Hawaii Governor Josh Green, a Democrat, recently suggested that President Joe Biden might decide within days whether to continue his re-election campaign. This speculation follows a meeting Green attended with Biden and nearly two dozen Democratic governors, amid growing concerns about the president’s re-election prospects after a shaky debate performance against former President Donald Trump.
Green, whose family has known Biden for years, shared his insights in an interview with The Associated Press. “I think the president stays in this race unless he feels that it is not winnable, or he feels that he has to hear other voices in his inner circle that he shouldn’t run,” Green said. “If the president felt that he wasn’t up to it and truly not up to it, he would step down.”
Green added, “We’ll probably know in the next couple of days how the president feels about all this.”
Despite Biden’s repeated assertions over the past week and a half that he will remain in the race, including in a recent interview with ABC News, concerns about his mental acuity have been raised, even by members of his own party. Some Democrats have called on Biden to leave the presidential race, while others, particularly governors, continue to support his re-election.
Green believes that if Biden were to exit the race, he should be allowed to choose his replacement on the ticket, likely Vice President Kamala Harris. “I think it’s very clear that the Democratic Party would be ecstatic overall to have the president designate his vice president if it came to that,” Green said. He praised Harris as a powerful and thought-leading woman with impeccable credentials, including her tenure as California’s attorney general.
The timeline for Biden’s decision is influenced by the expected pressure from congressional lawmakers returning to Capitol Hill this week. Senator Mark Warner, D-Va., is working to gather support from Democratic senators for a meeting to discuss pressuring Biden to drop out of the race. Additionally, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is leading a virtual meeting with top Democrats to discuss the path forward for Biden’s campaign.
Green emphasized that the decision should come from Biden himself and his closest advisers, not from other governors or external pressures. “I really, honestly think that he has to make the decision,” Green said. “And it should not come from another governor. It should not come from anyone but the closest, closest advisers to him and his own heart.”
Green also pointed out that Trump, who is 78 years old, is only three years younger than Biden, and both will experience cognitive lapses going forward. However, he argued that temperament is more important than age in the presidential race. “For God’s sake, these two guys have to hold the nuclear codes. I don’t want someone who tweets in the middle of the night and rages at other countries,” Green said, referring to Trump. “That is not good. That’s not the problem we have with President Biden.”
Green, who was a physician before becoming governor, noted that everyone has elderly parents or grandparents who experience pauses in their ability to express themselves clearly or other mental lapses. However, they are not pushed aside because they still possess great experience and wisdom and have a role in the family. “That’s why I’m standing by the president until he tells me otherwise,” Green said.
During the meeting with Biden and other Democratic governors, Green asked Biden about his health. Biden responded by saying everything was fine except for his brain, a comment that was made in jest, according to Green. “It was absolutely a joke, and in order to make a self-deprecating joke, you have to have intact cognitive function, period,” Green said.
Green also dismissed claims that advisers set up the meeting to have governors supportive of Biden speak first to quell any critics. He described the meeting as a candid, unscripted conversation with governors of differing perspectives. “That call had just like you’d expect in a coffee shop, a few people mouthed off, a few people, you know, probably excessively praised the president, but almost everybody was just trying to see, ‘Are we OK?’” Green said.
In public appearances and interviews following the debate, Biden has acknowledged his poor performance but has maintained his commitment to the race. “I’m not leaving,” Biden said in a fundraising email sent to supporters.
Three other Democratic governors, including New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and Maryland Governor Wes Moore, expressed their support for Biden after the meeting. “President Joe Biden is in it to win it,” Hochul said. Walz acknowledged Biden’s bad performance in the debate but affirmed his belief in Biden’s fitness for office. Moore described the conversation with Biden as candid and honest, with governors providing feedback and expressing concerns.
As the political landscape continues to evolve, all eyes are on President Biden as he contemplates his next move. The coming days will be crucial in determining the future of his re-election campaign and the Democratic Party’s strategy moving forward.
Source: The Associated Press, NPR, Fox News
