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      Joe Biden: key takeaways from the high-stakes ABC TV interview

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      Joe Biden is pushing back against questions about whether he has the mental and physical stamina to serve another term is president, arguing, in a much-hyped Friday television interview, “I just had a bad night.”In a pre-taped sit-down interview that aired on Friday evening, the 81-year-old president told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos that he had been sick, exhausted, and had not prepared well for last week’s presidential debate with Donald Trump.Biden’s performance was so poor that some Democrats, including Democratic members of Congress, are calling him to drop out of the race. But so far he has vowed to stay in the race.Here are some key takeaways:1. Biden blamed his debate performance on sickness“I was sick, I was feeling terrible,” Biden said, saying a doctor had tested him for coronavirus, but that it appeared he only had a bad cold.“It was a bad episode,” Biden said. “No indication of any serious condition.”He also blamed his opponent, Trump, who spent most of the debate spewing misinformation. “I let it distract me. I realized I just wasn’t in control.”After a week of blame-trading among Washington insiders about who on Biden’s staff might be held responsible for preparing the president poorly for the debate, Biden was also quick to shield his staff.“The whole way I prepared, nobody’s fault, mine. Nobody’s fault but mine.”2. He declined to commit to an independent cognitive assessment“I get a full neurological test every day,” Biden said, saying that his job as president and on the campaign trail was essentially a cognitive test. “I’ve had a full physical.”But asked if he had taken specific cognitive tests or an examination by a neurologist, Biden said: “No, no one said I had to … They said I’m good.”“I have medical doctors trailing me everywhere I go. I have an ongoing assessment of what I’m doing. They don’t hesitate to tell me if something is wrong,” he said.Asked if he disputed whether he had had more lapses in recent months, Biden said: “Can I run the 110 flat? No. But I’m still in good shape.”Asking if he was becoming “more frail” at 81, Biden said: “No. Come keep my schedule.”3. He doubled down on staying in the raceBiden said he had spoke to leading Democrats, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, and Jim Clyburn, and that “they all said I should stay in the race.” He pushed back against hypothetical questions about what he would do in response to being asked to step down. “They’re not going to do that,” he said. “Yeah, I’m sure.”“Look, I mean, If the Lord almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get out of the race,’ I might get out of the race – the Lord almighty’s not coming down.”He refused to answer repeated questions about what might happen if more Democrats pressed him to drop out: “I’m not going to answer that question. It’s not going to happen,” Biden said. Four members of Congress have called for him to cede the nomination, and several others have shown concern.Asked if he thought winning the 2024 race was going to be more difficult than winning the 2020 race agains Trump, Biden said: “Not when you’re running against a pathological liar … All the pollsters I talk to tell me it’s a toss-up … I don’t think anyone is more qualified to be president and win this race than me.”Asked if he was being honest with himself about his ability to beat Trump, Biden said: “Yes. Yes, yes, yes.”4. Biden said internal polling does not match low approval numbersWhen Stephanopoulos told Biden, “I’ve never seen a president with 36% approval get re-elected,” the president responded: “That’s not what our polls show.”He also said he does not believe polling data is as accurate as it used to be.5. Interview did not totally resolve concerns over Biden’s candidacyThere were no major gaffes or stumbles, as there were in Biden’s calamitous debate performance. The president rambled and repeated himself in some of his responses, but did not lose his train of thought or appear confused.However, even on what was clearly a much better night for Biden, the 81-year-old president does look and sound like a man in his 80s, and how Biden’s Democratic allies, and his voters, perceive his level of frailty is still an open question. More

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      Biden says only ‘the Lord almighty’ could make him drop out in pivotal TV interview

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      Joe Biden has insisted that only “the Lord almighty” could persuade him to exit the US presidential race in a potential make-or-break TV interview aimed at quelling a burgeoning rebellion in the Democratic party.In an exchange free from major gaffes but unlikely to appease his critics, Biden was asked by George Stephanopoulos of ABC News how he would feel if he were to remain the nominee and lose to Donald Trump. “I’ll feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the goodest job as I know I can do, that’s what this is about,” the president replied.In other responses his opponents may see as arrogant or out of touch, the 81-year-old claimed that he is “running the world” and no one is “more qualified” to be president.The interview on Friday came at a critical stretch as the 81-year-old strives to salvage his imperiled re-election campaign after last month’s disastrous debate performance. Four members of Congress have called on Biden to step aside, and it was reported that Mark Warner, who chairs the Senate intelligence committee, is looking to assemble a group of Democratic senators to ask the president to drop his re-election bid.But on Friday, speaking to Stephanopoulos in Madison, Wisconsin, after a fiery campaign rally, the embattled president continued to strike a defiant tone. “Look. I mean, if the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get outta the race,’ I’d get outta the race,” he said, his voice sounding strained after the rally. “The Lord Almighty’s not comin’ down.”Biden insisted that after meeting with Democratic leaders such as Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi and state governors, they continue to back him.Stephanopoulos, a former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton, pressed Biden on what he would do if told that his friends and supporters were concerned that his candidacy would cost Democrats the House of Representatives and Senate.The president replied: “I’m not going to answer that question. It’s not going to happen.”Stephanopoulos had begun the primetime interview by citing Pelosi, who this week questioned whether Biden’s feeble performance represented an episode or a condition.“It was a bad episode,” Biden insisted. “No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and – I had a bad night.”Stephanopoulos noted that Biden had returned from Europe 12 days before the debate and that he had spent six days at the presidential retreat Camp David. “Why wasn’t that enough rest time, enough recovery time?” he asked.The president replied: “Because I was sick. I was feeling terrible. Matter of fact, the doc’s with me. I asked if they did a Covid test because they’re trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, you know, a virus. I didn’t. I just had a really bad cold.”Stephanopoulos asked whether Biden had watched the debate afterwards. Instead of giving a firm yes or no, he hedged: “I don’t think I did, no.”The interviewer went on to ask what Biden had been experiencing during the debate and whether he had known how badly it was going. Just as he did on that night, the president zigzagged in his answer from one point to another. He said: “Yeah, look. The whole way I prepared, nobody’s fault, mine. Nobody’s fault but mine.“I – I prepared what I usually would do sittin’ down as I did come back with foreign leaders or National Security Council for explicit detail. And I realised – partway through that, you know, all – I get quoted the New York Times had me down, 10 points before the debate, nine now, or whatever the hell it is.“The fact of the matter is, what I looked at is that he also lied 28 times. I couldn’t – I mean, the way the debate ran, not – my fault, nobody else’s fault, no one else’s fault.”Stephanopoulos challenged Biden that concerns about his fitness for office followed a pattern, citing a recent New York Times article that reported his lapses were becoming more frequent, pronounced and worrisome.Biden said: “Can I run a 110 flat? No. But I’m still in good shape.”Asked whether he would be willing to have an independent cognitive evaluation and release the results to the American people, Biden said: “Look, I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I’ve had tests. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, I’m running the world. And that sounds like hyperbole but we are the essential nation in the world.”skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionThe interviewer asked: “Are you sure you’re being honest with yourself when you’re saying you have the mental and physical capacity to serve another four years?”Biden shot back: “Yes, I am because, George, the last thing I want to do is not be able to meet that. I think as some of the senior economist and senior foreign policy specialists say, if I stopped now I’d go down in history as a pretty successful president. No one thought I could get done what we got done.”The 22-minute interview was shown to a national audience on ABC. It was part of a major campaign offensive over the weekend to assuage doubts over Biden’s fitness for office and ability to beat Trump.The Biden campaign’s response to the crisis over the past few days has frustrated many Democrats. Some financial backers are holding off or canceling upcoming fundraisers.And at least four House Democrats have called for him to step down as the nominee: Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, Lloyd Doggett of Texas and Raúl Grijalva of Arizona and Mike Quigley of Illinois are pushing for an alternative. Massachusetts governor Maura Healey said in a carefully worded statement on Friday that Biden now has a decision to make on “the best way forward”.In the interview, Biden dismissed those calls, as well as opinion polls that show he has a low approval rating and claimed that he remains better placed than other candidates to beat Trump. “I don’t think anybody is more qualified to be president or win this race than me,” he said, bristling.Stephanopoulos followed up: “The heart of your case against Donald Trump is that he’s only out for himself, putting his personal interests ahead of the national interest. How do you respond to critics who say that by staying in the race you’re doing the same thing?”Biden responded impatiently: “Oh, come on. I don’t think those critics know what you’re talking about. It’s wrong. Look, Trump is a pathological liar. You ever seen anything Trump did that benefited somebody else and not him?”The president may have just days to make a persuasive case that he is capable of beating Trump. Early reactions to his rallies and interviews have been mixed.John Fetterman, the Democratic senator for Pennsylvania, wrote on the social media platform X: “Democrats need to get a spine or grow a set — one or the other. Joe Biden is our guy.”But David Axelrod, a former strategist for Barack Obama, posted: “The president is rightfully proud of his record. But he is dangerously out-of-touch with the concerns people have about his capacities moving forward and his standing in this race. Four years ago at this time, he was 10 points ahead of Trump. Today, he is six points behind.” More

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      Donald Trump claims to ‘know nothing’ about Project 2025

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      Donald Trump is trying to claim he has “nothing to do” with Project 2025, a political roadmap created by people close to him for his potential second term.The project, which is led by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative thinktank, seeks to crack down on various issues including immigration, reproductive rights, environmental protections and LGBTQ+ rights. It also aims to replace federal employees with Trump loyalists across the government.Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social network: “I know nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.”The former president’s post came a day after the Heritage Foundation’s president, Kevin Roberts, said the US was in the midst of a “second American revolution” that can be bloodless “if the left allows it to be”. He made the comments on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast, adding that Republicans are “in the process of taking this country back”.In response to Trump’s post, several critics were quick to point out that it appears unlikely that he is unaware of Project 2025, given that many individuals involved in the project are his closest allies.“Many people involved in Project 2025 are close to Trump world & have served in his previous admin,” CNN’s Alayna Treene said.Economist and Guardian columnist Robert Reich wrote: “Don’t be fooled. The playbook is written by more than 20 officials Trump appointed in his first term. It is the clearest vision we have of a 2nd Trump presidency.”The Trump campaign has previously pushed back on claims that he would follow the policy ideas set out in Project 2025 or by other conservative groups. His campaign told Axios in November 2023 that the campaign’s own policy agenda, called Agenda47, is “the only official comprehensive and detailed look at what President Trump will do when he returns to the White House”, though the campaign added that it was “appreciative” of suggestions from others.Still, Heritage claimed credit for a bevy of Trump policy proposals in his first term, based on the group’s 2017 version of the Mandate for Leadership. The group calculated that 64% of its policy recommendations were implemented or proposed by Trump in some way during his first year in office.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionThe Heritage Foundation also created the first Mandate for Leadership that heavily influenced Ronald Reagan’s administration in 1981.The foundation claims that Reagan gave copies of the manifesto to “every member of his Cabinet” and that nearly two-thirds of the policy recommendations it laid out were either “adopted or attempted” by Reagan. More

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      Warning signs: a history of Joe Biden’s verbal slips

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      Warning signs of Joe Biden’s decline were hiding in plain sight well before last month’s calamitous US presidential debate performance against Donald Trump.But Biden had the perfect cover: a long history of verbal slips and other blunders that made it hard to blame his age alone. “I am a gaffe machine,” he admitted in December 2018 when asked about potential liabilities of his election campaign.He also medical experts on his side. In 2021 Dr Kevin O’Connor, the president’s physician, pronounced Biden “a healthy, vigorous 78-year-old male who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency”.Critics say there was a conspiracy of silence at the White House, however. The 36 press conferences that Biden had given by the end of June were fewer than any president in the same timeframe since Ronald Reagan.Biden’s team came down hard on reporters who questioned whether the oldest president in American history – now 81 – was still fully capable of doing the job. Journalists also wanted to avoid the accusation of ageism or that they were helping to elect Trump.“It is simply astounding for the entire country, including its most seasoned reporters, to be as shocked as everyone was by the ugly and painful reality of Biden’s debate performance,” Jill Abramson, former executive editor of the New York Times, wrote on the Semafor website this week.While it was a “super hard story to report”, she said it could have been done. Instead, Abramson said, the American press failed in its duty to hold those in power accountable. Here are some of the dots that, with the benefit of hindsight, could have been joined sooner:19 March 2021: Biden stumbled three times as he climbed red carpeted stairs to Air Force One to board a flight to Atlanta. A White House spokesperson blamed windy weather.1 March 2022: At his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill, Biden said “Iranian” when he meant “Ukrainian,” “America” when he meant “Delaware” and “profits” when he meant “prices”.26 March 2022: Biden upended a carefully crafted speech in Warsaw, Poland, by ad libbing about the Russian president, Vladimir Putin: “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.” White House aides were forced to hastily clean up the remark.18 June 2022: Biden fell off a bicycle near his Delaware beach home, moments after greeting reporters with a wave and a cheery “Good morning!” Asked what caused the fall, Biden said the “toe cages” on his bike got caught.28 September 2022: Biden sought out Jackie Walorski, an Indiana congresswoman who died in a car accident in the previous month, during a conference on food insecurity. Biden thanked other conference organisers then asked: “Jackie are you here? Where’s Jackie?” He later apologised.7 October 2022: Biden began an economy speech in Hagerstown, Maryland, by saying: “Let me start with two words: ‘Made in America.’”1 November 2022: At a campaign rally in Hallandale Beach, Florida, Biden blamed inflation on “a war in Iraq” when he meant Ukraine. In correcting himself, he made another mistake: “I think of Iraq because that’s where my son died” – in fact Beau Biden returned home in 2009 and died of brain cancer in the US in 2015.12 April 2023: During a visit to Ireland, Biden called New Zealand’s All Blacks rugby team the “Black and Tans”, which is the name of British recruits to the Irish military in the 1920s.21 May 2023: At the G7 conference in Japan, Biden said he has “spoken at length with President Loon of South Korea”, meaning the South Korean president, Yoon Suk Yeol.1 June 2023: Biden tripped and fell over a small black sandbag on stage at the US Air Force Academy graduation in Colorado Springs. He later quipped that he got “sandbagged”.8 June 2023: Biden referred to as British prime minister Rishi Sunak as “president”, then corrected himself with a joke: “I just promoted you.”16 June 2023: At a speech about gun safety in Connecticut, Biden closed with the baffling line: “God save the queen, man.”27 June 2023: Speaking about Nato’s support for Ukraine, Biden referred to Russia’s attacks as an “onslaught on Iraq”. He described the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, as the leader “of a little country that’s now the largest in the world, China”, before correcting himself.28 June 2023: Biden told reporters at the White House that Putin is “clearly losing the war in Iraq” when he meant to say Ukraine.10 September 2023: Biden was rambling mid-sentence in Hanoi when Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, intervened and told reporters: “Thank you everybody, this ends the press conference.” Moments earlier, the president had quipped: “I don’t know about you, but I’m going to go to bed.”11 September 2023: During a speech marking the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Biden told US troops in Alaska he remembered “standing there the next day” and looking at Ground Zero in New York. In fact Biden, then a senator, did not visit the site until nine days after the atrocity.26 September 2023: Biden briefly lost his footing while walking down the stairs of Air Force One after landing in Michigan. The Axios website reported that, to avoid such incidents, Biden was using a shorter stairway, wearing tennis shoes more often and working on his balance with a physical therapist.22 January 2024: At a White House meeting on reproductive health, Biden directed the audience’s attention to the health secretary, Xavier Becerra, “sitting” in the room. It was in fact the homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas.4 February 2024: At a campaign event in Las Vegas, Biden said: “I sat down and I said, ‘America is back.’ And Mitterrand, from Germany – I mean, from France looked at me …” He meant to say Emmanuel Macron.8 February 2024: Special counsel Robert Hur determined that Biden would not face criminal charges over his handling of highly classified documents but opined the president “would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory”. Responding to Hur’s report, Biden mixed up the presidents of Egypt and Mexico.11 February 2024: Biden passed up an interview in the Super Bowl pre-game show, a relatively new presidential tradition that offers an audience of tens of millions of people.13 June 2024: Biden stood very still during a Juneteenth musical performance at the White House, leading to speculation that he had “frozen”.18 June 2024: Biden seemed to temporarily forget the name of Mayorkas at an immigration event but managed to recover.27 June 2024: Biden was hoarse, lost his train of thought and stumbled through the first presidential debate against Trump. He later blamed a cold and jetlag. His campaign plunged into crisis as he faced questions over whether he should carry on.Charlie Sykes, a conservative political commentator, said: “What happened was the Democrats had created this alternative reality bubble in which Biden was fine. Millions of voters sat down on Thursday and they expected Joe Biden to come out strong, vigorous and really take it to this notoriously unprepared demagogue. Instead, what did they see? Joe Biden comes shuffling out and he’s incoherent, confused and often inaudible.“They were shocked by it but I guess the big question is, why should they have been so shocked? The answer is because they had been in a Biden bubble. We all talk about the alternative reality bubbles on the right but what we saw was the Democrats had created one of their own around this question of Joe Biden’s age and his fitness.” More

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      Joe Biden tells rally ‘I am going to beat’ Trump amid reports of new effort to get president to quit race – live

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      Addressing a crowd of whooping supporters, Joe Biden delivered an energetic rally speech in Madison, Wisconsin – a major swing state.Biden opened up his remarks by taking a jab at a Fourth of July comment made by Donald Trump in 2019 when Trump said that revolutionary war troops “took over the airports” from the British.“He’s a stable genius,” Biden said mockingly.He went on to vow to beat Trump but not before accidentally slipping up with his words.“I’m staying in the race … I will beat him again in 2020,” said Biden, before correcting himself a few seconds later by saying: “And by the way, we’re going to do it again in 2024.”Biden went on to address criticisms about his age, with the 81-year old president saying: “I keep seeing all those stories about being too old … You think I’m too old to restore Roe v Wade as the law of the land? Too old to ban assault weapons again? To protect social security and Medicare? … Too old to beat Donald Trump?”He then cited Trump’s criminal record, calling him a convicted felon with the “morals of an alley cat” and pointing to Trump’s involvement in the January 6 riots in 2021.“You can’t be pro-insurrectionist and pro-American at the same time,” he said, adding: “This is so damn serious. You can’t love your country only when you win.”Biden’s demeanor throughout his nearly 20-minute address on Friday was energetic and forceful, marking a stark shift away from his performance during last week’s debate, which saw him struggle to articulate his thoughts.With one campaign event out of the way, Biden has several more tests facing him amid these make-or-break days, with a crucial ABC News interview with George Stephanopoulos set to air tonight at 8pm.Another Democrat in Congress has expressed doubts about Joe Biden’s viability: Brad Sherman, from California, posted that he was looking forward to the president’s upcoming interview on ABC, but also said it was “important” that Biden conduct an “extended LIVE interview” as soon as possible.His statement further suggested that party rules do not mandate that Biden remain on the ticket:
      Counter to popular belief, the rules of the Democratic Party do NOT require that pledged delegates vote for Biden at the convention. Party rules require delegates’ votes, “reflect the sentiments of those who elected them,” at the time the delegates cast their ballots.
      Democratic Congressmembers Raúl Grijalva and Lloyd Doggett have publicly called on Biden to withdraw his candidacy. In another defiant speech, Biden told supporters in Wisconsin earlier today that he would not be quitting the race.The Biden campaign has responded to Donald Trump’s attempt to distance himself from Project 2025, a rightwing effort to aggressively roll back civil rights and other liberal policies. After Trump on Friday claimed, “I know nothing about Project 2025,” and “I disagree with some of the things they’re saying,” the Biden campaign pointed out the former president’s many connections to the initiative:The Make America Great Again Super Pac supporting Trump has run ads promoting the effort and calling it, “Trump’s Project 2025.” John McEntee, who served as director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office under Trump, was brought on last year as a senior adviser for Project 2025 via the Heritage Foundation, an influential rightwing conservative thinktank that has drafted the plans to dismantle and reorganize US government.Led by the Heritage Foundation, Project 2025 is a manifesto that calls for a crackdown on immigration, the reversal of LGBTQ+ rights, further erosion of reproductive rights, the undoing of environmental protections and the implementation of other rightwing policy goals. Trump allies and former appointees have been involved in the effort.The Trump campaign previously said Project 2025 was not its own initiative, but that it was “appreciative” of suggestions from other groups. Trump has also directly praised the Heritage Foundation and said “we need the help” from the group, as Biden’s campaign pointed out. And the Heritage Foundation has also previously claimed credit for Trump administration policies.More here from our past coverage of Project 2025:Joe Biden will reportedly hold a solo press conference next Thursday, according to journalist Jacob Gardenswartz, citing senior administration officials on a call with reporters.Officials have not publicly confirmed the event, but news of a potential media conference led by Biden comes as the president has faced increasing pressure to speak with reporters and do interviews in the wake of his poor debate performance.Biden has done fewer press conferences and media interviews than any of his past seven predecessors at this point in his term, according to a report this week in Axios. His first post-debate interview will air this evening on ABC.Some key events and links from the day so far, as we prepare for Joe Biden’s major ABC interview to air this evening:
      Biden delivered an energetic campaign speech in Madison, Wisconsin, saying: “I am running and going to win again.”
      The Massachusetts governor, Maura Healey, broke from other Democratic governors supporting Biden’s campaign and issued a statement urging him to “listen to the American people and carefully evaluate whether he remains our best hope to defeat Donald Trump”.
      The White House said Biden was seen by his doctor after the debate and that the physician found he was fine and “recovering well” after reports he was suffering from a cold.
      Donald Trump attempted to distance himself from Project 2025, an agenda of rightwing activists to erode civil rights and other progressive policies under a second Trump term. But key figures involved in Project 2025 are closely linked to Trump.
      Several powerful Democratic backers have said they will pause donations until Biden steps aside.
      Robert F Kennedy Jr made a startling pledge to not “take sides” with respect to the September 11 terrorist attacks if his long-shot presidential campaign vaults him to the White House.
      Mark Warner, a Democratic senator from Virginia, is organizing a group of senators to urge Joe Biden to exit the race, according to a new report in the Washington Post, based on accounts of “two people with direct knowledge of the effort”.The Post reports:
      Warner is telling Democratic senators that President Biden can no longer remain in the election in the wake of his faltering debate performance, according to the people familiar with private conversations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak freely. The Virginia senator has told others that he is deeply concerned Biden is not able to run a campaign that could beat former president Donald Trump.
      The senator’s spokesperson did not confirm or deny the report to the Post, saying in a statement: “Like many other people in Washington and across the country, Senator Warner believes these are critical days for the president’s campaign, and he has made that clear to the White House.”The report was published as Biden delivered an energetic campaign speech in Wisconsin reiterating that he was not ending his campaign. But he continues to face pressure and scrutiny. The Massachusetts governor, Maura Healey, who has been a Biden campaign surrogate, issued a statement earlier today urging the president to “listen to the American people and carefully evaluate whether he remains our best hope to defeat Donald Trump”.Addressing a crowd of whooping supporters, Joe Biden delivered an energetic rally speech in Madison, Wisconsin – a major swing state.Biden opened up his remarks by taking a jab at a Fourth of July comment made by Donald Trump in 2019 when Trump said that revolutionary war troops “took over the airports” from the British.“He’s a stable genius,” Biden said mockingly.He went on to vow to beat Trump but not before accidentally slipping up with his words.“I’m staying in the race … I will beat him again in 2020,” said Biden, before correcting himself a few seconds later by saying: “And by the way, we’re going to do it again in 2024.”Biden went on to address criticisms about his age, with the 81-year old president saying: “I keep seeing all those stories about being too old … You think I’m too old to restore Roe v Wade as the law of the land? Too old to ban assault weapons again? To protect social security and Medicare? … Too old to beat Donald Trump?”He then cited Trump’s criminal record, calling him a convicted felon with the “morals of an alley cat” and pointing to Trump’s involvement in the January 6 riots in 2021.“You can’t be pro-insurrectionist and pro-American at the same time,” he said, adding: “This is so damn serious. You can’t love your country only when you win.”Biden’s demeanor throughout his nearly 20-minute address on Friday was energetic and forceful, marking a stark shift away from his performance during last week’s debate, which saw him struggle to articulate his thoughts.With one campaign event out of the way, Biden has several more tests facing him amid these make-or-break days, with a crucial ABC News interview with George Stephanopoulos set to air tonight at 8pm.In his closing remarks, Joe Biden said:“I have never been more optimistic about America’s future because the American people are decent, good, honorable. Just remember who in God’s name we are. We’re the United States of America …“So let’s stand together, win this election and exile Donald Trump.”“You can’t be pro-insurrectionist and pro-American at the same time,” Joe Biden said.“This is so damn serious. You can’t love your country only when you win,” he added.“Ultimately, the American presidency is about character … It’s about the president’s decency, integrity. Do they respect people or do they incite violence and hate? … And what’s worse, the supreme court has just ruled … for virtually no limits on the power of the presidency …“We just celebrated the Fourth of July saying we will not be ruled by a king.”“Trump’s biggest lie of all is he had nothing to do with the insurrection of January 6,” said Joe Biden.He went on to say:“We all saw with our own eyes. We saw he sent thousands to attack the Capitol. We saw police being attacked, the Capitol being ransacked, mob hunting for Nancy Pelosi, gallows set up to hang Mike Pence.“Let me ask you something, after what Trump did on January 6, why would anyone ever let him be near the Oval Office again?”Joe Biden repeated his popular line from last week’s debate, saying that Donald Trump “has the morals of an alley cat”.The crowd whooped in response as Biden went on to forcefully say: “Trump is a convicted felon … Donald Trump isn’t just a convicted criminal – he’s a one-man crime wave.” More

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      Biden dismisses age concerns and tells Wisconsin rally ‘I am running’

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      Joe Biden had a clear message at his Wisconsin rally on Friday: he isn’t going anywhere.“There’s been a lot of speculation – what’s Joe going to do?” said Biden. “Here’s my answer: I am running and am gonna win again.”He dismissed concerns about his age.“We’ve also noticed a lot of discussion about my age,” said Biden. “Let me say something. I wasn’t too old to create over 50m new jobs.”Biden focused largely on Donald Trump, decrying the January 6 insurrection and warning that a second Trump term could bring about the end of democracy.“Donald Trump isn’t just a convicted criminal,” Biden exclaimed. “He’s a one-man crime wave.”If Biden can find enthusiastic supporters amid a struggling campaign, it might be here, in Madison, Wisconsin, a liberal city with a history of turning out Democrats in droves during presidential elections.“I support him no matter what,” said Marcy Wynn, a Democratic party activist attending Biden’s Wisconsin rally on Friday.The rally formed part of a blitz of public appearances intended to reinvigorate support for Biden, whose faltering and confused debate appearance last week has spurred Democratic party leaders and donors to call for him to step down.Ben Wikler, the chair of the Wisconsin Democratic party, acknowledged that Biden’s debate performance had sparked anxiety within the party.“There’s no question that the debate was rough,” said Wikler. “It was even more scary watching the US supreme court announce that presidents have immunity from prosecution.”Biden’s campaign has cast the 2024 presidential election as a choice between democracy and dictatorship, pointing to Trump’s attempted self-coup in 2020 and the rightwing Heritage Foundation’s autocratic Project 2025 plan as evidence.“The specter of dictatorship looms over America,” said Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, while addressing the crowd. At stake, said Rhodes-Conway, is the “right to vote and to have a government that is accountable to we the people.”Biden was joined on Friday by an entourage of Democrats, among them the progressive Democratic congressman Mark Pocan and Wisconsin governor Tony Evers, who both spoke at the rally.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion“If I had to summarize the last couple of years it would go something like this – Democrats getting shit done,” said Evers, who emphasized the state’s use of federal dollars to supplement infrastructural developments and repairs during Biden’s term in office. “The future of democracy runs right through the state of Wisconsin.”Biden’s difficult debate performance – and the supreme court’s decision to grant presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution – underscored the stakes of the election and raised fears about Biden’s ability to garner enough support to beat Trump in November.The Wisconsin rally drew some of Biden’s strongest supporters – including Pat Raes, the president of Wisconsin SEIU, a union representing service sector workers.“Fearmongers,” said Raes, when asked about the reaction to Biden’s debate last week. “I can’t think of another person as smart as Biden.”Earlier in the morning, Wendell Mullins – a retiree who lives near the middle school where the Friday rally was held – reacted with considerably less enthusiasm.Mullins watched the scene unfolding from his front yard and wondered how much good Biden’s last-minute effort would do.“Right now, if the election was held tomorrow, Trump would beat him easy,” said Mullins. “I’m 82 years old, so I know pretty much how I feel, and I’m sure he doesn’t feel much better.” More

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      Robert F Kennedy Jr promises to not ‘take sides’ with respect to 9/11 if elected president

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      Robert F Kennedy Jr has made a startling pledge to not “take sides” with respect to the September 11 terrorist attacks if his long-shot presidential campaign vaults him to the White House.“My take on 9/11: It’s hard to tell what is a conspiracy theory and what isn’t. But conspiracy theories flourish when the government routinely lies to the public,” Kennedy wrote on Friday in a post on X in reference to the deadliest terrorist attack ever aimed at the US. “As president I won’t take sides on 9/11 or any of the other debates.“But I can promise … that I will open the files and usher in a new era of transparency.”The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people in 2001 after terrorists hijacked and crashed passenger planes into New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon in Washington DC and a field in Pennsylvania.Kennedy’s decision to revisit one of the most traumatic subjects in American history came just three days after the noted conspiracy theorist responded to an allegation that he sexually assaulted a babysitter previously in his employ by saying: “I’m not a church boy” and “I am who I am.”That allegation – reported in Vanity Fair – came amid growing scrutiny of his independent run for president, which has fueled worries among Democrats and Republicans that he could decide November’s election by pulling votes away from Joe Biden, Donald Trump or both in key states.Friday’s statement on X was not the first time Kennedy had expressed dubiousness about the US’s official account of 9/11. In a podcast interview in September, he refused to say al-Qaida carried out the attacks – as the terrorist organization acknowledged and investigators determined long ago.Kennedy wrote on Friday that he was prompted to speak out by a recent report from the CBS news program 60 Minutes which chronicled how a man identified by the FBI as a Saudi intelligence agent filmed locations in the center of Washington just three months before 9/11.A court action from family members of September 11 victims, who contend that the Saudi government was complicit in the terrorist attacks, brought the footage to light. Saudi rulers deny the victims’ families’ claims.For his part, Kennedy on Friday described himself as “agnostic” concerning 9/11, so-called UFOs “and other contentious topics”.“My issue is transparency,” Kennedy added in a related follow-up post on X.Kennedy is polling at less than 10% of the national vote and is highly unlikely to win the presidency, according to FiveThirtyEight’s average.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionHis relation to his father, Robert F Kennedy – the New York senator who was assassinated in 1968 – and uncle John F Kennedy, who was president at the time of his 1963 assassination, has afforded his campaign attention. So has his marriage to actor and comedian Cheryl Hines.In addition to his 9/11 skepticism, peddling falsehoods about Covid-19 and vaccine safety has seemingly undermined Kennedy’s effort to attract wider support. And so have outlandish claims such as linking antidepressants to school shootings and asserting that certain chemicals in water make children transgender.The 27 June presidential debate – marked by a calamitous Biden performance that left his party in a panic as well as Trump’s rapid-fire delivery of lies and half-truths – did little to improve Kennedy’s standing.A recent HarrisX/Forbes poll found a paltry 18% of voters were more likely to vote for a third-party candidate after the debate.“Whatever shaking of the box happened with the debate, these voters aren’t really yet thinking about RFK Jr or any of the third-party candidates,” HarrisX chief executive officer Dritan Nesho later said. “None of the tickets are prominent enough at this stage to be able to capture a good share of vote – at least that’s what we’re seeing in polls right now.” More

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      Leading neurosurgeon calls on Biden to undergo testing and release results

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      Fallout from Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance last week continues to draw calls for health exams and clinical testing for the US president, and speculation.High-profile neurosurgeon Dr Sanjay Gupta called on Biden Friday to undergo neurological testing and release the results to the public, saying he and other brain specialists believe a detailed cognitive exam is warranted.“From a neurological standpoint, we were concerned with his confused rambling; sudden loss of concentration in the middle of a sentence; halting speech and absence of facial animation, resulting at times in a flat, open-mouthed expression,” Gupta wrote for CNN.Gupta qualified that his suggestion was based on “only observations, not in any way diagnostic of something deeper”. He continued that “the president should be encouraged to undergo detailed cognitive and movement disorder testing, and those results should be made available to the public”.Gupta’s article followed a recent New York Times story, based largely on anonymous sources, that people in contact with Biden reportedly had recently noticed the president making more factual errors and losing concentration.The same story raised the specter of Parkinson’s disease, although publicly available medical records show no evidence that the president has the disease. Parkinson’s is a neurodegenerative disease associated with a stiff gait, changes in motor skills and lack of facial expression. Some people also experience cognitive decline.The president’s primary care physician, Dr Kevin C O’Connor, told the New York Times that he observed “no findings which would be consistent with” Parkinson’s disease in his most recent physical of the president.The president’s most recent physician’s examination, from February, attributed his stiff gait to a healed foot fracture and peripheral neuropathy. Peripheral neuropathy is nerve damage that, in the president, resulted in a deficit in sensing hot and cold in his feet. O’Connor reported the president “continues to be fit for duty” with “no new concerns”.Biden’s age, 81, has been a locus of concern for voters. Those concerns were piqued by a debate performance that was widely considered jumbled and disjointed. Trump is only three years Biden’s junior, at 78.Notably, voters don’t particularly like either candidate. In a survey released by the Wall Street Journal two days after the debate, about half of voters said they were not enthusiastic about either candidate on the ticket and would like to replace them both.Biden and his team have defended his debate performance and batted back calls to step aside by saying the president had a cold and was tired after international travel. Biden told Democratic governors that he needed to listen to his team’s warnings about his schedule, and get more sleep.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionGupta’s warning also draws on a tension in medicine that has been especially animated in the last two presidential administrations: between professionals’ “duty to warn” Americans about the fitness of their leaders and the potentially high degree of error inherent in “armchair” medicine.During the Trump administration, a group of psychiatrists authored a book warning that the former president could be perhaps dangerously mad and a narcissist. The warning prompted the American Psychological Association to reiterate its commitment to the “Goldwater rule” against “armchair psychiatry”.Cardiologists also questioned whether the former president was at risk of a heart attack because of high cholesterol levels reported by the White House physician, Dr Ronny L Jackson. At that time, Jackson reported the former president was in “excellent” cardiac health.Amid pronounced concerns about Biden’s age, Trump’s rally speeches have been criticized as rambling, bizarre, incoherent and fascistic. For instance, Trump once described Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system as: “Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. They’ve only got 17 seconds to figure this whole thing out. Boom. OK. Missile launch. Whoosh. Boom.” Trump, like Biden, has lapsed when trying to recall specific facts. More