President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday joined a Democratic National Committee call to vow that they are staying in the fight for reelection after the incumbent's shaky performance in a debate against former President Donald Trump last week.
The call comes one day after Biden, at a donor event in Virginia on Tuesday night, offered a new explanation for his showing in the debate, blaming extensive international travel ahead of the face-off in Atlanta.
“I decided to travel around the world a couple of times, I don’t know how many time zones , shortly before the debate,” Biden told a gathering of donors at a fundraiser in McLean, Virginia, according to the White House pool.
“I didn't listen to my staff … and then I almost fell asleep on stage,” the president admitted, apologizing for his poor performance before underscoring how “critical” it is to win reelection over Trump.
“I didn't have my best night. I wasn’t very smart,” Biden admitted, later adding: “It’s not an excuse but an explanation.”
While Biden did spend six days at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland preparing for the debate with aides and family, the president traveled to France to mark the anniversary of the D-Day invasion in early June, then traveled to Italy for the Group of Seven summit a few days later. Upon his return to the U.S., he traveled to California for a star-studded Hollywood fundraiser before returning to Washington before heading to Camp David, with a quick stop at his home in Delaware in between.
Biden’s aides had previously blamed a cold for his debate performance, a statement that White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated on on Tuesday, though experts say that feeling ill after travel is extremely common. In a Weill Cornell Medicine article published last year, Dr. Ashima Oza — a primary care physician and an instructor at the esteemed institution — says about 80% of people feel ill after traveling.
“When you travel, your usual routines are disrupted,” Dr. Oza says in the article. “You may not be sleeping as well as you do at home, and your eating habits change when you’re away. You may be staying up later, consuming more alcohol and getting less exercise than usual. You’re also more likely to be in crowded places for prolonged periods, interacting with a more diverse population than you’re used to.”
All of that can weaken one’s immune system, the article states.
But the president's explanation may not quell the panic of Democrats worried about the prospect of a Trump return to the White House. One sitting Democratic member of the House of Representatives, Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas, publicly urged the president to withdraw as the party's nominee on Tuesday, becoming the first to outwardly do so. Other prominent Democrats, including former Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, called for Vice President Kamala Harris to take Biden's place at the top of the ticket.
Further panicking Democrats, no doubt, will be the latest New York Times / Siena College poll released Wednesday which showed Trump widening his lead over Biden in the race for the White House. And a new Wall Street Journal poll released later Wednesday found that 80% of respondents believe Biden is too old for the job.
Biden's debate performance sparked renewed concerns about his age and vitality to serve for another four years in office. At 81, he's the oldest president to hold office; Trump, who was previously the oldest ever inaugurated and would be again if he wins a second term, turned 78 last week.
“I know I’m not a young man,” an energetic Biden said at a rally in Raleigh, N.C., last week, one day after the debate. “I don’t walk as easy as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to, but I know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth!”
But Biden has reportedly conceded to those closest to him that the next few days will be critical for him in terms of continuing on in the race for president, as first reported by The New York Times on Wednesday. Biden has several events in the coming days, including a rally in Madison, Wisc., on Friday, an exclusive interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, set to air Sunday, and a solo news conference at the NATO summit in Washington.
Sources confirmed to Spectrum News that Biden spoke to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, a powerful Democrat who boosted his candidacy in the 2020 Democratic primary, for the first time since last week's debate.
When asked why Biden did not reach out to those leaders sooner, Jean-Pierre said at a White House briefing on Wendesday that the president "was busy dealing with his schedule. and also speaking directly and engaging with supporters and spending time with his family."
Biden and Harris made a surprise appearance on a Democratic National Committee call on Wednesday, pledging to staffers that they will keep fighting for reelection.
"I'm in this race to the end and we're going to win, because when Democrats unite, we will always win," Biden said on the call, per a source familiar confirmed to Spectrum News. "Just as we beat Donald Trump in 2020, we're going to beat him again in 2024."
"We will not back down," Harris said, per the source. "We will follow our president’s lead. We will fight, and we will win."
"There is no one I'd rather be in this battle with than all of you," Biden concluded. "So let's link arms, let's get this done. You, me, the vice president, together."
"The president is clear-eyed and he's staying in the race," Jean-Pierre said at Wednesday's briefing. "He's saying in the race."
Spectrum News' Cassie Semyon, Kevin Frey and Taylor Popielarz contributed to this report.