Biden hasn’t done enough to ease age concerns – former top Obama adviser
David Smith
David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to President Barack Obama, warns that Joe Biden has not done enough to relieve voters’ concern about his age since last month’s hapless debate performance.
“I’ve felt for a long time, and I’ve said for a long time, it’s not in any way a commentary on his record, which I think will be honoured more by history than it is by voters right now,” Axelrod told the Guardian in Milwaukee on Wednesday.
“But it’s a very hard case to make that anyone should be elected president in the United States at the age of 82, not for political reasons but for actuarial reasons. This is the hardest job on the planet. It takes a lot out of you. It’s a legitimate concern that people have and that concern has been intensified by what happened at the debate. I don’t think anything that’s happened has relieved that concern.”
Axelrod, chief strategist for the 2008 and 2012 Obama presidential campaigns, was speaking after an event organised by University of Chicago Institute of Politics and the Cook Political Report on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention.
Asked if he thinks Biden can survive, Axelrod replied: “That’s entirely in his hands and that’s been the case. This whole race has been in hands, his decision to run and now his decision to stay.
“There’s a lot to think about because I know he’s laid out the stakes in this election. The question he has to answer is, what are the odds of his winning? Would the odds be better with another candidate? I’m sure there’s a lot of discussion about that.”
Key events
David Smith
Anyone attending the Republican national convention could be forgiven for thinking they have stepped into a mirror world where Donald Trump is a saint, not a twice impeached convicted felon.
On Wednesday, Brenna Bird, the attorney general of Iowa, was asked why she travelled to New York to support the former US president during his hush money trial.
“I was glad to go out to New York to support him during that trial because I’m a prosecutor and I have prosecuted many criminal defendants, but I’ve never seen anything like that,” Bird told international reporters at a Foreign Press Centers briefing.
“It’s a travesty. It’s not how the legal process is supposed to work. As a prosecutor I’ve never taken someone’s politics into account when deciding whether to charge a crime. That is just wrong and, if it’s allowed to happen, it breaks down the rule of law and the constitutional order.”
Bird added: “I went there specifically as a prosecutor to support President Trump because what was happening was an injustice and I wanted to be there and stand up for what was right and support President Trump. I think we saw his character during that trial. He doesn’t give up and he keeps on moving forward and that’s exactly what our country needs right now.”
In May, Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records alleging he was involved in a scheme that sought to cover up extramarital affairs in advance of the 2016 presidential election. The New York state prosecution had no connection to Biden and there was no evidence of jury bias against Trump.
Interim Summary
Here’s where the day stands:
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Joe Biden said he would consider dropping out of the presidential race if a “medical condition” emerged, the New York Times reports, citing an excerpt released from Biden’s interview with Ed Gordon of BET News. According to the Times, Biden was asked if there was any reason that would make him reconsider staying in the presidential race. In response, Biden said: “If I had some medical condition that emerged, if somebody, if doctors came to me and said, you got this problem and that problem.”
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John Hinckley, the man who shot and wounded president Ronald Reagan in 1981, has released his own statement following Donald Trump’s assassination attempt on Saturday. In a tweet on Wednesday, Hinckley, who was released in 2022 after spending 41 years under federal oversight, wrote: “Violence is not the way to go. Give peace a chance.”
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Kamala Harris has accepted a third possible date to hold a CBS-hosted vice presidential debate against Trump’s newly-announced running mate, Ohio senator JD Vance. The Biden-Harris campaign said it was open to a showdown with Vance on Monday, August 12 as well. Harris had previously agreed to participate in the debate on either Tuesday, July 23 or Tuesday, August 13.
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The high-profile California Democrat Adam Schiff has called on Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race. Schiff, in a statement to the Los Angeles Times, said that Biden “has been one of the most consequential presidents in our nation’s history, and his lifetime of service as a Senator, a vice president, and now as president has made our country better.” “But our nation is at a crossroads,” he added.
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Joe Biden lashed out at a “tense” meeting with dozens of House Democrats who bluntly questioned his viability as their party’s presidential nominee, according to reports. During the Saturday Zoom call, Colorado congressman Jason Crow told Biden that voters are concerned about his vigor and strength, and noted the importance of national security in the November election, the reports say.
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Lloyd Doggett, the Texas congressman who became the first House Democrat to publicly call on Joe Biden to step aside, has doubled down and urged the president to withdraw from the ticket in the face of “the reality of steadily, worsening poll numbers.” “My call for President Biden to step aside remains even more urgent,” Doggett said in a statement on Wednesday.
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During the Democratic press conference in Milwaukee, Minnesota governor Tim Walz was pressed on the party’s plans to nominate Joe Biden via a roll call vote in the coming days. Walz, who co-chairs the DNC Rules Committee, confirmed that delegates would not begin voting before 1 August, and the governor’s spokesperson confirmed that the process should wrap up by 7 August.
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Donald Trump does not have stitches but has a “nice flesh wound,” his son Eric Trump said following his father’s assassination attempt. In an interview with CBS, Eric said: “You know, he was millimeters away from having his life expunged … I’m sure the ear doesn’t feel well.”
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Nearly two-thirds of Democrats want Joe Biden to withdraw his re-election bid, a new AP-NORC poll has found. According to the poll which was mostly conducted before Donald Trump’s assassination attempt on Saturday, 65% of Democrats say that Biden should withdraw. Overall, 7 in 10 American adults say that Biden should drop out from the race.
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The Democratic National Committee said that its virtual roll call to officially nominate Joe Biden as its party’s presidential nominee will happen in August, CBS reports. In a letter obtained and reported by CBS on Wednesday, the DNC rules committee chairs Leah Daughtry and Tim Walz wrote: “We have confirmed with the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic National Convention that no virtual voting will begin before August 1…”
Biden hasn’t done enough to ease age concerns – former top Obama adviser
David Smith
David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to President Barack Obama, warns that Joe Biden has not done enough to relieve voters’ concern about his age since last month’s hapless debate performance.
“I’ve felt for a long time, and I’ve said for a long time, it’s not in any way a commentary on his record, which I think will be honoured more by history than it is by voters right now,” Axelrod told the Guardian in Milwaukee on Wednesday.
“But it’s a very hard case to make that anyone should be elected president in the United States at the age of 82, not for political reasons but for actuarial reasons. This is the hardest job on the planet. It takes a lot out of you. It’s a legitimate concern that people have and that concern has been intensified by what happened at the debate. I don’t think anything that’s happened has relieved that concern.”
Axelrod, chief strategist for the 2008 and 2012 Obama presidential campaigns, was speaking after an event organised by University of Chicago Institute of Politics and the Cook Political Report on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention.
Asked if he thinks Biden can survive, Axelrod replied: “That’s entirely in his hands and that’s been the case. This whole race has been in hands, his decision to run and now his decision to stay.
“There’s a lot to think about because I know he’s laid out the stakes in this election. The question he has to answer is, what are the odds of his winning? Would the odds be better with another candidate? I’m sure there’s a lot of discussion about that.”
Following Rudy Giuliani’s fall at the RNC in Milwaukee on Tuesday, the 80-year old disbarred lawyer’s spokesperson Ted Goodman released the following statement on Wednesday:
“Mayor Rudy Giuliani appreciates everyone’s concern after tripping over a dip in the walkway on the convention floor of the convention.
The mayor and I were both filming footage for his social media and livestream programs on the floor of the convention, when he turned to set some equipment on a chair and tripped over a dip between the walkway and chairs.
Those falsely suggesting anything else are misleading the public for their own agendas.”
The rift among Democrats is deepening over Joe Biden’s presidential candidacy despite party leaders saying Biden is the nominee.
Joan E Greve and Martin Pengelly reports for the Guardian:
Demands for Joe Biden to step aside as the Democrats’ presidential pick to face Donald Trump have slowed since the Republican survived an assassination attempt last weekend, to the extent that on Wednesday one “prominent strategist” was moved to say of the rebellion: “It’s over.”
The strategist spoke anonymously to the Hill – and before the influential California congressman Adam Schiff said publicly that Biden should quit.
Nonetheless, in Milwaukee, at a press conference during the Republican national convention, Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor and a party grandee, said Biden would be confirmed as the Democratic nominee by virtual vote between 1 and 7 August, before the Chicago convention.
For the full story, click here:
Joe Biden’s campaign team released a new ad on Wednesday featuring Hadley Duvall, a 22-year old outspoken abortion rights activist from Owensboro, Kentucky.
In the ad, Duvall, who was in an emotional ad last year during governor Andy Beshear’s reelection campaign, describes her experience of being impregnated by her stepfather who raped her when she was 12-years old.
She said:
“I’m from Kentucky where, because of Donald Trump, an extreme abortion ban is now in place, with no exceptions for rape or incest. During the overturn [of Roe v Wade], I went back to the time I was 12-years old and I was holding my first pregnancy test in my hand…
Trump brags about overturning Roe v Wade. He is ‘proudly responsible’ for each and every abortion ban across the country. And he calls them a ‘beautiful thing to watch.’ What is so beautiful about telling a 12-year old girl that she must have the baby of her stepfather who raped her? The stakes of this election could not be higher for our choices.”
Man who tried to assassinate Reagan says ‘violence is not the way to go’ after Trump assassination attempt
John Hinckley, the man who shot and wounded president Ronald Reagan in 1981, has released his own statement following Donald Trump’s assassination attempt on Saturday.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Hinckley, who was released in 2022 after spending 41 years under federal oversight, wrote:
“Violence is not the way to go. Give peace a chance.”
Violence is not the way to go. Give peace a chance.
— John Hinckley (@JohnHinckley20) July 17, 2024
Lauren Gambino
Kamala Harris has accepted a third possible date to hold a CBS-hosted vice presidential debate against Trump’s newly-announced running mate, Ohio senator JD Vance.
The Biden-Harris campaign said it was open to a showdown with Vance on Monday, August 12 as well. Harris had previously agreed to participate in the debate on either Tuesday, July 23 or Tuesday, August 13.
“Now that the Trump campaign has selected a running mate, we encourage them to agree to a debate between vice-president Harris and senator Vance,” a campaign official said.
Here is video of Joe Biden saying he would consider dropping out of the presidential race if a “medical condition” emerges:
Biden goes on to say that he would consider the option if “doctors came and said: ‘You’ve got this problem and that problem.’”
He adds that he “made a serious mistake in the whole debate” with Donald Trump which prompted a wave of scrutiny from the Democratic party over his mental competency as president.
Biden says he’d consider withdrawing if ‘medical condition’ emerges – report
Joe Biden said he would consider dropping out of the presidential race if a “medical condition” emerged, the New York Times reports, citing an excerpt released from Biden’s interview with Ed Gordon of BET News.
According to the Times, Biden was asked if there was any reason that would make him reconsider staying in the presidential race.
In response, Biden said:
If I had some medical condition that emerged, if somebody, if doctors came to me and said, you got this problem and that problem.
Earlier this month, Biden said during an interview with ABC host George Stephanopoulos that he would only drop out of the race if the “Lord Almighty” told him to do so.
Biden’s comments come amid increasing calls from Democrats to withdraw his re-election bid over concerns of his age and mental competency, particularly after his poor debate performance against Donald Trump.
California congressman Adam Schiff is the most prominent Democrat to publicly call on Joe Biden to drop out of the race.
Over the weekend, Schiff told donors that Biden remaining on top of the ticket for November would cost the party the presidency and probably the House and Senate too, the New York Times reported.
“I think if he is our nominee, I think we lose,” Schiff told donors in East Hampton, New York, last Saturday, the paper said, citing “a person with access to a transcription of a recording of the event”.
And we may very, very well lose the Senate and lose our chance to take back the House.
Adam Schiff calls on Biden to drop out
The high-profile California Democrat Adam Schiff has called on Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race.
Schiff, in a statement to the Los Angeles Times, said that Biden “has been one of the most consequential presidents in our nation’s history, and his lifetime of service as a Senator, a Vice President, and now as President has made our country better”.
“But our nation is at a crossroads,” he added.
A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the President can defeat Donald Trump in November.
Schiff said the “choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone”, but that he believes it is time for Biden “to pass the torch” and “secure his legacy of leadership” by allowing another Democrat to beat Donald Trump.
He added that he would fully support whoever ends up at the top of the Democratic ticket – including if it remains Biden. “I will do everything I can to help them succeed,” Schiff said.
There is only one singular goal: defeating Donald Trump. The stakes are just too high.
Joe Biden faced withering criticism over his recent claim that he had done “more for the Palestinian community than anybody”, as Israel continues to strike Gaza with some of the fiercest bombardments in months.
The comments were made in an interview with Complex’s Chris “Speedy” Morman that was recorded last week in Detroit and published on Monday. While defending his administration’s response to the conflict in Gaza, Biden said:
By the way, I’m the guy that did more for the Palestinian community than anybody. I’m the guy that opened up all the assets. I’m the guy that made sure that I got the Egyptians to open the border to let goods through, medicine and food.
More than 38,000 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, have been killed since the war began 10 months ago, according to Gaza’s health ministry. About 1,200 Israelis were killed in Hamas’s cross-border assault on 7 October.
Lauren Gambino
House Democrats are scrapping a letter raising “serious concerns” about a plan to fast-track Joe Biden’s virtual roll call nomination after the Democratic National Committee announced the vote would not take place until August.
The letter to the DNC, which had not been sent, called a proposal to fast-track Biden’s nomination a “terrible idea” that would effectively end the internal debate over whether Biden should remain the party’s nominee.
“We’re glad to see that the pressure has worked and the DNC will not rush this virtual process through in July,” a spokesperson for Congressman Jared Huffman, a California Democrat, told the Guardian. “We won’t be sending the letter at this time.”
NEW: House Democrats will not be sending their letter against the DNC’s plan to nominate Biden ASAP.
“We’re glad to see that the pressure has worked and the DNC will not rush this virtual process through in July,” a spox for Rep. Huffman said.— Lauren Gambino (@laurenegambino) July 17, 2024
During a press conference in Milwaukee on Wednesday morning, Minnesota governor Tim Walz, who heads the rules committee with Leah Daughtry, said delegates would not begin voting before 1 August, and the governor’s spokesperson later confirmed that the process should wrap up by 7 August.
“We need to get these things done. We need to get the roll call done,” Walz said. “But it won’t happen before the first of August.”
Nearly 20 congressional Democrats have publicly called on Biden to resign, though the debate had stalled in the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt on Trump. These House Democrats are suggesting a wider discussion should take place, even if the president insists he’s not going anywhere.
According to a copy of the now-scrapped letter, obtained by the Guardian, a contingent of House Democrats was prepared to accuse the DNC of preparing to press ahead with a vote that could “deeply undermine the morale and unity of Democrats.”
Joe Biden lashed out at a “tense” meeting with dozens of House Democrats who bluntly questioned his viability as their party’s presidential nominee, according to reports.
During the Saturday Zoom call, Colorado congressman Jason Crow told Biden that voters are concerned about his vigor and strength, and noted the importance of national security in the November election, the reports say.
According to CNN, the president said to Crow, a former Army Ranger who served two tours in Afghanistan and one in Iraq, that he knew that he had a Bronze Star recipient, like his son Beau, but that “he didn’t rebuild Nato.”
At one point, Biden told Crow to “cut that crap out” and that if Crow wants to walk away from him, then he can walk away, according to the report. According to Puck News, Biden told Crow:
On national security, nobody has been a better president than I’ve been. Name me one. Name me one! So I don’t want to hear that crap!
Democrat lawmakers who were on the call told Puck that Biden was “rambling”, “dismissive of concerns” and “unable or unprepared to present a campaign strategy.” One told the outlet:
He’d start an answer then lose his train of thought, then would just say ‘whatever.’ He really couldn’t complete an answer. I lost a ton of respect for him.
Lloyd Doggett, the Texas congressman who became the first House Democrat to publicly call on Joe Biden to step aside, has doubled down and urged the president to withdraw from the ticket in the face of “the reality of steadily, worsening poll numbers”.
“My call for President Biden to step aside remains even more urgent,” Doggett said in a statement on Wednesday.
Our decision must consider the reality of steadily, worsening poll numbers, not just more wishful thinking. The risk of Trump tyranny is so great that we must put forward our strongest nominee.
He added:
Every day this decision is delayed, the focus is not on Trump’s lies, and a new Democratic nominee is offered less time to achieve victory. What we need is a fair, open democratic process to select a new nominee that can excite and engage more Americans.
