(Bloomberg) -- Washington State Governor Jay Inslee joined the ranks of Democrats who are offering measured support for President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, emphasizing the importance of keeping Donald Trump from returning to office.
When asked if Biden is the best challenger to defeat Trump in the November election, Inslee told the Bloomberg Green Festival in Seattle, “He will make that decision. But I can tell you he’s done some great work on climate change. I know there’s questions. But again, I want to focus on beating Trump - that’s what I’m focused on.”
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Biden’s support from donors and key members of the Democratic party has waned following his disastrous performance in the debate against Trump on June 27, adding to uncertainty around his candidacy.
“I just focus on how horrific the former president was on this issue” of climate change, Inslee said Thursday. “To have any person in public life deny the existence of climate change is unbelievable — he needs to be kept out of office. I believe President Biden has done some great work on climate but we’ve got to focus on keeping Trump out of office.”
Gina McCarthy, who led Biden’s national climate agenda until she stepped down in 2022, said she will support whatever he ultimately decides to do.
“I’m going to wait and see what his final decision is, and I’ll stand by him in terms of what that decision looks like,” McCarthy said at the same event.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday declined to offer Biden a full-throated endorsement, saying on MSNBC that “it’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run.”
Other Washington Democrats have been among the most vocal in questioning Biden’s candidacy. Representative Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, has said Vice President Kamala Harris should be the nominee. State Senator Mark Mullet, who is running to replace Inslee as governor, said the same.
Inslee has been a close ally of the president and has been mentioned as a possible choice for a major job in a second-term Biden administration. When Biden was in Seattle for fundraisers in May, he joked that he wasn’t going to let Inslee stay in Washington state after he steps down as governor at the end of the year.
--With assistance from Todd Woody, Ali Juell, John Fraher and Michelle Ma.
(Updates with comments from McCarthy from fifth paragraph)
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