More congressional Democrats are telling their leaders they want President Joe Biden to step aside as the party’s White House nominee, though deep party divisions remain at the start of a pivotal week for the president and his teetering re-election campaign.

Those disagreements played out in part at a private meeting with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of Democrats who hold top party seats on committees. Some of those participants called for a new top to the Democratic presidential ticket after Biden’s stumbling debate with Trump, including Jerrold Nadler and Joe Morelle of New York; Adam Smith of Washington; and Mark Takano of California, according to people familiar with the discussion. House lawmakers return to the Capitol on Monday for the first time since the June 27 debate where discussions among Democrats about the future of Biden’s candidacy will continue.

Jeffries’ spokesman declined to comment on the meeting, which was held virtually, saying it was a private call. Biden urged his supporters to stay unified during a series of Sunday stops in critical Pennsylvania on Sunday.

Addressing a rousing church service in front of stained glass windows bathed in sunshine at Philadelphia’s Mount Airy Church of God in Christ, the 81-year-old Biden joked, “I know I look 40” but “I’ve been doing this a long time.”

“I, honest to God, have never been more optimistic about America’s future if we stick together,” he said. There and during a subsequent rally with union members in Harrisburg, Biden offered short speeches that touched on familiar topics.

But he also left plenty of room for key backers to discuss standing by him. In that way, the Pennsylvania swing seemed meant to showcase support for the president from key political quarters more than proving he’s up to four more years. His party, though, remains deeply divided.

Trying to ‘turn it around’

Biden was personally calling lawmakers through the weekend. He also joined a call with campaign surrogates and reiterated that he has no plans to leave the race.

Instead, the president pledged to campaign harder going forward and to step up his political travel, according to two people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

One Democrat the president spoke to, Sen. Alex Padilla of California, said he and others are pushing the Biden campaign to “let Joe be Joe, get him out there.”

“I absolutely believe we can turn it around,” Padilla told The Associated Press. Meanwhile, a person familiar with Sen. Mark Warner’s thinking said there will be no meeting on Monday to talk about Biden’s future, as had been previously discussed, and that those discussions will take place in Tuesday’s regular caucus luncheon with all Democratic senators.

The person said a private meeting was no longer possible after it was made public that the Virginia Democrat was reaching out to senators about Biden, and that a variety of conversations among senators continue. Five other, different Democratic lawmakers have already publicly called on Biden to abandon his re-election campaign ahead of November.

Meeting this week in person means more chances for lawmakers to discuss concerns about Biden’s ability to withstand the remaining four months of the campaign— not to mention four more years in the White House— and true prospects of beating Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump.

Biden’s campaign team was also calling and texting lawmakers to try to head off more potential defections, while increasingly asking high-profile Biden supporters to speak out on his behalf. Calls to bow out nonetheless popped up from different directions.

Alan Clendenin, a Tampa city councilman and member of the Democratic National Committee, on Sunday called for Biden to “step aside and allow Vice President Kamala Harris to carry forward his agenda as our Democratic nominee.”

Director Rob Reiner, who has helped organize glitzy Hollywood fundraisers for Biden in the past, posted on X, “It’s time for Joe Biden to step down.”

The Democratic convention is fast approaching and Biden’s Friday interview with ABC has not convinced some who remain skeptical.

Democratic fundraising bundler Barry Goodman, a Michigan attorney, said he’s backing Biden but, should he step aside, he’d throw his support to Harris.

That’s notable since Goodman was also a finance co-chairman for both of the statewide campaigns of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has also been mentioned as a topof-the-ticket alternative. “We don’t have much time,” Goodman said.

“I don’t think the president gets out. But if he does, I think it would be Kamala.”

Church service

There was no such suggestion at Mount Airy, where Pastor Louis Felton likened the president to Joseph and the biblical story of his “coat of many colors.”

In it, Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers, only eventually to obtain a high place in the kingdom of the pharaoh and have his brothers beg him for assistance without initially recognizing him. “Never count Joseph out,” Felton implored.

Then, referring to Democrats who have called on Biden to step aside, he added, “That’s what’s going on, Mr. President. People are jealous of you. Jealous of your stick-to-itiveness, jealous of your favor. Jealous of God’s hand upon your life.”

Felton also led a prayer where he said, “Our president gets discouraged. But today, through your holy spirit, renew his mind, renew his spirit, renew his body.”

After the church service, Biden visited a campaign office in Philadelphia, where Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat who won a tough 2022 race while recovering from a stroke, offered a forceful endorsement.

“There is only one guy that has ever beaten Trump,” Fetterman said. “And he is going to do it twice and put him down for good.”

Union event

Later stepping off Air Force One in Harrisburg, the president was asked if the Democratic Party was behind him and he emphatically responded, “Yes.” Joining him at the union event, Rep. Madeleine Dean, also a Pennsylvania Democrat, said that “democracy is on the line. There’s one man who understands it. It’s Joe Biden.”

Isabel Afonso, who saw Biden speak in Harrisburg, said she was worried when she saw the president’s debate performance, but doesn’t think he should drop out of the race and that he can still win. “I know he is old, but I know if something happens to him, a reasonable person will replace him,” said Afonso, 63.

At the same event, 73-year-old James Johnson said he knew what it was like to forget things as he’s gotten older but called Biden “a fighter.” He said replacing the president at the top of the Democratic ticket would only cause confusion.

“I’m talking about lifelong Democrats and people that have been in the Democratic Party for a long time,” Johnson said.

“They may just decide to jump ship, because of that.” Still, others aren’t fully convinced. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut told CNN that Biden “needs to answer those questions that voters have” while adding, “If he does that this week, I think he will be in a very good position.”

Biden has rejected undergoing independent cognitive testing, arguing that the everyday rigors of the presidency were proof enough of his mental acuity.

Yet California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff told NBC on Sunday that he’d be “happy if both the president and Donald Trump took a cognitive test.”

As some Democrats have done, Schiff also seized on Biden suggesting during the ABC interview that losing to Trump would be acceptable “as long as I give it my all.”

“This is not just about whether he gave it the best college try,” Schiff said “but rather whether he made the right decision to run or to pass the torch.”

Billy House and Erik Wasson of Bloomberg News contributed to this report.