The White House announced on Tuesday that President Joe Biden will meet with Democrat governors at the White House on Wednesday night. The meeting aims to reassure them following Biden’s disastrous debate with President Trump last Thursday.
According to reports, the Democrat governors had a conference call on Monday where they dismissed the idea of meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris, insisting on hearing directly from Biden. The meeting will be a combination of in-person and virtual attendance.
California Governor Gavin Newsom plans to fly in to attend the meeting in person. Newsom showed strong support for Biden in the spin room following last week’s debate in Atlanta.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear told CNN on Tuesday that he wanted Biden to “tell us a little bit more about how you’re doing.”
The White House announced on Tuesday night that President Biden’s schedule for Wednesday includes a national security briefing with Vice President Kamala Harris, followed by lunch. The meeting with the governors is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EDT, after a Medal of Honor ceremony. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will brief the press at 1:30 p.m.
As reported by CBS News:
President Biden plans to hold a meeting with Democratic governors Wednesday, CBS News has learned, as the White House and his reelection campaign work to shore up support for him after last week’s shaky debate performance.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the chair of the Democratic Governors Association, will be at the White House for the meeting. Some governors plan to attend in person, while others will attend virtually.
…The meeting with governors is notable because up until this point, it’s mostly been Mr. Biden’s top aides and advisers who have been reaching out to elected Democrats to reassure them after his debate performance. Members of the Democratic Governors’ Association held a call Monday to discuss the ongoing response to last week’s debate and a widespread concern among the state chief executives that Mr. Biden has done little outreach to governors, specifically over the course of the campaign year, according to two people familiar with arrangements for the call.
The Biden campaign had been trying to arrange time for Vice President Harris to speak with governors, but the governors decided Monday they wanted to hear directly from the president.
“They’d like to hear from him directly before going and sticking out their necks for him again,” said one of the people familiar with the plan, granted anonymity to speak frankly about them.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, who is widely considered a potential candidate to replace Biden on the ticket, will be attending the meeting.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro will virtually attend. As will Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker will also attend in person. Pritzker, like Newsom, is one of the leading Democrats mentioned as a potential replacement for Biden if Kamala Harris is not considered acceptable.
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