Though President Biden didn’t completely fail in his highly anticipated post-NATO Summit news conference last night, as he did during his debate with former President Donald Trump, he didn’t do what he needed to do.
Although he seemed to be in command of basic facts about foreign policy, two big gaffes immediately raised concerns. He confused Ukrainian strongman Volodymyr Zelensky with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Vice President Kamala Harris with Trump.
More Democrats have now called for him to quit the race, and moneybags donating to the top Biden super PAC have vowed to withhold almost $100 million in contributions if he doesn’t drop out.
Super PAC Trouble
The New York Times reported about the defecting donors today. They promise to not contribute $90 million to Future Forward, the premier Biden super PAC.
“The frozen contributions include multiple eight-figure commitments, according to [sources] who spoke on the condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation,” the Times reported.
As well, “The cash freeze comes as some advisers around Mr. Biden are discussing how to persuade the president to exit the race, and as his campaign has begun to test Vice President Kamala Harris in head-to-head surveys of voters against former President Donald J. Trump”:
The number of congressional Democrats calling for Mr. Biden to step aside is growing by the day.
The potential shortfall in super PAC cash comes as the campaign itself is bracing for a rough July fund-raising period as major donors question Mr. Biden’s viability to win in November.
But those renegade Democratic donors aren’t Biden’s only problems.
More Democrats Worry
Three more Democratic congressmen defected and said Biden had to quit.
“All I can do is look at the numbers right now — no president has ever won with a 37% approval rating. Look at the swing states, because this is a race that is decided in five or six states,” Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut told CNN. “Imagine that three months from now, we get another performance like there was in the debate, right before the election. Do you want to take that risk now? I don’t.”
Continued Himes:
This needs to be resolved in the next five to seven days, because we just went 10 days where the story was not Donald Trump promising totalitarianism. It was, “How is Joe Biden going to do in the Big Boy press conference?”
In another statement, the Times reported, Himes said “the 2024 election will define the future of American democracy, and we must put forth the strongest candidate possible to confront the threat posed by Trump’s promised MAGA authoritarianism. I no longer believe that is Joe Biden.”
Also calling on Biden to drop out of the race were Scott Peters of California and Eric Sorenson of Illinois.
Neither those Cassandras of the Left nor the defecting donors could dissuade others that Biden is the man to oppose Trump.
“Honestly, could the other guy have done any of that?” Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, one of Mr. Biden’s closest allies on Capitol Hill, said of Mr. Trump in an interview. “Anyone concerned about his ability to lead and govern should be reassured.”
Biden’s Flubs
Despite his seeming command of basic facts, Biden lapsed into two “senior moments” strongly indicative of his profound cognitive decline.
As the NATO Summit closed, he confused Putin and Zelensky, who are nothing alike. Every time Zelensky shows up in Washington, D.C., he walks off with billions of dollars from American taxpayers to subsidize his losing war.
Even worse though, he confused Trump and Harris, who rose to political prominence after serving in several unique positions under former California House Speaker Willie Brown.
Asked whether he was confident that his giggling veep could handle the top job, Biden garbled his reply thusly:
Look, I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president did I think she was not qualified to be president. So, let’s start there. Number one.
The fact is that — the consideration is that I think I’m the most qualified person to run for president. I beat him once, and I will beat him again.
The two flubs alarmed one top Democratic pollster, ABC News reported.
“This was even worse than I thought it would be,” the anonymous pollster told the network. “It was over the moment he said, ‘Vice President Trump.’”
“I don’t think he can withstand what is coming,” the pollster added.
Biden Won’t Quit
As for dropping out of the race, Biden again dug in his heels.
“If your team came back and showed you data that she would fare better against former President Donald Trump, would you reconsider your decision to stay in the race?” a reporter asked.
No, unless they came back and said, “There’s no way you can win.” Me. No one is saying that. No poll says that.
Biden also dismissed a challenge at the forthcoming Democratic National Convention. “It’s not going to happen,” he said.
Biden erred on two counts.
Biden claimed that Trump said he would “eliminate” the civil service. In reality, Trump said he will purge it.
Biden correctly claimed that Trump wants to eliminate the Department of Education. However, he then added, “We’ve never been here before.”
That is false. President Reagan promised to kill the department, President Jimmy Carter’s payola to the National Education Association for endorsing him. Reagan didn’t follow through.
