White House denies reports president is assessing candidacy. Plus, UK expected to elect Labour in landslide

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Good morning.

President Joe Biden has struck a defiant tone and insisted to his campaign team that “I’m in this race to the end”, according to reports, despite the increasing pressure to step down as the Democratic nominee amid concerns over his competence.

Governors in show of qualified support. Democratic governors have rallied around Biden after a closed-door meeting yesterday but admitted they shared voters’ concerns about his performance, as a fresh poll shows Trump has a six-point advantage, 49-43%, over Biden among likely voters.

Stepping out. For three and a half years, Biden was wrapped in a metaphorical ball of cotton wool by an anxious White House staff eager to protect him from the worst of himself.

Waving the white flag? Senior Tories including one of Sunak’s closest cabinet allies were effectively conceding defeat yesterday. Starmer accused the Conservatives of trying to suppress voter turnout by presenting the election result as a done deal.

Up to 25 House representatives could call for president to step aside. Plus, US expels more than 100 Chinese migrants

Good morning.

Joe Biden is to meet with Democratic governors today in an attempt to stave off growing discontent over his candidacy, with a congressional Democrat calling for him to withdraw from the presidential race.

Are any sitting Democrats calling on Biden to step aside? So far: only one. Lloyd Doggett, a congressman from Texas, yesterday became the first Democrat in the House of Representatives to publicly urge the president to step aside. “Instead of reassuring voters, the president failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump’s many lies.” Adam Frisch, a Democratic House candidate in Colorado, echoed the call, and former presidential candidate Tim Ryan has also urged Biden to pull out.

Newsom, Newsom, Newsom. Online political betting odds that Gavin Newsom, the California governor, would end up at the top of the presidential ticket this year tripled to a one-in-four chance last week, despite the relatively low chance of the president stepping aside.

US and China resume cooperation on migration issues. In recent years, the US had a difficult time returning Chinese nationals who do not have the right to stay in America because China has resisted taking them back. Last year, US border officials arrested more than 37,000 Chinese nationals on the southern border, 10 times the number the year before.