Fogbow

Fauci says he has ‘no doubt’ Biden is capable of continuing as president
BY SARAH FORTINSKY - 07/03/24 6:19 PM ET

Former White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said in a new interview he has “no doubt” President Biden is mentally capable of serving as president, amid growing concern among Democrats about the president’s standing as the party’s presumptive nominee. “In my interactions with him, I have no doubt,” Fauci said about Biden, when asked on the CBS News podcast “The Takeout” with Major Garrett if he has any concerns about the president’s “vigor and mental capability” to continue in office. “And I can only speak in my own interactions with him,” Fauci added in the interview released Wednesday.

Fauci — who, for nearly four decades, served as the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) — cautioned against drawing any medical conclusions just based on one event. Asked if he saw anything “medically alarm[ing]” in Biden’s debate performance last week, Fauci responded, “You know, I can’t say. I think it would be inappropriate to say that, Major, because when you’re just looking at someone on a one-shot basis, you just don’t know what could happen.” “Did he have a bad cold, you know? Did he take an antihistamine to make him, you know, groggy, or what have you? We don’t know what went on,” Fauci continued. “And I think it would be unfair and inappropriate to try and diagnose something from just a 90-minute clip.”

Fauci, who retired at the end of Biden’s second year in office, described the president as sharp and inquisitive in their interactions. When asked if Biden’s debate performance “at all” resembled what he saw in his interactions with the president, Fauci said, “No, I mean, obviously not.” “I don’t want to comment about what happened that night, but you know, to me, it just looked like a bad night,” Fauci said, “because my interaction with him was what I described in the book and what happened even subsequent to what I described in the book, after I got out.” He called Biden “very probing in his questions, very analytical, very calm about things,” and said during briefings, Biden always asked “very relevant questions.” Fauci continued, “So my interactions with him, I have to say, have been very, very positive, in every way.”

Gavin Newsom @GavinNewsom wrote: I heard three words from the President tonight -- he’s all in. And so am I.

@JoeBiden’s had our back. Now it’s time to have his.

keith wrote: ↑Thu Jul 04, 2024 3:11 am "destructive"? "some Democrats"?

WHAT DEMOCRATS YOU EFFING A-HOLE - name names already! Put up or shut up!

Cause I haven't seen any!

(admittedly I am in a bubble down here in Ozlandia)

@ZevShalev
30-year TV exec producer here. I've run Biden's debate audio through multiple digital enhancers and correctors and can't repair it. Frequencies unnaturally boosted/cut, words clipped. He sounds breathy and hissy, and his mid-range vocal frequencies are de-emphasized. This level of variation isn't accidental. It needs to be externally investigated. #DebateAudioGate

Suranis wrote: ↑Thu Jul 04, 2024 6:00 amIn the meantime, Turnip is hiding himself away. Someone has probably got him tied down somewhere to avoid him popping up and saying something stupid.

Disney heir joins other Democrat backers to pause donations until Joe Biden steps aside
Abigail Disney says choice to suspend donations is based on ‘realism, not disrespect’, and suggests Kamala Harris as an alternative

Jonathan Yerushalmy
Fri 5 Jul 2024 05.39 CEST

In the minutes after Joe Biden and Donald Trump stepped on to the stage for the first debate of the 2024 presidential campaign, the grand narrative of this election year shifted off its axis and, in the words of CNN’s veteran broadcaster John King, “a deep, wide and aggressive” panic set in among Democrats.

A week on, and Biden has said he isn’t going anywhere, but a trickle of major Democratic donors speaking out against the president has grown into a stream.

On Thursday, Abigail Disney – the heir to the Disney family fortune and a major party donor – announced she would withhold donations unless Biden dropped out of the race.

“This is realism, not disrespect,” Disney told CNBC, adding “if Biden does not step down the Democrats will lose. Of that I am absolutely certain. The consequences for the loss will be genuinely dire.”



https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/art ... sney-pause

RTH10260 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2024 10:57 am

“This is realism, not disrespect,” Disney told CNBC, adding “if Biden does not step down the Democrats will lose. Of that I am absolutely certain. The consequences for the loss will be genuinely dire.”

► Show Spoiler

CNN White House correspondent Priscilla Alvarez reported that Biden’s upcoming travel included a rally in Madison, Wisconsin and the high-stakes Stephanopoulos interview Friday, a campaign stop in Pennsylvania Sunday, the NATO summit in Washington, D.C. next week, and speeches in Nevada to Black and Latino conferences in mid-July.

Biden ramps up unscripted events, travel and plans $50 million ad buy amid intense scrutiny
By Betsy Klein, CNN Updated 7:57 AM EDT, Fri July 5, 2024

President Joe Biden’s team is telegraphing a strategy to put the president forth for more casual, unscripted events and an accelerated public schedule as he seeks to shift the narrative away from his poor debate performance.

Biden’s reelection campaign on Friday announced an “aggressive travel schedule” this month that will take him, the vice president, the first lady and the second gentleman to every battleground state following calls from allies to ramp up campaigning and public messaging efforts. In its announcement, the campaign said the president “can also be expected to engage in frequent off-the-cuff moments over the course of the month, as he has consistently throughout this campaign.”

The president’s reelection campaign will also launch a $50 million “paid media blitz” in July, including what it is calling “strategic investments” during events likely to draw a large swath of voters, such as the 2024 Olympics and the Republican National Convention. The media buys will focus on battleground state voters and include TV, radio and digital ads that the campaign says will focus on abortion, the economy and democracy, and signal the campaign’s ongoing efforts to reach voters through conventional methods. The campaign says it’s looking to “capitalize on pivotal high viewership and political diverse audiences,” pointing to “The Bachelorette” season premiere and the Olympic Games’ popularity with Gen Z Americans. And there is the hope and expectation that Biden’s off-the-cuff moments reach audiences on social platforms.

Inside the crucial days leading up to Biden’s debate disaster
As recriminations fly and explanations shift, new debate prep details emerge.
By ELI STOKOLS and JONATHAN LEMIRE 07/05/2024 12:49 PM EDT Updated: 07/05/2024 03:16 PM EDT

Anonymous ‘Case for Kamala Harris’ Memo Goes Viral Among Democrats
ANON PLEASE
The Google doc is a viral hit in top Democratic circles and says Biden must go then outlines two scenarios: “Kamala or chaos.”
Owen Lavine Breaking News Intern
Updated Jul. 05, 2024 6:09PM EDT Published Jul. 05, 2024 4:50PM EDT

A Google Document making the case for President Joe Biden to drop out of the race in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris is causing intrigue as it goes viral in big-money Democratic donor circles.

The document, entitled “The case for Kamala,” was first reported by CNN and says bluntly, “We are currently losing. We need to do something different to win.” It adds, “Like it or not, there’s one realistic path out of this mess: Kamala.”

The document has no metadata to identify who wrote it but shows that it was first created on Tuesday. The memo claims to have been written by “senior operatives within Democratic political institutions."