Secret Service agents outside the White House on Feb. 13, 2024. President Joe Biden’s advisers have been urged by a number of allies to make the him more visible in the aftermath of the debate with former President Donald Trump. (Tom Brenner/The New York Times)
- Almost all Democratic governors plan to meet with President Biden, either in person or virtually, to address fallout from his recent debate performance.
- Governors including Newsom, Whitmer, and Beshear, potential presidential contenders, will attend. Tim Walz organized the meeting.
- Governors express support for Biden publicly but also plan to discuss concerns about his health and ability for a second term.
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Nearly all of the country’s 23 Democratic state governors have confirmed through their offices that they plan to attend a meeting with President Joe Biden on Wednesday night, either virtually or in person, amid the ongoing political fallout from his performance at last Thursday’s debate.
Among those expected to be at the White House are Gavin Newsom of California, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Andy Beshear of Kentucky, their offices said. All three have been floated as potential presidential candidates themselves.
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Maura Healey of Massachusetts, Kathy Hochul of New York, JB Pritzker of Illinois and Tim Walz of Minnesota also plan to be at the meeting in person. Walz, the chair of the Democratic Governors Association, organized a call with the governors on Monday to discuss concerns about Biden’s debate performance, which led to the meeting at the White House planned for this evening.
At least half a dozen governors will be joining the meeting remotely, including Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Roy Cooper of North Carolina and Katie Hobbs of Arizona.
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In public comments, many Democratic governors have said that they fully support Biden. Dan McKee of Rhode Island told a local news outlet Wednesday that he was going to the meeting in person “to express support for the president.”
Wes Moore of Maryland, who is also planning to attend in person, told CBS News on Sunday that he would not seek the nomination should Biden step aside. “Joe Biden is not going to take himself out of this race, nor should he,” he said.
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Some have said that they saw the meeting as a chance for a frank discussion with Biden about his health. Beshear told CNN on Tuesday that the governors wanted to “make sure he’s doing OK.”
Josh Green of Hawaii, who plans to participate remotely, said in an interview Wednesday that he would be listening for the president’s own thoughts about his capacity for a second term.
A physician who led Hawaii’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, Green said the president had been “on top of it” in their work together on the Maui wildfire. But he noted that both Biden and former President Donald Trump “are older and both are going to have challenges over the next four years.”
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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
By Campbell Robertson/Tom Brenner
c.2024 The New York Times Company
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