Democratic governors said Wednesday night that they expressed ‘concerns’ with President Joe Biden at a White House meeting with several of the party’s rising stars, but the 81-year-old’s heels were dug in.
‘We always believe that when you love someone, you tell them the truth,’ Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said. ‘We know we have work to do. We know that as we’re standing right here, we’re behind. But was also know that that path to be able to make sure that we can pull ahead in November is real.’
Moore, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the current head of the Democratic Governors Association and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul were tasked with addressing the press after the meeting that was put on the schedule after Biden’s debate disaster.
Among those governors in the meeting were some of the most buzzed-about stand ins if Biden decided to step aside – California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan’s Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and even the lesser known Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky.
But they weren’t chosen to come out and address the press.
Still, Walz indicated that some of the governors gave Biden a tough assessment.
‘Obviously we, like many Americans, are – we’re worried,’ Walz said. ‘We’re worried because of the threat of a Trump presidency,’ he said, calling it a ‘threat’ and ‘chaos.’
He said ‘feedback’ was given to the president – and beating Trump considered the most important goal.
‘A path to victory in November is the No. 1 priority and that’s the No. 1 priority of the president so that’s what we’re trying to get done,’ Walz said.
But the trio of Democrats also said that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris expressed to the group of governors that they were staying in the race.
Democratic governors said Wednesday night that they expressed ‘concerns’ with President Joe Biden at a White House meeting with several of the party’s rising stars, but the 81-year-old’s heels were dug in
President Joe Biden is dealing with the fallout over his terrible debate performance. He’s been calling and meeting with party leaders and saying he plans to stay in the presidential race, despite there being some calls for him to drop out
Walz spoke first – and didn’t articulate Biden’s intention to say in – with Moore, who spoke second, greater elaborating on the president’s decision.
‘It was a great conversation with the president, the vice president, because it was honest,’ the Maryland Democrat said.
At 45, he’s considered a Democratic rising star, but not necessarily for this presidential cycle.
‘It was candid,’ he continued. ‘And I think we came in and we were honest about the feedback that we were getting, we were honest about the concerns that we were hearing from people.’
But ‘the president continued to tell us and show us that he was all in.’
‘Then we said that we would stand with him,’ Moore said.
Hochul spoke third and sounded the biggest cheerleader of the president.
‘We always believe that when you love someone, you tell them the truth,’ Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said. ‘We know we have work to do. We know that as we’re standing right here, we’re behind’
‘We came together tonight to listen to President Biden tell us, in his own words what his plans were,’ the New York Democrat said. ‘I’m here to tell you today – President Joe Biden is in it to win it.’
‘And all of us said – we pledged our support to him – because the stakes could not be higher,’ Hochul continued.
She said the governors ‘feel very confident in his abilities,’ while Walz answered ‘yes, fit for office,’ to a question phrased the same way.
‘None of us are denying Thursday night was a bad performance,’ Walz added. ‘But it doesn’t impact what I believe he’s delivering.’
Moore used similar phrasing to Hochul.
‘The president was very clear that he is in this to win this. And the president is our nominee, the president is our party leader, and the president has told us – and he was very clear back there – that he’s in this to win this,’ the Marylander said.
Walz concluded the appearance by adding, ‘well, we saw in there today was a guy who was the guy that all of us believed in the first time who could beat Donald Trump – and did beat Donald Trump.’
Ahead of the meeting, Newsom was fundraising off his trip to the White House, indicating that he planned to encourage Biden to stay the course.
‘As you read this, I am on my way to Washington, D.C. to meet and stand with the president at the White House later tonight,’ the fundraising plea said. ‘When that’s over, I’ll be hitting the road to campaign for him and Democrats running up-and-down the ballot in several swing states.’
He made a similar statement on X afterward.
‘I heard three words from the President tonight – he’s all in. And so am I,’ Newsom posted. ‘Joe Biden’s had our back. Now it’s time to have his.’
Newsom was on hand at the debate Thursday, a near-constant presence in the spin room who was immediately tasked with doing damage control.
‘I will never turn my back on President Biden. Never turn my back on president Biden. I don’t know a Democrat in my party that would do so,’ he told reporters in a gaggle.
Cut to Wednesday and two Democratic lawmakers have said that Biden should drop out of the race – Reps. Lloyd Doggett and Raúl Grijalva.
Others voiced concerns.
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi said it was a ‘legitimate question to say, is this an episode or is this a condition?’
‘When people ask that question, it’s completely legitimate – of both candidates,’ Pelosi said.
Beshear – who attended the Wednesday night meeting – floated that Biden had some work to do to recover from the bad debate.
‘Well, Joe Biden is our nominee, and ultimately that decision on continuing or not will fall to him and his family,’ Beshear said. ‘But I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with asking the president to talk to the American people a little bit more about his health or that debate performance.’
While the meeting was ongoing, Rep. Seth Moulton released a statement saying he had ‘grave concerns about [Biden’s] ability to beat Donald Trump.’
‘The unfortunate reality is that the status quo will likely deliver us Donald Trump,’ Moulton conceded.