ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
President Biden's been working the phones the last couple of days, talking to congressional leaders, campaign staff and trying to quell concerns about his campaign after the debate last week. More than 20 Democratic governors are also meeting with Biden later this evening. All this outreach didn't begin until several days after he struggled to get his points across during that debate with former President Donald Trump. In the meantime, the worries over keeping Biden at the top of the ticket keep growing. NPR White House correspondent Deepa Shivaram is covering this. Hi, Deepa.
DEEPA SHIVARAM, BYLINE: Hey.
SHAPIRO: Lots of calls, lots of meetings - walk us through what has been happening at the White House today.
SHIVARAM: Yeah, I mean, today alone, Biden spoke with some congressional leaders. He and Vice President Harris joined campaign staff on a call to try and lift morale. And on that call, Biden said he would stay in the race. Biden's chief of staff at the White House, Jeff Zients, spoke with White House staff today, telling them to keep their heads up and keep doing the work. All of these calls and meetings, Ari, come after Biden's debate last Thursday where he struggled to make his case. His sentences trailed off. He wasn't very clear. Polling has long shown that Americans are concerned about Biden's age and his candidacy for another term.
And I'll note that later, you know, Biden is meeting with Democratic governors, many of whom are flying into Washington to attend this meeting at the White House in person. And that includes some governors like California's Gavin Newsom and Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer, who have backed Biden publicly and consistently. But they are also some of the leaders who are much younger than Biden who some of the Democratic Party are now saying could be a replacement for the president.
SHAPIRO: So what is Biden's message? How is he trying to assuage these concerns?
SHIVARAM: Well, these calls with, you know, Democrats - like majority leader Chuck Schumer, Congressman Jim Clyburn, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, all of those folks - I mean, the White House has kept those calls private. They haven't said what was discussed, but they said that they were, quote, "strong conversations." But publicly, Biden has commented a bit further on his debate night. The president held a fundraiser last night where he said that all the travel from his international trips leading up to the debate tired him out.
He was in France, in Italy in the weeks before the debate took place. I was on the second half of that at the G7 in Italy with him. I will note, you know, we got back to the Eastern time zone about 11 days before he got on the debate stage. But here's White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in the briefing room today talking about the president's schedule and his health before the debate.
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KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: In addition to the two major trips, he was also - continued to do his presidential duties. He worked late in doing that, and he also prepared for the debate. And on top of that, there was obviously the jet lag, as you just asked about, and also he had a cold.
SHIVARAM: So the White House continues to characterize the president's debate performance as a, quote, "bad night."
SHAPIRO: They seem a little late to respond to all of this pushback. The debate was close to a week ago. Why has it taken so many days?
SHIVARAM: Yeah, I mean, Biden and the White House have been saying this. He kind of responded to some of that criticism on the day after the debate when he was in North Carolina. But these calls to Democratic leaders, that's really what's been delayed here. And it's a good question, Ari. I mean, the White House has said there's some communication between Biden's team and some of these congressional offices. They said the president has been really busy - he was on the road.
But it has been nearly a week since the debate and there hasn't been much of an explanation for why it took so long for Biden to pick up the phone. You know, we heard on Morning Edition today from a Democrat in the House, Texas Congressman Lloyd Doggett, who said that Biden shouldn't be the nominee. And there are a couple others in the House who have said that they now think Trump is going to win.
And I will say, my NPR colleague Deirdre Walsh has learned now that House Democratic leaders are gathering for a call themselves this evening. And in the meantime, you know, other Democrats have said that they want to see Biden out interacting with voters more, which I will say he will be doing later this week in Wisconsin, where he'll also be doing an interview with ABC News, which is one of the first times we'll see Biden unscripted since the debate.
SHAPIRO: NPR's Deepa Shivaram at the White House. Thanks.
SHIVARAM: Thanks.
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