Biden continues to fall behind Trump in polls as he admits he ‘screwed up’ debate: Live

Democrat concedes he had ‘a bad night’ on stage in Atlanta as Republican rival sneers at possibility of Kamala Harris succeeding him

White House says Biden 'staying in the race' for re-election

Joe Biden has conceded he “screwed up” at last week’s disastrous CNN presidential debate against Donald Trump in Atlanta, Georgia, as pressure on him to step aside continues to mount amid a deluge of worrying polling, particularly related to key battleground states.

“I had a bad night,” the president told a Wisconsin radio host on Thursday.

“And the fact of the matter is that I screwed up. I made a mistake. That’s 90 minutes on stage, look at what I’ve done in three-and-a-half years.”

On Wednesday, Biden hotly denied he was dropping out and met with Democratic governors to reassure them about his readiness for the fight.

Meanwhile, a gloating Trump has posted a video to Truth Social in which he is seen falsely claiming that the embattled president has already quit the race for the White House, referring to him as “broken down pile of c***” and ridiculing his vice president Kamala Harris as “pathetic”.

The Republican presidential candidate has largely resisted the lure of the limelight in recent days, preferring to allow the crisis engulfing the Democrats over Biden’s health and fitness to serve another term to play out naturally.

Key Points

• Biden admits he ‘screwed up’ in first Trump debate
• Trump falsely claims ‘broken down’ Biden is quitting White House race and derides ‘pathetic’ Harris
• Biden insists ‘I’m not leaving’ as allies prepare for campaign end
• White House staffers preparing to move Kamala to the top of the ticket: ‘It’s a case of when, not if’
• Michelle Obama is the only Democrat who can beat Trump, new poll finds

[4 July 2024 17:30 · Joe Sommerlad]

‘If you raise problems in parts of Bidenworld, it can be deemed disloyal’

Here’s an interesting insight into the ongoing West Wing psychodrama from CNN’s pundits this morning.

[4 July 2024 17:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

McCarthy complains Biden offered him cookies

Kevin McCarthy, the former Republican House speaker – ousted by his own side, lest we forget – was busy telling Fox News yesterday he found it “depressing” whenever the president of the United States offered him cookies in the White House, a weird remark that attracted a number of withering responses of which the following was unquestionably the most devastating.

[4 July 2024 16:40 · Joe Sommerlad]

‘Mr Gorbachev, tear down this coconut tree!’ Kamala memes explode amid Biden anxiety

Alex Woodward surveys a resurgent “KHive”, the irony-poisoned jokers and exhausted voters who are only semi-ironically calling for a President Harris to take the stage before it’s too late.

Confused? Just remember you exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.

Or, you know, just watch this joyous thread.

[4 July 2024 16:20 · Joe Sommerlad]

GoFundMe for Stormy Daniels tops $800k as she reveals threats over Trump conviction

A GoFundMe campaign for Stormy Daniels has raised more than $800,000 in the eight days since it launched in order to help the adult film star deal with the fallout of speaking out against Donald Trump.

Daniels – real name Stephanie Clifford – was the star witness at the Republican presidential candidate’s hush money trial this spring, which ended with Trump being convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in order to hide a $130,000 payment to silence her in the days before the 2016 election about an alleged sexual encounter in 2006.

Trump is set to be sentenced by Judge Juan Merchan on September 18, after he was granted a delay as he seeks to overturn his conviction in in light of the Supreme Court’s recent immunity ruling.

In a new interview on MSNBC this week, Daniels revealed she has received numerous threats from Trump supporters since testifying against him in the Manhattan trial, including on Facebook “from people in my own community” and from strangers warning “they were going to rape everybody in my family, including my young daughter, before they killed them”.

“Trump is trying to make, I believe, trying to make an example out of me,” she told Rachel Maddow.

Here’s our report.

[4 July 2024 16:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

Jill Biden is still Joe’s biggest supporter – and she’s ‘all in’ for him staying in the race

The 73-year-old Dr Jill has publicly painted a rosy picture of her husband’s performance in the debate, at odds with almost everyone else’s version of events.

“Joe you did such a great job,” she proclaimed in its immediate aftermath last Thursday, before adding: “You answered every question!”

In the days since, she has remained steadfast – both in public and in private – in her belief that he should remain in the race.

“[We] will not let those 90 minutes define the four years he’s been president,” Dr Biden told Vogue earlier this week.

Here’s James Liddell again with a look at the first lady’s role in this whole mess.

[4 July 2024 15:40 · Joe Sommerlad]

Biden tells Democrats he had a medical check-up after disastrous debate as he tries to keep party on side

Here’s a little more on a line I mentioned earlier from the president’s call with governors – his revelation that he had a medical exam in the aftermath of last week’s events in Georgia and was given the all-clear.

James Liddell has this report.

[4 July 2024 15:20 · Joe Sommerlad]

Truth Social: Trump celebrates Independence Day by posting four-year-old clip of Mount Rushmore speech

Who’s up for some pandemic nostalgia? No, me neither.

Although perhaps the above is preferable to what he posted earlier, a nasty video of a robbery on a train (in which two of the assailants are wearing red baseball caps) accompanied by a declaration that: “Biden Migrant Crime gets bloodier by the day.”

You can see that one here if you must.

[4 July 2024 15:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

Noem says Americans can’t relate to Harris

Conservatives seem to absolutely despise “cackling” Kamala Harris but if there’s one person who should probably keep quiet about being “relatable”, it’s South Dakota governor Kristi Noem, who assumed that telling the world she had murdered her dog would be a guaranteed vote-winner.

[4 July 2024 14:30 · Joe Sommerlad]

How would replacing Biden actually work?

Although the president’s campaign insists he is “absolutely not dropping out”, here is Eric Garcia with a look at the mechanics of replacing him at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket, just in case.

[4 July 2024 14:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

DNC committee member proposes alternative way to replace Biden

James Zogby, a former adviser to Jesse Jackson and Bernie Sanders, has proposed a plan to have an open contest for the Democratic presidential nomination after the incumbent’s disastrous appearance in the first debate last week, writes Eric Garcia.