House Democrats put pressure on: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) recently said: Convened A virtual meeting of House Democrats to discuss whether President Joe Biden should be replaced by a Democrat who has a better chance of beating President Donald Trump.
“Among the senators who have spoken out loud and clear that Biden should not run are Sen. Jerrold Nadler of New York, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee; Sen. Adam Smith of Washington, the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee; Sen. Mark Takano of California, the ranking Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee; and Sen. Joseph D. Morrell of New York, the ranking Democrat on the House Administration Committee.” Reports The New York Times. The very fact that Jeffries convened the meeting was significant: a high-level acknowledgment that the matchup wouldn’t work, that Democrats have serious problems and that lawmakers aren’t leaving it to party activists, campaign staff and Biden advisers to solve them.
In a media appearance this weekend aimed at easing public fears about his age, Biden said only “Almighty God” could convince him to step aside and allow others in his party to run for president against President Trump.
Divine intervention needed: “If the almighty God came down and said, ‘Joe, get out of the race,’ I would get out of the race,” he said. Said ABC. He added that “the Almighty God is not coming down.”
When asked how he would feel if he lost to Trump, he Responded“As long as I did my best and did the best job I could, I’ll be satisfied. That’s what this is about.” (Interestingly, ABC and the White House initially disagreed on whether Biden had used the term “blame shifting.” Best. more here.
“Every pollster I’ve talked to says it’s 50-50. It’s 50-50,” Biden insisted. Five Thirty Eightmaintains “an up-to-date average of each candidate’s 2024 presidential polls, taking into account each poll’s recency, sample size, methodology, and house effect.” I support this assessmentHe said Trump has a 2.3 point lead. A recent Ipsos/Reuters poll evaluated two candidates, Biden vs. Trump and Kamala Harris vs. Trump, and in those matchups Harris performed better than Biden. Bloomberg/Morning Consult polls show Biden’s approval rating in battleground states is higher than ever, Wisconsin and Michigan onlybut that’s not enough.
“Like a lot of people, I was pretty scared,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). Wikipedia“I think Biden is a big part of the debate,” he said, referring to Biden’s performance in the debates. Anyone with a cognitive sane personality seems to agree that Biden can’t be left on the shortlist. That’s what Biden himself and a few of his followers refuse to do.
Chaos in France: Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party fared less well than expected in yesterday’s parliamentary elections, with the left-wing New Popular Front coalition winning 178 seats, President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party winning 150 seats and the National Rally winning 142 seats.
No party can win a majority. It’s deadlock. The New York Times explain The lower house of parliament holds most of the legislative power. [has] “A governing coalition is not in the cards anytime soon,” Macron’s “centrist” faction said. [are] He is caught between far-right and far-left groups who hate each other and hate him.”
It is clear that Macron’s gamble of calling elections earlier rather than later in the fall has not paid off: the radical left and right are stronger and more visible than ever before, and Macron, already incredibly unpopular, will be caught between them.
“It will not be easy to find a compromise candidate to lead the next administration.” Reports Bloomberg. “Early candidates include Marine Tondelier of the Green Party and Raphaël Glucksmann of the centre-left Place Public party. Current Prime Minister Gabriel Attal could also stay on.” Macron is due to step down at the end of his second term in 2027, but current Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said this morning that he would “remain in power”. Bid Macron resigned (as is customary in French politics). RejectedThis means there is a possibility that Attal will remain in his position.
New York City: oyster They continue to die instead of reproduce.This poses a major problem for scientists working to restore the bivalve population in New York waters.
Quick Hit
- “Philadelphia radio station WURD has parted ways with the host who interviewed the president. [Joe] Biden gave an interview on Wednesday using questions provided by the Biden campaign, but the network argued the interview violated its journalistic independence. Reports The New York Times. “WURD said in a statement Sunday that ‘agreeing to a pre-determined set of questions puts listeners’ trust at risk.’ Host Andrea Lawfull-Sanders has resigned by mutual agreement, according to WURD.”
- Joe Biden has relied too heavily on teleprompters, even in intimate settings like private donor events. Finally covered In places like The Washington Post (Now that it’s safe to run more explicitly negative stories about the Democratic nominee.) The bigger picture: If large segments of the media had stopped pandering to Biden sooner and actually done their jobs, we might not be in this late-stage turnover situation.
- Counterfeit gin products “pose a challenge to U.S. regulators, who will have to stop the illegal distribution of nicotine products.” explosion “Since last year, we have seen an increase in demand for unlicensed flavoured e-cigarettes.” Reports Bloomberg.
- Sierra Leone Reportedly In the midst of an addiction crisis.
- “The anti-startup bias pervasive throughout the US government poses a clear and real threat to the health and vitality of America’s tech success,” Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz wrote in the declaration.Little Tech AgendaOne reason for this, they say, is that “tech startups, as an industry, are not as visible in Washington, D.C., or in the political system as larger corporations are.”
