Biden to reassure governors as Democratic kingmaker floats 'mini-primary' if he leaves race

By Andrea Shalal and Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will hold a meeting with Democratic governors on Wednesday and speak to lawmakers to reassure them about his fitness as the party's standard-bearer after his disastrous debate last week against Republican Donald Trump.

Biden spoke to Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader in the House of Representatives, on Tuesday, and Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader in the Senate, on Wednesday, a White House official said.

House Democrat Jim Clyburn - a kingmaker of sorts within the Democratic Party and who was instrumental in Biden's 2020 win - told CNN on Wednesday that the party should hold a "mini-primary" if Biden steps aside, the first senior party member to talk publicly about how, exactly, replacing Biden as a candidate would work.

Clyburn, who said on Tuesday that he would back Vice President Kamala Harris as the presidential candidate if Biden were to depart, added: "If she were to be the nominee, we need to have a running mate and a strong running mate. And so all of this would give us an opportunity, not just to measure up who would be good to be at the top of the ticket, but also who would be best in second place."

Biden will hold a meeting with Democratic governors at 6:30 p.m. ET (2230 GMT). The meeting is expected to be primarily a virtual one for those who could not make it to Washington.

Biden's halting, shaky debate performance against Trump in Atlanta last week sparked calls for him to step aside as the Democratic presidential candidate for the Nov. 5 election. Trump repeated a well-worn slate of falsehoods, including that he won the 2020 election.

Democrats raised fresh concerns about Biden on Tuesday, with one House member calling for him to drop out and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a longtime Biden ally, saying it was legitimate to ask whether Biden's performance in Atlanta was an "episode" or a condition.

The president has said he was tired after two foreign trips and the White House has said he had a cold. His campaign has held damage control calls with donors and Biden has shown no signs so far abandoning his quest for a second term.

White House chief of staff Jeff Zients is expected to hold a call with demoralized staff on Wednesday as well.

A handful of governors are potential rivals to Biden if pressure for him to step aside were to increase, but many of them are also official Biden surrogates with roles in his campaign.

Harris is the likely successor if Biden does step aside, multiple sources told Reuters. However Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear have all been mentioned as possible replacements to Biden if he decided to bow out as the 2024 candidate.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Andrea Shalal; additional reporting by Nandita Bose. Editing by Heather Timmons and Deepa Babington)