Biden is still weighing whether to stay in the race, Hawaii governor says

Hawaii's Democratic Gov. Josh Green says President Biden has yet to make a final decision about whether he will continue his bid for a second term.

"If the president doesn't think he can beat Donald Trump, he will hand it off to Kamala [Harris]," Green said during an interview on Thursday with NPR.

"The president has to make this decision with his life-long colleagues from the Senate and his wife. Jill Biden is a superstar. They'll make the right decision," Green added.

Green, a close Biden ally, said he still fully backs the president should he choose to continue his campaign. He said he thinks it's likely that Biden will stay in the race.

He spoke after a closed-door session with the president, which took place on Wednesday in the wake of Biden's disastrous debate performance.

Green was among 25 Democratic governors who met with Biden. Eleven were present in the room, while others, including Green, joined via video link.

The meeting came amid growing questions, in the media, from voters and voiced by some Democratic lawmakers about the future of Biden's candidacy.

Green acknowledged feeling alarmed after watching the debate, but said he was reassured by Biden during their meeting.

Noting that he is also a family physician, Green said, "I asked him the question, among our governor colleagues, 'Mr. President, are you OK? What happened on Thursday, the debate, was terrible and you weren't yourself.' "

Green said Biden responded by saying he had been "exhausted" and "under the weather" during his exchange with Trump.

In the June 27 debate, Biden struggled to speak clearly, appeared to lose his train of thought, and seemed unable to counter Trump's arguments, which fact-checkers later concluded were laced with false claims.

Biden: "It's just my brain"

Biden, 81, and his opponent, former President Trump, 78, are "elderly," Green said: "Biden and Trump are going to have moments when they're not totally clear. It's who they put around themselves, how they respond when they need to."

Green confirmed that during the meeting with governors, when asked about his health, Biden said that he was in good shape but then quipped, "It's just my brain."

Biden's campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon said in a statement: “He was clearly making a joke and then said, ‘All kidding aside.' "

Green also read the remark as Biden's effort at humor.

"It is difficult for a person to actually put together humor like that if they're not cognitively sound," Gov. Green said. "He was absolutely making a joke and I know America may not be in a joking mood right now."

Green said he hoped the media would also focus on Trump's mental acuity and character.

"If we're going to judge one gentleman ... we should judge the other," he said.

Biden is "in it to win it"

In public appearances and interviews in the days after the debate, Biden has acknowledged performing poorly on the stage, while saying he will remain in the race.

"I'm not leaving," Biden said on Wednesday in a fundraising email sent to supporters.

Three other Democratic governors spoke about their meeting with Biden on Wednesday during a press conference outside the White House.

All three Democrats signaled support for Biden.

"President Joe Biden is in it to win it," said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. "All of us said we pledged our support to him because the stakes could not be higher."

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz acknowledged Biden turned in "a bad performance" in the debate, but added "it doesn’t impact what I believe: He’s delivered."

Walz said he believed Biden was “fit for office.”

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore called the conversation with Biden "candid" and "honest."

"We were honest about the feedback we were getting. We were honest about the concerns we were hearing from people," he said.

Transcript

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

The Democratic Party is in unchartered (ph) territory. Never in recent memory has a presumptive nominee's future in either party been so uncertain at this point in a presidential race. Polling shows that voters have continued to lose confidence in Biden since the debate. Democratic governors met with the president last night, and Hawaii governor Josh Green was among them. He did not attend in person at the White House, but he did join the meeting through a video link. Governor Green is on the line with us now. Welcome.

JOSH GREEN: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

CHANG: Well, we appreciate having you because there are a lot of people in this country who are deeply concerned about whether President Biden can win this election and, even if he does win, whether he has the ability to govern effectively for another four years. So based on your personal exchange with him last night, do you think Biden should remain in this race?

GREEN: This is definitely President Biden's decision. I know the president very well. He's been with us in Hawaii when we went through our crisis on Maui. That was 331 days ago. And so I'll tell you, he stepped up then. And on the - you know, on the call yesterday, of course, I was calling in from Hawaii. He was very clear. He said, I'm in the race. He was clear thinking. And he did share with me - look, I'm a family physician, OK?

CHANG: Yeah.

GREEN: And I asked him the question amongst our governor colleagues - I said, look, Mr. President, are you OK? What happened on Thursday? The debate was terrible, and you weren't yourself. And he was very open. He said, I was exhausted. He said that, you know, he was under the weather. He didn't want to make complaints because politicians don't like to suggest that they're human. So, you know, the president was not his best, obviously.

And I will tell you this. He's 81 years old. He's elderly, and so is his opponent, the former president. Both the president right now, President Biden, and Trump are going to have moments where they're not, you know, totally clear. It's who they put around themselves, how they respond when they need to.

Our president right now stood by my side and helped us recovery from the worst disaster we ever saw. The only person in the entire country - and I include Republican governors across the land - the only person in the entire country who bashed Hawaii after we went through the fire in Lahaina was President Trump. So...

CHANG: But I want to ask you because you are a physician...

GREEN: Yes.

CHANG: ...The New York Times reports today that Biden told all of you governors yesterday that he just needs more sleep. He just needs to work less at night. And then, according to this Times story, you asked Biden...

GREEN: Yes.

CHANG: ...A very specific question about his health, and he replied to you that his health was fine, and, quote, "it's just my brain." Can I ask you - what did you ask him exactly? What was he referring to when he said, it's just my brain?

GREEN: Right. This is an important point because that was a self-deprecating joke. And I am a physician, and I will tell you that it is difficult for a person to actually put together humor like that if they're not cognitively sound. He was absolutely making a joke. And I know that America may not be in a joking mood right now because about 300 million adults are concerned about what comes next. But that was absolutely just self-deprecating jokes. And...

CHANG: But what did you ask him exactly?

GREEN: I asked, how are you feeling? Are you OK? - 'cause I talk to him with some regularity, and that was not the person that we normally see. No doubt - you know, on the debate stage, he was getting bashed. He shared a lot of things. And let me actually share with you what he said.

CHANG: OK.

GREEN: He said, yes, he was exhausted. He also said very clearly that it was a strange setup because when they muted each other's mics during the debate, the former president continued to go off like a lunatic in his ear, and that's difficult for any of us.

I will share with you - and I've observed the president for decades now. You know that President Biden's mind races ahead, and his speech has to catch up. I'm not making an excuse for him. You see that in almost every speech that he gives. And when he goes off script, he will say, you know, fun things or self-deprecating things 'cause he's actually a fairly regular human being.

Now, everyone right now is very raw. Everyone's, you know, nerves are on edge because if the president blows this - if President Biden doesn't, you know, kind of pull this off - we're all going to be, you know, essentially exposed to a sociopath for another four years.

CHANG: Do you personally have the confidence that President Biden should be the person running as the Democratic nominee for president and can effectively serve as president for four more years?

GREEN: Well, the answer is a clear yes unless he steps back because he won the primary. He actually went through the democratic process, which is what President Biden believes in and I think his opponent doesn't, which is, he went and got people's votes. If the president doesn't think he can beat Donald Trump, he will hand it off to Kamala, if that happens. And I want to tell you she was fantastic when the governors met with her and the president. So kudos to Kamala. But the president has to make this decision with his lifelong colleagues from the Senate and his wife. Jill Biden is a superstar. They'll make the right decision.

CHANG: Do you think...

GREEN: They'll make the decision, I'm positive, before the convention 'cause that's when we'll have to really rev this thing.

CHANG: Do you think the president going forward should be more transparent more often about his health and his stamina with the public?

GREEN: I think he should, and I think Mr. Trump should go through the processes as well so we all understand what's lurking beneath his psyche. It's a very important distinction I make here because if we're going to judge one gentleman who is 81, we should judge the other.

CHANG: Absolutely.

GREEN: And we should really determine...

CHANG: But...

GREEN: ...Who is good for the country.

CHANG: ...Let me ask you more about last night...

GREEN: Sure.

CHANG: ...At the White House, you know, cause some governors emerged from that meeting explicitly voicing their support for Biden. Some chose not to. So what else can you tell us about the mood of the meeting, the range of reactions, the range of degrees of enthusiasm for Biden? Was there some variation?

GREEN: Yes. So you get 25 Democrats together, you get 35...

CHANG: Sure.

GREEN: ...Ideas, OK?

CHANG: Sure.

GREEN: And allegiances - but the truth was, most people were concerned about the President 'cause, honestly, he's served for now 48 years in office, and we care about him. He's carried the mantle for a lot of us and just a lot of ideas. So they were worried about him. They were concerned about him. A couple of people, of course, were a little bit more caustic or a little bit more probing, and I don't think they were doing it out of self-interest. I think...

CHANG: Care to say who?

GREEN: ...That they are legitimately concerned. No way. If he...

CHANG: OK.

GREEN: You know, if he alienated anybody - you know, there are some states where if it doesn't go as well or they're going to lose anyway - you know, there are red states where we're going to lose forever into the, you know, 30th century. But in those states, if a president were to lose badly, they could lose some of their own seats or their delegation, and that's always the case.

I think the president is very likely going to stay in the race, and I think it's very likely that if he is seen as solid going forward, people will then at least judge him versus Mr. Trump.

CHANG: Well, then let's talk about that. What does Biden need to do, in your opinion, to turn this campaign around in the next few days, next few weeks, to convince more people he is the right person to be running?

GREEN: Thank you. So the president needs to be good on Stephanopoulos tomorrow.

CHANG: This is the ABC News interview.

GREEN: Yes. He has to hug everybody because that's what he does best and share his real-life energy with them, which is extraordinary. He needs to be seen in that light as we get towards the convention. Then we'll return more to the baseline.

And people will then hopefully look at Donald Trump, who really is pathological, and I'm speaking just as a citizen. I've seen, witnessed and worked with him and people around him, and it's not good. So hopefully the country will see that. They will see the people around Biden, and they'll decide if that's the person for them.

If he is not up to it, Joe Biden will be the one that steps out of the race of his own volition because he cares too much about America to cede this thing to Donald Trump, and that's something he did express to us.

CHANG: Governor Josh Green of Hawaii, thank you very much for your time.

GREEN: My honor. Take care.

CHANG: Happy Fourth.

GREEN: You, too.

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