'The president was very clear that he is in this to win this,' Gov. Moore says of Biden

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore reinforced his support for President Joe Biden on Wednesday, standing alongside other Democratic governors outside the White House after meeting with Biden, and telling a gaggle of media members: “We’re governors, we don’t do hand-wringing.”

The scene came less than one week after Biden participated in a debate with former President Donald Trump in Atlanta, Ga. The 90-minute debate on June 27 has cast a shadow over the presidential contest.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, chair of the Democratic Governors Association, sought to lift that post-debate cloud for his party’s presumptive presidential nominee during a press conference after meeting with Biden on Wednesday.

“None of us are denying Thursday night was a bad performance,” said Walz, of Biden at the debate, with Moore and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul standing beside him on Wednesday evening outside the White House in Washington, D.C., “but it doesn’t impact what I believe, he’s delivering.”

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Moore backs Biden during press conference outside the White House

Moore, who came into office midway through Biden’s first term in office, also pointed to the Biden administration’s record both in his remarks outside the White House and in a press release afterwards on Wednesday evening.

“The results that we’ve been able to see under this administration have been undeniable in all of our individual states, but the thing that makes us most optimistic and most hopeful is not necessarily that we’re afraid of an alternative, but also is that we’re hopeful for the future,” said Moore, in his remarks outside of the White House on Wednesday evening.

In a press release sent a little more than an hour later, Moore said: “President Biden is the partner I need in the White House, now and for the next four years.” He pointed to job creation in the state, investments in education, broadband expansion across Maryland, a drop in crime and the president’s “resolve” after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse as reasons for his support.

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“In November, we’ve got a clear choice,” Moore told the reporters outside the White House after the meeting on Wednesday. “The president was very clear that he is in this to win this.”

President Biden is scheduled to be in Wisconsin for a campaign event on Friday afternoon. Next week, in the nation’s capital, Biden is set to host a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, with leaders from over 30 countries, including Finland and Sweden, which have joined the military alliance since Biden has been in office.

Dwight A. Weingarten is an investigative reporter, covering the Maryland State House and state issues. He can be reached at dweingarten@gannett.com or on Twitter at @DwightWeingart2.

This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Maryland governor backs Biden, meets at White House with president