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President Joe Biden reportedly told a group of Democratic governors on Wednesday that he needs more sleep, wants to wrap up his days by 8 p.m., and joked that while his health is in good shape, “it’s just my brain.”
The president also revealed that he had a brief medical check-up after last week’s debate — shortly after the White House told reporters that Biden had not seen a doctor since.
A group of 20 governors met with Biden at the White House on Wednesday night as mounting concerns about his mental fitness have followed a faltering performance at his first debate against Donald Trump, which the president blamed on both a cold and jet lag.
At least three sitting Democratic members of Congress have either publicly called on Biden to drop out of the race for the White House, as polling tips in favor of Biden’s criminally convicted and twice-impeached Republican rival.
During Wednesday’s meeting, which lasted an hour, the president declared that he was in good health following his medical appointment, two people who attended the meeting told Politico. The statement was preceded by Biden visibly knocking on wood, they said.
He told the governors that he needs to work fewer hours, including ending a busy schedule by 8 p.m. each day, according to The New York Times, citing people who participated in the meeting and others briefed on his remarks.
Biden insisted that his health was fine, “it’s just my brain,” he said, according toThe Times.
Campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon, who attended the meeting, said in a statement to the newspaper that he had said “all kidding aside” and that “he was clearly making a joke.”
A statement from the campaign said the president “reiterated his determination to defeat the existential threat” of Trump’s return to the White House, and Biden “sought the advice and expertise of Democratic governors” during the meeting.
After the meeting, governors touted their support for the president.
“We’re working together just to make very, very clear that a path to victory in November is the No. 1 priority and that’s the No. 1 priority of the president,” Minnesota Governor Tim Walz told reporters outside the White House on Wednesday.
“The feedback was good. The conversation was honest,” he added.
“I heard three words from the president tonight — he’s all in, and so am I,” Governor Gavin Newsom said on X. “Joe Biden’s had our back. Now it’s time to have his.”
Biden reportedly had a brief, non-exhaustive check-up days after the debate due to his cold symptoms. There were no major tests.
That revelation came just hours after White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that insisted that Biden merely had a cold and had not seen a doctor since the debate when facing questions about whether the president had been examined by medical professionals since last week’s debate.
“The president has regular annual physicals that we release in a thorough report,” she said. “We’re going to continue to do that.”
On Tuesday, Jean-Pierre denied that the president has any form of degenerative brain disease, adding that she hoped the same question would be put forward to Trump’s campaign.
Jean-Pierre attested that Biden “did not have a great night” on the evening that he took on Trump in Atlanta, adding the caveat that he “knows how to deliver for the American people.”
The sentiment has been echoed by first lady Jill Biden, who after the debate told Vogue that “those 90 minutes” should not “define the four years he’s been president.”
Wednesday’s meeting marked Biden’s latest effort to prove to his divided Democrat camp that he is fighting fit and ready for another four years in office.
Hours before his health update, the president joined a Zoom video call with campaign and Democratic National Committee staff, pledging that “no one’s pushing me out.”
ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos is scheduled to interview Biden at 8 p.m. ET on Friday.
