US election campaign - Demonstratively united: Governors back Biden after disastrous debate
Facing growing concerns within the Democratic Party, leading governors reaffirmed their support for President Joe Biden's re-election at a meeting on Wednesday at the White House. During the meeting, open discussions took place about Biden's weak performance in the latest TV debate. Maryland Governor Wes Moore discussed this at a subsequent press conference.
"The President has always had our backing. We will also strengthen his back," Moore said. Moore acknowledged that there was still much to be done before the election on November 5th. However, he emphasized that Biden was determined to stay in the race.
Top politicians from Biden's party initially held back with public criticism. On Tuesday, the first Democratic representative in the US House of Representatives, Lloyd Doggett from Texas, publicly called on Biden to withdraw from the race and make way for another candidate. A second Democratic representative, Raúl Grijalva from Arizona, joined the calls on Wednesday.
Joe Biden "ran to win"
New York Governor Kathy Hochul expressed optimism after meeting with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and confirmed that all attending governors had pledged their support. "The President ran to win," she said. Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota and Chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, acknowledged that Biden's performance in the debate had been weak but reaffirmed his belief that Biden was qualified for the job. He warned of the dangers of another Trump presidency, which he described as "chaos and destruction."
Biden's campaign team emphasized that the President had reaffirmed his determination "to overcome the existential threat posed by Donald Trump at the ballot box in November." All participants renewed their commitment to working for a Biden and Harris victory.
The meeting took place against the backdrop of growing concerns among Democrats about Biden's age and fitness for a possible second term. Biden, at 81 the oldest President in US history, spoke loudly and repeatedly muddled his sentences and didn't finish some during the TV debate with his likely challenger Trump on CNN in the previous week. Since then, a discussion among Democrats has erupted about whether they should replace the 81-year-old with another candidate for the presidential election.
After the discussion about Biden's debate performance, New York Governor Kathy Hochul reiterated her support, saying, "The President ran to win." In response to the critics within the party, Tim Walz, Minnesota's Governor and DGA Chair, stated, "We will always stand behind President Biden. Another Trump presidency would bring chaos and destruction." During the meeting, Kamala Harris, the Vice President, also reaffirmed her commitment to Biden's re-election campaign.
