President Joe Biden is set to meet with Democratic governors on Wednesday as he seeks to address growing concerns about his ability to serve. second term the following a devastating debate performance last week.
The White House said the event will take place at 6:30 p.m. ET. Details of the meeting, which is expected to include a video call for those absent, are still being worked out, according to three sources familiar with the planning.
The Biden campaign declined to comment.
Democratic governors met by phone Monday to discuss the way forward for the party after the debate, according to two Democratic sources. Organized by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, no White House or Biden campaign staffers attended the call. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker was crucial to landing the Democratic National Convention for Chicago.
Governors expressed concern after Biden’s poor debate performance.
“There is no strategy that anyone has proposed and there is concern about what will happen next. What will the president do to prevent the impressions left from the debate?” one of the sources said.
The source said everyone on the call still supports the Biden campaign.
“What everyone needs is reassurance. No one said we have to go in a different direction.”
In Monday’s call, the governors suggested to Walz that they wanted to call Biden, which led to a meeting scheduled for Tuesday at the White House.
“Democratic governors are some of the most active and vocal supporters of the President and Vice President because they have seen the achievements of the Biden-Harris Administration directly benefit their residents,” another person familiar with the governors’ Monday call said in a statement. The Biden/Harris team is in constant communication with the governors and their teams, including yesterday’s meeting.”
Separately, White House chief of staff Jeff Zients will hold an all-staff meeting Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. ET, according to a source familiar with the planning. Zients is expected to tell employees to “weather the storm” and “keep your heads down.”
The call will include more junior staff, some of whom have expressed frustration that no one has told them anything. It was meant to reinforce the message Zients delivered to senior staff members — a smaller group of about 40 — on Friday when both he and Biden’s top adviser, Anita Dunn, acknowledged the discussion and said “there will always be tough days.”