memeorandum: Biden and Harris's Absurd Case for Complacency (Jonathan Chait/New York Magazine)

5:00 PM ET, June 30, 2024

Top Items:

Increasing numbers of voters don't think Biden should be running after debate with Trump — CBS News poll — For months before the first debate, the nation's voters repeatedly expressed doubts over whether President Biden had the cognitive health enough to serve.

Discussion: The Hill, USA Today, Washington Examiner, NBC News, CNBC, Democracy Corps, Mediaite, Semafor, New York Post, PoliticusUSA, RedState, Mother Jones, The Daily Caller and Wall Street Journal, more at Mediagazer »

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Biden and Harris's Absurd Case for Complacency … After absorbing the initial waves of shock from Thursday night's debate debacle, allies of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have begun whispering to the media their reasons why the Democratic ticket must consist of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Discussion: Business Insider and Politico

Karissa Waddick / USA Today:

Historian who predicted 9 of the last 10 election results says Democrats shouldn't drop Joe Biden — WASHINGTON - Allan Lichtman, the historian who has correctly forecast the results of nine out of the 10 most recent presidential elections argued on Saturday that replacing President Joe Biden could cost Democrats the 2024 election.

New York Times:

Biden's Family Tells Him to Keep Fighting as They Huddle at Camp David — President Biden is trying to figure out how to tamp down Democratic anxiety after last week's disastrous debate performance. — President Biden's family is urging him to stay in the race and keep fighting despite …

Discussion: Associated Press, Mediaite, PoliticusUSA and Washington Times

Alexandra Marquez / NBC News:

Rep. Jamie Raskin says ‘honest and serious conversations are taking place’ about Biden's political future after debate — Raskin's remarks are a break from what most top Democrats have said publicly in their defense of Biden following the presidential debate.

Discussion: Politico, Washington Examiner, Axios, Mediaite and WFLA-TV

Axios:

Behind the Curtain: What scares Democrats most … A Democratic official talked us through the gentle approach to getting Biden to end his run on his terms. This official, who demanded anonymity for self-evident reasons, said Biden's sister, Valerie Biden, and longtime friend, Ted Kaufman, should make this case to the president:

Discussion: Fox News, Mailchimp, DNyuz, Mediaite, Washington Examiner and The Sun

NBC News:
'It's a mess': Biden turns to family on his path forward after his disastrous debate

New York Times:
48 Hours to Fix a 90-Minute Mess: Inside the Biden Camp's Post-Debate Frenzy

Discussion: Politico, DNyuz and The Post Millennial

Marc A. Caputo / The Bulwark:
‘Mental Masturbation’: Trump Camp Dismisses Dem Talk of Shoving Biden Aside

Discussion: CBS News and Fox News

Mia McCarthy / Politico:
Fetterman calls ‘abandon Biden’ campaign dumb, says it helps Trump

Discussion: NPR

David Remnick / New Yorker:
The Reckoning of Joe Biden

Discussion: Axios, New York Times, Althouse, Fox News, Mediaite and The Daily Beast

ABC News:
Biden campaign argues president dropping out would ‘lead to weeks of chaos’

Discussion: Washington Post, The Left Hook with Wajahat Ali, Washington Times, Washington Examiner, CBS News, The Gateway Pundit and The Guardian

Tara Suter / The Hill: Pelosi on Democrats calling for Biden to step down: 'I'm not doing it'

Lew Blank / Data For Progress:
In Post-Debate Poll, Voters Think Biden Is Too Old to Be President Yet Alternative Candidates Perform Similarly Against Trump

Discussion: Politico, OutsideTheBeltway, The Guardian and Rolling Stone

Alex Thompson / Axios:

Top aides shielded Biden from staff, but couldn't hide the debate … - “It's time for Joe to go.” … - “I know many of these people and how the White House operates. … - Reached by phone, West said he wrote the post because “the debate was not the first bad day, and it's not gonna be the last.”

Discussion: Power Line and New Jersey Online

Tyler Pager / Washington Post:

Biden aides plotted debate strategy for months. Then it all collapsed. — The Biden team gambled on an early debate and prepared intensively at Camp David, but they could not prevent their candidate's stumbles onstage. — CAMP DAVID, Md. — President Biden's debate prep went fine.

Alex Thompson / Axios:
Two Joe Bidens: The night America saw the other one

Discussion: HotAir, RedState, The Gateway Pundit, Public, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, Twitchy, The Daily Caller, New York Post, Associated Press, Mediaite, The Post Millennial, Fox News, Raw Story, Washington Examiner and Politico

emptywheel:

The “Wow, Pictures!” Tabloid Coverage of Trump's Stolen Documents Is as Bad as Conspiracy Mongering — The other day, I mined the documents and photographs released in the government's response to Trump's bid to throw out his indictment based on a complaint that the FBI failed to preserve the order of documents in boxes.

Alex Seitz-Wald / NBC News:

Paid operatives linked to a GOP firm are helping Cornel West in Arizona — After Republican operatives were discovered working for West in North Carolina, someone is paying to help get the progressive candidate on the ballot in another battleground state. — A dozen paid operatives registered Sunday …

Dave Philipps / New York Times:

Pattern of Brain Damage Is Pervasive in Navy SEALs Who Died by Suicide … Longtime Navy SEALs like David Metcalf, shown with teammates in a photo from a personal collection, are exposed repeatedly in training to the blasts from detonating explosives and firing weapons.

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo

Clea Caulcutt / Politico:

Le Pen's far right set for big win in first round of French election — Early projections show National Rally on course for victory in the vote for a new parliament as Emmanuel Macron's election gamble backfires. — PARIS — France is facing what until recently was an unthinkable nightmare for Europe …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, Variety, Associated Press, Lawyers, Guns & Money, New York Times and Breitbart

William Horobin / Bloomberg:
French Far Right Holds Strong Lead Ahead of Vote: What to Watch

Discussion: CNBC, The Times of Israel, Semafor, DNyuz, The Guardian, Sputnik News, CBS News, Politico, New York Times, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, Washington Post and Al Jazeera

Gilad Edelman / The Atlantic:

Donald Trump's Theory of Everything — At Thursday's debate, while Joe Biden struggled to put a sentence together, Donald Trump struggled to utter any sentence that wasn't about illegal immigrants destroying the country. — Harsh rhetoric—and policy—on migrants and the border has long …

Tess Owen / The Guardian:

Trump loyalists plan to name and shame ‘blacklist’ of federal workers — AAF to publish dossiers of employees they consider hostile to ex-president, with goal of ultimately replacing them — Armed with rhetoric about the “deep state”, a conservative-backed group is planning to publicly name …

Discussion: Raw Story