After meeting with Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House on Wednesday amid persistent questions about the president’s fitness for office and the status of his re-election campaign, several Democratic governors firmly voiced their support for the incumbent.
Minnesota’s Tim Walz, one of three governors who spoke to the press outside the White House following the meeting, led off by pointing to how Biden “had our backs through COVID, through all of the recovery, all the things that have happened.”
Now, he said, “the governors have his back and we are working together, just to make very, very clear on that—a path to victory in November is the number one priority, and that’s the number one priority of the president. So that’s what we’re trying to get done. The feedback was good. The conversation was honest and open, and the action that will come out of that, we will make sure we are getting the message out.”
Wes Moore, Maryland’s first-term governor, similarly added that as governors, “we would stand with [Biden] because, as Governor Walz said, the president has always had our backs. We’re going to have his back as well.”
Moments later, New York’s Kathy Hochul told reporters: “All of us said we pledged our support to him because the stakes could not be higher.”
The Biden campaign has sought to present a unified front after two Democrats in Congress, Arizona Rep. Raúl Grijalva and Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett, have called on their party to look elsewhere for a nominee.
Other governors at the meeting included California’s Gavin Newsom, a Biden campaign surrogate who, while not appearing before the media, confirmed his support for the president in a post on social media.
Roy Cooper of North Carolina, describing a “good meeting,” also backed Biden.
“President Biden told us he is definitely running for re-election, he is our nominee and we’ll continue doing everything we can to deliver North Carolina for him,” he said in a statement.
Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, a battleground state critical to Biden’s re-election, likewise indicated her support.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said he would back Biden “so long as he continues to be in the race,” CBS News reported.
Wednesday’s meeting occurred two days after a Monday call among Democratic governors who expressed concern about not having heard directly from Biden since last Thursday’s debate, according to CNN.
Biden, in a call with campaign staff earlier Wednesday, said he would not be exiting the race.
“Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can, as simply and straightforward as I can,” he told those working to usher in a second term. “I am running … no one’s pushing me out.”
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