Gov. Tim Walz after White House meeting says President Biden is "fit for office," and has his support

WASHINGTON — After a meeting at the White House Wednesday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said President Biden is "fit for office" even as some fellow Democrats called for him to withdraw from the race amid concerns about his poor debate performance.

Walz, chair of the Democratic Governors Association, joined several of his Democratic colleagues leading states across the country — some in-person, some virtually — to speak with the president directly. He and Govs. Wes Moore of Maryland and Kathy Hochul of New York addressed reporters following their discussion and pledged their support.

"He has had our backs through COVID, through all of the recovery, all the things that have happened. The governors have his back," Walz said. "We're working together. Just to make very, very clear on that: A path to victory in November is the number one priority. And that's the number one priority of the President."

Mr. Biden, who is 81, is facing a few calls to step aside from lawmakers in his party because his weak debate performance fueled concerns among many voters that he's too old to be running for re-election. That, in turn, has raised concerns within the Democratic party about whether Biden can defeat former president Donald Trump this November.

But Mr. Biden vows he will remain in the race.

When asked Wednesday outside the White House if he believes Mr. Biden is "fit for office," Walz said plainly, "Yes, he's fit for office." He again acknowledged the poor debate performance but praised Mr. Biden's record as president.

"None of us are denying Thursday night was a bad performance. It was a bad get, if you will on that. But it doesn't impact what I believe — he's delivering," Walz said.

"What we saw in there today was a guy who was the guy that all of us believed in the first time we could beat Donald Trump and did beat Donald Trump," the governor added later.

A new CBS News poll shows Trump has an edge over Mr. Biden nationally and in key battleground states that will likely determine the outcome of the election.

Walz and other governors had a phone call just with each other earlier this week and discussed the debate and its impact on the campaign, Walz said when asked by reporters Tuesday. By Wednesday, they took their concerns directly to the White House as Mr. Biden sought to shore up support.

Some of the other governors who came to the White House in-person include Govs. Gavin Newsom of California, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan — all Democrats with national profiles who have been key campaign surrogates for the presidential re-election bid.