Joe Biden is "absolutely not" pulling out of the White House race, his spokeswoman has said, as pressure mounts on the veteran Democrat following his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump.
The US President, 81, has told a key ally he must convince the public quickly that he can do the job, The New York Times and CNN reported, raising the stakes for Mr Biden's first post-debate TV interview, scheduled for Friday.
"He knows if he has two more events like that, we're in a different place," the ally said, discussing the president's poor showing against his Republican predecessor last week, according to the Times.
The White House quickly rejected the reporting as false.
But Democratic establishment figures have voiced bafflement over what they see as deflection and excuses from the president and his aides after his often incoherent debate performance.
And in Congress, politicians see Democratic prospects of taking over the House of Representatives, hanging on to the Senate and returning to the White House slipping away, four months ahead of the 5 November election.
The concern was compounded by a new New York Times poll conducted after the debate that showed Mr Trump with his biggest lead ever over Mr Biden – 49% to 43% of likely voters.
Other post-debate polling by progressive non-profit OpenLabs found that New Hampshire, Virginia and New Mexico - all once safe Biden states - are now in play for Mr Trump.
It wasn't until yesterday - five days after the debate – that Mr Biden called House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and congressional staffers have been voicing consternation over the glacial pace of the outreach.
"We are getting to the point where it may not have been the debate that did him in, but the aftermath of how they've handled it," a senior Democratic operative told Washington political outlet Axios.
Mr Biden is "absolutely not" withdrawing from the race, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters, adding he is "moving forward" with his campaign.
Aware of growing alarm in the party, Mr Biden scheduled a meeting with all 23 Democratic governors this evening.
He will make his pitch in the swing states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania in the coming days, and sit with ABC News on Friday for his first interview since the debate.
The president has cited fatigue as a new explanation for his poor showing, saying that he had been unwise to travel "around the world a couple times" before the debate and "almost fell asleep on stage."
But he had been back in the United States for nearly two weeks and spent two days relaxing and six in debate preparation.
The Times said people who have interacted with the president had found that his mental fogginess was "growing more frequent, more pronounced and more worrisome."
Democratic politicians have begun to go public with their doubts, with two saying yesterday they expected Mr Biden to lose to Mr Trump in November, and another calling for him to quit the White House race.
Big names in the House of Representatives who are usually foursquare behind Mr Biden - including Nancy Pelosi and James Clyburn - have acknowledged that questions over his condition are fair.
House Democrats vented their frustration during a video call yesterday, although some reportedly cautioned against changing leaders so close to the August nominating convention.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Biden blames exhaustion after travel for poor debate
Meanwhile, Biden acknowledged his performance during last Thursday's presidential debate was not his best but blamed it on jet lag after two overseas trips earlier in June.
Mr Biden has faced mounting questions about his 2024 re-election bid after last week's shaky debate performance, with one House of Representatives fellow Democrat publicly calling on him to withdraw from the race.
Speaking at a campaign event in McLean, Virginia, Mr Biden admitted the debate against former president Donald Trump, his Republican rival, did not go well.
"I didn't have my best night, but the fact is that you know, I wasn't very smart," Mr Biden said, speaking at the campaign fundraiser without the aid of a teleprompter.
"I decided to travel around the world a couple times, going through around 100 time zones before the debate.
"I didn't listen to my staff and came back and nearly fell asleep on stage," he said. "That's no excuse but it is an explanation."
Mr Biden travelled to France and Italy during two separate trips in the space of two weeks last month, flying overnight from the G7 summit in Bari, Italy, to appear at a fundraiser with former president Barack Obama in Los Angeles on 15 June, before returning to Washington the following day.
He then spent six days at Camp David preparing for the 27 June debate.
White House officials have blamed Mr Biden's halting performance during the debate on a cold. Mr Biden did not mention being sick during the fundraiser.
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed yesterday showed that one in three Democrats think Mr Biden should end his re-election bid following the debate, but no prominent elected Democrat does any better than Mr Biden in a hypothetical matchup against Mr Trump.
The two-day poll found that both Mr Trump, 78, and President Biden, 81, maintain the support of 40% of registered voters, suggesting that Mr Biden has not lost ground since the debate.
