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Joe Biden set to meet Kamala Harris, Governors as his campaign sends all-staff memo amid replacement talks
US President Joe Biden is scheduled to have lunch with Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday amid calls to step out of the White House race.
US President Joe Biden is scheduled to have lunch with Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday amid calls to step out of the White House race following his poor debate performance.
The meeting also comes after Representative Lloyd Doggett of Texas became the first Democratic member of Congress on Tuesday to publicly call on Biden to step down from the race.
The 81-year-old Commander-in-Chief has indicated that he does not plan to withdraw, even after a lackluster debate performance against the presumed Republican nominee, Donald Trump.
Democrats were alarmed by Biden's dismal performance, which also brought attention to questions about his age and ability to serve as president for a further four years.
If Biden were to step down, Harris is one of the most prominent contenders being considered to take his position at the helm of the Democratic ticket.
Last week, Harris defended Biden in the wake of his debate performance, admitting to CNN: “Yes, there was a slow start, but it was a strong finish.”
What became very clear over the course of the night is that Joe Biden is fighting on behalf of the American people on substance, on policy, on performance," she added.
On Wednesday night, Biden is also set to hold a meeting with Democratic governors amid efforts to allay worries about his candidacy.
According to the Associated Press, the White House said on Tuesday that Biden would speak with congressional leaders later this week, hold a press conference in coming days, and give an interview to George Stephanopoulos of ABC.
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Biden's campaign sends out memo to staffers; here's what it say
Biden's campaign sent a memo to staffers depicting the incumbent President lagging behind former President Donald Trump.
Politico reported that the memo features internal polling that revealed that Biden had lost ground in key swing states both before and after his debate performance.
Prior to the debate, Biden and Trump had the same percentage of the vote (43%), but according to the document, by Tuesday, Biden had dropped to 42% while Trump's vote share increased by 0.2 percentage points.
Top campaign executives for Biden, Jen O'Malley Dillon and Julie Chavez Rodriguez, seemed to be prepping staff for a fresh poll that is "likely to show a slightly larger swing in the race," according to the memo. The poll is not yet released publicly.
According to the campaign memo: “Polls are a snapshot in time and we should all expect them to continue to fluctuate — it will take a few weeks, not a few days, to get a full picture of the race.”
Polls have already started showing how Biden's reelection campaign has lost momentum as an outcome of his debate performance. According to a CBS survey that was released on Wednesday, Trump was up 2 points nationwide and up 3 points in crucial states.
