Joe Biden’s emergency meeting with Democrat governors to shore-up support has hit a huge obstacle after one leading lawmaker was accused of lying.
New York’s Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul offered unanimous support for the ailing president, 81, after the meeting – but other politicians in attendance say that she had no right to.
And another female Democrat governor – Janet Mills of Maine – pulled no punches in blasting Biden over last week’s dreadful debate performance after he tried to soothe them by saying he’d been given a thumbs up from a medical checkup earlier this week.
Mills directly told Biden she had no problem with his age but that she felt he wasn’t up to run against Donald Trump, while Ned Lamont of Connecticut asked what his path forward was, citing a need to make the case to his constituents.
Both governors questioned whether he could even beat Trump in their states, according to sources in attendance. A Democrat hasn’t lost Connecticut or Maine since 1988.
Several liberal governors like would be successors Gavin Newsom of California and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan did follow Hochul’s lead, obsequiously tweeting their support after the meeting.
Many of the governors, including Whitmer, only attended the meeting virtually. Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser also was there.
Biden held the White House summit after nearly a week of bad press and calls to drop out of the race following his debate disaster with Trump. It lasted over an hour and those in attendance described the conversation as ‘candid.’
Vice President Kamala Harris, whom many see as the likely successor at the top of the ticket, ended the meeting by reiterating the threat to democracy that a Trump win would mean, according to the New York Times.
Several of the governors did try to reassure Democrats that Biden was capable of doing this and that they’d owed him their support.
‘The president has always had our backs. We’re going to have his back as well,’ Maryland Governor Wes Moore told reporters.
‘The president … he’s our nominee. The president is our party leader,’ he added.
Moore, Hochul and Minnesota’s Tim Walz, the chair of the Democratic Governors Association, were the only three of the 12 who attended in person to speak to the media afterward.
‘Obviously we, like many Americans, are a little worried. We’re worried because the threat of a Trump presidency is not theoretical,’ Walz said.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, who participated in person, posted his reaction on social platform X: ‘I heard three words from the President tonight — he´s all in. And so am I.’
Biden’s campaign said the president reiterated his determination ‘to defeat the existential threat of Donald Trump at the ballot box in November’ and discussed the importance of electing Democrats up and down the ballot.
‘All participants reiterated their shared commitment to do everything possible to make sure President Biden and Vice President Harris beat Donald Trump in November,’ it said.
Biden’s efforts to pull multiple levers to salvage his faltering reelection include his impromptu appearance with campaign aides, private conversations with senior lawmakers, a weekend blitz of travel and a network television interview.
But he was confronting serious indications that support for him was rapidly eroding on Capitol Hill and among other allies.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., said that though he backs Biden as long as he is a candidate, this ‘is an opportunity to look elsewhere’ and what Biden ‘needs to do is shoulder the responsibility for keeping that seat – and part of that responsibility is to get out of this race.’
Wealthy donor Reed Hastings, the co-founder of Netflix, called on Biden to drop out as well.