memeorandum: Democrats openly admit “sense of doom” over Biden debate (Andrew Solender/Axios)

2:20 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 …

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: Washington Examiner, New York Times, Xinhua, RedState, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, Associated Press, The Guardian and Alternet.org

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: Mediaite, Adweek and Politico

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: Washington Times, The Moderate Voice, CounterPunch and The Spectator World

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: NBC News, Politico, NOTUS, New York Times, TechCrunch, The Guardian and The Federalist

Andrew Solender / Axios:

Democrats openly admit “sense of doom” over Biden debate … - One House Democrat said a number of Democratic governors have been floated as possible alternatives: Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Tim Walz of Minnesota, Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Gavin Newsom of California.

Discussion: The Floridian

Erika D. Smith / Bloomberg:

Gavin Newsom Is Ready for the Biden Emergency — California's governor has fundraising chops, messaging skills and the campaign infrastructure to step up. — When cameras captured California Governor Gavin Newsom walking into CNN's spin room on Thursday evening, flashing his Hollywood smile …

Discussion: WisPolitics, The Sun, Semafor, Los Angeles Times and CNBC

CNN:

CNN Flash Poll: Majority of debate watchers say Trump outperformed Biden — Registered voters who watched CNN's presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump largely think Trump outperformed Biden, according to a CNN poll of debate watchers conducted by SSRS, with most saying …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, New Republic, Washington Times, Breitbart, IJR, TMZ.com, New York Post, The Gateway Pundit and The Post Millennial

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

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, Vox, New York Times, Washington Examiner, RedState, The Atlantic, Washington Post, The Spectator World, Wall Street Journal and WFLA-TV

NBC News:
Democrats are talking about replacing Joe Biden. That wouldn't be so easy.

Eugene Daniels / Politico:
Dems freak out over Biden's debate performance: ‘Biden is toast’

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, CNN, The Daily Caller, Washington Examiner, UPI, Washington Post, acecomments.mu.nu, The Floridian, The Federalist, New York Times, Politico, IJR, Mediaite, Daily Caller News Foundation, The Hill and Twitchy

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

Discussion: CBS News, HuffPost, NRCC, Why Evolution Is True and The Federalist

CNN:
Fact checking the CNN presidential debate

Discussion: Variety, New York Times, The Guardian, The Hollywood Reporter, Hartford Courant, Associated Press, The Daily Caller and Washington Examiner

CNN:
READ: Biden-Trump debate rush transcript

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Bangor Daily News and CNBC

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

Discussion: Tangle

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

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and Alternet.org

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

Discussion: New Republic and Alternet.org

Fox News:
Trump says Biden ‘will be the nominee’ amid Dem panic over debate performance

Discussion: Reuters, USA Today, Business Insider, The Maine Wire, Washington Examiner, RedState, America Magazine, New York Times, WAGA-TV, Rolling Stone, Washington Times, Los Angeles Times, Forbes and Breitbart

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

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Power Line

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

Discussion: Semafor and Mediaite

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

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Fox News, Reuters, Washington Monthly, The Daily Caller, IJR, One America News Network, Daily Caller News Foundation, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Asia Times, Newsbusters and NBC Bay Area

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

Discussion: KUSA-TV and No More Mister Nice Blog

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

Discussion: Forbes, The Hollywood Reporter, The Daily Caller, The Wrap, New Republic, USA Today, New Jersey Online, Mediaite and Raw Story

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

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

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

Discussion: Off Message, Rolling Stone, New York Times, The Nation, New York Post, Washington Post, Breitbart, Reuters, OutsideTheBeltway and The American Conservative

Mark Sherman / Associated Press:

The Supreme Court weakens federal regulators, overturning decades-old Chevron decision — The Supreme Court on Friday upended a 40-year-old decision that made it easier for the federal government to regulate the environment, public health, workplace safety and consumer protections …

Discussion: New York Times, CNBC, Washington Examiner, Fox News, Bloomberg, Raw Story, STAT, CNN, Forbes, RedState, AllSides Balanced and The Daily Signal

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: HuffPost, New York Times, The Federalist, CoinDesk, Semafor, Fox News and Courthouse News Service

Matthew Daly / Associated Press:
What it means for the Supreme Court to throw out Chevron decision, undercutting federal regulators

Discussion: Politico, Common Dreams and New York Times

Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Supreme Court Overrules Chevron Doctrine, Imperiling an Array of Federal Rules

Chris Geidner / Law Dork:
SCOTUS is going into July, destroying executive agency powers along the way

Discussion: HuffPost and Forbes

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 …

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 …

Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Before the ruling, prosecutors and some judges adjusted their approach to the charge in Jan. 6 cases.

Discussion: CBS News, Mother Jones and The Federalist

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 …