Joe Biden set to hold talks with Democratic leaders as crisis deepens

Joe Biden met face-to-face with Kamala Harris on Wednesday, as polls increasingly show him losing ground to Donald Trump and speculation mounts that the vice president could replace him in the race for the White House.

Biden’s closed-door lunch with Harris at the White House came hours before the president is scheduled to meet with more than 20 influential Democratic governors, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who are seen as possible successors if the president drops out of the race.

The talks with top Democrats came days after the president’s disastrous debate performance sparked panic within the party about his fitness to hold office and beat Trump in this year’s election. The White House and the Biden campaign have insisted the president will remain in the race.

But pressure mounted on the president on Wednesday, with renewed calls within the party for him to step down and polls showing a sharp decline in support for his candidacy in recent days.

A group of moderate Democratic lawmakers concerned about national security have drafted a letter urging Biden to withdraw from the race, according to a person familiar with the matter. Bloomberg News first reported that dozens of Democratic lawmakers were privately considering signing a letter demanding that Biden withdraw.

Meanwhile, Arizona Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva on Wednesday became the second House member to publicly call on Biden to suspend his re-election bid.

“This is an opportunity to look elsewhere,” Grijalva told The New York Times. “What (Biden) needs to do is take responsibility… Part of that responsibility is to withdraw from the race.”

“It’s unfair and unfortunate, but he has time,” said one veteran Democratic strategist. “He has to show that he’s up to this campaign, this election, and that he can beat Donald Trump.”

Polls by the New York Times, CBS and the Wall Street Journal, all conducted after the debate, showed a sharp decline in support for Biden.

The New York Times also cited an unnamed Biden ally as saying the president was aware that his campaign was now in jeopardy, and that much depended on his upcoming public appearances. CNN published a similar report citing an unnamed Biden ally.

A White House spokesman called the New York Times report “absolutely false.”

The reports follow a statement Tuesday by a Democratic member of Congress publicly calling for the president to step down. Several others have publicly expressed doubts about Biden’s ability to beat Trump in November.

But Biden told his campaign team in a call Wednesday afternoon that he was not giving up.

“I’m in this race all the way and we’re going to win because when Democrats come together, we always win,” Biden said, according to a person familiar with the call.

Harris also joined the call and insisted she supported the president: “We will not back down. We will follow the lead of our president. We will fight and we will win.”

Harris has been plagued by low approval ratings as vice president, but she has gained support among Democrats as Biden’s replacement in recent days. Betting markets swung sharply in Harris’ favor Wednesday, giving her a better chance of winning the election than Biden.

On Tuesday, a CNN poll taken after the debate found that while Biden’s approval rating had fallen to a record low, Harris was now better positioned than him in a hypothetical matchup with Trump.

Trump’s campaign has remained relatively quiet since the debate, allowing the infighting within the Democratic Party to dominate headlines. But Trump’s senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles issued a statement Wednesday saying Trump could beat any Democrat, “especially sneering co-pilot Kamala Harris.”

Amid a growing crisis within the party, Biden spoke by phone with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Tuesday night and with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday morning, according to multiple people familiar with the lawmakers’ plans.

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed Wednesday that Biden also spoke with longtime allies South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn and Delaware Sen. Chris Coons.

Some Democratic lawmakers have warned that Biden would not only lose the White House, but could also drag down the party’s other congressional candidates.

The president will meet Wednesday night with more than 20 Democratic state governors, several of whom have expressed concerns about his candidacy.

Pritzker was among those traveling to Washington to attend the meeting in person, according to a person familiar with his schedule. In a fundraising email to supporters, Newsom also said he planned to attend the meeting at the White House.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro will both participate in the meeting by phone, according to their spokespeople. A spokeswoman for Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, widely seen as another potential presidential contender, did not respond to a request for comment.

Additional reporting by Joshua Chaffin in New York