Jill Biden visits 3 states in one day, assures voters Biden is ‘all in’

Jill Biden, the first lady, on Monday joined President Biden in saying the debate is over and that he would remain in the race for president.

As Biden stared down his own party in Washington, calling into a favorite television show, MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” to reiterate that he was staying in the race, Dr. Biden said the same during a one-day campaign in three states in North Carolina, Florida and Georgia.

“Despite all the talk about this race, Joe has made it clear that he’s all in,” Dr. Biden told a crowd at a brewery in Wilmington, N.C. “That’s the decision he’s made, and just as he’s always supported my career, I’m all in. I know you are, too, or you wouldn’t be here today. And with four more years, Joe will continue to fight for you.”

Her stops were officially intended to shore up support for her husband among military families and tie it to Joining Forces, an initiative that Dr. Biden has championed since she was second lady in the Obama administration. But the whirlwind trip was just as much about reassuring her husband’s shell-shocked supporters that both Bidens were still campaigning to win.

Madeline Schildwachter, a 38-year-old grant applicant whose husband served four times in the Marines, walked away from the event with her hand on her chest and said out loud to herself, “That felt good, we’re OK.”

Ms. Schildwachter, who supports Biden but is not a campaign volunteer, said she attended the first lady’s rally only to see for herself whether the Bidens were still in the race.

“I think everyone needed a little bit of motivation,” she said. “So much is filtered through a media lens, but I feel like Jill’s energy is different in real life. You feel what she meant.”

During her next stop, in Tampa, Florida, voters said they enjoyed meeting the first lady but wanted Biden to be the one to make their views known directly.

First ladies are typically expected to be the comforting types in times of national tragedy or unrest. But it’s rare that one is called upon to quell widespread fear and anxiety within her own party about the president’s ability to lead the country.

Dr. Biden’s energetic campaign schedule stands in stark contrast to Melania Trump, the former first lady who has not accompanied her husband, former President Donald J. Trump, on the campaign trail. She did not attend the Biden-Trump debate in Atlanta, though she is scheduled to attend a Log Cabin Republicans fundraiser at her home in Trump Tower in New York on Monday.

The Bidens still face an uphill battle in convincing people within his own party whether the 81-year-old Biden is fit for a second term. Several House Democrats have called for Mr. Biden’s impeachment in recent days, and more were expected to resign as lawmakers returned to Washington from a summer recess.

Columnists and pundits have called for Biden to withdraw, fueling a sentiment within the Biden White House and campaign that Biden should focus more on average voters than on the “elites” who frustrate him, as he put it on “Morning Joe.” Inside the White House, aides, many of whom have been discouraged since Biden’s disastrous debate performance in Atlanta, had mixed reactions to the president’s decision to call the show.

The first lady dodged questions from reporters traveling with her about what she would say to Democrats who had called on her husband to step down.

“Why are you yelling at me?” she asked reporters outside a coffee shop in Tampa, Florida. “You know me. Don’t yell at me. Just talk.” She refused to answer the question.

A person directly familiar with Mr. Biden’s thinking said Monday that the president remains firmly in the race and would not leave it without a long fight. But that person also said that Mr. Biden has been warned by some close to him that this is still a crucial phase and that his ability to remain the Democratic nominee is not certain.

The first lady, for her part, is still the closest person to the president — not an adviser, but his wife of 47 years — and she would be a deciding factor in any decision he made to stay in the race or drop out.

She is in the camp that supports staying home, as is Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, who has been informally advising his father in recent days.