Politics

President Biden’s campaign provided lists of approved questions to two radio hosts who did the first interviews with him after his faltering debate performance, both hosts said on Saturday.

Mr. Biden’s Thursday appearances on Black radio shows in the critical states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania were his first chances to show he could answer questions and discuss his record after a debate in which the 81-year-old repeatedly struggled to complete sentences and press his case against former President Donald Trump.

Radio host Earl Ingram said Saturday that Mr. Biden’s aides reached out to him directly for his interview that aired Thursday and sent him a list of four questions in advance, about which there was no negotiation.

“They gave me the exact questions to ask,” Ingram, whose “The Earl Ingram Show” is broadcast statewide across 20 Wisconsin outlets, told The Associated Press. “There was no back and forth.”

Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt told CBS News in a statement Saturday afternoon that “it’s not at all an uncommon practice for interviewees to share topics they would prefer,” calling the questions “relevant to news of the day.”  

“We do not condition interviews on acceptance of these questions, and hosts are always free to ask the questions they think will best inform their listeners,” Hitt said.

A Biden administration official told CBS News that the White House was not involved in any preparation for the two radio interviews and said that providing questions to interviewers is not standard practice for the White House, and the campaign is not planning to do it again going forward.

A source within the campaign reiterated that, telling CBS News that, moving forward, it “will refrain from offering suggested questions.”

While the interviews were meant as part of an effort to restore faith in Mr. Biden’s ability not just to govern over the next four years but to successfully campaign, the revelation instead created questions about whether Biden was capable of performing in ad-hoc, unscripted moments following his debate performance.

Appearing with Ingram earlier on CNN, Andrea Lawful-Sanders — host of “The Source” on WURD in Philadelphia — said that she had received a list of eight questions, from which she approved four.

Mr. Biden argued on Ingram’s show that much more than his own political future was in jeopardy, saying: “The stakes are really high. I know you know this. For democracy, for freedom … our economy, they’re all on the line.”

Ingram asked four questions in his 18-minute interview. He asked if Mr. Biden could “speak to some accomplishments that we may or may not be familiar with about your record, especially here in Wisconsin,” what was at stake for Black voters in the election, what Biden would say to people who believe their vote doesn’t matter, and if he could address his debate performance and a remark Trump made during the debate about people crossing the border and taking what he called “Black jobs.”

“I didn’t have a good debate. That’s 90 minutes on stage. Look at what I’ve done in 3.5 years,” Mr. Biden said in answering the last question before speaking for several minutes about Trump, the economy and veterans’ issues.

When asked about the set list of questions, Ingram — who has been in radio for 15 years and said he doesn’t consider himself a journalist — said that the notion of receiving a set list of questions for a guest gave him pause, but also presented a perhaps once-in-a-career opportunity.

“I probably would never have accepted, it but this was an opportunity to talk to the president of the United States,” he said.

EAGAN, Minn. — Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota became the latest House Democrat to call on President Biden to end his campaign for a second term after his shaky debate performance last week and what she called a “lack of a forceful response.”

“This is not a decision I’ve come to lightly, but there is simply too much at stake to risk a second Donald Trump presidency,” Craig said in a statement Saturday morning. “That’s why I respectfully call on President Biden to step aside as the Democratic nominee for a second term as President and allow for a new generation of leaders to step forward.”

Craig — who represents Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District that encompasses the southern portion of the Twin Cities metro and communities such as Lakeville, Eagan, and Northfield — is one of five House Democrats to call on Mr. Biden to step aside. Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas was the first Democratic lawmaker to call on Mr. Biden to drop out of the race, followed by Reps. Raul Grijalva, Seth Moulton and Mike Quigley. 

In her statement, Craig said that she has “great respect” for the president, but after watching the debate “coupled with the lack of forceful response from the president himself following that debate, I do not believe that the president can effectively campaign and win against Donald Trump.”

Mr. Biden, who is 81, has worked for the past week to assuage concerns from voters and members of his own party about his fitness for a second term. He has repeatedly vowed that he will stay in the race, despite several new polls showing him falling significantly behind former President Donald Trump both nationwide and in battleground states.

But in her statement, Craig said that “if we truly believe that Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans must be stopped, there is only a small window left to make sure we have a candidate best equipped to make the case and win. This future of our country is bigger than any one of us. It’s up to the President from here.” 

On Wednesday evening Mr. Biden met with a coalition of Democratic governors to quell their concerns following his lackluster debate performance. Afterwards, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota said Mr. Biden was “fit for office” and pledged his support.

Mr. Biden made a campaign stop in the battleground state of Wisconsin on Friday, and reiterated that he won’t be forced out as the Democratic presidential nominee. 

And in an interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos Friday, the president insisted the debate was a “bad episode” and that he was “feeling terrible” from a cold. He added that the only thing that might persuade him he could lose to Trump is if the “Lord Almighty” came down and told him so.

Following the debate, the University of Virginia’s “Sabato’s Crystal Ball,” a key election forecaster, shifted Minnesota from “likely Democratic” in this presidential race to “lean Democratic,” in a sign that the state is more competitive than it was four years ago. 

Washington — President Biden met with 20 Democratic governors Wednesday night as the White House and his reelection campaign work to shore up support for him after last week’s shaky debate performance. 

The governors at the meeting included Tim Walz of Minnesota, the chair of the Democratic Governors Association; Gavin Newsom of California; J.B. Pritzker of Illinois; Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan; Kathy Hochul of New York; Wes Moore of Maryland; John Carney of Delaware; Maura Healey of Massachusetts; Dan McKee of Rhode Island; and Andy Beshear of Kentucky. Others attended virtually.

“Yes, he’s fit for office,” Walz told reporters outside the White House following the meeting. “None of us are denying Thursday night was a bad performance. It was a bad hit, if you will, on that, but it doesn’t impact what I believe, that he’s delivering.” 

Moore was more tempered with his remarks, saying that the governors “were honest” with Mr. Biden “about the feedback” they are receiving regarding the debate.

“We were honest about the concerns that we were hearing from people,” Moore said. “And we were also honest about the fact that, as the president continued to tell us and show us that he was all in, that we said we would stand with him.”

Hochul said that Mr. Biden is “in it to win it,” adding that “all of us” in the meeting “pledged our support to him, because the stakes could not be higher.” 

“I feel very confident in his abilities, we talked about the plan, and how he’s going to be very focused on issues that matter to Americans. And I felt very confident coming out of this meeting as well,” Hochul said.  

In a separate statement released through his office, Newsom said that he “heard three words from the President — he’s all in. And so am I. Joe Biden’s had our back. Now it’s time to have his.”

In the meeting, three governors expressed “pointed,” but “not harsh” criticism of Mr. Biden’s electoral chances in the wake of his debate last Thursday and openly questioned his ability to win their states.

Two people familiar with the sit-down told CBS News that Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, Maine Gov. Janet Mills and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Luján Grisham expressed concerns with the president’s performance and fretted openly it could spoil his chances of winning their states.

Spokespeople for all three governors didn’t reply to requests for comment late Wednesday and early Thursday.

“The basic gist was, ‘You’re too old and it won’t fly in our states,'” one of the people familiar with the meeting said.

The president had no notable response to the criticism, the people said, as he reiterated his plans to keep running despite a tough debate performance affected by what he described as a need for more sleep and a cold.

Mr. Biden told governors he needs to get more sleep and curtail public events and meetings that begin after 8 p.m., according to meeting participants.

It’s a stark admission for a commander in chief who is regularly kept out past that hour for state dinners and other appearances and is known to take some work home with him to continue working late into the night. The admission could also draw campaign attacks from Republicans who might question whether the 81-year old would be able to carry out presidential duties late at night or during overnight hours if the need arises.

Biden under pressure

The meeting came as the White House and Biden campaign work to keep Democratic governors and other elected Democrats in the fold after his rocky debate. Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas became the first Democratic lawmaker to call on Mr. Biden to drop out of the presidential race on Tuesday, a suggestion the campaign quickly dismissed.

In an all-staff campaign call earlier Wednesday, Mr. Biden said he will remain in the race, sources familiar with the call told CBS News. 

“Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can and as simply and straightforward as I can: I am running. I’m the nominee of the Democratic Party. No one’s pushing me out. I’m not leaving,” the president said, according to one source.  

The meeting with governors is notable because up until this point, it’s mostly been Mr. Biden’s top aides and advisers who have been reaching out to elected Democrats to reassure them after his debate performance. Members of the Democratic Governors’ Association held a call Monday to discuss the ongoing response to last week’s debate and a widespread concern among the state chief executives that Mr. Biden has done little outreach to governors, specifically over the course of the campaign year, according to two people familiar with arrangements for the call.

The Biden campaign had been trying to arrange time for Vice President Harris to speak with governors, but the governors decided Monday they wanted to hear directly from the president.

“They’d like to hear from him directly before going and sticking out their necks for him again,” said one of the people familiar with the plan, granted anonymity to speak frankly about them.

Prior to the meeting, Hochul and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy — who hosted one of the fundraisers the president and first lady attended over the weekend in the New York area — were the only two governors known to have spoken directly to Mr. Biden since the debate.

Beshear told reporters Monday that “the debate performance was rough,” but that he will continue to support Mr. Biden “so long as he continues to be in the race.” Beshear added that Mr. Biden is the candidate, and “only he can make decisions about his candidacy.” 

Beshear, Pritzker and Whitmer — all governors who have been floated to replace the president if he were to step down as the presumptive Democratic nominee — co-headlined a fundraiser in Los Angeles for Mr. Biden last Thursday evening. The event was a multi-million dollar affair that put potential future presidential aspirants in a room full of donors who could bankroll their future campaigns.

On “Face the Nation” Sunday, Moore was emphatic about his continued support for the president, insisting that “Joe Biden is our nominee. Joe Biden is our leader.”

Hunter Woodall contributed to this report.

Tactical voting in the second round

Three scenarios

Washington — Several days after President Biden’s shaky debate performance, the president, his campaign and the Democratic Party have failed to allay the concerns of a number of Democratic lawmakers and financial backers.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas became the first Democratic lawmaker to call on Mr. Biden to drop out of the presidential race in the wake of his debate performance last week, saying Tuesday that he is “hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw.”

“While much of his work has been transformational, he pledged to be transitional,” the Texas Democrat said in a statement. “He has the opportunity to encourage a new generation of leaders from whom a nominee can be chosen to unite our country through an open, democratic process.”

A group of House Democrats is also calling for Mr. Biden to transition out of the race, a Democratic lawmaker told CBS News. The member said the group, which was characterized as large and covering a broad swath of the Democratic caucus, is concerned about the president’s ability to win reelection, and the lawmakers are hoping the president will make the right decision and help find a new candidate.

A Democratic House member told CBS News that Democratic House “frontline” representatives — vulnerable House Democrats who are facing tough reelection races — are circulating a letter asking the president to step aside as the presumptive nominee. The Democratic member, who is not one of the frontline members and supports Mr. Biden, said that “if there is a lot of people who sign up, I think the dam can break.”

The lawmaker said there is real concern among some Democratic lawmakers, such as Doggett. The congressional source also emphasized that momentum may be picking up after Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez told a local station in her home state of Washington Tuesday she thinks the president’s debate performance will cost him the election. Gluesenkamp Pérez is a first -term member who won in a rural red district.

“About 50 million Americans tuned in and watched that debate. I was one of them for about five very painful minutes. We all saw what we saw, you can’t undo that, and the truth I think, is that Biden is going to lose to Trump. I know that’s difficult, but I think the damage has been done by that debate,” Gluesenkamp Pérez said.

The Biden-Harris campaign is aware of the frontline letter and trying to stop its momentum, according to a Biden campaign source.

Donors concerned 

One Democratic donor and Biden supporter, Whitney Tilson, who describes himself as a six-figure donor to Democrats, including Mr. Biden, is one of the few advocating publicly for the president to withdraw.

“I’m not privy to [Biden campaign] planning, but you can see it: The dam is breaking.”

Tilson said he is witnessing a quiet but fervent groundswell among Biden donors.

“These are people who like Biden, as I do, and we all believe he has been a great president,” Tilson said. “But we are rational and say, Trump must be stopped. Every one of us has reached the conclusion that sticking with Biden is not the answer.”

Tilson said there are “non-stop phone, email and text conversations going on,” and he described several scenarios that have been discussed among the donors. For instance, he said Mr. Biden could hand over the job to Vice President Kamala Harris before his term ends, reasoning that as an incumbent, “you give her all the advantages of being the incumbent and demonstrate she can do the job.”

Another alternative would be to “throw it open and say it is up to the Democratic convention,” he said. In that scenario, Mr. Biden “releases all his delegates to vote their conscience,” even if he still wished to endorse Harris and throw his support behind her.

Two other Biden donors who are on several high-level donor email chains that are circulating right now say that there are wide-ranging discussions about how to come up with a list of alternate candidates and what circumstances might lead to the president’s departure from the top of the ticket.

One group of Biden supporters has discussed mounting an effort to have former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton draw up a short list of candidates, have the party hold a series of debates and then vote on a new ticket at the convention.

One argument favoring Mr. Biden preserving his candidacy, the donors said, is that aside from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who ran against Mr. Biden in 2020, very few of the names in contention have been seriously vetted for a national campaign.

The Biden campaign admits that the president had a bad night but resists any suggestion that the president would drop out of the race. And a campaign spokesperson reiterated to CBS News after Doggett’s statement that the president will “absolutely not” step aside.

The comments from Doggett, who has represented an Austin-area district in Congress for nearly three decades, come amid growing concerns among elected Democrats about the president’s ability to win November’s election, with a handful of members of the party leaving the door open for a possible replacement.

Other lawmakers weigh in

Although most elected Democrats have publicly continued to back the president following his debate performance — pointing to the president’s record while insisting that the president simply had a bad night — subtle cracks have emerged in recent days among a handful of elected officials, with suggestions that Mr. Biden may be unfit for another term.  

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, acknowledged the concerns about the president’s debate performance in an interview with CBS affiliate WPRI on Monday, saying he was “horrified” by the debate, while noting that it could be the boost the Biden campaign needs to “make a more compelling case against Donald Trump.”

“I think people want to make sure that this is a campaign that’s ready to go and win, that the president and his team are being candid with us about his condition — that this was a real anomaly and not just the way he is these days,” Whitehouse said.

Then Rep. Mike Quigley, an Illinois Democrat, said on CNN Tuesday morning that there is a “decision” that the president will have to make, signaling an openness to a new name atop the ticket while stopping short of calling for Mr. Biden to drop out of the race. 

“His decision not only impacts who’s going to serve in the White House the next four years, but who’s going to serve in the Senate, who’s going to serve in the House, and it will have implications for decades to come,” Quigley said, adding that “it has to be” the president’s decision.

Quigley said “we have to be honest with ourselves that it wasn’t just a horrible night,” but he declined to go further, citing his respect for the president who he said has “served us extraordinarily well for 50 years.” 

Rep. Angie Craig, a Minnesota Democrat, told reporters on Tuesday that “the president himself has to be the one to step aside if anything else proceeds forward,” adding that she’s been in touch with his campaign and has outlined what she needs to see from the president. 

“I need to see him out everywhere talking unscripted, no teleprompter, and he needs to make sure that the American people have confidence in his ability to run for reelection,” she said. “And so that’s where I am.”

Craig said she’s talking with a number of her colleagues in Congress about the issue, but made clear that “we need to let the president think about whether he wants to continue moving forward.”

Sen. Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat, pointed his frustration at the Biden campaign, telling Semafor on Monday that he criticizes the campaign for “a dismissive attitude towards people who are raising questions for discussion.”

Welch said it’s a discussion the party has to have, while arguing that the campaign’s dismissiveness over the concerts are “inappropriate.”

Meanwhile, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said on Monday that he will continue to support the president “so long as he continues to be in the race.”

Mr. Biden is set to hold a meeting with Democratic governors on Wednesday, CBS News has learned, after the outreach to reassure elected officials following the debate has primarily been from the president’s aides and advisers.

Fin Gómez, Margaret Brennan, Nikole Killion, Scott MacFarlane, Nancy Cordes, Aaron Navarro and Patrick McGuire contributed reporting.