Sooo, Let's Check in on Democrats and Joe Biden
It hasn’t even been a full week since the presidential debate, which was an unequivocal PR disaster for President Biden, but the fallout only seems to be escalating: After several days of frenzied speculation, reports about sharpening internal concerns, and frantic donor calls, on Tuesday, the first Democratic Congress member called for the president to step down as the nominee. That member—Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), co-chair of the, err, "House Songwriters Caucus"—thanked Biden and lavished praise on the president for his public service and achievements, but concluded, "Our overriding consideration must be who has the best hope of saving our democracy from an authoritarian takeover by a criminal and his gang.” It really seems like Democrats were just waiting for someone to go first because since Doggett's statement, more comments ranging from vaguely shady to explicitly frustrated with Biden have trickled in. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi herself said of Biden’s condition on Tuesday that "it's a legitimate question to say is this an episode or is this a condition.” And Doggett’s statement also came within minutes of some pretty eyebrow-raising reporting from CNN’s Jake Tapper, which involved a secretive meeting among Democratic governors expressing concerns with the incumbent president. “On the call, some of the governors expressed surprise that a few of them had not heard from Biden himself about his debate performance. There was a strong sentiment ... that they needed to hear from Biden directly on the matter,” Tapper wrote. The governors “were worried about going public with their concerns out of fear that it would lead to Biden digging in further.” ICYMI: Biden is… old. He is the Democratic Party’s nominee for an incredibly high-stakes election, in which a Republican president—Trump—could enact a terrifying, long-term agenda including a national abortion ban if elected. On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that any president (which includes a future, second-term President Trump) could effectively commit any crimes they want with total immunity. So, voters are understandably pretty concerned that Biden seemed confused, incoherent, and generally unfit for the task of saving democracy during last week’s debate. It doesn’t exactly help that the latest post-debate polls show Trump received a significant bump, while Biden’s numbers have dropped even further, both on the national level and in key swing states. Other leaked internal polling from Puck News shows Biden not just sinking in battleground states, but flailing to the extent that states like Virginia, New Hampshire, and even New Mexico appear to be distinct possibilities for Trump. Biden’s campaign has maintained that the president stepping down as nominee isn’t even remotely on the table. But also on Tuesday, Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC)—Biden-Harris campaign co-chair—told MSNBC he “will support” Vice President Kamala Harris if Biden “were to step aside.” If—and, at this juncture, that’s still a pretty-fucking-big if—Biden were to “step aside,” he could do so voluntarily with Harris as the presumptive nominee, or be forced to should he face a successful contested convention in August. First Dem to call for Biden to withdraw ???? pic.twitter.com/ft5m3YLXUs — Farnoush Amiri (@FarnoushAmiri) July 2, 2024 Biden’s campaign surrogates have been in full damage control mode since the debate, mostly pushing the messaging that despite having a weak performance, he’s still honest and resilient, or something. The refrain we’ve been hearing: “I know I’m not a young man. I don’t walk as easily as I used to. I don’t talk as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to, but I know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong," which Biden said at a…
It hasn’t even been a full week since the presidential debate, which was an unequivocal PR disaster for President Biden, but the fallout only seems to be escalating: After several days of frenzied speculation, reports about sharpening internal concerns, and frantic donor calls, on Tuesday, the first Democratic Congress member called for the president to step down as the nominee. That member—Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), co-chair of the, err, "House Songwriters Caucus"—thanked Biden and lavished praise on the president for his public service and achievements, but concluded, "Our overriding consideration must be who has the best hope of saving our democracy from an authoritarian takeover by a criminal and his gang.” It really seems like Democrats were just waiting for someone to go first because since Doggett's statement, more comments ranging from vaguely shady to explicitly frustrated with Biden have trickled in. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi herself said of Biden’s condition on Tuesday that "it's a legitimate question to say is this an episode or is this a condition.” And Doggett’s statement also came within minutes of some pretty eyebrow-raising reporting from CNN’s Jake Tapper, which involved a secretive meeting among Democratic governors expressing concerns with the incumbent president. “On the call, some of the governors expressed surprise that a few of them had not heard from Biden himself about his debate performance. There was a strong sentiment ... that they needed to hear from Biden directly on the matter,” Tapper wrote. The governors “were worried about going public with their concerns out of fear that it would lead to Biden digging in further.” ICYMI: Biden is… old. He is the Democratic Party’s nominee for an incredibly high-stakes election, in which a Republican president—Trump—could enact a terrifying, long-term agenda including a national abortion ban if elected. On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that any president (which includes a future, second-term President Trump) could effectively commit any crimes they want with total immunity. So, voters are understandably pretty concerned that Biden seemed confused, incoherent, and generally unfit for the task of saving democracy during last week’s debate. It doesn’t exactly help that the latest post-debate polls show Trump received a significant bump, while Biden’s numbers have dropped even further, both on the national level and in key swing states. Other leaked internal polling from Puck News shows Biden not just sinking in battleground states, but flailing to the extent that states like Virginia, New Hampshire, and even New Mexico appear to be distinct possibilities for Trump. Biden’s campaign has maintained that the president stepping down as nominee isn’t even remotely on the table. But also on Tuesday, Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC)—Biden-Harris campaign co-chair—told MSNBC he “will support” Vice President Kamala Harris if Biden “were to step aside.” If—and, at this juncture, that’s still a pretty-fucking-big if—Biden were to “step aside,” he could do so voluntarily with Harris as the presumptive nominee, or be forced to should he face a successful contested convention in August. First Dem to call for Biden to withdraw ???? pic.twitter.com/ft5m3YLXUs — Farnoush Amiri (@FarnoushAmiri) July 2, 2024 Biden’s campaign surrogates have been in full damage control mode since the debate, mostly pushing the messaging that despite having a weak performance, he’s still honest and resilient, or something. The refrain we’ve been hearing: “I know I’m not a young man. I don’t walk as easily as I used to. I don’t talk as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to, but I know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong," which Biden said at a…
What's Your Reaction?
