Trump brags about debate performance while New York Times calls for Biden to drop out: Live
Biden and Trump squared-off at a CNN-moderated debate this week
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President Joe Biden is facing mounting criticisms and calls for him to step out of the 2024 presidential race after his poor performance in the debate against Donald Trump – this time with the New York Times editorial board calling for him to drop out
“The clearest path for Democrats to defeat a candidate defined by his lies is to deal truthfully with the American public: acknowledge that Mr. Biden can’t continue his race, and create a process to select someone more capable to stand in his place to defeat Mr. Trump in November,” the editorial board wrote on Friday.
It arrives after the president gave a fiery speech at a campaign rally in North Carolina where he acknowledged his age and limitations but said the stakes were too high and promised he could do the job
Meanwhile, Trump is capitalizing on the opportunity to flaunt his better-perceived performance during the debate by bragging on Truth Social. The former president claimed reporters praised him for having the “greatest debate performance”
Trump repeated lies and falsehoods throughout, often failing to answer questions. He declined to directly answer if he would accept November’s results.
Trump bulldozes Biden with lies while stumbling president fails to keep up
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Dumbstruck silence and despair: Behind the scenes at the Trump-Biden debate
Misinformation, abortion and Democratic ‘panic’: Key takeaways from the first Biden-Trump debate
Black Democrats share workplace photos after Trump’s bizarre debate line
Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claim that migrants threaten the availability of “Black jobs” during the first presidential debate has Black people, including members of Congress, asking: what is a Black job?
“They’re taking Black jobs and they’re taking Hispanic jobs. And you haven’t seen it yet, but you’re going to see something that’s going to be the worst in our history,” Trump said on Thursday night.
The former president’s comment was seemingly an attempt to expand his political reach to more communities of color through his commonly used anti-immigration rhetoric. Enacting strict immigration policies is one of the cornerstones of the former president’s campaign.
But his vague classification of jobs as exclusive to Black or Hispanic people did not land well.
“I’m still trying to figure out what a Black job is,” MSNBC host Symone Sanders-Townsend said on All In With Chris Hayes on Friday.
“Am I at my Black job right now? I don’t know.”
Do presidential debates really matter?
Nearly everyone agrees — including President Joe Biden — that he botched the first presidential debate of the 2024 general election, but the question remains as to how much a debate performance matters when it comes to reclaiming the White House.
Kelly Rissman reports:
Do debates matter? History hints at whether voters will forgive Biden’s rough night
‘Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know,’ Obama said after Biden’s debate night blunder, showing there is time for the incumbent to bounce back
First presidential debate reins in 51m viewers
The first presidential debate, in which Joe Biden stumbled and Donald Trump repeated a barrage of lies and misinformation, was watched by 51.27 million viewers, according to CNN.
The Thursday night debate saw Biden’s befuddled performance spark “deep panic” among Democrats and glee among Trump supporters. The 90-minute event, which took place in Atlanta, was hosted by CNN but carried live by 22 networks.
CNN said on Friday that the debate drew the highest audience on its network with 9.53 million viewers, followed by 9.276 million on right-wing Fox News. Meanwhile, ABC News drew 9.21 million viewers and MSNBC got 4.122 million.
However, the number of people watching dropped more than 30 percent from 2020 when 73 million tuned in to the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
Memo reveals Trump’s plans to cut Republican platform: report
Donald Trump’s advisers are reportedly planning to significantly cut the Republican National Party’s platform to make it entirely consistent and focused on the former president’s 2024 campaign and agenda, according to a memo seen by The New York Times.
The memo allegedly describes an effort to reduce the GOP’s platform to “ensure our policy commitments to the American people are clear, concise and easily digestible.”
It said that publishing unnecessary “verbose treatise” gives Democrats leverage to use in launching attacks against the party.
“It is with that recognition that we will present a streamlined platform in line with President Trump’s principled and popular vision for America’s future,” The Times reported on Saturday.
The memo was sent on Thursday – nearly a month before the Republican Party plans to host its annual convention.
Supreme Court will decide Trump immunity case on Monday
Chief Justice John Roberts of the Supreme Court said that Monday will be the final day of the court’s term meaning the remaining decisions, including Donald Trump’s immunity appeal, will be released.
The court has been sitting on the decision in the consequential case for months. It was initially argued in April.
Why the Supreme Court’s Jan. 6 ruling will only impact a handful of rioters
The Supreme Court’s decision to narrow how Jan. 6 defendants may be charged with “obstruction of an official proceeding” will likely only impact a small number of convicted rioters.
“The decision will not have tremendous significance in the January 6 cases, including that of former president Trump, because in almost all cases there are other charges that have a felony status alongside the obstruction charge,” said William Banks, a professor at Syracuse University College of Law.
Though no defendant was solely charged with obstruction of an official proceeding, there are 27 people who pleaded guilty only to the obstruction charge.
Read more here:
What does the Supreme Court decision mean for Jan. 6 defendants?
The Supreme Court’s ruling will likely not affect most Trump and January 6 defendant’s cases — but some will still have grounds for appeals
Trump brags about debate performance on Truth Social
Donald Trump is taking advantage of the fallout from the first presidential debate and bragging about how well he performed in it.
On Truth Social, the former president claimed that political reporters “screamed” that he had “the greatest debate performance.”
“They all said, effectively, “Trump was fantastic!” This theme was universal, even at CNN & MSDNC, but by Friday evening it was all about the poor performance of Crooked Joe, and not so much about how well I did. Oh well, that’s the way it is but, importantly, the result is the same!!!” Trump wrote on Saturday.
New York Times editorial board calls on Biden to drop out of the 2024 race
The New York Times editorial board has called for Joe Biden to exit the 2024 presidential race following his weak debate performance against Donald Trump.
The editorial comes after the president appeared frail during the Thursday evening debate. His voice was soft and raspy, which his campaign attributed to a cold. He also interrupted himself and gave rambling answers to multiple questions. Vice President Kamala Harris even admitted Biden struggled: “Yes, it was a slow start,” she said Thursday. “That’s obvious to everyone.”
“The president appeared on Thursday night as the shadow of a great public servant,” the board wrote on Friday night. “He struggled to explain what he would accomplish in a second term.
“He struggled to respond to Mr. Trump’s provocations,” the board continued. “He struggled to hold Mr. Trump accountable for his lies, his failures and his chilling plans. More than once, he struggled to make it to the end of a sentence.”
While the editorial board said Biden would be their “unequivocal” pick over Trump, they called on the Democratic party to put forward a new candidate.
Biden tells Trump he has ‘morals of an alley cat’
Joe Biden laid into Donald Trump over his alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels at the first debate, slamming the former president for having the “morals of an alley cat”.
The debate in Atlanta was widely seen as a chaotic performance with the president stumbling over answers and rambling. Trump meanwhile spouted lies and falsehoods throughout, mostly failing to answer questions and had to be pressed three times on whether he would accept the 2024 election results.
Biden’s remarks, referencing Trump’s alleged affair and sexual abuse civil lawsuit brought by writer E Jean Carroll, came after he attacked his son, Hunter Biden, who was recently found guilty on federal gun charges.
Katie Hawkinson has the story.
Biden lays into Trump over sexual abuse and affair claims: ‘Morals of an alley cat’
‘How many millions of dollars do you owe in civil penalties for molesting a woman in public?’ Biden asked Trump
Trump claims ‘big victory’ over Biden one day after presidential debate
Donald Trump claimed he had a "big victory" against Joe Biden one day after the first television debate of the 2024 presidential election cycle. The current US president struggled badly against his opponent as Democrats looked on in horror, appearing low in energy during the CNN showdown in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr Biden's predecessor, meanwhile, repeated lies and falsehoods throughout the exchange; He often failed to answer questions and was pressed three times on whether he would accept November’s results. "We had a big victory against a man that really is looking to destroy our country," Trump claimed.
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