'I'm not leaving': Biden expands effort to tamp down calls to step aside

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Wednesday increased his outreach to lawmakers, Democratic governors and staffers after days of criticism that he hasn't done enough to personally tamp down on nervousness that he should abandon his run for re-election.

The effort included calls to congressional Democratic leaders and a meeting Wednesday evening with Democratic governors — including 10 who traveled to Washington to attend in person. Nearly a week after the debate, Biden and senior aides are still scrambling to recover from his devastating performance and quash growing calls for him to step down as the party's nominee in the November election.

Following a meeting between Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and governors, the state officials emerged and largely echoed one another in offering praise for Biden, with several referring to being "all in" and being "partners" who have one another's "backs."

"We are all looking for the path to win. All the governors agree with that. President Biden agrees with that," Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the chair of the Democratic Governors Association, told reporters outside the White House. "He has had our backs through Covid, through all of the recovery, all of the things that have happened. The governors have his back, and we’re working together."

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said the group that met with Biden "came in and we were honest about the feedback that we were getting. We were honest about the concerns that we were hearing from people.”

"Listen, we’re governors. We don’t do hand-wringing," Moore said after the meeting. "And come November, we’ve got a binary choice, and the binary choice is between someone who has continually delivered for us and our states, the people of our states,