Running against the enemy: Why he’s going to stay there, and why he shouldn’t re-leave the presidency

PHILADELPHIA — President Biden campaigned in the critical swing state of Pennsylvania on Sunday as he pushes to try to resurrect his reelection bid, even as some Democrats took to television to say he should strongly consider dropping out of the race.

President Biden sent a two-page letter to Democratic lawmakers on Monday to say that “I am firmly committed to staying in this race,” saying speculation over his future was helping former President Donald Trump — and that it was time to stop.

He tried to convince people that his debate flub was just one bad night and not a sign of something more serious. He attended Sunday services at Mount Airy Church of God in Christ, where a praise band belted out the worship song, “I need you to survive,” and Bishop J. Louis Felton led a call-and-response for Biden, and urged unity.

“Forgive us for allowing the enemy to drive wedges between us,” Felton prayed. “Because if we ever lock arms and come together, there’s no election that we cannot win.”

Later, Biden stopped at a campaign field office where he gave some high-energy unscripted remarks about economic issues important to voters, like grocery and insulin prices.

Biden referred to a meme his campaign uses to mock his opponents as “Dark Brandon’s coming back”, to the group of about 150 cheering volunteers. “In the next 120-some days they will get a good look at who Donald Trump is, and that’s right,” he said.

Biden was joined by a number of people. “There is only one person in the country that’s ever kicked Trump’s ass in an election —and that is your president,” Fetterman said. He is going to do it twice.

Democratic leaders in the House were convening a virtual meeting on Sunday with the top Democrats on House committees. Some appeared on Sunday morning political talk shows, reflecting the range of opinions within the party about whether Biden should stay at the top of the ticket.

“It’s not about the best college try, but whether he made the right decision to run or to pass the torch, and that’s what this is about,” he told Meet the Press. He also said he thinks Vice President Harris could beat Trump if Biden decides to step back.

But Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., said she is heard from voters during the Independence Day break that Biden should stay in. “I had people in parades shout at me, ‘Tell him to stay — we have his back,’” she told CNN’s State of the Union. “I really do think that as much as you’re hearing a lot of different opinions from other people, that’s what’s happening,” she said.

Alex stated that he had spoken with Biden on Saturday. The president talked about what he’s seeing in internally polling data, and what his plans were for coming days. Padilla said that he’s pumped and eager to make sure he’s taking this campaign seriously.

Biden faces a critical week in Washington, as his party’s lawmakers return to Congress — and world leaders come to the city for a NATO summit, where Biden is set to give a rare solo press conference, where he will be faced with answering more questions about his age and abilities.

In Ann Arbor, Mich., Tom Brush called the current state of the Democratic race “a sad moment,” explaining he doubts whether Biden can make it through the election and had hoped the president would voluntarily step aside for the good of the party — perhaps for Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

“My experience is that people can reach a stage in their life when they’re no longer important to the community,” Brush said in an interview at his home.

When Joe Biden and Hakeem Jeffries Come Back for the Future: How the U.S. Senate Majority Meets Mr. Clyburn

For voters who held out hope that Biden would communicate during the debate, the intervening days have given little comfort.

The president, elected in 2020 as an antidote to Mr. Trump’s malfeasance and mendacity, is now trying to defy reality. The polls have shown voters doubts about Biden’s fitness for office, for more than a year. Mr. Biden has ignored the concerns of his fellow citizens and instead insisted on being the best candidate to defeat Mr. Trump.

“Joe Biden is who our country needs, and his presidency has laid a foundation upon which we can continue our pursuit of a more perfect union,” he said in a social media post on Friday. Mr. Biden won the first term after Mr. Clyburn endorsed him in the South Carolina presidential primary.

The possibility of a “mini-primary” to replace Mr. Biden was raised by Mr. Clyburn last week, causing some concern among Democrats. He said he was considering the idea strictly hypothetical.

Younger Black lawmakers have been slower to offer their backing for Mr. Biden, staying mostly silent so far. Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader of the highest-ranking black Democrat in Congress, has stayed largely out of the spotlight. Days after the debate last month, he said Mr. Biden was poised to make a “comeback” after an “underwhelming” performance.

“The reality is Joe Biden has confronted and had to come back from tragedy, from trials, from tribulations throughout his entire life,” Mr. Jeffries said during an interview with MSNBC. The moment we are in right now is a comeback moment.

The Black Democrats, an important force on Capitol Hill and in the party at an otherwise gloomy time, have taken solace in the backing of the Biden campaign. It chose a Black church in Philadelphia as the backdrop on Sunday for Mr. Biden to make his case.

“You know I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’ve honest to God never been more optimistic about America’s future — if we stick together,” Mr. Biden told the congregation at Mount Airy Church of God in Christ in Philadelphia.

Waters: The choice of Mr. Biden is a deciding factor in the November 23rd Term of the U.S. Senate Majority Election

Ms. Waters was also one of the few top Democrats who spoke up for the president during a high-level virtual meeting on Sunday in which several ranking members of key committees privately said he needed to withdraw from the race, according to people who attended and were briefed on the session. The people said that one of the Black Caucus members, Representative David Scott of Georgia, spoke in favor of Mr. Biden.

Waters told audience at the Essence festival in New Orleans over the weekend that it would not be any other Democratic candidate. It is going to be Biden.

The choice is clear, Representative Joyce Beatty said in a social media post late Sunday, applauding Mr. Biden for his record of defending democracy.

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The Justice Department said in a court filing that Boeing will plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge for its role in the two fatal MAX crashes. Boeing will pay a $246 million fine, invest more than $450 million towards safety and compliance programs, and be on the defensive for three years as part of the plea deal.

The Beryl disaster: How to keep things fair and square in the wake of France’s far-right party defeating in its snap elections

France’s far-right party fell far short of getting a majority after a historic number of voters participated in the country’s snap elections. A 67% voter turnout is what the country saw.

The National Hurricane Center said that Beryl was a Category 1 Hurricane this morning when it made landfall in Texas. More than 100 counties are under a state disaster declaration, and Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said yesterday more may be added. More than 2,500 responders have been dispatched across the state.

Dining out with friends is always fun, but you must pay for your meal. Splitting the bill is a fine art. New York Magazine food editor Kiki Aranita says there should be “a sense of equality in how the check is divvied up” when the meal ends. She offers advice on how to keep things “fair and square”:

Source: Boeing will plead guilty to fraud and Hurricane Beryl lands in Texas

Latin American artists, dances, and paints: The Smithsonian Folklife festival 2014 highlights a political struggle for the president’s candidacy

Indigenous arts and culture from across Latin America were on display at this year’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival. From an all-female Bolivian skateboarding crew to artists singing and painting to weaving, people from the Latin American contingent at the festival shared their stories and expertise with excited onlookers like 2-year-old first-time skateboarder Poppy Moore. One of the artists that the team met was from Central America. A portrait of former President Obama was selected to be in the White House collection. He successfully painted a giant kite at the festival. 📷 See photos from the festival and read about the special connection Sanchez found with NPR’s Marc Silver.

Biden sounded frustrated as he talked on MSNBC. He dismissed calls from prominent Democrats for him to withdraw from the race, saying: “I don’t care what those big names think,” adding he was getting “frustrated .. by the elites in the party.”

“Give me a break, come on.” Come with me. You can watch. He said to watch and refer to voter support in recent campaign stops. “I’m getting so frustrated by the elites… in the party who ‘they know so much more.’ But if any of these guys don’t think I should run, run against me. Go ahead. They should announce for president. Don’t be silent at the convention.

It was the voters of the Democratic Party who decided, not the press, the pundits or the big donors, he said.

“This was a process open to anyone who wanted run. Only three people chose to challenge me. One was so bad in the primary that he quit and run as an independent. He said that another had attacked him because he was too told.