politics
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has invited Democratic governors to a gathering on Wednesday to solidify support for his party's top politicians following last week's election victory. shaky debate performance.
The discussion will likely be largely virtual, based on two people conversant in Biden's plan who insisted on anonymity because they weren’t authorized to debate a timeline that has not yet been made public. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden will speak with Democratic governors and in addition make calls with party leaders in Congress.
The meeting comes after Democratic governors held their very own conference call and asked Biden to talk with them, based on three individuals with knowledge of the president's schedule.
Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota and chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, said that on the previous conference call, governors talked about “an obvious poor performance” in the controversy and participants “asked questions like: What is the plan?”
Waltz said he expected “some of the same concerns” to be raised at Wednesday's meeting.
The talks with governors and Democratic members of Congress are the clearest indication yet that Biden is attempting to calm fears amongst some Democrats who worry that Biden may not have the ability to proceed a campaign – let alone defeat Donald Trump – after his at times hoarse and halting performance at the controversy in Atlanta last week.
Biden condemned the Supreme Court Ruling on presidential immunity on Monday evening, but had otherwise announced a largely politics-free and business-as-usual schedule for the period after the controversy – including plans to carry Fourth of July celebrations on the White House on Thursday.
Democratic Representative from Texas, Lloyd Doggett called on Biden on Tuesday to formally withdraw out of the race, after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on MSNBC that it was fair to ask whether Biden's performance in the controversy was an anomaly or part of a bigger pattern.
“I think it's a fair question whether this is a seizure or a condition,” Pelosi said.
Moreover, there are not any signs that the president is seriously considering resigning.
His campaign downplayed the president's political problems in a series of memos and personal meetings with donors, strategists and party insiders, insisting that Biden could put his poor debate performance behind him without jeopardizing his long-term possibilities in November.
Not all the party's governors are expected to attend the convention. In Kansas, the office of Gov. Laura Kelly, who has broken with Biden prior to now, particularly over the COVID-19 vaccination requirement, wouldn’t say whether she would attend. Spokeswoman Grace Hoge pointed to an announcement Kelly issued Friday after the presidential debate wherein she called Biden a “decent man of strong character” and said the governor “will support him in November.”
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