WH responds to report Biden told ally he's weighing dropping out of race
President Biden is seriously considering whether he can continue on as the Democratic presidential nominee, according to a report.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that Biden has told a "key ally" that he knows he may not be able to win re-election if he cannot convince the American people he is fit to serve after his disastrous debate performance.
"The president, who the ally emphasized is still deeply in the fight for re-election, understands that his next few appearances heading into the holiday weekend — including an interview scheduled for Friday with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News and campaign stops in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — must go well," the report said.
"He knows if he has two more events like that, we’re in a different place" by the end of the weekend, the unnamed source told the Times.
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Another top advisor to the president reportedly said Biden was "well aware of the political challenge he faces."
White House Spokesman Andrew Bates disputed the report shortly after it was published.
"That claim is absolutely false. If the New York Times had provided us with more than 7 minutes to comment, we would have told them so," he told Fox News Digital in a statement.
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Biden, who at age 81 is the oldest president in the nation's history, is facing the roughest stretch of his bid for a second term in the White House.
His halting delivery and stumbling answers at the CNN Presidential Debate last Thursday sparked widespread panic in the Democratic Party and spurred calls from political pundits, editorial writers and party donors for Biden to step aside as the party's 2024 standard-bearer. In the past 24 hours, a small but growing number of elected Democrats have also urged the president to end his re-election bid.
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Biden will meet with Democratic governors at the White House on Wednesday, just days after Democratic Governors Association (DGA) Chair Gov. Tim Walz led a conference call with the DGA to discuss the fallout from the debate.
A number of the governors, including some who've been speculated as potential replacements on the extreme long-shot chance that Biden would step away from his re-election bid, have acknowledged the president's debate performance was shaky but remained committed to supporting the president.
A USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll released this week found that more four in ten Democrats said that the Democratic Party should intervene and replace Biden as the nominee. Overall, 54% of the voters polled were in favor of Biden dropping out.
Fox News Digital's Paul Steinhauser and Andrea Vacchiano contributed to this report.