Biden campaign officials meet with skeptical senators ahead of crucial news conference

President Joe Biden’s campaign chairwoman, Jen O’Malley Dillon, and two other top advisers are set to meet with Senate Democrats at a special caucus lunch meeting at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Thursday.

The meeting comes hours before the president speaks to the world in a highly anticipated news conference that could determine the trajectory of his reelection bid.

The three top staffers will listen to the senators’ concerns about Biden’s candidacy and whether he can beat former President Donald Trump this fall. The meeting’s announcement comes after several top senators, Jon Tester (D-MT) and Peter Welch (D-VT), among others, expressed doubt about Biden’s chances.

Welch is expected to attend the meeting after he called for Biden to drop out of the race, the first Democratic senator to do so.

“I understand why President Biden wants to run. He saved us from Donald Trump once and wants to do it again,” Welch wrote in a Washington Post op-ed. “But he needs to reassess whether he is the best candidate to do so. In my view, he is not. For the good of the country, I’m calling on President Biden to withdraw from the race.”

There already appears to be some animosity as to whether the meeting will make a difference as Biden has firmly said he will remain in the race. At least one Democratic senator is skeptical the meeting will matter, saying it is “a waste of everyone’s time if Biden can’t even come make the case himself,” according to Punchbowl News.

Biden has repeatedly said he will not step down in the face of those in his own party questioning his candidacy, along with donors and supporters. Even if the Democratic senators could convince Biden’s staff to tell him to step down, the president hasn’t made any indication he will listen, saying in his ABC News interview on July 5, “If the Lord almighty comes down and tells me [to step down], I might do that.”

O’Malley Dillon does have considerable sway in the campaign, though, as his campaign chairwoman and former White House deputy chief of staff. Outside of his family, she’s likely one of the largest voices influencing his campaign.

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While Biden seemed to have recaptured his party’s support, the tide has begun to turn against the president again this week as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said the president still has a decision to make, even though it seems he already has.

The meeting and Biden’s afternoon address to the nation will likely be critical to his continued candidacy as the public closely monitors the president’s age-related issues, brought up by his underperformance at the debate.