July 4, 2024

Biden Tells Governors He Needs More Sleep and Less Work at Night

The president’s opening remark to a group of key Democratic leaders — that he was in the race to stay — chilled any talk of his withdrawal, participants said.

President Biden told a gathering of Democratic governors that he needs to get more sleep and work fewer hours, including curtailing events after 8 p.m., according to two people who participated in the meeting and several others briefed on his comments.

The remarks on Wednesday were a stark acknowledgment of fatigue from the 81-year-old president during a meeting intended to reassure more than two dozen of his most important supporters that he is still in command of his job and capable of mounting a robust campaign against former President Donald J. Trump.

Mr. Biden’s comments about needing more rest came shortly after The New York Times reported that current and former officials have noticed that the president’s lapses over the past few months have become more frequent and more pronounced.

But Mr. Biden told the governors, some of whom were at the White House while others participated virtually, that he was staying in the race.

He described his extensive foreign travel in the weeks before the debate, something that the White House and his allies have in recent days cited as the reason for his halting performance during the debate. Initially, Mr. Biden’s campaign blamed a cold, putting out word about midway through the debate amid a series of social media posts questioning why Mr. Biden was struggling.

Mr. Biden said that he told his staff he needed to get more sleep, multiple people familiar with what took place in the meeting said. He repeatedly referenced pushing too hard and not listening to his team about his schedule, and said he needed to work fewer hours and avoid events scheduled after 8 p.m., according to one of the people familiar with what took place at the meeting.

After Gov. Josh Green of Hawaii, a physician, asked Mr. Biden questions about the status of his health, Mr. Biden replied that his health was fine. “It’s just my brain,” he added, according to three people familiar with what took place — a remark that some in the room took as a joke, including Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York, according to a person close to her. But at least one governor did not, and was puzzled by it.

Jen O’Malley Dillon, Mr. Biden’s campaign chair, who attended the meeting, said in a statement that he had said, “All kidding aside,” a recollection confirmed by another person briefed on the meeting. Ms. O’Malley Dillon added: “He was clearly making a joke.” …

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/04/us/politics/biden-governors-health.html

July 4, 2024, 5:39 PM EDT

Some Democrats say Biden's debate performance wasn't an anomaly

“The country saw [at the debate] what those of us who have had personal interactions with him have all known for the last 2½ years,” one senator said.

WASHINGTON — After he gave his State of the Union speech in March, President Joe Biden seemed to have quieted persistent fears that, at 81, he was no longer up to the job.

He spoke forcefully and jousted with Republican lawmakers who had jeered his message. But a Democratic lawmaker who shook hands with Biden in the House chamber that night was troubled by his appearance.

Biden, the congressman said in a recent interview, looked “frail and weak.”

Biden’s poor showing at the debate with Donald Trump last week threatens to end his campaign just four months before the election. Hoping to salvage his bid for another term, he is asking voters to weigh the 90-minute debacle against what he says is a 3½-year record of achievement in office.

Yet the notion that last week's debate was an anomaly doesn’t jibe with the impressions of some Democratic lawmakers who’ve seen him up close and come away doubting his capacity to hold office.

Far from a one-off, the debate revealed the same worrying traits — memory lapses, incoherence, a vacant look — these officials say they've noticed in Biden’s company throughout his term.

“The country saw [at the debate] what those of us who have had personal interactions with him have all known for the last 2½ years,” a senator said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss Biden’s fitness.

A large, well-funded team of aides surrounds Biden and has worked to shield him from the embarrassments that might befall a president of advanced age. He often boards Air Force One through a shorter staircase leading to the belly of the plane to minimize the risk of a fall. No president other since Ronald Reagan has given fewer interviews, a forum in which he must nimbly field questions without the benefit of a script.

The debate stripped away the protective cloak. Now, Biden faces a crisis in which he needs to demonstrate — quickly — that he can function at the level the presidency demands. In a phone call this week with a close ally, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., Biden affirmed that "he's got to do some things to win back the confidence of the American people," Coons said in an interview. …

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/democrats-say-bidens-debate-performance-wasnt-anomaly-rcna160151

JUL 4 2024 6:15 PM EDT UPDATED 5 HOURS AGO

Disney heiress, wealthy Democratic donors say they won’t finance the party until Joe Biden drops out

* Abigail Disney, an heiress to the Disney family fortune, plans to withhold donations to Democrats until Joe Biden drops out.

* Biden has said he has no plans to withdraw from the race.

* Gideon Stein said he’s decided to pause planned donations of $3.5 million.

President Joe Biden is facing an uprising from some his own party’s wealthy donors, including an heiress to the Disney family fortune, who say they will no longer fund the Democratic Party until Biden drops out of the presidential race following his disastrous debate performance.

Abigail Disney, granddaughter of Roy O. Disney, who co-founded The Walt Disney Co., told CNBC on Thursday that she plans to withhold donations to the party she has funded for years until Biden drops out. The president has said he has no plans to withdraw from the race, despite calls for him to do so.

“I intend to stop any contributions to the party unless and until they replace Biden at the top of the ticket. This is realism, not disrespect. Biden is a good man and has served his country admirably, but the stakes are far too high,” Abigail Disney said in a lengthy statement to CNBC. “If Biden does not step down the Democrats will lose. Of that I am absolutely certain. The consequences for the loss will be genuinely dire.” …

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/04/democratic-donors-wont-finance-party-until-joe-biden-drops-out.html

July 4, 2024 11:47 am ET

Hollywood Powerbrokers Talk About Recasting Biden

Netflix’s Reed Hastings and super agent Ari Emanuel speak out about president’s fitness for office

LOS ANGELES—Some top players in Hollywood’s reliably Democratic donor class are looking to replace their leading man.

Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings on Wednesday called for President Biden to step aside. Hollywood power agent Ari Emanuel last week said his phone was ringing with donors who planned to redirect money away from the president toward House and Senate races. …

https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/hollywood-powerbrokers-talk-about-recasting-biden-0f4c981c

July 4, 2024 at 12:34 p.m. EDT

Biden’s omnipresent accessory, even in your living room: A teleprompter

The teleprompter is a common device for politicians. But Biden’s use of it even in small settings has prompted frustration among some supporters.

PALO ALTO, Calif. — President Biden was in a multimillion-dollar home here, standing in an open kitchen as donors sat on couches and chairs arranged around the adjacent living room. Everything about the scene spoke to the kind of intimate setting that donors pay thousands of dollars to attend, with a chance to have a small interaction with the world’s most powerful officeholder in someone’s home.

But there was a discordant addition to the cozy gathering where about 30 people had assembled: At the front of the room, where the president spoke, stood a lectern and a teleprompter, two large screens hovering about six feet high.

It was a physical manifestation of the type of accommodation that White House officials over the past year have come to make for an aging president. But while most of the changes have been aimed at addressing his physical ailments — tennis shoes and shorter steps to Air Force One so he doesn’t trip, smaller distances to cover so his short shuffle isn’t as pronounced, having his wife nearby to assist on stairs — the teleprompter has been the primary accommodation to assist a president whose speech can meander and who can seem to lose his train of thought.

For much of his political career, one of Biden’s hallmarks has been his plain-spokenness, his identity as an off-the-cuff pol who did little to shield his real thoughts. He was a self-professed “gaffe machine,” a trait that endeared him to voters even if it gave his advisers heartburn. …

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/04/biden-teleprompter-use-election/

July 4, 2024

Why Biden must withdraw

The president and his party portray themselves as the saviours of democracy. Their actions say otherwise

he presidential debate was awful for Joe Biden, but the cover-up has been worse. It was agony to watch a befuddled old man struggling to recall words and facts. His inability to land an argument against a weak opponent was dispiriting. But the operation by his campaign to deny what tens of millions of Americans saw with their own eyes is more toxic than either, because its dishonesty provokes contempt.

The effect has been to put the White House within Donald Trump’s grasp. Fresh polls have found that voters in the states Mr Biden must win have moved against him. His lead may be in danger even in once-safe states such as Virginia, Minnesota and New Mexico. …

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/07/04/why-biden-must-withdraw

The Economist @TheEconomist

The presidential debate was awful for Joe Biden, but the cover-­up has been worse. The dishonesty of his campaign provokes contempt. He must withdraw

>>21143891

6:18 AM · Jul 4, 2024·2.6M Views

https://x.com/TheEconomist/status/1808807485186212143

July 3, 2024

Trump Widens Lead After Biden’s Debate Debacle, Times/Siena Poll Finds

Donald Trump is ahead of President Biden by six percentage points among likely voters in a new national survey. Overall, 74 percent of voters view Mr. Biden as too old for the job, an uptick since the debate.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/03/us/politics/poll-debate-biden-trump.html

Clay Travis @ClayTravis

The Biden fundraising team sent out an email tonight saying every other Democrat would be losing to Trump too. As evidence for why Biden shouldn’t drop out. Man, what a dumpster fire.

>>21143991

11:45 PM · Jun 29, 2024·274.5K Views

https://x.com/ClayTravis/status/1807259240781746443

RNC Research @RNCResearch

BIDEN to the troops: "I've been all over the world with you. I've been in and out of battles, anyway…"

0:09

6:24 PM · Jul 4, 2024·204.2K Views

https://x.com/RNCResearch/status/1808990351891341551

RNC Research @RNCResearch

BIDEN: "I'm the first president that got elected statewide in the state of Delaware when I was a kid."

0:16

3:04 PM · Jul 4, 2024·249.2K Views

https://x.com/RNCResearch/status/1808939979210383857

Major Democratic Donors Devise Plans to Pressure Biden to Step Aside

The president appears intent on remaining on the ballot, while wealthy donors are discussing plans to put their money elsewhere.

After several days of quiet griping and hoping that President Biden would abandon his re-election campaign on his own, many wealthy Democratic donors are trying to take matters into their own hands.

Wielding their fortunes as both carrot and stick, donors have undertaken a number of initiatives to pressure Mr. Biden to step down from the top of the ticket and help lay the groundwork for an alternate candidate.

The efforts — some coordinated, some conflicting and others still nascent — expose a remarkable and growing rift between the party’s contributor class and its standard-bearer that could have an impact on down-ballot races, whether or not the donors influence Mr. Biden’s decision.

The president on Wednesday reaffirmed his commitment to stay in the race amid criticism of his weak debate performance last week. But that has not placated donors or strategists who worry that he cannot win in November.

A group of them is working to raise as much as $100 million for a sort of escrow fund, called the Next Generation PAC, that would be used to support a replacement candidate. If Mr. Biden does not step aside, the money could be used to help down-ballot candidates, according to people close to the effort.

Supporters of potential replacements like Vice President Kamala Harris are jockeying to position their preferred successor. Other donors are threatening to withhold contributions not only from Mr. Biden but also from other Democratic groups unless Mr. Biden bows out.

There is a separate movement to steer money to candidates for lower offices. And financial supporters are urging elected officials at all levels to publicly pressure Mr. Biden to withdraw, signaling support for those who follow through. Some major donors like Reed Hastings have gone public with calls for Mr. Biden to stand down. …

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/04/us/politics/biden-donors.html

>>21143337 LB

BIDEN Failure Fridays

If Joe Biden’s mission this week was to reassure Democrats – and more importantly the American people – that he is fit for office, consider it mission failed. “It’s just my brain,” >>21143744 responded Biden to a question about his health. If that was a joke, no one is laughing.

▶ Democrats in Congress aren’t buying it. It took 3 and a half years, but Democrats in Congress are finally admitting what we’ve all seen with our own eyes, that Biden is unfit for office. >>21143842 They know, like the rest of us, that Biden’s debate performance “wasn't an anomaly. ”In fact, “far from a one-off, the debate revealed the same worrying traits – memory lapses, incoherence, a vacant look — these officials say they've noticed in Biden’s company throughout his term.”

▶ Democrat donors aren’t buying it. Democrat donors are turning on Biden. “Disney heiress, wealthy Democratic donors say they won’t finance the party until Joe Biden drops out;” >>21143859 “Major Democratic Donors Devise Plans to Pressure Biden to Step Aside;” >>21144081 and “Hollywood Powerbrokers Talk About Recasting Biden” >>21143867 were among the many recent damaging headlines from a party in disarray. As The Washington Post

>>21143877 reported, “In the days since the debate, Biden and his team have sought to reassure Democrats his performance last week was an aberration. But his appearances at a slew of fundraisers in the days since have done little to reassure them.”

▶ The media isn’t buying it. The Economist

>>21143903, >>21143891 (of all publications) didn’t hold back on Crooked Joe Biden, declaring, “the presidential debate was awful for Joe Biden, but the cover-­up has been worse. The dishonesty of his campaign provokes contempt. He must withdraw.”

▶ The American people aren’t buying it. A series of polls >>21143911 show President Trump with a commanding lead over Joe Biden and any Democrat that may take his place. The Democrats are even in a place where they are bragging >>21143995 about polls showing them losing.

Biden has himself to blame. Even in his meeting with governors, >>21143744 Biden admitted (again) that he’s not up for the job of president. According to a report from The New York Times, “President Biden told a gathering of Democratic governors that he needs to get more sleep and work fewer hours, including curtailing events after 8 p.m.”

And Biden’s Fourth of July events? Perpetually confused >>21144004 and continually stumbling >>21144028 are the best ways to describe them. His events are such a disaster, his aides won’t even let him speak in a room of 30 people at the home of a donor without a teleprompter, as reported by The Washington Post. >>21143877

Democrats have a problem of their own creation. Joe Biden is unfit for office, and no matter who they put up, their policies are unpopular, their records are a disaster, and they have disqualified themselves by going along with Team Biden’s effort to perpetrate a fraud on the American people.

https://www.donaldjtrump.com/news/1db4fd1f-0a96-4736-bea9-7e818217cea4