President Joe Biden confided to a key ally that he must quickly convince voters he is able to perform his chief-executive duties or he may not be able to continue his campaign for reelection, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates quickly took to social media to deny the report.
"That claim is absolutely false. If the New York Times had provided us with more than 7 minutes to comment we would have told them so," Bates posted on X.
Many Democrats, party donors, and mainstream media members have called on Biden to stop his pursuit of the 2024 Democratic Party presidential nomination following a disastrous debate performance against former President Donald Trump on Thursday night.
With the July 4 holiday weekend beginning Thursday, Biden understands his next few appearances, including a Friday interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos and campaign stops in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, must go well, the Times reported.
"He knows if he has two more events like that [the debate], we're in a different place," the Biden ally told the outlet.
The Times report is the latest to allege Biden is evaluating whether he can continue as the presumptive Democrat nominee.
A top presidential adviser to told the Times that Biden was "well aware of the political challenge he faces."
Whether Biden can or should continue in his reelection try has been the major political topic since the CNN-hosted debate.
Politico on Sunday reported Biden's family members privately trashed his campaign advisers at Camp David, blamed them for his failure in Thursday's debate, and urged Biden to either fire or demote people.
Some elected Democrats loyal to Biden raised fresh questions Tuesday about his 2024 reelection bid, with one calling for him to step aside, a shift after many defended him in the wake of his shaky debate performance.
There are 25 Democrat members of the House of Representatives who were preparing to call for Biden to step aside, according to one House Democrat aide.
Biden will meet with Democrat governors from across the country Wednesday to address concerns about his poor debate performance after a group of state leaders held a virtual conference expressing their concerns.
CBS News/YouGov poll results released Wednesday show Trump with a 3-point edge over Biden across battleground states, collectively, and a 2-point edge nationally.