Biden said he meant Democrats needed to focus more on Trump, his policies and the false statements he made during the presidential debate late last month…reports Asian Lite News
President Joe Biden has said it was a mistake for him to say “time to put Trump in a bullseye”, days before Saturday’s assassination attempt on his election rival.
Biden’s remarks came in his first interview since the incident, in which he defended his rhetoric against Donald Trump and cited why it was important.
The president told NBC’s Lester Holt his campaign had a duty to clearly communicate the threat of a second Trump term, adding that his words were not the ones that needed to be tempered.
Biden said he meant Democrats needed to focus more on Trump, his policies and the false statements he made during the presidential debate late last month.
“It was a mistake to use the word. I didn’t say crosshairs. I meant bullseye, I meant focus on him. Focus on what he’s doing,” he said.
Throughout the interview, Biden made it clear he would not be stepping aside in the presidential race – despite calls from members of his own party after his poor debate performance.
“I’m old,” he lamented, while also noting he’s only three years older than Trump. He said his mental acuity was fine and listed his accomplishments as president – but acknowledged he was working to reaffirm to Americans that he was up the job.
“I understand why people say, ‘God, he’s 81 years old. Whoa. What’s he going to be when he’s 83 years old, 84 years?’ It’s a legitimate question to ask,” he said.
He said he put his faith in the voters who overwhelmingly backed him in the Democratic primary. “I listen to them.” The president has repeatedly called for Americans to “lower the temperature” since the shooting on Saturday, where Trump’s ear was grazed by a bullet.
One crowd member was killed and two others were critically injured in the attack.
About a dozen Republicans have blamed Mr Biden and other Democrats for inciting the attempt on Trump’s life. Many have specifically cited Mr Biden’s “bullseye” comment.
According to Politico, Biden had said on a private donor call: “I have one job, and that’s to beat Donald Trump. I’m absolutely certain I’m the best person to be able to do that. So, we’re done talking about the debate. It’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.”
President Biden, in an Oval Office address on Sunday, denounced the attack and called for Americans to “take a step back”, warning that “political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated”.
When asked in the NBC interview if he had also taken a step back to examine his past remarks for anything “that could incite people who are not balanced”, Mr Biden said the inflammatory rhetoric had not come from him.
“I’ve not engaged in that rhetoric,” Biden said. “Now, my opponent is engaged in that rhetoric.
“How do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a president says things like he says? Do you just not say anything, because it may incite somebody? I am not the guy that said I want to be a dictator on day one, I am not the guy that refused to accept the outcome of the election.”
She said there “seems to have been a failure to properly protect” Trump, as she called for a “full investigation into what happened”. And she said it “makes everybody who is involved in politics fear what could happen”…reports Asian Lite News
Liz Truss has branded Joe Biden a “weak president” as she attended the Republican National Convention in support of Donald Trump.
The former British prime minister criticised the current US president for his “rhetoric” around Trump, who survived an assassination attempt at the weekend. But unlike some right-wing politicians and commentators, she said she was “not prepared to draw the line” between Biden’s language and the motivation of the gunman.
Trump suffered minor injuries in the shooting at one of his rallies on Saturday, but an audience member was killed and two others remain in a critical condition in hospital. Truss said it was “absolutely appalling” and the presidential candidate was “just incredibly lucky, frankly, not to be killed”.
She said there “seems to have been a failure to properly protect” Trump, as she called for a “full investigation into what happened”. And she said it “makes everybody who is involved in politics fear what could happen”.
But Truss said the man hoping to return to the White House after November’s US election “showed his strength and fortitude”. She added it was “reminiscent” of another ex-prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, who still gave her party conference speech after the IRA bombed her hotel in Brighton in 1984.
Asked whether Biden held any portion of blame over the attempt on Mr Trump’s life, the former Conservative MP – who lost her seat at the last general election – said: “I do not support Joe Biden. I think he has been a weak president of the United States and I want Donald Trump to win. But clearly it is the responsibility of the putative assassin and the security services what’s happened.”
US President Joe Biden on Sunday announced an independent review of the security at the election rally at which a shooter made an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump who is also the putative Republican nominee for the White House.
The US President also said that he has ordered a continued heightened level of security for his Republican rival and a review of the security arrangements at the Republican party’s presidential convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
In a short speech after meeting top security officials in the Situation Room, Biden also said he spoke to Trump.
“An assassination attempt is contrary to everything we stand for as a nation, everything. It’s not who we are as a nation, it’s not America, and we cannot allow this to happen,” he said, adding: “Unity is the most elusive goal of all but nothing is important right now, Unity. We will debate and will disagree. It’s not that’s not going to change. But we’re gonna not lose sight of who we are as Americans”.
Biden said the shooter’s motive remains unclear and appealed to Americans to not speculate and wait for the FBI’s investigation. The FBI is leading the probe into the shooting. He did not specify who or which agency will conduct the “independent review”, but promised to share its findings.
While the FBI is leading the investigation into the shooting, the US Justice Department’s National Security Division is also involved in it, as Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
This indicates the US is treating the assassination attempt as also a threat to national security.
While the shooter has been identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, officials have said nothing yet about his motivation. According to news reports, he was a registered Republican but had donated $15 to a liberal voter mobilisation group in 2021. The gunman used an AR-15 military-style assault rifle that has been the weapon of choice for most mass shooting perpetrators. New reports now suggest the shooter was carrying two explosive devices in the car and a possible third at his residence.
Earlier in the day, Trump struck a defiant note the morning after surviving the assassination attempt, writing on social media, “We will FEAR NOT”.
He also announced he would be speaking at the Republican party convention.
Trump is recovering at his home in New Jersey, where he reached last night from Butler, Pennsylvania when a 20-year-old white man opened fire on his election rally, wounding the former President and killing an attendee.
The shooter was killed by snipers of the US Secret Service that protects past and present American Presidents and their immediate families.
“We will FEAR NOT, but instead remain resilient in our Faith and Defiant in the face of Wickedness,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, a social media platform he launched after he was banished from Twitter, now called X.
He added: “I truly love our Country, and love you all, and look forward to speaking to our Great Nation this week from Wisconsin.”
The Republican party convention kicks off Monday in Milwaukee to anoint Trump formally as the party’s nominee for the White House. He will announce his pick for his running mate over the next few days, if he doesn’t do it on Sunday.
Political violence in US politics has become a new threat, from both the right and the left.
Trump’s supporters attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, to stop a joint sitting of the Congress from certifying Biden as the winner of the 2020 election and the next President. Several people, including a police officer, were killed during or after the rampage.
An armed man was arrested from outside the house of Brett Kavanaugh, one of the six conservative justices of the Supreme Court.
Biden said: “There is no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s sick. It’s sick. It’s one of the reasons why we have to unite this country. We cannot allow this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this.”
Trump has posted several statements on Truth Social but has not expressly addressed the question of political violence. “In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win,” he wrote on Sunday morning.
But his campaign leaders Chris Lacivita and Susie Wile confronted the issue directly. “Please do not comment publicly on the occurrence of today,” they wrote in a memo to staff. “We condemn all forms of violence, and will not tolerate dangerous rhetoric on social media.”
Madison: President of the United States Joe Biden gestures to the crowd as he delivers remarks at a campaign rally at Sherman Middle School in Madison, Saturday, July 06, 2024.(IANS/X/@JoeBiden)
President promises a “thorough and swift” review and asks the public not to “make assumptions” about the shooter’s motives or affiliations…reports Asian Lite News
President Joe Biden on Sunday urged Americans to reject political violence and recommit themselves to resolving their differences peacefully, saying the upcoming presidential election will be a “time of testing” in the aftermath of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
In a prime-time national address from the Oval Office, Biden said political passions can run high but “we must never descend into violence.” The president said his party and the Republicans can compete forcefully over different policy visions — but must do it in a civil fashion.
“All of us now face a time of testing as the election approaches,” Biden said. “There is no place in America for this kind of violence — for any violence. Ever. Period. No exception. We can’t allow this violence to be normalized.”
Biden spoke for six minutes in his third address to the nation since Saturday evening’s attack by a shooter that left Trump with a bloodied ear, killed one rallygoer and seriously injured two others. His warning came hours after FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate said agents have seen increasingly violent rhetoric online since the attack at the Trump rally.
Since the shooting, the president and his team had been grappling with how to calibrate the political path forward after the weekend attack targeting the very person Biden is trying to defeat in November’s election. Biden sharply condemned the attack, but indicated he plans to continue to press his campaign agenda and has “no doubt” Republicans will do the same when they open the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Monday.
He emphasized that said those disagreements must remain peaceful.
“We can do this,” Biden pleaded, saying the nation was founded on a democracy that gave reason and balance a chance to prevail over brute force. Biden also warned that political tensions were being inflamed by a balkanized media environment and exploited by American enemies.
“Here in America we need to get out of our silos, where we only listen to those with whom we agree, where misinformation is rampant, where foreign actors fan the flames of our division to shape the outcomes consistent with their interests, not ours,” Biden said.
Earlier Sunday, Biden was briefed in the White House Situation Room and condemned the attempted assassination of Trump as “contrary to everything we stand for as a nation.” He said he was ordering an independent security review of how such an attack could have happened.
The president said he has also directed the US Secret Service to review all security measures for the RNC. Hours later, Audrey Gibson-Cicchino, the Secret Service’s coordinator for the convention, said the weekend attack against Trump did not warrant any changes to the agency’s security plan for the event and officials “are fully prepared.”
Biden promised a “thorough and swift” review and asked the public not to “make assumptions” about the shooter’s motives or affiliations.
The president said he and first lady Jill Biden were praying for the family of Corey Comperatore, a former fire chief who was shot and killed during the Trump rally Saturday night in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“He was protecting his family from the bullets,” Biden said. “God love him.”
The president also said he’d had a “short but good conversation” with Trump in the hours after the shootings and said he was “sincerely grateful” that the former president is “doing well and recovering.”
Trump, who has called for national resilience since the shooting, posted on his social media account after Biden’s remarks, “UNITE AMERICA!”
Biden, who has set out to brand Trump as a dire threat to democracy and the nation’s very founding principles, put a temporary pause on such political messaging after the shooting. Shortly after Saturday night’s attack, Biden’s reelection campaign froze “all outbound communications” and worked to pull down its television ads.
The president also postponed a planned trip to Texas on Monday, where he was to speak on the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act at the Lyndon B. Johnson presidential library. An NBC News interview between Biden and anchor Lester Holt will now occur at the White House, instead of in Texas, as initially planned.
Biden’s campaign said that, after the NBC interview airs on Monday night, the Democratic National Committee “will continue drawing the contrast” with Trump over the course of the GOP convention. It was unclear when campaign ads will resume.
Biden still plans to make a planned trip to Las Vegas, which will include a campaign event Wednesday. Vice President Kamala Harris postponed her planned campaign trip to Florida on Tuesday, where she had been set to meet with Republican women.
Trump, meanwhile, arrived Sunday evening in Milwaukee for the Republican convention, where criticism of Biden and the Democrats is sure to be searing.
The weekend developments were only the latest upheaval in a campaign that has been extraordinarily topsy-turvy in recent weeks.
Madison: President of the United States Joe Biden gestures to the crowd as he delivers remarks at a campaign rally at Sherman Middle School in Madison, Saturday, July 06, 2024.(IANS/X/@JoeBiden)
Seth Moulton, a lawmaker from Massachusetts said on Wednesday that Biden’s name on the Democratic ticket put the party on a “path to losing.”…reports Asian Lite News
Democrats from the United States Congress have called on President Joe Biden to quit the 2024 Presidential race as per a report by US-based media outlet Politico.
Most of those who urged Biden to pull out are rank-and-file lawmakers even as the Democratic Party leadership continues to publicly back the president’s re-election.
The lawmakers calling for Biden to exit the race include top national security Democrats like Jim Hines and Adam Smith, the ranking members on the Intelligence and Armed Services Committees, respectively, Politico reported.
The majority of these hailed from “safe districts” in which the President won by healthy margins in 2020. Lloyd Doggett, a lawmaker from Texas, the first lawmaker to call for Biden to end his re-election bid, represents a ‘safe’ seat and has been in Congress for nearly three decades.
Doggett said on Thursday that Biden should make the “painful decision” to step aside “in favour of a stronger candidate.”
Seth Moulton, a lawmaker from Massachusetts said on Wednesday that Biden’s name on the Democratic ticket put the party on a “path to losing.”
Other representatives, like Eric Sorensen of Illinois, Pat Ryan of New York, Hillary Scholten of Michigan, and Mike Levin of California, are younger lawmakers and come from districts where Democrats have not had a stronghold. These districts may become tougher to win if Biden’s unpopularity persists–this fear has frazzled all Democrats, Politico reported.
Peter Welch of Vermont has publicly called for Biden to step out, though others have only raised questions about Biden contesting the elections.
A meeting was held on Thursday between the Democrat senators and top Biden advisers. Though the meeting did not reassure the lawmakers, but no lawmaker has called for him to back off since then, Politico reported.
Several other Democrats have voiced their support for Biden in the November elections. The divided lawmakers say that their ideological split only benefits Donald Trump,the presumptive Republican candidate. (ANI)
Biden, speaking without a teleprompter, said he was waiting for additional information before formally calling the attack an attempted assassination on the former president…reports Asian Lite News
President Joe Biden said Saturday that “everybody must condemn” the suspected assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
Addressing the nation about two hours after the shooting, Biden said he was relieved that Trump is reportedly “doing well.” He said he had been unable to reach Trump before his remarks, but the White House said he did speak to Trump several hours later.
“We cannot allow this to be happening,” Biden said. “The idea that there’s violence in America like this is just unheard of.”
Biden, speaking without a teleprompter, said he was waiting for additional information before formally calling the attack an attempted assassination on the former president.
“I have an opinion, but I don’t have any facts,” he told reporters, pledging to provide updates as he learns more.
After midnight, he returned to the White House, cutting short a weekend stay in Delaware. The White House said he and Vice President Kamala Harris will receive an updated briefing from homeland security and law enforcement officials Sunday morning.
The president delivered remarks from the White House’s emergency briefing room in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, which is set up whenever the president travels to allow him to deliver remarks to the country in a matter of minutes. He was spending the weekend at his beach home and was at a nearby church for mass when the shooting occurred.
As he left the church, reporters asked if the president had been briefed about the shooting. Biden turned toward reporters with a serious look on his face but replied simply, “no,” before stepping into his motorcade.
Biden received an “initial briefing” from aides moments later then convened security officials for a more in-depth update from Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the United States Secret Service, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall.
Many Republicans quickly blamed the violence on Biden and his allies, arguing that sustained attacks on Trump as a threat to democracy have created a toxic environment. They pointed in particular to a comment Biden made to donors on July 8, saying “it’s time to put Trump in the bullseye.”
There was no immediate information on the shooter or their motivations.
The Biden campaign said Saturday that it was pausing all messaging to supporters and working to pull down all of its television ads as quickly as possible in light of the shooting.
Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement that she was also briefed, adding that she and her husband “are relieved” that Trump was not seriously inured.
“We are praying for him, his family, and all those who have been injured and impacted by this senseless shooting,” she said.
Shock and relief cross party lines
Republican and Democratic leaders, as well as some international friends and foes, expressed shock and relief Saturday night after an apparent assassination attempt at a Donald Trump campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Lawmakers from both parties promised hearings and a comprehensive investigation into the attack.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said there would be hearings to investigate what happened. “We will have Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and other appropriate officials from (the Department of Homeland Security) and the FBI appear for a hearing before our committees ASAP,” Johnson said.
House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in a statement that there were many questions to be answered. “I have already contacted the Secret Service for a briefing and am also calling on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to appear for a hearing. The Oversight Committee will send a formal invitation soon.”
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., suggested on X that the Senate might hold similar hearings. “It’s a wonder Donald Trump is alive. Let’s call this what it was. An assassination attempt with at least one innocent bystander murdered. The nation needs to know who did this. And why. And we need a full, public investigation by Congress into HOW it happened,” Hawley posted.
Notable officials, including former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, praised the fast action of the Secret Service and expressed gratitude that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee appeared to be OK.
“As one whose family has been the victim of political violence, I know firsthand that political violence of any kind has no place in our society. I thank God that former President Trump is safe,” former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. “As we learn more details about this horrifying incident, let us pray that all those in attendance at the former President’s rally today are unharmed.”
Pelosi’s husband was bludgeoned with a hammer in 2022 by a man who broke into their home.
Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., said he had spoken to his father on the phone and “he is in great spirits.” “He will never stop fighting to save America, no matter what the radical left throws at him,” Trump Jr. said in a statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on X: “Sara and I were shocked by the apparent attack on President Trump. We pray for his safety and speedy recovery.”
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who has an adversarial relationship with Trump, said during a campaign event broadcast on state television that he wished Trump a speedy recovery: “May God bless the people of the United States and give them peace and tranquility. We have been adversaries, but I wish President Trump health and long life, and I repudiate that attack.”
Obama, Trump’s immediate predecessor in the White House, shared the views of others who have held the presidency, writing on social media: “There is absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy. Although we don’t yet know exactly what happened, we should all be relieved that former President Trump wasn’t seriously hurt, and use this moment to recommit ourselves to civility and respect in our politics. Michelle and I are wishing him a quick recovery.”
President Joe Biden said: “There’s no place in America for this type of violence. It’s sick. It’s sick.”
Bush praised the Secret Service for their “speedy response” to the violence. “Laura and I are grateful that President Trump is safe following the cowardly attack on his life,” Bush wrote on X.
The messages of concern and relief were mixed with accusations that Biden was responsible and at least one call that the criminal cases against Trump be stopped.
Trump was convicted in New York in May on 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex. He is awaiting trials in federal courts in Washington, D.C., and state court in Georgia on allegations of plotting to overturn a lost election, and a federal case in Florida that accuses him of illegally stowing classified documents at his Florida estate.
Posting on X, Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee called for “President Biden to immediately order that all federal criminal charges against President Trump be dropped, and to ask the governors of New York and Georgia to do the same.”
Republican House member, Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia, laid the blame on Biden, saying, “The Republican District Attorney in Butler County, PA, should immediately file charges against Joseph R. Biden for inciting an assassination.” Collins, a freshman member of Congress from a district east of Atlanta, has a history of provocative social media statements.
US President said that the alliance has provided a security shield for member countries to grow and prosper…reports Asian Lite News
President Joe Biden on Wednesday said that the way forward for the NATO alliance is for each member country to strengthen their industrial base so that the group can stay ahead of Russia, which has “ramped up domestic production of defence goods with help from China, Iran, and North Korea”.
Thirty-two leaders of NATO countries, who include leaders of Finland and Sweden, the two new additions, are meeting here in Washington DC for the group’s 75th anniversary, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine bringing back memories of World War II that was started in Europe by a man’s desire to expand his country’s frontiers driven by historical grievances.
Speaking cogently and forcefully, perhaps to allay fears of allies who doubt his ability to govern for four more years if he wins, the US President said that the alliance has provided a security shield for member countries to grow and prosper. At a summit two years ago, allies decided to modernise their defence and deterrence. But the alliance is now facing fresh challenges.
“Right now, Russia is on a wartime footing with regard to defence production. They are significantly ramping up their production of weapons, munitions, and vehicles. And they’re doing it with the help of China, North Korea and Iran,” he said, adding “We cannot in my view, we cannot allow the (NATO) alliance to fall behind.”
To that end, he noted, that every member has taken a pledge to put together plans to shore up defence production at home. “That means as an alliance (we) will become more innovative and competitive. We’re able to produce more critical defence equipment more quickly than we should so that we may need it,” Biden asserted.
NATO vows ‘irreversible path’ to Ukraine membership
Kyiv has not been offered a formal invitation to join the alliance, as there is no consensus among allies for such an endeavour.
NATO’s reassuring language that Ukraine’s path to membership of the alliance is “irreversible” represents a step forward, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Stefanishyna said.
It’s a “very strong message on membership,” she told Euronews.
Moreover, it’s a clear signal to Russia about Ukraine’s future, she said.
Several experts say membership is the only guarantee of Ukrainian security, particularly because the majority of Ukrainian territory would be covered by Article 5 of the NATO Treaty, which ensures that an attack on one ally is responded to as if it were an attack on all allies.
“It’s not enough to say that NATO’s future is in NATO,” says former US ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder.
“Russia will not give up its goal of controlling Ukraine unless and until Ukraine is integrated in the Western institutions – NATO and the European Union,” he said.
“It’s a wasted opportunity not to offer membership to Ukraine,” said Ed Arnold, Senior Research Fellow for European Security at the Royal United Service Institute (RUSI).
“We don’t have time; anyone can reverse the course of Ukraine’s path because the language at this summit is not legally binding,” he said.
“Trump can reverse it if he comes to power. And we know how Trump dislikes other people’s deals, not to mention the fact that Trump has a bad history with Zelenskyy.”
As US president, Donald Trump attempted to blackmail Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by withholding US military support for Ukraine unless he created a bogus investigation into corruption by Hunter Biden – the son of Joe Biden. The matter led to Trump’s impeachment after whistleblowers revealed the affair.
Zelenskyy and his team, including Deputy PM Stefanishyna, are in Washington for the 75th anniversary of NATO.
NATO allies significantly stepped up their contributions to Ukraine as part of this week’s summit, including dozens of defence systems and a timeline for the delivery of F-16 fighter jets.
“All of the announcements on air defences and Patriot systems are important, but they won’t move the dial for Ukrainian security — not like NATO membership would,” said Arnold.
Part of the concern among some countries in hesitating to support Ukrainian membership is the clear liability and risk that would emerge for allies in admitting a country in the middle of an intense armed conflict.
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the NATO Summit in Washington.
However, Ambassador Daalder says that only the undisputed parts of Ukraine would be covered under Article 5 guarantees.
Occupied areas such as Crimea, the Donbas and parts of Ukraine’s east would not be covered. But Kyiv and the rest would be, which would, in theory, go some way in deterring Russia from attacks such as the one this week on the hospitals, including one children’s hospital.
The governors, including Tim Walz of Minnesota, Wes Moore of Maryland, Gavin Newsom of California and Kathy Hochul of New York, held a closed-door meeting with Biden in Washington…reports Asian Lite News
A group of leading Democratic governors offered words of support for Joe Biden on Wednesday as pressure mounted on the president to leave the race.
The governors, including Tim Walz of Minnesota, Wes Moore of Maryland, Gavin Newsom of California and Kathy Hochul of New York, held a closed-door meeting with Biden in Washington as he sought to reassure his party – and the public – that he is up to the job after a shaky debate performance.
Biden met for more than an hour at the White House in person and virtually with more than 20 governors from his party. The governors told reporters afterward that the conversation was “candid” and said they expressed concerns about Biden’s debate performance last week. They reiterated that defeating Donald Trump in November was the priority, but said they were still standing behind Biden and did not join other Democrats who have been urging him to withdraw his candidacy.
“We, like many Americans, are worried,” Walz of Minnesota said. “We are all looking for the path to win – all the governors agree with that. President Biden agrees with that. He has had our backs through Covid … the governors have his back. We’re working together just to make very, very clear that a path to victory in November is the No 1 priority and that’s the No 1 priority of the president … The feedback was good. The conversation was honest.”
“The president is our nominee. The president is our party leader,” added Moore of Maryland. He said Biden “was very clear that he’s in this to win it”.
“We were honest about the feedback we’re getting … and the concerns we’re hearing from people,” Moore said. “We’re going to have his back … the results we’ve been able to see under this administration have been undeniable.”
The meeting capped a tumultuous day for Biden as members of his own party, and a major democratic donor, urged him to step aside amid questions over his fitness for office. Two Democratic lawmakers have called on Biden to exit the race, and a third Congressman said he had “grave concerns” about Biden’s ability to beat Trump. The White House, meanwhile, was forced to deny reports that Biden is weighing whether his candidacy is still viable.
Biden, for his part, has forcefully insisted that he is staying in the race.
“Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can, as simply and straightforward as I can: I am running … no one’s pushing me out,” Biden said on a call with staffers from his re-election campaign. “I’m not leaving. I’m in this race to the end and we’re going to win.”
Kamala Harris has also stood by his side, despite some insiders reportedly rallying around her as a possible replacement. “We will not back down. We will follow our president’s lead,” the vice-president reportedly told staffers on Wednesday.
Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer also threw her support behind Biden. “He is in it to win it and I support him,” she said on Twitter/X after the meeting.
Whitmer is one of several Democratic governors who have been cited as possible replacements if Biden were to withdraw his candidacy. Gavin Newsom, whose name has also been floated, flew in for the governors’ meeting on Wednesday, saying afterwards: “I heard three words from the president tonight – he’s all in. And so am I.”
Newsom has been a top surrogate for Biden’s re-election campaign, but has also garnered increasing buzz as a potential replacement if Biden were to withdraw. He was swarmed by reporters after the debate ended last week, some asking him if he’d replace Biden.
A Siena College/New York Times poll released Wednesday suggested Trump’s lead had increased since the debate, with him winning 49% of likely voters compared to 43% for Biden. Only 48% of Democrats in the poll said Biden should remain the nominee. A Reuters/Ipsos poll published Tuesday said that former first lady Michelle Obama is the only hypothetical candidate to definitively defeat Trump, but she has previously said she’s not running. That poll had Biden and Trump tied.
Meanwhile, in response to recent speculations, the White House has unequivocally denied any consideration of President Joe Biden stepping down, with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stating “absolutely not” when asked about the possibility.
Concerns are mounting about Biden’s viability as a candidate following what has been described as a devastating performance in Atlanta, according to a New York Times (NYT) report.
Jean-Pierre on Wednesday highlighted President Biden’s recent engagements with supporters, acknowledging that while he has had challenging moments, his overall record and accomplishments should not be overshadowed.
“He had an opportunity to talk to supporters. He has done it a couple of times at this point and laid out what happened on that night, talked about how he understands, and it was not his best night. He understands that it is fair for people to ask that question,” she told reporters at the White House.
The campaign held an “all hands on deck” meeting on Friday afternoon to reassure staffers that Biden was not dropping out of the race, according to two people familiar with the meeting…reports Asian Lite News
President Joe Biden said on Friday he intended to defeat Republican rival Donald Trump in the November presidential election, giving no sign he would consider dropping out of the race after a feeble debate performance that dismayed his fellow Democrats.
“I know I’m not a young man, to state the obvious,” an ebullient Biden said at a rally one day after the head-to-head showdown with his Republican rival, which was widely viewed as a defeat for the 81-year-old president.
“I don’t walk as easy as I used to, I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to, I don’t debate as well as I used to,” he said, as the crowd chanted “four more years. But I know how to tell the truth. I know how to do this job,” he said to huge cheers, vowing “when you get knocked down, you get back up. I would not be running again if I didn’t believe with all my heart and soul that I could do this job. The stakes are too high,” Biden said.
Biden had hoped to allay qualms about his advanced age, and to expose Trump as a habitual liar. But the president failed to counter his bombastic rival, who offered up a largely unchallenged reel of false or misleading statements about everything from the economy to immigration. On Friday, Biden delivered the lines Democrats wished they had heard in the televised debate.
“Did you see Trump last night? My guess is he set — and I mean this sincerely — a new record for the most lies told in a single debate,” Biden said. “Donald Trump is a genuine threat to this nation. He’s a threat to our freedom. He’s a threat to our democracy. He’s literally a threat for everything America stands for.”
Biden’s verbal stumbles and occasionally meandering responses in the debate heightened voter concerns that he might not be fit to serve another four-year term and prompted some of his fellow Democrats to wonder whether they could replace him as their candidate for the Nov. 5 US election.
Campaign spokesperson Michael Tyler said there were no conversations taking place about that possibility. “We’d rather have one bad night than a candidate with a bad vision for where he wants to take the country,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One.
The campaign held an “all hands on deck” meeting on Friday afternoon to reassure staffers that Biden was not dropping out of the race, according to two people familiar with the meeting.
Though Trump, 78, put forward a series of falsehoods throughout the debate, the focus afterward was squarely on Biden, especially among Democrats.
Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic Party leader in the US House of Representatives, avoided answering directly when asked whether he still had faith in Biden’s candidacy.
“I support the ticket. I support the Senate Democratic majority. We’re going to do everything possible to take back the House in November. Thank you, everyone,” he told reporters.
Some other Democrats likewise demurred when asked if Biden should stay in the race. “That’s the president’s decision,” Democratic Senator Jack Reed told a local TV station in Rhode Island.
But several of the party’s most senior figures, including former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, said they were sticking with Biden.
“Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and somebody who only cares about himself,” former Democratic President Barack Obama wrote on X.
The show of Democratic loyalty and Biden’s defiance in North Carolina were not enough for The New York Times, however.
The New York Times editorial board, which endorsed Biden in 2020, called on him to drop out of the race to give the Democratic Party a better chance of beating Trump by picking another candidate. “The greatest public service Mr. Biden can now perform is to announce that he will not continue to run for re-election,” the editorial said.
A logical — but not automatic — candidate to take Biden’s place would be his vice president, Kamala Harris, who loyally defended his debate performance.
The Biden campaign said it raised $14 million on Thursday and Friday and posted its single best hour of fundraising immediately after the Thursday night debate. The Trump campaign said it raised $8 million on the night of the debate.
One possible bright spot for Biden: preliminary viewership data showed that only 48 million Americans watched the debate, far short of the 73 million who watched the candidates’ last face-off in 2020.
Biden, already the oldest American president in history, faced only token opposition during the party’s months-long nominating contest, and he has secured enough support to guarantee his spot as the Democratic nominee.
Trump likewise overcame his intra-party challengers early in the year, setting the stage for a long and bitter general election fight.
If Biden were to step aside, the party would have less than two months to pick another nominee at its national convention, which starts on Aug. 19 — a potentially messy process that could pit Kamala Harris, the nation’s first Black female vice president, against governors and other officeholders whose names have been floated as possible replacements.
Biden’s proclamation grants clemency to some 2,000 people who were charged between 1951 and 2013, addressing a “historic wrong.”…reports Asian Lite News
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday, granted pardon to American veterans who were convicted of engaging in gay sex under a military code that outlawed the behaviour for more than 60 years, the New York Times reported.
Biden’s proclamation grants clemency to some 2,000 people who were charged between 1951 and 2013, addressing a “historic wrong.”
“Today, I am righting an historic wrong by using my clemency authority to pardon many former service members who were convicted simply for being themselves,” President Biden said in a statement.
“Despite their courage and great sacrifice, thousands of L.G.B.T.Q.I.+ service members were forced out of the military because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Some of these patriotic Americans were subject to court-martial, and have carried the burden of this great injustice for decades,” he added.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jeane-Pierre termed this progress in “righting a historic wrong” and said every member of the US military deserves to feel safe and respected.
“Every member of our military deserves to feel safe and respected. Today, @POTUS announced pardons for many LGBTQI+ service members convicted because of their sexual orientation or gender identity – making progress in righting a historic wrong,” she posted on X.
The proclamation addresses charges brought under Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, a federal law that made it a crime to engage in “unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex,” even with mutual consent. In 2013, Congress voted to repeal the portion of the code that outlawed consensual sodomy, the NYT reported.
Over the course of his presidency, Mr. Biden has used his clemency powers largely to pardon nonviolent drug offenders. He has also issued pardons for marijuana use and possession on federal lands as part of a broader effort by his administration to address racial disparities in drug sentencing.
Biden said in his statement that Wednesday’s proclamation was “about dignity, decency and ensuring the culture of our armed forces reflect the values that make us an exceptional nation.” (ANI)
