President Joe Biden suggested for Democratic governors that he may limit late-night events after 8 p.m. so he can get more sleep, according to two sources familiar with the exchange.
Biden met with governors on Wednesday night as he tried ease allies’ concerns after a disastrous debate performance left Democrats worried about his ability to serve and campaign for re-election.
He also joked that while his health was good, “it’s just my brain,” a source told NBC News.
“He was clearly making a joke and then said, ‘Jokes aside,’” Biden campaign chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillon said Thursday.
The observations, first reported by The New York Timesare part of a series of leaks about the content of the meeting, which no employees were present the governors, the White House or the campaign. He too said he went to the doctor after the debatecontradicting a previous White House statement.
Governor of California Gavin Newsoma Biden surrogate who was on the call and is seen as a potential future Democratic presidential candidate said Biden’s 8 p.m. comment was not “verbatim.”
“It was more of a rhetorical framework of just being in shape and rested because he was burning on both ends, you know, the last 10 or so days. And I think that’s what he was reflecting, is just a more constant focus on being his energetic self,” Newsom said.
A fourth person with knowledge of the meeting downplayed Biden’s comments about needing more sleep, adding that Biden generally acknowledged he needs to find better time to rest.
The campaign defended the remarks, saying presidents need a balanced calendar.
“President Bush went to bed at 9:00 and President Obama cooked dinner at 6:30. Normal presidents find a balance, and so does Joe Biden,” campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz said in a statement. “Hardly the same rigor as Donald Trump, who spends half his day complaining on Truth Social about plans that would cause a recession and the other half golfing.”
In the week following the debate, Democrats expressed frustration with both Biden’s debate performance and the way he and White House officials handled allies’ response to him.
Biden is expected to do damage control in an interview with ABC News on Friday morning that will air in the evening, but some doubt that will be enough.
“One interview isn’t going to solve this,” Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., said Thursday on MSNBC. “He’s got one thing to do: get up and go out and prove to people that he can do the job, he’ll do the job and he’s got stamina.”
Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., questioned Biden’s ability to win in November in an interview with a local CBS affiliate and said she wasn’t sure she could support him at this time.
“I think the campaign has been very arrogant in its response,” he said, arguing that it was necessary to flip the numbers in swing states. “If they don’t have a plan, I think we have to go in a different direction.”
But Peters and Dingell stopped short of asking Biden to stop being the candidate. Just two House Democrats publicly said he should leave the race.
Some allies maintain firm support.
Newsom campaigned in Michigan on Thursday, publicizing the governors’ meeting.
“I want to say this with absolute conviction,” he said of the meeting. “That was the Joe Biden I remember from two weeks ago. That was the Joe Biden I remember from two years ago. This is the Joe Biden I look forward to re-electing as President of the United States.”
CORRECTION (July 4, 2024, 2:13 PM ET): Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this article misstated Jen O’Malley Dillon’s role in the Biden campaign. She is Biden’s campaign chair, not his campaign manager.
This article was originally published in NBCNews. with
