Walz and other Democratic governors meeting at White House following Biden’s debate performance

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Democratic governors from across the country will meet with the White House on Wednesday, as the party grapples with what President Joe Biden’s shaky debate performance means for the 2024 election and races down the ballot.

Walz, who is also chair of the Democratic Governors Association, said that a routine conversation Monday between governors eventually turned to “what was obviously a poor performance in last Thursday’s debate.”

“Governors are asking questions about, ‘What is the plan, how are we going to do this, how are we going to message this?’” Walz said Tuesday following a briefing about ongoing flooding in the state.

“Especially with yesterday’s Supreme Court decision, the threat seems very real that we will have a shift in how our country does business, more towards a supreme executive and one that has unlimited power, versus ones where we have federalism and state governors have a lot of say in how things are done.”

As the DGA chair, Walz is the messaging face for the organization this year, traveling across the country to raise money and campaign for Democratic governor candidates in 11 states where they’re on the ballot. The job has put Minnesota’s second-term governor frequently on the national campaign trail in the midst of a major presidential election year.

But Walz, who is also an official surrogate of the Biden campaign, has defended the president since the debate, which renewed concerns from some Democrats about his age and campaign for a second term.

Walz said he still believes Biden should be the party’s nominee and can beat former President Donald Trump in a November rematch, but other Democrats have said they now have serious questions for the president.

Some have gone further, asking him to withdraw from the race so another candidate can take his place on the ticket. Democratic U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas on Tuesday encouraged Biden to “make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw.” He became the first sitting member of Congress to call on the president to step down since the debate.

Biden’s raspy voice and uneven performance in the debate reinforced concerns for some that the 81-year-old is too old to run and serve a second term. The Biden campaign has given no indication that the president plans to step aside.

At the meeting, Walz said governors will get the chance to ask questions about “some of the concerns we talked about.” He said he’s personally struggled with poor debate performances but the question is “how does that impact how the country runs.”

“How does that impact what an election looks like?” he said. “It’s about the differences and the binary choice that we’re going to face in November, how important that is.”

Staff writer Jp Lawrence contributed to this report.