Biden’s future in question as Dem governors meet with president behind closed doors

Democratic governors from across the nation descended on the White House Wednesday evening to speak with President Biden after his widely panned debate performance last week.

The aim of the meeting was to shore up support among the party’s top leaders and stave off diminishing confidence in Biden’s candidacy.

Among the Democratic governors who were planning to attend in person were Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who leads the Democratic Governors Association, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, among others.

After the meeting only Govs. Walz, Hochul, and Moore spoke to reporters.

Gov. Walz said he and his colleagues had a “great conversation” with President Biden.

Walz said his fellow governors were worried not because of any lingering doubts about Biden’s cognitive abilities but because of “the threat of a Trump presidency.” That threat, Walz said, “is not theoretical for governors.”

Walz praised the Biden administration for its handling of Covid, and “investing in infrastructure and the middle class.”

Walz clarified that none of the governors were denying that last Thursday, the night of the debate, was a “bad performance.”

“But it doesn’t impact what I believe,” Walz said.

Gov. Moore described the meeting with Biden as “honest” and “candid.”

“The president has always had our backs. We’re going to have his back as well, because the results that we’ve been able to see under this administration have been undeniable in all of our individual state,” Moore said.

Moore framed the presidential race as a binary choice: “between someone who has continually delivered for us in our states and the people of our states and, frankly, someone whose vision for the future of this country is downright dangerous.”

Gov. Hochul said President Biden was “in it to win it.”

“All of us pledged our support to him because the stakes could not be higher,” Hochul said, invoking on the eve of Independence Day, the fight against tyranny.

The entire press conference clocked in at around five and a half minutes.