Democratic governors back Biden after call to withdraw

President Joe Biden shored up support with Democrats across the nation after meeting with blue state governors behind closed doors on Wednesday. The president will be the Democratic Party’s nominee and he means to win, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said at a press conference with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. The governors said they had received concerns within the party about losing the White House and could share those concerns with the president in an honest conversation. The meeting followed a poor performance by the 81-year-old president at last week’s debate with Trump, age 78. However, the group of governors voiced confidence in Biden’s abilities. All the governors who met in person and online pledged to support Biden on the road to re-election and are confident, Hochul said.

The meeting came a day after Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett broke the seal calling for Biden to bow out of the race. Doggett highlighted Biden’s poor polling scores and lackluster debate performance in a Tuesday statement to the Texas Tribune. Democrats have stronger options who could do a better job, Doggett said in an interview. However, blue state governors continue reaffirming the party’s support of its presumptive nominee, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.

Why aren’t Democratic governors pushing for a more likely candidate? The president has always supported the states, and now the governors will have Biden’s back, Moore said. Thursday’s debate was a bad performance, but it doesn’t impact what Biden is delivering, Walz added. The Biden campaign blamed the president’s poor showing on fighting jet lag and a cold. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the party favorite to replace Biden as nominee, reaffirmed his support for Biden after the meeting. The president is all in and democratic governors have his back, Newsom wrote.

Dig deeper: Read Josh Schumacher’s report in The Sift on Biden acknowledging his poor debate performance.