Trump VP contenders flock to his side while Biden campaign does damage control after debate fallout: Live

Biden and Trump squared-off at a CNN-moderated debate this week

Biden addresses debate performance: ‘I don’t debate as well as I used to’

Donald Trump’s potential vice presidential contenders are boosting his image by coming to his defense over lies he told during the presidential debate on Thursday.

Senator JD Vance and Governor Doug Burgum joined political news over the weekend to shift the blame off of Trump for spreading lies about abortion, his record in office, current statistics and more.

Meanwhile, Senators Marco Rubio and Tim Scott re-directed questions about Trump’s “Black jobs” comments when confronted with it by members of the media.

It is a different tactic than the one the Biden campaign is taking to cool voter concerns about the president’s ability to serve in office. Over the weekend, Biden appeared strong and confident in front of potential voters in North Carolina and met with donors in New York.

The Biden campaign also said the president raised $33 million since the debate and pushed back on calls for him to drop out of the 2024 race.

Key Points

• Biden tries to reassure donors after poor debate performance
• US Supreme Court to deliver ruling on Trump’s presidential immunity claim on Monday
• New York Times editorial board calls on Biden to drop out of the 2024 race
• Philadelphia inquirer calls on Trump to drop out of presidential race

[30 June 2024 21:00 · Ariana Baio]

Fetterman defends Biden debate flub amid calls for president to drop out of the race

Joe Biden’s defenders rallied to his side on Sunday across the cable news circuit and rejected calls for the president to drop out of the 2024 race.

Chief among them was John Fetterman, whose own rocky debate performance in 2022 following a stroke was thought by some to have been a death knell of the now-senator’s campaign.

John Bowden reports:

[30 June 2024 20:00 · Ariana Baio]

JD Vance blames media while defending Trump’s lies

Ohio Senator JD Vance, who is on the list of potential running mate picks for Donald Trump, deflected criticisms about the former president lying during the presidential debate, and suggested it was partially the media’s fault.

While speaking with Margaret Brennan on Face The Nation, Vance was asked why Trump lies about things like abortion, his record as president and January 6.

“I think the media is running interference on a lot of this stuff,” Vance said in response.

The senator began to list things that the media flagged as false statements that he believed were true including misrepresented claims about late-term abortions.

“And most importantly, we know that the media seems totally uninterested, in fact-checking Joe Biden from any of the number of false claims that he made,” Vance said before Brennan interrupted him.

[30 June 2024 19:00 · Ariana Baio]

Marco Rubio defends Trump ‘Black jobs’ comment

Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a potential vice presidential pick for Donald Trump, defended the former president’s comments about “Black jobs” during the debate – insinuating that the moderators directed the question.

While speaking with CBS News directly after the debate, Rubio was asked to clarify what Trump meant by “Black jobs” when he made the unsubstantiated claim that migrants would take “Black jobs.”

“You know what he meant by that, he meant jobs that are filled by African Americans in America, and others, Americans in general,” Rubio told CBS News.

“But the question in specific was about Black voters – he didn’t ask that question, the moderators did and so he segued into the impact that it’s had on Black voters,” he added.

[30 June 2024 18:00 · Ariana Baio]

72 percent of voters think Biden should not run, poll says

After the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, 72 percent of voters think the president should not be running, according to polling from CBS and YouGov.

Out of 1,130 registered voters polled, less than 30 percent believe Biden should be in the 2024 presidential race when asked, “Regardless of whether or not you would vote for him, do you think Joe Biden should or should not be running or re-election as president in 2024?”

On Thursday, the president performed poorly in a debate against Trump, often stumbling over words and sharing his policies with a hoarse voice. The aftermath has left voters, and members of his own party, concerned about his ability to win over the former president.

When asked what reason Biden should not be running for re-election, 86 percent of respondents said his age while 59 percent said they had concerns about his ability to campaign.

More than half of respondents also said Trump should not be running for president with 91 percent referring to his felony conviction as a reason. In addition, 89 percent said Trump should not run because of decisions he might make while in office.

[30 June 2024 17:30 · Ariana Baio]

Potential Trump VP stops short of commiting to accepting election results

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, a potential pick for Donald Trump’s vice president, refused to commit to accepting the 2024 election results, insinuating that something may very well go wrong.

“These hypothetical questions that keep coming up imply that somehow that every one of our 3,100 counties in America that everything is going to go perfectly,” Burgum told Meet The Press’s Kristen Welker.

“I’ve never commented on a bill before it reached my desk I’m not going to comment on an election before it happens,” he added.

Burgum said so long as the election is “free and fair” he would accept the results before criticizing the media for not asking Democrats the same question.

[30 June 2024 17:00 · Ariana Baio]

Lindsey Graham says he’s ‘not worried’ about Trump accepting election results

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham expressed faith that Donald Trump will accept the 2024 presidential election results after the former president refused to state he would not conduct a repeat of the 2020 election.

On CNN Sunday morning, Graham responded to a question about Trump accepting presidential results by diverting the question.

“Yeah,” he told Dana Bash. “I mean what are you supposed to say: ‘Yeah I’ll accept it no matter if I thought it was cheating’”.

“I’m not worried about him accepting the results of the election. I’m worried about between now and November does Iran get a nuclear weapon because they think Joe Biden is so comprised he’s not going to do anything about it.”

[30 June 2024 16:00 · Andrew Feinberg]

I was at the Trump-Biden presidential debate and it became very clear what had gone wrong

Voices: Behind the scenes at the first debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the buzzy atmosphere of the spin room descended into horror-struck silence within the first few minutes of the president opening his mouth. While Trump told bombastic lies in front of us, Biden struggled to recall what were obviously canned responses.

At one point, a former prominent TV commentator got up from their seat and start pacing back and forth, worriedly. Biden aides and surrogates, who had been in constant communication with each of us throughout the day, fell silent, one by one.

Read more from Andrew Feinberg here

[30 June 2024 15:00 · Ariana Baio]

Philadelphia inquirer calls on Trump to drop out of presidential race

The editorial board of The Philadelphia Inquirer has called on Donald Trump to drop out of the 2024 presidential race – one day after The New York Times called on President Joe Biden to drop out.

“President Joe Biden’s debate performance was a disaster. His disjointed responses and dazed look sparked calls for him to drop out of the presidential race,” the editorial board wrote.

“But lost in the hand wringing was Donald Trump’s usual bombastic litany of lies, hyperbole, bigotry, ignorance, and fear mongering. His performance demonstrated once again that he is a danger to democracy and unfit for office.”

The op-ed warned that four more years of Trump would be “more lies, grievance, narcissism, and hate.”

[30 June 2024 14:00 · Ariana Baio]

Watch: Trump claims ‘big victory’ over Biden one day after presidential debate

[30 June 2024 13:00 · Ariana Baio]

Biden tries to reassure donors after poor debate performance

President Joe Biden sought to reassure donors that he is capable of winning the 2024 presidential election and holding office over the weekend after his poor performance in the first debate sent fears through the Democratic Party.

“I didn’t have a great night but neither did Trump,” Biden said on Saturday while meeting with supporters in New York.

“Donald Trump is a genuine threat,” Biden said. “[He] will destroy democracy. I will defend it.”

“I promise you we’re gonna win this election,” Biden said.