Can Joe Biden run for President? Democrats plan crisis meeting as top neurologist’s White House visit comes to light

US President Joe Biden made a defiant return to the campaign trail on Sunday amid growing calls for him to quit the White House race. Top Democrats are now slated to hold an emergency meeting over the weekend to discuss their Presidential candidate after a primetime television interview failed to dispel doubts on Friday. The developments come even as reports indicated that Biden's doctor had met with a leading Washington neurologist at the White House this year.

Five Democratic lawmakers have so far called on Biden to drop out as the drumbeat of dissent slowly rises. 

House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries will lead a virtual meeting of senior Democrat representatives on Sunday to discuss the best way forward. According to reports, Democrat Senator Mark Warner is also working to convene a similar forum in the upper chamber.

The POTUS however remains defiant, insisting that he was fit to serve and the only person who can defeat Donald Trump. His campaign team has unveiled an intense battle plan for the month of July — including an avalanche of TV spots and trips to all the key states.

During a 22-minute interview with ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos on Friday, the President brushed off his chaotic debate performance as “a bad night” and insisted he would only withdraw his candidacy if the “Lord almighty” ordered it.

"I beat Trump in 2020. I'm going to beat him again in 2024," his campaign social media account posted on Saturday.

But the assertion failed to persuade party members, with Congresswoman Angie Craig of Minnesota joining calls for his exit following the interview on Friday. 

Meanwhile White House visitor logs reviewed by the New York Post indicated that a top neurologist met with Biden's doctor in mid-June. Parkinson’s disease expert Dr Kevin Cannard has so far visited the Presidential residence eight times since August 2023. According to the report, he met with Dr Kevin O’Connor — a doctor of osteopathic medicine who has treated the president for years — at the White House residence clinic on January 17.

(With inputs from agencies)