The meeting with governors could signal a move by the White House to step up Biden’s personal involvement in trying to assure party leaders that he is capable of continuing with his reelection campaign.
The meeting, which is intended to focus on the state of Biden’s campaign, comes as the Democratic Party is in something of a crisis. Longtime concerns about Biden’s age, stamina and mental acuity were crystallized by a debate performance in which the president sometimes struggled to complete sentences.
Biden’s senior aides since then have been furiously calling top Democratic leaders and donors, but Biden as of Tuesday morning had not spoken with such top party figures as Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). This relative silence has added to Democrats’ anxiety at a time when many have been looking for reassurance from the president.
On Monday, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, who chairs the Democratic Governors Association, held a call with other Democratic governors to discuss Biden’s reelection campaign. Several participants expressed frustration that they had not heard personally from the president, according to a person familiar with the call, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private meeting.
It was those complaints that spurred the plans for Biden to meet with the Democratic governors, some of who are expected to travel to Washington while others are likely to participate virtually.
The party’s governors have been put in a sensitive position by the outcry following Biden’s debate performance. Many of them are among the president’s strongest backers and have been called on to reemphasize their support for his candidacy. But some of the governors are also rising stars who have been suggested by Democratic donors and activists as potential replacements for Biden should he bow out of the race.
Following the debate on Thursday night, Biden held a rally in Raleigh, N.C., and hosted several fundraisers before returning to the presidential retreat at Camp David to spend two days with his family.
Biden returned to the White House on Monday night, speaking before a bank of television cameras to deliver prepared remarks on a Supreme Court decision declaring that Donald Trump was immune from prosecution for his official actions when he was president.
Overall, the president’s schedule for the week has been light. He arrived early Tuesday afternoon for an operational briefing on extreme weather and had plans later for a fundraiser in McLean, Va.
