ALBANY – Gov. Kathy Hochul double-downed her call for President Biden to remain in the presidential race late Wednesday, saying she feels “very confident” in his abilities to lead the nation.
Hochul’s emphatic continuation of support for Biden came after she and other Democratic governors met with Biden in the White House amid calls among some Democrats for the 81-year-old incumbent to step down following his widely criticized debate performance versus former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.
The state of the president’s cognitive fitness remains a hotly contested subject after a raspy voiced Biden, who said he had a cold, showed little energy in the faceoff with the man whom he defeated in 2020. At one point, in response to a question about abortion, a key campaign issue for Democrats, Biden referenced an unrelated killing. At another point, while intending to highlight a victory over the pharmaceutical industry, Biden said “we finally beat Medicare.”
Gaffes aside, Hochul and a number of other Democratic governors strongly backed the president following their meeting with him.
“Representing states like New York and all across America, we came together tonight to listen to President Biden tell us in his own words what his plans were,” Hochul said. “I’m here to tell you today, President Joe Biden is in it to win it. And all of us said we pledged our support to him because the stakes could not be higher.”
In the statement, relayed by her campaign staff, Hochul said: “We talked about the plan and how he’s going to be very focused on issues that matter to Americans, and I felt very confident coming out of this meeting as well.”
Hochul referenced the meeting’s timing − the eve of the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 − and that America was born in a fight against a tyrannical British empire.
“On the eve of the Fourth of July…
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