Rochester Mayor Malik Evans was one of a group of more than 200 Democratic mayors on Tuesday night who met virtually with President Joe Biden about this year’s presidential election.
In a statement released after that meeting, Evans said “I look forward to continuing to support him,” and he noted that Biden “has formed a close bond with the nation’s mayors.”
Evans said Biden made it clear he plans on continuing in the presidential race and that he is best positioned to continue the support that America’s mayors have gotten from the White House.
Evans also referred to legislation such as the American Rescue Plan Act, which he said “the city of Rochester has greatly benefited from.”
That virtual meeting with the mayors came on a day Biden also met with various congressional groups, in the wake of some mounting pressure over the weekend with some Democrats calling on Biden to step aside from the campaign.
Reportedly, that included Rep. Joe Morelle (D-25) of the Rochester area, although Morelle and a number of other House and Senate Democrats who’ve had closed-door meetings in recent days have not commented publicly on those sessions.
Biden continues to have the support of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. But when pressed three times on Tuesday about the president’s viability as a candidate and a possible challenge, Schumer repeated the same curt answer: “As I’ve said before, I’m with Joe.”
There has been a lot of soul-searching by House and Senate Democrats and others in the party after last month’s poor debate performance by Biden and concerns over the potential for losing the White House and Congress in this year’s elections.
This story includes reporting by the Associated Press and NPR.
