US President Joe Biden has told an ally that he knows he may not be able to salvage his candidacy if he cannot convince the public in the coming days that he is up for the job after his debate performance last week, the New York Times reported.
The Times quoted the ally as saying that Biden “knows if he has two more events like that, we’re in a different place” by the end of the weekend. The report described the ally as “key” but did not name the person.
The headline of the report said that Biden told the ally he is weighing whether to continue in the race. The text of the report did not include any reference to those comments.
However, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates wrote on social media Wednesday: “This claim is absolutely false.”
Separately, President Biden will hold a meeting with Democratic governors on Wednesday and speak to lawmakers to reassure them about his fitness as the party’s standard-bearer after his disastrous debate last week against Republican Donald Trump.
Biden spoke to Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader in the House of Representatives, on Tuesday, and Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader in the Senate, on Wednesday, a White House official said.
House Democrat Jim Clyburn — a kingmaker of sorts within the Democratic Party and who was instrumental in Biden’s 2020 win — told CNN on Wednesday that the party should hold a “mini-primary” if Biden steps aside, the first senior party member to talk publicly about how, exactly, replacing Biden as a candidate would work.
Clyburn, who said on Tuesday that he would back Vice President Kamala Harris as the presidential candidate if Biden were to depart, added: “If she were to be the nominee, we need to have a running mate and a strong running mate. And so all of this would give us an opportunity, not just to measure up who would be good to be at the top of the ticket, but also who would be best in second place.”
