President Biden informed a group of Democratic governors on Wednesday that he intends to remain in the race in 2024. The group had been peppering the president with questions about his path forward following Biden's dismal performance in last week's debate.
After the meeting, several governors spoke to reporters outside the White House, with New York Gov. Kathy Hauckle declaring, “President Joe Biden is fighting to win and we all pledged our support for him.”
“He's stood with us through the pandemic, through the recovery and through everything that's happened,” said Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association. “The governors have his back and we're working together to make that very clear.”
But, he added, “The path to victory in November is the No. 1 priority, and that's the president's No. 1 priority.”
Maryland Governor Wes Moore agreed.
“The simple words I've heard from the President are: we're all in on it, and so am I,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer also voiced her support on social media site X.
At the end of the meeting, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke about the threat that former President Donald J. Trump's victory posed to democracy and used at least one expletive in her remarks, according to a person who briefed on the meeting.
But Hochle's comment that the governors had “pledged their support for Biden” upset some at the meeting, according to the person briefed on the situation and another person briefed on the matter. They said there was no room-wide call for an endorsement, and that more than a half-dozen governors had expressed concern after Biden's halting, whispered performance in the Atlanta debate with Trump.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills bluntly told Biden that his age was fine, but that people didn't believe he could run, according to one person familiar with the matter. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham joined in, saying Biden risked losing the state, according to another person familiar with the matter. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said he needed to appeal to voters. Another person asked Biden what the path forward was. (Aides to Mills and Lujan Grisham did not immediately respond to requests for comment.)
The meeting, hastily organized by Walz after governors met on Monday, saw many attendees express frustration that they had not been in direct contact with Biden and still did not know clearly what was happening after the debate.
Governors have been Biden's staunchest defenders (Newsom will be the featured guest at the president's campaign events in Michigan, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire this weekend) and they are also the ones most concerned about a second Trump administration. They were the ones who responded most closely to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, when Trump distributed aid money to states based on which governors he perceived as personally kowtowing to him, or at least not critical of him.
But they too have been searching for answers.
“The president made it clear he intends to continue the campaign. He spoke openly about how he was exhausted on the day of the debate and was very forthright about that,” said Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, a doctor who has led the state's pandemic response and attended the meeting virtually.
Dr Green added that Biden was “clear, focused and down-to-earth in our meetings.” Harris was “incredibly supportive” and said a Biden presidency would be far preferable to four more years of Trump.
But, he added, “I think people need to see the president in person and on television to be convinced he's worthy of it.”
Chris Cameron Contributed report.