Gov. Healey heads to D.C. for Democratic governors' meeting with Biden

Gov. Maura Healey will be among the Democratic governors meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House on Wednesday evening as the president attempts to keep his reelection campaign afloat after last week's politically disastrous debate showing.

The governor's office said Wednesday morning that Healey will travel to D.C. to attend the 6:30 p.m. meeting in the Roosevelt Room.

Healey last week called Biden's performance in the first debate against Republican Donald Trump "tough to watch" but did not answer a question as she walked away from reporters about whether the party should rethink Biden's nomination. She was among two dozen Democratic governors who held a call Monday to discuss the president's reelection prospects amongst themselves, POLITICO reported.

Calls for Biden, 81, to step aside and allow for someone else to carry the Democratic Party nomination to the general election have been gaining momentum, and the Wednesday evening meeting with governors — some of whom are often mentioned as potential replacement nominees — is likely to serve dual purposes. Biden and his team will want to calm the governors' nerves, and governors like Healey who put their political capital on the line as surrogates for Biden will want to see evidence that he can win and serve another term.

Some Bay State Democrats, Sen. Jason Lewis among them, have called for Biden to make way for another nominee who might stand a better chance at defeating Trump this November. Rep. Mike Connolly joined that chorus Tuesday night, writing on X that "it’s time for President Biden to end his campaign for re-election and for top Democrats to stop gaslighting the American people."

Others, like Attorney General Andrea Campbell, have said Biden should "absolutely not" cede the nomination to someone else.

The National Governors Association has its summer meetings scheduled for Thursday and Friday, July 11-12, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The News Service asked Healey's office on Tuesday if she planned to attend and has not heard back.