President Joe Biden on Wednesday held a high-stakes meeting with more than 20 Democratic governors as fallout from his disappointing debate performance against former President Donald Trump last week in Atlanta – and the White House’s effort to push past it – intensifies.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul emerged from the meeting declaring that Biden was “in it to win it.”
“And all of us said we pledged our support to him because the stakes could not be higher,” she continued.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz told reporters outside the West Wing that a “path to victory in November is the number one priority,” saying the president has had “our backs” and “the governors have his back.”
“We’re worried because the threat of a Trump presidency is not theoretical,” he said. “We’ve served with Donald Trump as president and the threats to our nation were real.”
Asked if the president was fit for office, Walz said “Yes, fit for office.”
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, however, acknowledged the party was “behind.”
“We know we have work to do,” Moore told reporters. “We know that as we’re standing right here, we’re behind.”
Moore called the meeting “honest” and “candid,” adding the governors told the president about the concerns they are hearing from people on the ground.
“We always believe that when you love someone, you tell them the truth,” he said.
A readout of the convening from the Biden campaign said the president “reiterated his determination to defeat the existential threat of Donald Trump at the ballot box in November and sought the advice and expertise of Democratic governors.”
“All participants reiterated their shared commitment to do everything possible to make sure President Biden and Vice President Harris beat Donald Trump in November,” the statement continued.
The meeting, which took place Wednesday night, marked Biden and the White House’s latest push to assuage concerns about the president’s candidacy and place at the top of the Democratic party following the debate.
Earlier on Wednesday, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris joined a call with campaign staff, in which he assured them he is staying in the race and thanked his team for their work, a source familiar with the campaign told Spectrum News.
“I'm in this race to the end and we're going to win because when Democrats unite, we will always win,” the source said Biden told staff on the call.
Biden’s Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, meanwhile, held a call with all White House staff on Wednesday in which he acknowledged that the last few days have been “challenging” and stressed the importance of “coming together,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
Biden and Harris also had a private lunch together at the White House on Wednesday.
The meeting comes just a day after Democratic concerns over Biden’s reelection bid began to escalate in public, with Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas becoming the first sitting Democratic lawmaker to call for the president to step out of the 2024 race. On Wednesday, a second House Democrat, Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, formally urged Biden to step away as well. Several others publicly sharpened their questions on Biden’s candidacy and two House Democrats said Biden would lose to Trump in November.
By Wednesday afternoon, Jean-Pierre confirmed Biden had spoken with Congressional leaders and allies – something he did not do immediately after the debate – including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Democratic South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn. Clyburn is credited with helping Biden win the Democratic nomination in 2020.
And in what has been seen as an effort to address a concern expressed by some Democratic allies of the president – that Biden needs to do more unscripted events and interact with the press more frequently – the White House announced several new events added to the president’s schedule, including campaign trips to two battleground states, a sit-down interview with ABC and a solo press conference at next week’s NATO summit.
Many of the governors who attended Wednesday’s meeting are acting as surrogates for Biden on the campaign trail and some have been floated as potential candidates if the president were to step out of the race.
Democratic governors that attended in person on Wednesday included California’s Gavin Newsom, Delaware’s John Carney, Illinois’s JB Pritzker, Kentucky’s Andy Beshear, Massachusetts’ Maura Healey, Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer, Rhode Island’s Dan McKee. More than a dozen attended virtually.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser was also in attendance on Wednesday. Hochul, Walz and Moore were the only governors who came to speak with reporters after the meeting.
One Democratic governor, Tony Evers, from the key battleground state of Wisconsin – where Biden is campaigning on Friday – told Spectrum News he did not plan on joining the meeting.
Spectrum News' Charlotte Scott contributed to this report.