President Biden called for more sleep and fewer hours at work, including cutting back on events after 8 p.m.
Wednesday’s comments were a stark acknowledgment of the 81-year-old president’s exhaustion from former President Donald J. Trump.
Mr. Shortly after The New York Times reported on Biden’s comments about needing more rest, current and former officials have noted that the president’s outages have become more frequent and more visible over the past few months.
But Mr. Biden told the governors, some of whom were at the White House and others virtually in attendance, that he was staying in the race.
He described his extensive foreign travel in the weeks leading up to the debate, which the White House and his aides have cited in recent days as a reason for his halting performance during the debate. Initially, Mr. While Biden’s campaign blamed the cold, Mr. Biden released words about being in the middle of the debate amid a series of social media posts questioning why he was fighting.
Mr. Biden said he told his staff to get more sleep, according to people familiar with what happened at the meeting. He repeatedly mentioned that he was pushing too hard, didn’t listen to his team about his schedule, and said he needed to work fewer hours and avoid events after 8 p.m., according to one of the people familiar with what happened at the meeting.
After Hawaii Governor Josh Green, a doctor, asked Mr Biden questions about his health, Mr Biden replied that he was doing well. “It’s just my brain,” he added, according to three people familiar with what happened — some in the room took it as a joke, but at least one governor didn’t and was confused.
Mr. attended the meeting. Jen O’Malley Dillon, Biden’s campaign chairman, said in a statement that he had “put everything aside,” which was explained by another person who confirmed the reminder meeting. Mrs. O’Malley Dillon added: “He’s clearly making a joke.”
In the weeks leading up to the debate, Mr. Biden made two foreign trips, but then spent a week preparing for the debate with a group of advisers at Camp David. Mr. A person close to Biden said his comments on sleep and work hours reflected that he was juggling a lot of official work on top of campaigning during training sessions that immediately followed foreign trips.
Many governors who participated in the meeting, Mr. Biden lamented that there was little discussion about whether to continue his 2024 presidential campaign — something the governors discussed at length during a call among themselves Monday.
Mr. Singh said he knew that if he could not demonstrate his skills to the voters following the debate, he might not be able to save his candidacy for a second term. Biden conceded to two allies. He tried to reassure concerned campaign aides in a call Wednesday before a meeting with governors that he was in the running to stay.
But Mr. The fact that Biden began by announcing that he would continue the conversation with governors left some attendees feeling that there was no further discussion about the state of play.
Mr. Biden said in a public interview Wednesday with a Milwaukee radio station that he had “a bad night.” In a pre-recorded interview with radio host Earl Ingram, Mr. Biden added, “The truth is I cheated. I made a mistake.”
Mr. Biden told governors. Mr. Politico previously reported on Biden’s test, which the White House said was brief and not a full physical.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates said Mr. Biden confirmed seeing the White House doctor and testing positive for a cold. But on Friday, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters, to the contrary, that Mr Biden had not had any medical tests since February.
