Biden’s favorability numbers plummeted after the debate in “the largest single-week drop” in nearly three years.

 

Prominent Democrats have begun to wonder aloud about the president’s mental state.

“It is a legitimate question to say, is this an episode or is it a condition?” former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday on MSNBC. “So when people ask that question it is legitimate, of both candidates.”

The governors meeting, reported earlier by CBS News, is a chance for Biden to persuade them he should remain the party’s standard bearer as some privately harbor concerns about Biden’s viability. Whitmer said Monday that she stands behind the president, pushing back against suggestions there were tensions between her team and Biden’s.

Despite the fears about Biden’s candidacy in many corners of the Democratic Party, no top lawmakers, governors or Cabinet officials have publicly said the president should end his campaign. Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker have also issued statements supportive of Biden.

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