Trump hush money sentencing delayed after Supreme Court gives ex-president substantial immunity: Live

Twice-impeached convicted felon and Republican presidential candidate handed huge win by conservative-majority bench

President Joe Biden addresses the nation after the Supreme Court’s ruling

Donald Trump’s request to delay sentencing in his hush money trial has been granted after the Supreme Court ruled that the former president has “absolute” immunity from criminal prosecution for “official” acts as president.

Sentencing is now set for September 18.

Joe Biden slammed the Supreme Court ruling during an address to the nation from the White House on Monday evening, saying it set a “dangerous precedent”.

The 6-3 majority decision was opposed by all three liberal justices on the bench, with Sonia Sotomayor warning in her dissent: “The president is now a king above the law.”

Biden is still struggling to calm Democrats following his disastrous debate performance last week amid concerns within the party about his electability and impact on down-ballot candidates.

New polling paints a dire picture, showing Biden down as much as 10 per cent in key swing states that he won in 2020 with 75 per cent of registered voters saying the party would do better without him on the ticket.

Potential replacements for the president — Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, Gretchen Whitmer, and Gavin Newsom — poll markedly better. There is no indication Biden will withdraw.

Key Points

• Trump’s hush money sentencing delayed to September
• New poll: Most voters think Democratic Party has better 2024 chance without Biden
• Supreme Court awards Donald Trump some immunity from prosecution
• Dissenting liberal justice: ‘The president is now a king above the law’
• Congressman promises constitutional amendment to ‘reverse’ immunity ruling
• Joe Biden had a rigor mortis-like freeze a year ago, Watergate's Carl Bernstein says

[2 July 2024 22:15 · Oliver O'Connell]

New poll: Most voters think Democratic Party has better 2024 chance without Biden

A new CNN/SSRS poll shows that most US voters believe the Democratic Party would have a better chance of holding on to the presidency in 2024 without President Joe Biden at the top of the ticket.

In the first poll conducted by the network since Biden’s disastrous debate performance, the president’s approval rating also hit a new low of 36 per cent, with 45 per cent saying they strongly disapprove of his performance.

Voters nationwide prefer Donald Trump over Biden 49 per cent to 43 per cent — though this has not changed since the last poll in April.

Kamala Harris fares better against Trump in a head-to-head match-up with the former president getting the support of 47 per cent of registered voters to the vice president’s 45 per cent. Harris has stronger support among women and independents than Biden does according to the poll.

Other Democrats mentioned as possible replacements for Biden have similar levels of support to the president with Trump leading. These include California Governor Gavin Newsom (48:43 per cent), Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (47:43 per cent), and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (47:42 per cent).

Most Democrats and Democratic-leaning registered voters (56 per cent) say the party has a better shot at the presidency with someone other than Biden, while 43 per cent say the party stands a better chance with him.

When all registered voters are considered, 75 per cent think the party would do better without Biden atop the ticket.

[2 July 2024 22:08 · Oliver O'Connell]

White House denies Biden has ‘any form of dementia’

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday said President Biden does not have Alzheimer’s, a form of dementia, or another degenerative illness that would explain his rambling, meandering performance during last week’s presidential debate against former president Donald Trump.

Jean-Pierre was asked directly by The Independent if Biden’s reported lapses in memory and struggles during public events was the result of such an illness during the daily White House press briefing, the first since Biden turned in a shockingly dismal performance in his first face-to-face meeting with Trump since they last debated during the 2020 election.

Andrew Feinberg reports.

[2 July 2024 21:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

Freedom Caucus chair ousted by Trump-backed challenger in revenge for DeSantis support

Donald Trump has taken his revenge against the chair of the House Freedom Caucus in a primary that proves his endorsement is still a kingmaker within the Republican Party.

The race in Virginia’s 5th district was called around on Tuesday afternoon, with all 24 localities reporting. Bob Good, who has chaired the House’s most conservative caucus since January, became a target of the former president’s ire when he endorsed Trump’s primary challenger Ron DeSantis in May of 2023.

Virginia’s Department of Elections declared that McGuire won the primary with 31,209 votes compared to Good’s 31,583, creating a margin of 374 votes.

John Bowden reports.

[2 July 2024 21:30 · Oliver O'Connell]

Trump claims total exoneration after Supreme Court immunity ruling

Donald Trump is still celebrating the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling and the move of his hush money sentencing to September.

He wrote on Truth Social this afternoon:

TOTAL EXONERATION! It is clear that the Supreme Court’s Brilliantly Written and Historic Decision ENDS all of Crooked Joe Biden’s Witch Hunts against me, including the WHITE HOUSE AND DOJ INSPIRED CIVIL HOAXES in New York. All of these Unfair Charges represent the WORST level of Election Interference ever seen in our Country’s long and storied History. It must be understood, that I was Totally and Completely Innocent from the beginning of this Giant and Highly Illegal Scam, long before the Supreme Court’s Decision was released. The impact of the Immunity Ruling is a loud and clear signal for Justice in the United States. I AM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!

[2 July 2024 21:20 · Oliver O'Connell]

Democratic governors demand meeting with White House over Biden’s disastrous debate

A group of Democratic governors has demanded a meeting at the White House to get reassurances from Joe Biden and advisers in the wake of his disastrous first debate.

The group, which contains some of Joe Biden’s most ardent supporters and some potential successors, has been startled by their lack of contact with the president following the debacle, according to The New York Times.

Biden, 81, received stinging criticism after he stumbled through the first televised debate of the 2024 election against Republican rival Donald Trump.

Mike Bedigan reports.

[2 July 2024 21:10 · Oliver O'Connell]

Democrat congressman says Trump will win election

Democratic congressman Jared Golden of Maine is distancing himself from Joe Biden in an op-ed in the Bangor Daily News.

He writes that Biden's debate performance “didn’t rattle me as it has others, because the outcome of this election has been clear to me for months: While I don’t plan to vote for him, Donald Trump is going to win. And I’m OK with that.”

“There are winners and losers in every election. Democrats’ post-debate hand-wringing is based on the idea that a Trump victory is not just a political loss, but a unique threat to our democracy. I reject the premise. Unlike Biden and many others, I refuse to participate in a campaign to scare voters with the idea that Trump will end our democratic system.”

Golden argues that the election is about the economy, not democracy, and “when it comes to our economy, our Congress matters far more than who occupies the White House”.

[2 July 2024 21:06 · Oliver O'Connell]

White House chief of staff to hold all-staff call

White House chief of staff Jeff Zients is holding an all-staff call tomorrow at 12.30pm, per an email that just went out, Tyler Page of The Washington Post reports.

It is expected that the call will be to try and quell reported concerns among West Wing staff about Joe Biden’s debate performance and the response and, per Axios, “a lack of candor from Biden’s senior aides”.

"It's the first topic of every conversation," one White House official said. "Senior leadership has given us nothing. To act like it's business as usual is delusional."

Another official put it more bluntly: "Everyone is freaking the f*** out."

"The uncertainty after Thursday is palpable and anxiety is only increasing," a third White House official told Axios.

[2 July 2024 21:00 · Oliver O'Connell]

Down-ballot Democrats hit by BIden debate woes

Eric Garcia writes:

Senator Bob Casey is one of President Joe Biden’s oldest friends in politics. The two were neighbors when the Bidens lived in Scranton and Biden knew his father Bob Casey Sr, the governor of Pennsylvania. Indeed, the president calls the younger Casey “Bobby.”

Now David McCormick, the Republican challenging the longtime Democratic senator for the seat he’s held since 2007, has begun to hit Casey for his close ties to Biden. Specifically, the McCormick campaign hopes to capitalize off of Biden’s poor performance at the debate in Atlanta.

McCormick’s latest ad highlights Biden’s disastrous debate performance on Thursday and contrasts it with previous statements by Casey saying there was “no question” that Biden was prepared for a second term in the presidency.

The attacks are not just reserved for Casey. The National Republican Congressional Committee is circling around endangered incumbent Democrats, asking them about Biden and whether they think he is fit for office.

Continue reading...

[2 July 2024 20:53 · Oliver O'Connell]

Watch: White House quizzed on Biden’s mental acuity and whether he has degenerative condition

[2 July 2024 20:40 · Oliver O'Connell]

How have Biden’s potential replacements responded to post-debate rumors?

President Joe Biden’s debate performance on Thursday sent Democrats into a tailspin.

The 81-year-old president’s raspy voice, trailing thoughts, and nonsensical statements launched immediate speculation about whether he could — and should — be replaced at the top of the ticket. On Tuesday, Texas Democrat Lloyd Doggett became the first sitting lawmaker to publicly urge Biden to drop out of the race, saying that he did not come to that decision “lightly.”

But while the Democratic Party has an abundance of young talent, any ambitious politician who comes forward to say Biden should step aside immediately risks ostracization. That may be why, for the time being, only a single sitting Democrat has spoken out about replacing the president at the top of the ticket.

Eric Garcia looks at what they’ve been saying instead.