US President Joe Biden participates in a Medal of Honor Ceremony in the East Room at the White House in Washington on July 3, 2024. Photo by Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Sipa USA(Sipa via AP Images)
‘MINI-PRIMARY?’
President Biden insisted he has no intention of dropping out of the presidential race. But that didn’t stop all the chatter.
- “No one’s pushing me out,” Biden told a video call with campaign and Democratic National Committee staffers on Wednesday. The call came just moments after the New York Times reported that Biden privately told a close ally he may not be able to bounce back from his dismal performance in last week’s debate against disgraced former President Donald Trump. Biden’s ally told the Times that Biden is still very much in the race, but also knows he may not be able to salvage his candidacy. A White House spokesperson vehemently disputed the Biden ally’s reported comments, saying they’re “absolutely false,” and adding that the newspaper didn’t give the White House enough time to respond.
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New poll numbers show Trump pulling ahead: Trump has 49 percent to Biden’s 43 percent among likely voters
in a new poll by the New York Times and Siena College, indicating a three-point swing in Trump’s favor from a week earlier, before the debate. Democratic
lawmakers have grown increasingly vocal in their concerns about Biden’s vulnerability. The president aims to address those concerns in a highly anticipated interview with
ABC’s George Stephanopoulos to be filmed Friday. The network said portions will roll out over the weekend.
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The president is “not oblivious,” and has acknowledged that the next few days will be critical in determining whether he can save his candidacy,
one Biden ally told CNN. “He sees the moment,” the person added. “He’s clear-eyed.” There’s been plenty of blame going around about why Biden did so poorly against Trump, but the president “blamed himself,” this person told CNN. If Biden does back out, Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), one of Biden’s top allies,
said that he would support a “mini-primary” before the convention to select a new nominee.
Biden’s deputy campaign manager, Quentin Fulks, flatly disputed reports that the president is even considering stepping aside, saying: “The president is in this race to win it.” Good to know! If he could start actively campaigning too, that would be great.
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- Stormy Daniels, on testifying about her infamous encounter with Donald Trump.
NEWS NEWS NEWS
A measure enshrining a fundamental right to abortion in Arizona will be on the state ballot this November, the Associated Press reported, after activists submitted double the number of necessary signatures. H-O-T-T-O-G-O to the polls amiright folks???
The Trump campaign axed two hardline anti-abortion activists from the Republican National Committee’s platform committee, which shapes the party’s national agenda. The move likely signals that the GOP knows just how unpopular its draconian stance against reproductive rights really is.
The chair of the far-right House Freedom Caucus lost his primary to a Trump-backed opponent. State Sen. John McGuire (R-VA) beat Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) by just a 0.6 percent margin. Good’s campaign is alleging that the election wasn’t fairly run and is raising money to request a recount, per Axios. No true winners here, of course! But we have to bring you the news.
Trump now has more cash on hand than Biden, according to Bloomberg, after raising $331 million in the second quarter, compared to Biden’s haul of $264 million.
The defense rested in Sen. Bob Menendez’s (D-NJ) corruption trial in New York. The senator has pleaded not guilty to charges of accepting hundreds of thousands in bribes in both cash and actual gold bars. He didn’t take the stand to testify at his trial, maybe because of fear that gold bars would fall out of his pockets on the walk up to the witness box.
Republicans are already gearing up for the possibility that Vice President Kamala Harris might move up to the top of the Democratic ticket. The GOP’s congressional campaign arm launched a new ad accusing her of being the “enabler-in-chief” on immigration policy.
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