memeorandum: June 27, 2024 — Tonight was the first debate between President Joe Biden and presumptive … (Heather Cox Richardson/Letters from an American)

12:05 PM ET, June 28, 2024

Top Items:

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

Joe Biden Is a Good Man and a Good President. He Must Bow Out of the Race. — I watched the Biden-Trump debate alone in a Lisbon hotel room, and it made me weep. I cannot remember a more heartbreaking moment in American presidential campaign politics in my lifetime …

Eugene Daniels / Politico:

Dems freak out over Biden's debate performance: ‘Biden is toast’ — One prominent operative texted, “Time for an open convention.” — President Joe Biden opened the debate with a raspy voice and disjointed, rambling answers, reigniting Democratic concerns about his age and ability to take on former President Donald Trump.

Rebecca Solnit / The Guardian:

The true losers of this presidential debate were the American people — We didn't need this show. Each candidate has had time to show us who they are, and one is a felon trying to destroy democracy — The American people lost the debate last night, and it was more painful than usual …

Discussion: CounterPunch, The Spectator World, City & State New York, Washington Examiner, HuffPost and New York Daily News

Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:

June 27, 2024 — Tonight was the first debate between President Joe Biden and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, and by far the most striking thing about the debate was the overwhelming focus among pundits immediately afterward about Biden's appearance and soft …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mock Paper Scissors, Vox, Fox News, The Moderate Voice, Alternet.org and The Nation

Wall Street Journal:

Democrats Privately Discuss Replacing Biden on Presidential Ticket — Halting debate performance spurs turmoil in the party over 2024 candidate — ATLANTA—President Biden's halting performance against Donald Trump on Thursday left the Democratic Party in turmoil, with officials trying …

Discussion: Reuters, NBC News, NOTUS, New York Times, Politico, The Federalist, UnHerd and USA Today

Axios:

Biden's debate is a “DEFCON 1” moment for Democrats … - With breathtaking speed, private discussions about Biden's expected performance against Donald Trump went from optimism to shock and even questions about whether Biden could continue his campaign. … - A “disaster,” one former Biden administration official called it.

Discussion: New York Times, Breitbart, Associated Press, The Guardian, Alternet.org, The Gateway Pundit, New Jersey Online, New York Post and USA Today

NBC News:

Democrats are talking about replacing Joe Biden. That wouldn't be so easy. — Democratic Party rules make it almost impossible to replace nominees without their consent, let alone smoothly substitute in someone else. — President Joe Biden's performance in the first debate Thursday …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Washington Examiner, Fox News, Politico, Axios, RedState, The Economist, Business Insider, Election Law Blog, Lee Fang, Associated Press, Slate, The Guardian, BizPac Review, The Daily Beast and Vox

Politico:

Playbook: Democrats wake up to a nightmare — With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine — DRIVING THE DAY — The mass panic among Democrats began last night about 12 minutes into the debate. — President JOE BIDEN was answering a question about the national debt.

Discussion: HotAir, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, New York Times, The Federalist, The Spectator World, Wall Street Journal, WFLA-TV, Washington Times, Slate, The Atlantic, Forbes and The Sun

CNN:

Fact checking the CNN presidential debate — Both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump made false and misleading claims during CNN's presidential debate on Thursday - but Trump did so far more than Biden, just like in their debates in 2020. — Trump made more than 30 false claims at the Thursday debate.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Guardian, The Daily Caller, Associated Press, Roll Call and New York Times

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:

How To Process Biden's Debate Disaster — A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM's Morning Memo. — Say It Ain't So, Joe — I loathe theater criticism-style debate coverage, but by any standard it was a disastrous performance by President Biden.

Discussion: Adweek and Politico

Lisa Lerer / New York Times:
Live Updates: Biden Seeks to Reassure Democrats After Shaky Debate

Discussion: CBS News, New York Daily News, NRCC, Why Evolution Is True, HuffPost, Fox News, Washington Examiner, The Daily Beast, The Federalist, Washington Post, PBS NewsHour, The Post Millennial and Breitbart

David Frum / The Atlantic:
Trump Should Never Have Had This Platform

Discussion: Alternet.org and Los Angeles Times

Aaron Rupar / Public Notice:
Not great, Joe — PN is a reader-supported publication made possible by paid subscribers.

Discussion: Power Line, Althouse, Rolling Stone and The Guardian

David Harsanyi / The Federalist:
Biden Just Put On The Most Disastrous Debate Performance In Presidential History

Discussion: Tangle, Business Insider and Breitbart

CNN:
CNN Flash Poll: Majority of debate watchers say Trump outperformed Biden

Discussion: Washington Times, Breitbart, TMZ.com, The Post Millennial, IJR, New York Post, Fox News, The Gateway Pundit and NewsNation

CNN:
READ: Biden-Trump debate rush transcript

Discussion: Bangor Daily News, CNBC, Florida Politics, Daily Kos, Informed Comment and Vox

Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:
CNN debate moderators didn't fact-check. Not everyone is happy about it.

Discussion: HuffPost, New Republic, The Hollywood Reporter, New Jersey Online, Mediaite, USA Today, Associated Press, Raw Story, Politico, Iowa Starting Line, New York Times, The Wrap, Deadline, The Daily Beast and RedState

Peter Baker / New York Times:
Biden's Shaky Debate Performance Has Democrats Panicking

FiveThirtyEight:
Who Will Win The First Biden-Trump Presidential Debate?

Discussion: Semafor and NBC News

Michael Goodwin / New York Post:
Biden looks like a basket case in shocking debate performance — he can't continue on

Discussion: Washington Examiner and RedState

Brendan Buck / MSNBC:
Donald Trump may not have ‘won’ the presidential debate. But Biden lost.

Discussion: New Republic, CNN, Alternet.org, Los Angeles Times and The Daily Beast

NBC News:
‘Babbling’ and ‘hoarse’: Biden's debate performance sends Democrats into a panic

Calvin Woodward / Associated Press:
Debate-watchers in the Biden and Trump camps seem to agree on something: Biden had a bad night

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Associated Press and New York Times

The Daily Beast:
Joe Biden Mumbles and Stumbles the Democrats Into Crisis

Discussion: Off Message, New York Times, Breitbart, New York Post, OutsideTheBeltway, Washington Examiner, HuffPost, Reuters, Rolling Stone, The American Conservative, Reason, Variety, Business Insider, Raw Story, The Daily Signal, The Hill and WSYR

NBC News:
Biden-Trump 2024 debate live updates: Candidates slug it out over economy and immigration

Discussion: Tusk, CatholicVote org, RedState, TMZ.com, New Jersey Online, CLAYTOONZ, Los Angeles Times, The Daily Caller, Deadline, Raw Story, Washington Examiner and California Globe

Gallup:
Age, Issues Working to Trump's Advantage Pre-Debate

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, Washington Post, Quartz, Semafor, Associated Press and HotAir, more at Mediagazer »

Nancy Vu / Washington Examiner:
Trump tips hand on climate talking points ahead of debate

Discussion: NOTUS

Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:

Supreme Court delivers blow to power of federal agencies, overturning 40-year-old precedent — The important 1984 precedent gave federal bureaucrats flexibility to interpret the law when the language is unclear. — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday overturned a 40-year-old precedent …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Axios, GovExec.com, KARK-TV, Fox News, Courthouse News Service, Marginal REVOLUTION, New York Post and Common Dreams

Ann E. Marimow / Washington Post:

Supreme Court curbs federal agency power, overturning Chevron precedent — The Chevron precedent was targeted by conservatives who say the government gives too much power to federal bureaucrats — The Supreme Court on Friday curtailed the power of federal government agencies to regulate vast swaths …

Discussion: USA Today, CBS News, Wall Street Journal, The Verge, Talking Points Memo, Wisconsin Examiner and Mock Paper Scissors

Mark Sherman / Associated Press:
The Supreme Court weakens federal regulators, overturning decades-old Chevron decision

NBC News:

Supreme Court rules for Jan. 6 rioter challenging obstruction charge — The closely-watched case focuses on charge that former President Donald Trump also faces in his election interference case. — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday ruled in favor of a former police officer …

Ann E. Marimow / Washington Post:

Supreme Court says prosecutors improperly charged hundreds of Jan. 6 rioters — Supreme Court's decision on obstruction charge will impact trials of hundreds of Jan. 6 rioters and, potentially, former president Donald Trump. — Federal prosecutors improperly charged hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants …

Discussion: HuffPost, Bloomberg, ABC News, CBS News, NPR, The Gateway Pundit and New York Post

Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:

Supreme Court allows Oregon city policy targeting homeless people — The justices ruled that ordinances in Grants Pass do not violate the Constitution's Eighth Amendment, which bars cruel and unusual punishment. — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a constitutional challenge …

Chris Geidner / Law Dork:

SCOTUS is going into July, destroying executive agency powers along the way — “You had one job.” — By 10:30 a.m. Thursday, we knew that the U.S. Supreme Court would not be able to finish issuing its decisions for the term by the end of June. — The court is hearing fewer cases …

Discussion: Roll Call and Forbes