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Joe Biden held a face-to-face meeting with Kamala Harris on Wednesday, as more polls showed him losing ground to Donald Trump and speculation swirled about the vice-president replacing him in the White House race.
Biden’s closed-door lunch with Harris at the White House came hours before the president was set to meet more than 20 influential Democratic governors, including California governor Gavin Newsom and Illinois governor JB Pritzker, who are seen as possible successors if the president withdraws from the race.
The talks with key Democrats came days after the president’s disastrous debate performance sparked panic in the party about his fitness for office and ability to beat Trump in this year’s election. The White House and Biden campaign have insisted that the president will remain in the race.
But pressure mounted on the president on Wednesday, with new polls showing a sharp fall in support for his candidacy in recent days.
A New York Times poll conducted after the debate and published on Wednesday showed Trump had widened his lead over Biden among likely voters to six points. Trump had a nine-point advantage among registered voters. A CBS poll on Wednesday also showed Trump now leading.
The New York Times poll came shortly after a separate report from the newspaper quoted an anonymous ally of Biden saying the president was aware that his re-election bid was now in peril, with much riding on forthcoming public appearances. CNN published a similar report citing an unnamed Biden ally.
A White House spokesperson called The New York Times report “absolutely false”.
The reports followed a statement on Tuesday from a Democratic congressman publicly calling on the president to step aside. Several others publicly cast doubt on Biden’s ability to beat Trump in November.
Harris has been plagued by low approval ratings as vice-president but has gained support among Democrats as a replacement for Biden in recent days. Betting markets on Wednesday shifted sharply in favour of Harris, giving her better odds of winning the election than Biden.
On Tuesday, a CNN poll conducted after the debate found that while Biden’s approval rating had plunged to an all-time low, Harris was now polling better than him in a hypothetical match-up against Trump.
Amid a deepening crisis in the party, Biden spoke by phone with Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries on Tuesday evening and Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer and former Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday morning, according to several people familiar with the lawmakers’ plans.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed on Wednesday that Biden had also spoken with longtime allies Jim Clyburn, the South Carolina congressman, and Delaware Senator Chris Coons.
Some Democratic lawmakers have warned that Biden will not only lose the White House but could drag down the party’s other congressional candidates.
Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday that dozens of Democratic lawmakers were privately considering signing a letter demanding that Biden withdraw from the race.
The president will on Wednesday evening meet more than 20 Democratic state governors, several of whom have expressed concern about his candidacy.
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Pritzker was among those who were flying into 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 was planning on attending the meeting at the White House.
Both North Carolina governor Roy Cooper and Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro would dial in virtually, according to their spokespeople. A spokesperson for Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, widely seen as another possible presidential candidate, did not respond to a request for comment.
Additional reporting by Joshua Chaffin in New York
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