Congress Democrats hold critical meetings over Biden candidacy

Democrats in Congress are to hold critical meetings in Washington on Tuesday that could have a bearing on President Joe Biden’s candidacy for re-election.

Questions have been raised about the 81-year-old’s fitness for office after a stumbling presidential debate performance against Donald Trump late last month.

On Monday, a sixth Democratic congressman, Adam Smith, publicly urged Mr Biden to step aside, telling BBC News the party needed a “stronger messenger”.

But in her own interview with the BBC, a major Democratic fundraiser insisted that the president was still the man to take on Trump in November’s election.

Mr Biden gave a “bad” performance in the debate, Lindy Li acknowledged, but he had “resuscitated our standing as an international leader and a superpower”.

The president will find himself in an even brighter spotlight on Tuesday when he hosts a meeting of leaders of countries in the Nato military alliance.

That is in addition to the day’s closely-watched meetings of House and Senate Democrats, during which Mr Biden’s candidacy is expected to be a pressing issue.

The debate around the president’s mental acuity has only intensified since lawmakers returned to Washington after the 4 July break.

Speculation about who could replace him in the presidential election has mounted, too, with Vice-President Kamala Harris earning some high-profile backers.