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Biden defiantly charges ahead with election run despite speculation he would drop this weekend

Biden defiantly charges ahead with election run despite speculation he would drop this weekend

President Biden has defiantly remained in the presidential race despite mounting calls from allies to drop out, and speculation that he would bow out as early as this weekend.  The Biden campaign has hit back against anonymous sources and speculation that Biden would end his campaign in the coming days, suggesting a pressure campaign was building to force Biden’s hand.  “There are a lot of anonymous sources out there this week telling y’all what is and isn’t happening on Team Biden-Harris. I’m here – on the record (!) – to give you an overview of what actually happened, what’s to come, and a few thoughts on the very bad things coming out of the Republican National Convention,” Biden campaign spokesman Kevin Muonoz said in a press release late last week.  The comment was released shortly following Newsmax’s Mark Halperin reporting that unnamed Democratic sources informed him that Biden will drop out of the race as soon as this weekend, that he would not endorse Vice President Kamala Harris to take the mantle, and would call for an open convention during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month.  SEN. JOE MANCHIN CALLS ON BIDEN TO STEP ASIDE, PASS TORCH TO ‘A NEW GENERATION’ “It will happen as early as this weekend. A speech has been drafted for him. He will continue on as president, is his intention. He also will not, I’m told, endorse Vice President Harris as his successor. They’re hoping that he will endorse an open process in which the convention will be open to Vice President Harris and a few other candidates in Chicago to pick the Democratic nominee for president,” Halperin said on Thursday.  CAMPAIGN CRISIS: DEMS WHO HAVE CALLED FOR BIDEN TO DROP OUT OR RAISED CONCERNS ABOUT HIS HEALTH Axios also speculated the president would drop out this weekend, with unnamed Biden aides allegedly saying the president was warming up to the idea of giving into the calls to bow out.  The Biden campaign, however, has so far not given an inch on the speculation and calls for the president to drop out, with campaign and White House officials shooting down speculation on social media, releasing press releases and continuing to announce fundraising efforts.  Biden’s deputy campaign manager doubled down on Sunday that reports of the president dropping out are “false” and that Biden has been clear he is remaining in the race.  “It is false. And I think that it is false to continue to try to gin up this narrative. Joe Biden has said he is in this race,” deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks said on MSNBC on Sunday. “He is in this race to win it. He is instructing us to continue to carry out a plan to make sure that we are communicating [to as] many voters as possible. Actions speak louder than words, although sometimes, in this case, I wish that our words would speak louder so that people would stop asking this question. But we are doing both. The president has doubled down and said that he is running in this race to win it, and that he is not going anywhere.” Biden is currently self-isolating in his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, after he was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Wednesday. He was diagnosed while in Las Vegas, forcing the campaign to cancel events in the city as the president recovers.  Thirty-six Democrats have called on Biden to drop out of the race in the days and weeks following his disastrous debate performance, which put his mental fitness under further scrutiny as he stumbled over his words and appeared more subdued than in previous years.  Ahead of his COVID diagnosis, Biden hit the campaign trail at a faster clip than before the debate, holding rallies and meetings across the nation, coupled with his official duties as president, including hosting world leaders for a NATO summit earlier this month. Biden delivered a stronger than typical speech during the NATO summit, and received mixed reviews for his first solo press conference of the year. The events, however, have evidently not swayed Democrats that he’s up for the job, as traditional allies continue releasing statements calling on him to drop out.  “While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch. And in doing so, secure his legacy of leadership by allowing us to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election,” California Rep. Adam Schiff said in a statement last week.  Despite speculation Biden would drop out as soon as this weekend, the New York Times reported that the president will not drop out ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Nentanyahu’s visit to the nation’s capital this week.  KAMALA HARRIS REASSURES DEMOCRATIC PARTY DONORS THAT THERE’S NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT The president also has a fundraiser scheduled with former late night host David Letterman on July 29 in Hawaii and has received support from Squad members to remain in the race.  “There have been lots of Democrats who have been giving little anonymous quotes to the press, to some journalist to print, and I’m not here to knock the press on it,” she said. “I’m here to knock my colleagues on it, because to me, I think that’s, and I’m sorry, I’m going to say because it’s after midnight. That’s bulls—. Like, if you have an opinion, say it with your chest and say it in public,” Squad member, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, said last week in defense of Biden.  AMBER ROSE CLAPS BACK AT JOY REID AFTER CRITICIZING CONVENTION SPEECH: ‘STOP BEING A RACE BAITER’ The chair of the Democratic National Committee, Jamie Harrison, has also notably not called for Biden to pull out of the race, instead saying earlier this month that Biden is the party’s nominee. “This ain’t the West Wing… we have had a process, millions voted for Joe Biden and we have our nominee!” Harrison tweeted on July 2. Biden is

Trump pokes fun at his own hair during Michigan rally: ‘It looks OK from the other side’

Trump pokes fun at his own hair during Michigan rally: ‘It looks OK from the other side’

Former President Trump stopped his speech to make fun of his hair during a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Saturday. “I have to just interject, if you would turn off those cameras… see the screen up there of me? That’s very severe, that comb over that’s a severe sucker,” Trump quipped while looking at a screen showing his remarks. “It looks OK from the other side, but that is very severe. I apologize. Man, I looked up there, I said, ‘Whoa, look at that.’ Wow. That’s like a work of art.” The remarks came at Trump’s first rally since the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where he officially accepted the party’s nomination for president for the third time. It was also the first rally since the former president survived an assassination attempt, coming exactly one week after his brush with death at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.  TRUMP SAYS HE ‘TOOK A BULLET FOR DEMOCRACY’ AT MASSIVE BATTLEGROUND STATE RALLY ALONGSIDE RUNNING MATE VANCE Since the experience, Trump’s campaign has promised to focus more on unifying the country, with the hair joke being the latest example of the former president showing a bit of a softer side. Voters in Grand Rapids were also the first to see Ohio Sen. JD Vance at a rally since being nominated to join Trump on the ticket, with Vance continuing to make the pitch that Trump will fight for blue-collar workers in states such as Michigan. RNC DELEGATES, GUESTS MAKE PREDICTIONS ABOUT BIDEN’S POLITICAL FUTURE AMID REPORTS HE MIGHT EXIT 2024 RACE Trump also hit that theme in his speech Saturday before bringing the conversation back to his hair, touting his proposal to eliminate taxes on tips while noting all the different types of workers that receive them. “Barbers get tips. I don’t give mine a big tip because I don’t think they do a very good job,” Trump joked to laughs from the audience.

Biden asking if Harris could win in 2024: report

Biden asking if Harris could win in 2024: report

President Biden is expressing new interest in whether Vice President Kamala Harris could defeat former President Trump in the 2024 election, according to a report from the New York Times. While Biden and his staff have publicly insisted that he is staying in the race, the 81-year-old is reportedly now asking whether Harris could win. Several polls show Harris matching or even exceeding Biden’s performance against Trump as waves of Democrats call on Biden to withdraw. “To some degree, the vice president is auditioning now for the job and they should help her lean in and I think her leaning in could be beneficial to bolstering Biden” whether he steps aside or not, former Harris aide Ashley Etienne told the Times. Harris stands as the most obvious candidate to replace Biden thanks in large part to her presumed access to the Biden-Harris war chest should the president withdraw. Any other candidate would face an uncertain path to accessing the tens of millions of dollars donated throughout the race. BIDEN RESPONDS TO ‘DISENCHANTMENT’ FROM BLACK VOTERS: ‘THEY KNOW WHERE MY HEART IS’ The White House pushed back on the Times report in a statement to Fox News Digital, saying Biden locked in on campaigning. “That claim is false and The New York Times did not ask us about it. As Jen O’Malley Dillon said, he ‘is more committed than ever.’ And as you heard from the President, he looks forward to campaigning this week,” said White House spokesman Andrew Bates. Democrats have largely coalesced around Harris being the replacement for Biden should he withdraw, though there remains a question about how she could best assume the role. 65% OF DEMOCRATS SAY BIDEN SHOULD DROP OUT AFTER DEBATE DISASTER, POLL FINDS “Most Democrats think it should be an open process,” former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., told the Times. “What I would say is the best thing is for Kamala Harris is to win a contested convention fight because it would legitimize her candidacy. If it’s a backroom deal, you haven’t earned it and people want you to earn it. And once you earn it, you get a huge bounce.” A Friday poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about six in 10 Democrats believe Harris would do a good job as president herself. About two in 10 Democrats don’t believe she would, and another two in 10 say they don’t know enough to say. Polls show Democratic voters have continued to sour on Biden as well. A Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll of Massachusetts residents found that 64% of likely Democratic or Democratic-leaning voters want someone other than Biden to face off against Trump. The AP-NORC national survey likewise found that 65% of Democrats say Biden should drop out of the race. Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report

Sen. Joe Manchin calls on Biden to step aside, pass torch to ‘a new generation’

Sen. Joe Manchin calls on Biden to step aside, pass torch to ‘a new generation’

Independent Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia on Sunday called on President Biden to step aside.  “He will go down with a legacy unlike many people as one of the finest and surely a patriot, an American,” Manchin said of Biden during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week.” “And so with that, I come with a heavy heart to think the time has come for him to pass the torch to a new generation.”  Manchin changed his party registration from Democrat to independent this year, though he still caucuses with the Democrats in the Senate. ABC host Martha Raddatz asked Manchin directly if he believes Biden should step aside as the Democratic nominee. Manchin said Biden “has the ability for the last five months of his presidency to be the president he always wanted to be, be able to unite the country, bring it back together, to be able to maybe spend all of his time on solving the problems in Gaza, bringing peace to Gaza and to the Middle East.”  CAMPAIGN CRISIS: DEMS WHO HAVE CALLED FOR BIDEN TO DROP OUT OR RAISED CONCERNS ABOUT HIS HEALTH From now until the end of his term, Manchin said, Biden could also “dedicate his time to enforcing, reinforcing Ukraine’s ability to defend and win their freedom, and then be able to show the rest of the world the orderly transfer of power from the superpower of the world.” In the three weeks since Biden’s disastrous debate performance against former President Trump, Manchin said he “thought the president needed time to evaluate and make a decision if he was going to at that time.” The senator also acknowledged Democratic colleagues facing competitive races in Congress or at the state level in November who fear Biden’s re-election campaign could ruin their chances.  The senator privately expressed grave concern to Biden’s allies, including Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in the immediate aftermath of the debate but decided to cancel scheduled appearances on Sunday shows, Politico previously reported. In doing so, Manchin reportedly intended to give Biden time to decide the matter on his own, but the senator changed course.  KAMALA HARRIS REASSURES DEMOCRATIC PARTY DONORS THAT THERE’S NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT With the donor class also speaking up, saying “they want a different direction,” Manchin told ABC he believes Biden must withdraw, noting it’s “concerning” to watch the 81-year-old on the campaign trail. “It’s concerning. It’s concerning when you watch him. I’m concerned about the president’s health and well-being, I really am,” Manchin said. “But when I’ve been talking to him, you know, I can tell when he’s in a good mood. He’ll say, ‘Hey, Joe, Joe, how’s it going?’ And when he’s upset with me, he’ll say, ‘Joe, what’s up?’ So we’re still communicating the way we always have.”  CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Though he believes Biden should stop his re-election campaign, Manchin said he believes Biden still has the mental acuity required to remain president for the remainder of his term.  “I think basically he can finish this job that he started and finish the way he wanted to lead,” Manchin said.

Trump blows past Biden in June fundraising race, with July numbers expected to be worse for Democrats

Trump blows past Biden in June fundraising race, with July numbers expected to be worse for Democrats

Former President Donald Trump has surpassed President Biden’s longtime fundraising lead, according to donation filings from June. Republicans hauled in $66 million throughout the month, propelling Trump’s campaign past the current president’s. June saw the GOP’s biggest monthly haul since 2020, according to the Washington Post. The latest data comes after Trump’s campaign boasted of out-raising Biden for most of the summer. Trump’s campaign announced in early July that it and the Republican National Committee hauled in a staggering $331 million during the April through June second quarter of 2024 fundraising, topping the massive $264 million raked in by the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee over the same period. And the former president’s campaign spotlighted that it had $284.9 million in its coffers as of the end of June, compared to $240 million for Biden. AMBER ROSE CLAPS BACK AT JOY REID AFTER CRITICIZING CONVENTION SPEECH: ‘STOP BEING A RACE BAITER’ Meanwhile, Biden’s campaign teeters against waves of Democratic lawmakers calling on him to withdraw. Even Biden’s nominal allies in Congress have failed to give him ringing endorsements. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., repeatedly saying on Saturday that he’s “our nominee” but he also had a “big decision to make.” WATCH: 5 OF THE MOST INFLAMMATORY MOMENTS FROM MSNBC HOSTS DURING THE RNC Warren also seemed to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris being the replacement if Biden did step down, singing her praises as an ideal candidate to prosecute the Democratic case against former President Trump. “Joe Biden is our nominee, and he has a really big decision to make. Joe Biden has been a transformational president,” Warren told MSNBC, going on to praise his record. “I am deeply grateful to Joe Biden for all that he has accomplished.” In the face of mounting numbers of Democrats calling on him to step down for fear he’ll lose to Trump, Biden has repeatedly insisted he is staying in the race. Yet Warren, sounding like reportedly skeptical former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., earlier this month, appeared to give Biden yet another off-ramp. AOC CALLS ‘BULL—-’ ON DEMOCRATS PRIVATELY TURNING ON BIDEN “Joe Biden is our nominee. As I said before, he has a really big decision to make,” she said. “But what gives me a lot of hope right now is that if President Biden decides to step back, we have Vice President Kamala Harris who is ready to step up, to unite the party, to take on Donald Trump, and to win in November. Remember, 80 million people voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in 2020.” Warren’s interview came on the heels of Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., calling for Biden to leave the race this week, joining dozens of House Democrats, Fox News Digital previously reported.  Fox News’ David Rutz and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report