WASHINGTON — President Biden again read carefully from teleprompters Wednesday at his only public event ahead of an evening meeting with Democratic governors to convince them he can still win a second term following his disastrous debate.
Biden, 81, was joined in the White House East Room by his scandal-plagued son Hunter Biden, 54, who sat attentively near his dad’s lectern as he presented the Medal of Honor posthumously to two Civil War soldiers, Philip Shadrach and George Wilson.
Biden praised Shadrach and Wilson for showing “grace” as they accepted their fate after being captured by Confederate authorities during the Great Locomotive Chase of 1862 in Georgia.
“As they approached the gallows, George and Philip stood tall,” Biden said, his face partially obscured to many in attendance by close-in teleprompters.
“A crowd gathered around them. Private Wilson turned to face the crowd, summoned the ultimate measure of grace and according to reports from that day, this is what he said, he looked at the crowd and he said he believed they were wrong but he did not harbor hostility toward the people of the South.”
Biden, who is resisting what many fellow Democrats say is the looming end of his own political life, did not take reporter questions as he departed the East Room just before 5 p.m. ahead of his 6:30 p.m. summit with governors in the West Wing’s Roosevelt Room.
Most of the country’s 23 Democratic state governors, plus Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser, are expected to crowd into the relatively small room to hear Biden’s appeal for them to stand by him — as a mounting number of congressional Democrats call for Biden to step aside.
Those in the audience will include leading potential substitutes should Biden decide he can no longer effectively run against former President Donald Trump — including Gavin Newsom of California, J. B. Pritzker of Illinois, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Phil Murphy of New Jersey.
It’s unclear if some other potential contenders will be in the room, such as Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan.
Biden allegedly told an ally Tuesday that he may drop out of the race if he’s unable to solidify his political footing, the New York Times reported. His spokespeople strongly denied the story.
The first son, who is known to distrust his father’s inner circle of advisers, meanwhile, has joined official meetings since President Biden returned from a long weekend at Camp David on Monday — alarming West Wing staff.
Hunter Biden was convicted in Delaware of three federal gun felonies last month and is scheduled to stand trial in Los Angeles beginning Sept. 4 on allegations he committed $1.4 million of tax fraud.
Hunter Biden regularly involved his dad in his business relationships in China, Ukraine and other countries during and immediately after his vice presidency. Those engagements are a main focus of the ongoing House impeachment inquiry into alleged corruption.
Biden’s staff appeared intent on curtailing press access to the East Room for the president’s event — initially denying access to a reporter for The Post, which is the country’s fifth-most-read online news source, excluding aggregator MSN.
“We are unable to accommodate your credential request to attend the Medal of Honor Ceremony today, July 3, 2024. The event will be live-streamed and can be viewed at WH.gov/live,” the press office said in an email. “Thank you for understanding. We will let you know if a credential becomes available.”
The press office has throughout Biden’s administration implemented an opaque prescreening process for large event spaces that under past presidents were open to all reporters — drawing press corps protests.
White House staff allowed The Post to attend Biden’s remarks after receiving a request for comment for this story and after being approached about the exclusion by a leader of the White House Correspondents’ Association.
