Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro Among Democratic Governors to Meet with President Biden

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro will be one of the Democratic governors meeting with President Joe Biden On Wednesday evening he will discuss his plan for the further presidential campaign.

Shapiro has made several clear statements supporting Biden and his reelection — though he was one of the first Democratic officials to publicly acknowledge that Biden performed poorly in the debate, sending Democrats into a frenzy over whether the 81-year-old president should drop out of the race.

“I’ll be the first to admit that it didn’t look good in that debate, but it doesn’t change the fact that there are glaring differences in this race,” Shapiro told CNN the morning after the debate.

“Joe Biden had a bad debate night, and Donald Trump was a bad president and will be a bad president,” Shapiro repeated at a news conference Monday. “Nothing about Thursday’s debate changed the fact that there’s a clear choice in the race.”

Shapiro will join the call virtually, a spokesman said, as the first-term governor negotiates his second budget deal with the GOP-controlled state Senate and narrow Democratic majorities in the state House of Representatives. The budget was due Sunday to kick off the modern fiscal year.

“Governor Shapiro will remain in Pennsylvania tomorrow and continue to work with Democratic and Republican leaders in the legislature to reach a budget agreement,” said Manuel Bonder, a spokesman for Shapiro.

The closed meeting will be held in person and virtually from the Roosevelt Room at the White House on Wednesday eveningThe New York Times reports. Among those expected to attend in person are Democratic Governors Association Chairman and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, CBS News reported:.

In an email fundraising request for U.S. Senator Bob Casey, Newsom said he was traveling “to Washington, D.C. to meet and stand with the President at the White House later tonight” before planning to stop in Pennsylvania to campaign for Casey.

Shapiro — a potential 2028 presidential candidate — has been on several shortlists of potential replacements for Biden. But the first-term governor of a key battleground state is unlikely to be Biden’s first choice for replacement if Biden decides to drop out of the race.

On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that that Biden is considering whether to stay in the race but is still “deeply committed to my re-election bid” and knows his upcoming appearances in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are crucial to the future of his campaign.

Biden will visit Philadelphia on Sunday to speak at a conference of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers union.