North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Wednesday he has told President Joe Biden that he will support him for a second term.

In an interview with Spectrum News, Cooper was asked if he would like to see Biden run again, he replied: “Well he’s going to and I’ve told him I support him.”

What You Need To Know

  • North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper told Spectrum News he has told President Joe Biden that he will support him for a second term: "He’s going to, and I’ve told him I support him"

  • Biden said said in an interview with “PBS NewsHour” that he still has not made a decision on whether he will run in 2024, but he’s leaning in that direction

  • The governor said he appreciated Biden emphasizing his bipartisan work in the State of the Union address Tuesday

  • Cooper heaped praise on fellow Democrat Attorney General Josh Stein, who is running to replace him as governor in 2024, saying he "has a bright future in the state"

Though Biden has said he intends to run in 2024, he hasn’t officially declared his candidacy. 

Cooper said he believes Biden has made a clear argument to Americans why he deserves another term in the White House. 

“So many times people have tried to count Joe Biden out, and so many times he has proved them wrong," Cooper said. "And when you look at the success that he was able to generate during the first two years in office, he's got plenty of time to make that case.” 

Cooper traveled to Washington to attend the National Governors Association's Winter Meeting to discuss "solutions-driven conversations around the top issues in states and territories."

Among the topics under discussion is divided government and how parties can work together to get things done. Cooper said he appreciated Biden emphasizing his work across party lines in the State of the Union address Tuesday. 

“I thought the president was energetic,” Cooper said. "I think he was positive and bipartisan." 

Cooper said he’s been able to find bipartisan support in North Carolina for bringing clean energy jobs to the state.

“We’ve been very intentional about recurring companies that want to be in the clean energy arena. This is where the market is going. It’s where the private market is going,” Cooper said. “North Carolina has decided to get ahead of it in order to put more money in people’s pockets."

Cooper served as the chair of the Democratic Governors Association last year, where members of his party won key gubernatorial elections in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Kansas.

Though Cooper has had success as a Democrat in the swing state of North Carolina, many members of his party have had little success statewide. It’s been almost 15 years since the state elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate.

In November, Democrat Cheri Beasley, the first Black woman to serve as the state's Supreme Court chief justice, lost to Republican Ted Budd in one of the country's most high-profile U.S. Senate races.

“We are in a purple state," Cooper said. "You look at the last election, we were able to pick up congressional seats [in North Carolina], it’s now seven to seven. We were able to stave off a supermajority in the statehouse in a year that historically is supposed to be bad for the president's party."

"But we know that there's a lot more work to do," he added. "I think what you’re going to see is Democrats look to revitalize and work at the grassroots level."

Cooper, who is term-limited, is in his last two years as governor. Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat, has already announced he is running to replace Cooper in 2024. 

The governor said Stein has been “an extraordinary attorney general" who “has a bright future in the state.”