VIDEO: White House says Biden will meet with Democratic lawmakers as he faces pressure to quit presidential race

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Tuesday that President Joe Biden will meet with Democratic lawmakers and governors, participate in a televised interview and hold a news conference in the coming days as he fends off growing pressure to drop out of the 2024 race after his disastrous performance in last week’s debate with Republican Donald Trump.

Watch Karine Jean-Pierre’s comments in the player above.

“We really want to turn the page,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said of growing calls for Biden to drop out of the race. She added that the 81-year-old president had no intention of stepping down, calling his debate failures simply evidence of a “bad night” when he had a cold.

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The White House also held an all-staff meeting Wednesday, billed as a way to boost morale after the debate and a chance for the leadership team to keep staff focused on governing, according to three people familiar with the details who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss a private meeting.

But Democratic leaders have increasingly shown that they do not believe the White House’s attempts to downplay Biden’s performance in this confrontation, as he gave halting and absurd answers, as if it were simply a momentary blunder.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told MSNBC she thought “it’s a legitimate question” whether Biden’s faltering performance was just “an episode or whether it was a condition.”

“When people ask that question, it’s a legitimate question – from both candidates,” Pelosi said.

Nancy Pelosi said she had not spoken with Biden since the debate, but she stressed that the president was “on top of his game, in terms of knowing the issues and what’s at stake.”

Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett became the first Democratic member of Congress to publicly call for Joe Biden to resign. He said Biden should “make the painful and difficult decision” to step down, citing the president’s failure to “effectively defend his many accomplishments” during the debate.

Moderate Maine Democratic Rep. Jared Golden said in a column published Tuesday in a local newspaper that the debate “hasn’t rattled me like it has for others, because the outcome of this election has been clear to me for months: Even though I don’t intend to vote for him, Donald Trump is going to win. And I’m OK with that.”

Jean-Pierre said Biden, who has not taken questions from reporters since Thursday night’s debate, would meet with Democratic governors and top congressional leaders on Wednesday. Biden also agreed to give an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Friday that will air Friday. He has planned trips to Wisconsin on Friday and Philadelphia on Monday. He will also hold a news conference during the NATO summit in Washington next week.

The president’s accelerated timetable comes after a private discussion within the Biden campaign about what can be done to counter the damaging impression left by last week’s debate.

“We’re going to go out there, across the country. The American people are going to see it for themselves,” Jean-Pierre said at a White House briefing, rejecting any suggestion that the president should undergo cognitive testing or provide additional information about his health.

Asked if the president suffered from a degenerative disease or dementia, Jean-Pierre replied: “No. And I hope you ask the other one the same question,” she said, referring to Trump, who is 78 and once challenged Biden to a cognitive test, only to confound the person who administered the test in the next sentence.

Associated Press journalists Stephen Groves and Zeke Miller contributed reporting.