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WASHINGTON -- The White House announced Tuesday that President Joe Biden volition conscionable with Democratic lawmakers and governors, sit for a web TV interview and clasp a property league successful the coming days arsenic helium pushes backmost against increasing unit to measurement speech successful the 2024 contention aft his disastrous performance successful past week’s statement with Republican Donald Trump.
“We truly privation to crook the leafage connected this,” White House property caput Karine Jean-Pierre said of the intensifying calls for Biden to bow retired of the race. She added that the 81-year-old president had no volition of stepping aside, characterizing his statement failings arsenic simply grounds of “a atrocious night” erstwhile helium had a cold.
The White House was besides holding an all-staff gathering connected Wednesday, billed arsenic a morale-booster pursuing the statement and a accidental for the elder squad to support the unit focused astir governing, according to 3 radical acquainted with the details who spoke to The Associated Press connected information of anonymity to sermon a backstage meeting.
But Democratic leaders were progressively signaling that they were not buying White House attempts to brushwood disconnected Biden's show successful the face-off, erstwhile helium gave halting and nonsensical answers, arsenic conscionable a momentary lapse.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told MSNBC that she believes “it is simply a morganatic question” whether Biden’s halting show is conscionable “an occurrence oregon is this a condition.”
“When radical inquire that question, it’s morganatic — of some candidates,” Pelosi said.
Pelosi said she had not spoken with Biden since the debate, but she emphasized that the president is connected “top of his game, successful presumption of knowing the issues and what is astatine stake.”
Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas became the archetypal Democratic subordinate of Congress to publicly telephone for Biden to measurement down. He said Biden should “make the achy and hard decision” to withdraw, citing the president's inability to “effectively support his galore accomplishments” successful the debate.
Rep. Jared Golden, a mean Democrat from Maine, said successful a section paper file Tuesday that the statement “didn’t rattle maine arsenic it has others, due to the fact that the result of this predetermination has been wide to maine for months: While I don’t program to ballot 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 conscionable with Democratic governors and apical legislature leaders connected Wednesday. And Biden besides agreed to beryllium for an interrogation Friday with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that volition aerial Friday. He has planned trips to Wisconsin connected Friday and Philadelphia connected Monday. And volition clasp a property league during the NATO acme successful Washington adjacent week.
The president's stepped-up docket comes aft a backstage treatment wrong Biden’s run astir what tin beryllium done to counteract the damaging content near by past week’s debate.
“We’re going to get retired there, crossed the country. Americans are going to spot him for themselves," Jean-Pierre said astatine a White House briefing, rejecting immoderate proposition that the president acquisition cognitive investigating oregon supply further accusation connected his aesculapian condition.
When asked whether the president had a degenerative unwellness oregon dementia, Jean-Pierre said: “No. And I anticipation you’re asking the different feline the aforesaid question,” she said, referring to Trump, who is 78 and erstwhile challenged Biden to a cognitive test, only to confuse who administered the trial to him successful the adjacent sentence.
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Associated Press writers Stephen Groves and Zeke Miller contributed to this approach.
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