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      Biden Digs In as Democratic Fears Deepen

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      The president put on a competent showing at his pressure cooker of a news conference, but it remained in doubt if he could stem the bleeding of Democratic support.Days after President Biden said only the “Lord Almighty” could drive him from the race, he laid out a far more earthly scenario at his closely watched news conference on Thursday night: His advisers would have to prove to him that he was headed for certain defeat.But leaning into the microphone and whispering to dramatize his defiance, Mr. Biden made clear that he did not foresee this happening.“No one’s saying that,” he said. “No poll says that.”He seemed to open the door to an alternative, then swiftly shut it. Sure, “other people can beat Trump,” he said, but it would be too hard to “start from scratch.”The president’s first news conference since the debate amounted to a competent presentation, if not a compelling performance. But it remained in doubt whether it was enough to stop the bleeding of Democratic support that has threatened to hemorrhage. Minutes after he left the stage, the drip-drip-drip of Democratic members of Congress calling for him to step aside continued unabated.“I believe I’m the best qualified to govern,” said Mr. Biden, who has for decades pointed to naysayers to fuel his own comeback narratives. “And I think I’m the best qualified to win.”The high-stakes, mostly unscripted hour — Mr. Biden’s longest since the debate that sent his candidacy into a tailspin — came as some of those around him have talked about how to persuade him to drop out, and as his campaign has commissioned a survey to test the strength of Vice President Kamala Harris in a matchup he has insisted will never come to pass.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Biden Says Harris Is Qualified to Be President, but Vows to Remain in Race

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      President Biden said on Thursday that Vice President Kamala Harris was qualified to be president, but pitched himself as the best person to defeat former President Donald J. Trump in November.During a news conference, Mr. Biden defended Ms. Harris’s readiness to take charge amid reports that he feared she could not beat Mr. Trump even as he made clear that he would not step aside. But in his answer to a question about Ms. Harris’s chances of beating Mr. Trump, he confused the two leaders’ names, committing just the sort of verbal misfire that has unnerved Democrats and prompted them to wonder if she should instead be the nominee.“Look, I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president, did I think she’s not qualified to be president,” Mr. Biden said. “So let’s start there, No. 1. The fact is that the consideration is that I think I’m the most qualified person to run for president. I beat him once, and I will beat him again.”Polls in recent weeks have generally showed that Ms. Harris is just as likely, or possibly more likely, to defeat Mr. Trump, and the former president’s campaign has ramped up attacks on her recently.Following Mr. Biden’s disastrous debate performance two weeks ago, panicked donors, political groups and even allies began to rally around Ms. Harris as a potential placement for him. Ms. Harris has stood behind Mr. Biden’s decision to stay in the race.The Biden campaign has been quietly testing Ms. Harris’s chances against Mr. Trump this week, with some speculation that the results would determine whether Mr. Biden would consider dropping out of the race.Asked whether he would reconsider his decision to stay in the race if his team showed him data that Ms. Harris would fare better in a matchup, Mr. Biden repeatedly said he would not drop out of the race.“No,” he said, “unless they came back and said that there’s no way you could win. No one’s saying that.”When asked about her qualifications, Mr. Biden pointed to Ms. Harris’s work elevating reproductive rights and praised her “ability to handle almost any issue on the board.”“This was a hell of a prosecutor,” Mr. Biden said of Ms. Harris, who was the district attorney of San Francisco and attorney general of California. “She was a first-rate person, and in the Senate she was really good. I wouldn’t have picked her unless I thought she was qualified to be president. From the very beginning. I made no bones about that. She is qualified to be president. That’s why I picked her.” More

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      The Strongest Case for Biden Is His Resilience in the Face of the Onslaught

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      Joe Biden is still standing, refusing to bow out — he reiterated that once again in a lengthy and mostly successful news conference on Thursday night. Some may view it as selfish and irresponsible. Some may even see it as dangerous. But I see it as remarkable.Despite sending a clear message — in his recent flurry of interviews and rallies, in his stalwart address this week to members of the NATO alliance and in his letter on Monday to congressional Democrats, in which he assured them that “I wouldn’t be running again if I did not absolutely believe I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024” — there’s still a slow drumbeat from luminaries, donors and elected officials trying to write Biden’s political obituary.The talent agency mogul Ari Emanuel (a brother of Rahm Emanuel, Biden’s ambassador to Japan), recently said Biden “is not the candidate anymore.” In a post on X, the best-selling author Stephen King said that it’s time for Biden “to announce he will not run for re-election.” Abigail Disney, an heiress to the Walt Disney fortune, said, “I intend to stop any contributions to the party unless and until they replace Biden at the top of the ticket.”They seem to believe that they can kill his candidacy, by a thousand cuts or by starving it to death.But none of this sits well with me.First, because Biden is, in fact, his party’s presumptive nominee. He won the primaries. He has the delegates. He got there via an open, organized and democratic process.Forcing him out, against his will, seems to me an invalidation of that process. And the apparent justification for this, that polls, which are highly fluctuant, now indicate that some voters want him replaced, is insufficient; responses to polls are not votes.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      James Carville’s Plan B for a Democratic Nominee

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      Readers discuss his idea for picking an alternative to President Biden and offer suggestions of their own.To the Editor:Re “Biden Won’t Win. Democrats Must Have a Plan. Here’s One,” by James Carville (Opinion guest essay, July 11):Mr. Carville has given us a good option for the Democratic Party presidential selection process, with former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama selecting eight potential candidates and then hosting four regional “auditions.” A refinement: At the convention in Chicago, winnow the field like the N.C.A.A.’s March Madness championship process.Using the Elite Eight, the Final Four and then the championship game format, in three nights of the convention have votes to lop off first the bottom four, then the bottom two, and then the last two would be voted on. The winner would emerge as a consensus choice; the runner-up could be offered the veep position. Talk about riveting TV!Lamont WiltseeCarmel Valley, Calif.To the Editor:James Carville makes one structural mistake in his piece calling for four town halls around the country. President Biden should be invited to be one of the participants and compete on an even footing with the other candidates. Let Mr. Biden keep running, but make him prove he’s the one.Keith LiggettSilverton, British ColumbiaTo the Editor:James Carville has been a stalwart for Democrats, so it is sad to see him jumping ship just when the best president since Franklin D. Roosevelt needs his support most. His proposed nominee plan is a waste of campaign time better used to hammer away at the defects and danger of a Donald Trump presidency.History shows that voters returned Roosevelt to a fourth term to continue the war effort despite known health issues. The battle to save democracy is on the ballot, and President Biden is the proven commander. So, James, get back in the boat and row in unison.Richard SigalNew YorkTo the Editor:James Carville’s plan for a post-Biden Democratic campaign gave me hope for the first time since the disastrous debate. Those who suggest that Kamala Harris must be President Biden’s replacement ignore her low poll numbers, voters’ unfamiliarity with her and a sense that she hasn’t done anything as vice president. Mr. Carville’s plan would give all of us a chance to get to know her better as well as to explore the broader Democratic bench.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Once a G.O.P. Rallying Cry, Debt and Deficits Fall From the Party’s Platform

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      Fiscal hawks are lamenting the transformation of the party that claimed to prize fiscal restraint and are warning of dire economic consequences.When Donald J. Trump ran for president in 2016, the official Republican platform called for imposing “firm caps on future debt” to “accelerate the repayment of the trillions we now owe.”When Mr. Trump sought a second term in 2020, the party’s platform pummeled Democrats for refusing to help Republicans rein in spending and proposed a constitutional requirement that the federal budget be balanced.Those ambitions were cast aside in the platform that the Republican Party unveiled this week ahead of its convention. Nowhere in the 16-page document do the words “debt” or “deficit” as they relate to the nation’s grim fiscal situation appear. The platform included only a glancing reference to slashing “wasteful” spending, a perennial Republican talking point.To budget hawks who have spent years warning that the United States is spending more than it can afford, the omissions signaled the completion of a Republican transformation from a party that once espoused fiscal restraint to one that is beholden to the ideology of Mr. Trump, who once billed himself the “king of debt.”“I am really shocked that the party that I grew up with is now a party that doesn’t think that debt and deficits matter,” said G. William Hoagland, the former top budget expert for Senate Republicans. “We’ve got a deficit deficiency syndrome going on in our party.”The U.S. national debt is approaching $35 trillion and is on pace to top $56 trillion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. At that point, the United States would be spending about as much on interest payments to its lenders — $1.7 trillion — as it does on Medicare.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      City Illegally Fined Woman Over Profane Political Yard Sign, U.S. Judge Rules

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      A federal judge in Tennessee said that it was unconstitutional for the City of Lakeland, Tenn., to fine Julie Pereira for the sign she posted expressing disapproval of President Biden and Donald J. Trump.A federal judge in Tennessee ruled this week that it was unconstitutional for a city to fine a woman who had displayed a sign in her yard that used profane language to express disapproval of both President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump.The woman, Julie Pereira, 40, of Lakeland, Tenn., who posted the sign, which said “Fuck Em’ Both 2024,” in January, was fined hundreds of dollars by the city. It told her that the political sign violated its municipal code because it was obscene.In June, Ms. Pereira sued Lakeland in federal court, arguing that she had a First Amendment right to post the sign in her yard.Judge Mark S. Norris of U.S. District Court in Memphis, said in an order issued on Tuesday that Ms. Pereira’s yard sign was not obscene, and that it was unconstitutional for the city of Lakeland to take action against Ms. Pereira over the sign.Judge Norris ordered the city to reimburse her for nearly $700 in fines and pay Ms. Pereira damages of $1 for violating her First Amendment rights, according to the order. Ms. Pereira was also awarded legal fees of $31,000. The judge also barred the city from taking any additional action against her.Julie Pereira’s sign in her yard in Lakeland, Tenn. She won her lawsuit against the city of Lakeland after they fined her hundreds of dollars for putting up the sign.Julie PereiraWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Election Results in Europe Suggest Another Reason Biden Has to Go

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      There’s a dollop of good news for Democrats from the British and French elections, but it’s bad news for President Biden.The basic lesson is that liberals can win elections but perhaps not as incumbents. The election results abroad strike me as one more reason for Biden to perform the ultimate act of statesmanship and withdraw from the presidential race.The U.K. elections on July 4 resulted in a landslide for the Labour Party, ending the Conservative Party’s 14 years in power. Keir Starmer, the new Labour prime minister, achieved this result in part by moving to the center and even criticizing the Conservatives for being too lax on immigration. He projected quiet competence, promising in his first speech as Britain’s leader to end “the era of noisy performance.”But mostly, British voters supported Labour simply because they’re sick of Conservatives mucking up the government. The two main reasons voters backed Labour, according to one poll, were “to get the Tories out” and “the country needs a change.” A mere 5 percent said they backed Labour candidates because they “agree with their policies.”British voters were unhappy with Conservatives for some of the same reasons many Americans are unhappy with Biden. Prices are too high. Inequality is too great. Immigration seems unchecked. Officeholders are perceived as out of touch and beholden to elites. This sourness toward incumbents is seen throughout the industrialized world, from Canada to the Netherlands and Japan.Frustration with incumbents was also a theme in the French election, where President Emmanuel Macron made a bet similar to the one that Biden is making — that voters would come to their senses and support him over his rivals. Macron basically lost that bet, although the final result wasn’t as catastrophic as it might have been.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      In TMZ Video, George Stephanopoulos Says Biden Can’t Serve Another Term

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      The ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos apologized on Tuesday night after he was surreptitiously recorded earlier in the day saying he did not believe that President Biden could handle another term in office.His remarks — made in passing to a stranger who approached him on the street — came four days after Mr. Stephanopoulos conducted the only major interview with Mr. Biden since the president’s stumbling debate performance.In a grainy video posted by the gossip site TMZ, Mr. Stephanopoulos can be seen in workout clothes walking on a sidewalk in Midtown Manhattan. An unseen stranger walks up to the anchor but keeps his phone camera angled away; Mr. Stephanopoulos was presumably unaware that the person was recording him.“Do you think Biden should step down?” the stranger asks. “You’ve talked to him more than anybody else has lately.”“I don’t think he can serve four more years,” Mr. Stephanopoulos replies.News anchors and reporters typically avoid voicing their opinions about the topics and people they cover. Mr. Stephanopoulos addressed his remarks hours later. “Earlier today, I responded to a question from a passerby. I shouldn’t have,” he said in a statement.ABC also issued a statement about the incident. “George expressed his own point of view and not the position of ABC News,” the network said.During Mr. Stephanopoulos’s prime-time interview with Mr. Biden, which was seen by 8.5 million people, the anchor respectfully but firmly challenged the president about whether he was being honest with himself about his health.Mr. Stephanopoulos is one of very few people outside of Mr. Biden’s immediate inner circle who has spent extended time with the president since the debate. The anchor received praise for his handling of the interview, which focused on intimate matters of aging and health. More