WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet Wednesday with several Democratic governors in a closed-door meeting at the White House, part of a push to reassure the president’s supporters that he can still win the election in November despite his debate debacle last week.

White House Has Not Released Governor Names

The White House has not released the names of the governors who will be meeting with Biden in the Roosevelt Room, just down the hall from the Oval Office.

The meeting was added to the president’s schedule even as he is trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy in the middle of the biggest political crisis since he took office almost four years ago. Before meeting with the governors, Biden will posthumously present the Medal of Honor to two Civil War Army soldiers for their actions fighting the Confederacy in 1862.

But the situation swirling around the president is anything but normal.

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Democrats Contemplate Biden Dropping from Election

Democrats are openly talking about whether Biden, 81, should abandon his bid for reelection because he is too old to effectively campaign against former President Donald Trump. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, called for Biden to step aside Tuesday.

At the same time, the first independent polls since the debate are beginning to emerge, showing that the president has lost ground against Trump. A CNN poll showed Biden losing to Trump by 6 percentage points, 49% to 43%. A series of polls by a pro-Biden super political action committee leaked to the news site Puck showed the president slipping across the battleground states and in New Mexico, New Hampshire and Virginia, where he was previously winning.

Related Story: Poll: Debate Fallout Raises Doubts on Biden’s Reelection Bid

Privately, Biden and his top lieutenants are trying to reassure lawmakers, donors and activists that he can turn things around. Publicly, the White House and the campaign have scheduled a series of events intended to show voters that the debate was just an off night.

Biden will sit for an interview with ABC host George Stephanopoulos on Friday, his first lengthy interview since the debate. That same day, he will travel to Madison, Wisconsin, for a campaign event. On Sunday, he will campaign in Philadelphia.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Michael D. Shear/Doug Mills
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