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ELECTIONS

‘I Don’t Think’ Biden Can Serve Second Term, George Stephanopoulos Says after Post-Debate Interview David Zimmerman

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/i-dont-think-biden-can-serve-second-term-george-stephanopoulos-says-after-friday-interview/

The ABC host later said he regretted answering the question.

ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos said Tuesday that he doesn’t believe President Joe Biden can serve a second term, four days after interviewing the incumbent following his worrisome debate performance late last month.

“Do you think Biden should step down?” an anonymous person on the street in Manhattan asked the political commentator in a 20-second video posted Tuesday afternoon by TMZ. “You’ve talked to him more than anybody else has lately.”

“I don’t think he can serve four more years,” Stephanopoulos responded as he walked away. The pedestrian replied: “You don’t think he can serve four more years? All right, that’s an answer.”

Hours after the clip was published, Stephanopoulos said he regretted answering the question.

“Earlier today, I responded to a question from a passerby. I shouldn’t have,” he told TMZ. An ABC spokesperson added, “George expressed his own point of view and not the position of ABC News.”

On Friday, Stephanopoulos conducted a 22-minute post-debate interview with Biden. During the exclusive sit-down, the 81-year-old president failed to allay voters’ concerns about his health and age following the CNN debate on June 27. Biden described his performance that night as a “bad episode” and insisted he has no “serious condition,” but he declined to take an independent cognitive test to prove that claim.

“Look, I have a cognitive test every single day,” Biden told Stephanopoulos. “Every day, I’ve had tests. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, I’m running the world. And that’s not — it sounds like hyperbole, but we are the central nation of the world.”

Why Gavin Newsom Must Never Become U.S. President Newsom is unqualified to be president of the United States for the same reasons he is unfit to be governor of California. By Edward Ring

https://amgreatness.com/2024/07/10/why-gavin-newsom-must-never-become-u-s-president/

As President Biden’s age threatens to derail his reelection campaign, waiting in the wings and trying not to appear too eager is Gavin Newsom. It’s not easy. Wanting to be president with an intensity that might make Gollum’s lust for the One Ring appear prosaic, California’s governor knows that if Biden drops out, he’s the oddsmakers’ favorite.

But there is absolutely nothing Gavin Newsom has ever done that qualifies him to be president of the United States. If Newsom becomes the next U.S. president, he will accelerate a process that is already well underway and must be stopped at all costs: turning all of America into California.

There are glaring examples of California’s over-the-top embrace of progressive extremism. Identity politics. Race and gender “equity.” Decriminalizing crime and hard drugs. A complete failure to manage the state’s homeless, much less help them. An obsession with climate change that has inspired laws that reach into virtually every facet of life. Shortages of energy, water, and housing. And prices for goods and services so punitive that millions have fled.

Under Gavin Newsom’s watch, the state is devolving into feudalism: a massive underclass that can’t survive without government assistance, supervised by an elite minority that will retain political power by continuing to dole out that assistance. The formula is simple: make life progressively more difficult for ordinary Californians, tell them their travails are the result of bigotry and climate change, then secure their votes by offering them more government benefits.

And herein lies Newsom’s biggest crime, one shared by the progressive elites that run California and intend to take over the world. It is the biggest lie of modern progressivism—the corrupt foundation of their power. Newsom and his ilk are telling California’s middle class that what they have attained is socially unjust and ecologically unsustainable. They tell us that the ideals of equity and environmentalism compel us to live in high-density, low-impact housing, utilize shared transportation, and limit our consumption of anything that elevates our “carbon footprint.” And they are telling us that our taxes must be utilized to offer these same limited amenities to anyone who is “underserved,” “historically disadvantaged,” “unhoused,” or in any way a victim of “systemic discrimination.”

House Dems launch united effort against election bill requiring voters prove citizenship ‘Democrats are urged to VOTE NO on H.R. 8281,’ a whip question states By Emma Colton

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-dems-launch-united-effort-against-election-bill-requiring-voters-prove-citizenship

House Democrats launched a united effort to vote against a Republican-backed election bill that would require voters provide proof of citizenship to cast ballots in federal elections. 

Republicans are pushing the passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, otherwise known as the SAVE Act, which would amend the National Voter Registration Act, and require states to obtain proof of citizenship from voters for federal elections, as well as purge noncitizens from voter rolls. 

Democratic leadership is urging its House members to vote against the bill in the lead-up to the vote, saying it would place “an extreme burden [on] countless Americans” in order to vote. 

“As we’ve seen a number of times this Congress, House Republicans continue to irresponsibly call into question the credibility of our elections. Despite numerous recounts, challenges in court, and deep-dives by conservative think-tanks, there has been zero evidence of the widespread fraud that this bill purports to target. It is already illegal under current law for noncitizens to register to vote or to vote in federal elections,” the office of House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., wrote in a “whip question,” Axios first reported. The whip vote rounds up this coming weeks’ votes and outlines guidance regarding how Democratic House members should vote. 

The Diminishing Likelihood of a Fair Election Brian T. Kennedy

https://americanmind.org/salvo/the-diminishing-likelihood-of-a-fair-election/

It is not the purpose of this essay to discourage anyone from participating in the 2024 election. Quite the opposite. Its purpose is to encourage unprecedented numbers of citizens and their elected representatives to work together to ensure that the election will be fair and free from, among other things, interference by foreign governments and their intelligence agencies.

At no time during the Cold War with the Soviet Union was it imagined that the Russians could manipulate a United States presidential election in favor of their preferred candidate. Hollywood’s portrayal of a “Manchurian Candidate” aside, American elections were held in person, using paper ballots, counted by human beings, with other human beings watching them. And, however vicious and corrupt the normal partisan interplay of American politics may have been, this practice insured that a fair enough election could be held. Today that is no longer the case.

Regardless of who the nominees are in 2024, just as in 2020, much of America will hold their elections in the least transparent, most vulnerable method possible: absentee ballots. Because of this, a free and fair election cannot be assured. It matters not that President Trump is ahead in all the polls and in ways that some pollsters believe cannot be overcome. Citizens should expect that, since America is in a war with Communist China, November’s election will be the target of a massive intelligence operation to decide the next president.

It should be noted that America’s election system was not built to stop the Communist Chinese or any nation state, or for that matter any dark money group, with the capacity and the interest in deciding an American presidential election.

The United States is made vulnerable by being the only developed country in the world to allow for this wide-spread use of absentee ballots. Every other advanced democracy conducts their elections in person, with identification shown, on paper ballots counted by large groups of people transparently tallying vote totals with the results available the same day of the election. In states around America, Secretaries of State have allowed or been part of the development of elections systems that would appear to be designed to allow for fraud. So whether not an election is stolen, a free and fair election system has been stolen from the American people. Today we have systems that lacks transparency whether it is the absentee ballot process or the electronic voting systems. That it can be exploited by the Chinese Communist Party should seem obvious.

It was widely underreported that Communist China declared a People’s War against the United States in May of 2019 after the Trump Administration’s efforts to curb their theft of American intellectual property. This so-called People’s War was declared in the pages of the People’s Daily when Communist Party apparatchiks told the Chinese people they would have to make sacrifices to stop the “greed and arrogance” of the Trump Administration. This war between the U.S. and the CCP involves political warfare, information warfare, and psychological warfare. It is war, after all, and as such, there are few rules. Any reasonable assessment of the state of U.S. defenses should include whether such political warfare could include the CCP intervening in the 2024 election. This assessment appears not to have been done. This is critical since this is not merely about the manipulation of search engines or social media platforms. This is about a comprehensive strategy to steal the 2024 election using whatever means necessary.

And, though the level of hostilities between the U.S. and the CCP has not risen to traditional military conflict, we should be clear that the Chinese Communist Party is deadly serious in their intent to destroy the United States. The death of over 70,000 Americans last year because of Chinese-manufactured fentanyl—imported via Biden’s open border with Mexico—means that China’s unrestricted warfare is in full operation and that nothing is beyond the pale of the CCP.

49 States Are Now Supplying ‘Non-Citizens’ With Voter Registration Forms.

https://thenationalpulse.com/2024/06/25/49-states-are-now-supplying-non-citizens-with-voter-registration-forms/

Illegal aliens and other “non-citizens” can receive voter registration forms without needing to show proof of citizenship in at least 49 states. They can use these forms to access welfare benefits and obtain driver’s licenses and mail-in ballots. Only Arizona has passed a law preventing this—but it applies only to state forms, not federal ones.

The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993 mandates that states facilitate voter registration at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and welfare offices. These agencies must provide voter registration forms alongside application papers. Without a federal law requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration forms, migrants can simply claim to be U.S. citizens to register to vote, easily bypassing the official ban on non-citizens voting.

The House Administration Committee has approved the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act to combat this. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) also emphasizes the need for increased enforcement measures. However, with foreign aid and spending bills desired by the Democrat-controlled Senate and the White House already passed, the GOP has little chance of compelling them to pass new election integrity bills.

Gradually, then suddenly: The sad story of Joe Biden’s decline His apparent decision to stay in the race is a national tragedy and a palpable danger Charles Lipson

https://thespectator.com/politics/slowly-then-suddenly-sad-story-biden-decline/

“How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked. “Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.” 

Those were Hemingway’s words in 1926’s The Sun Also Rises.  

A century later, they apply to Joe Biden, not financially but politically. For him, the sun is not rising. It’s setting.  

“Gradually and then suddenly” is the story of Joe Biden’s physical and cognitive decline. “Gradually and then suddenly” is how his army of enablers in the media, the Democratic Party and the donor base abandoned his defense. “Gradually and then suddenly” is how he gifted his party and his country with a full-scale political crisis, centered on a president who no longer appears fit for office and whose vice president (and presumptive successor) is widely disliked. 

Years ago, Ronald Reagan wrote, elegiacally, that the sun was setting on his life. But by then, he was a former president, living in retirement on his ranch. He was not occupying the Oval Office, holding down the most powerful and demanding job on earth. 

Joe Biden is. The public no longer thinks he is fit to do that job. They reached that firm conclusion after watching the debate Thursday night and then hearing nothing from Biden’s allies to convince them otherwise. Whatever voters think of Biden’s performance for the last three-plus years, they simply don’t think he can continue. They are certain he won’t last another term and wonder if he will make it to the end of this one. They didn’t vote for the country to be governed by his staff. 

That situation is a tragedy for Joe and his family and a source of anguish for his friends. He deserves our sympathy. But what doesn’t deserve sympathy is Joe’s decision, backed by his family and close associates, that he should stay in the race and remain on the job. 

That decision affects all Americans. We depend on the president to lead the country and keep us safe in a dangerous world. That’s why Joe Biden’s decline goes far beyond a family tragedy. It’s a national tragedy and a palpable danger. 

Biden and the Democrats can’t decide what to blame the disastrous debate on

https://dnyuz.com/2024/07/03/biden-and-the-democrats-cant-decide-what-to-blame-the-disastrous-debate-on/

President Joe Biden has offered a new explanation for his disastrous debate performance — jet lag.

Giving a reason for his incoherent sentences, slurring and vacant expression on the June 27 CNN debate with former President Donald Trump, Biden said that he “nearly fell asleep on stage.”

Speaking to donors at a fundraising event in Virginia on Tuesday, he added that he “wasn’t very smart” about his use of time before the debate. “I decided to travel around the world a couple times, going through around 100 time zones,” Biden said.

He added: “It’s not an excuse but an explanation.”

Other reasons for his poor performance

The jet lag explanation, however, deviates from the one his own campaign put out days ago.

The Biden campaign source said that he was suffering from a cold during the debate. That Biden had a cold going into the big night, The Wall Street Journal reported, which did explain his hoarse voice and coughing.

But post-debate, Biden critics and supporters alike have been speculating on whether his advanced age might kill the Democratic ticket’s chances of winning in 2024.

And on that front, the Biden camp has been willing to admit the obvious — the president is old.

When asked at a White House press conference whether “Biden’s cognitive decline” was “an episode or a condition,” his press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that he was not a young man and “he’s a little slower than he used to be.”

Biden, Trump Knotted In July Poll, But Debate Disaster Could Lead To Big Shift: I&I/TIPP Poll

https://issuesinsights.com/2024/07/03/biden-trump-knotted-in-july-poll-but-debate-disaster-could-lead-to-big-shift-ii-tipp-poll/

Following President Joe Biden’s abysmal performance in the June 27 debate with former President Donald Trump, you might think he would suffer a crash in his support for re-election. Even the media describe the Democratic Party’s response to Biden’s poor showing as “panic.” Will voters abandon Biden? They haven’t yet, the latest I&I/TIPP Poll shows, but signs of trouble loom.

The national online I&I/TIPP Poll, answered by 1,244 registered voters from June 26-28, includes last Thursday’s debate night. So the final day of the poll reflects that information. Did it have an impact?

Anatomy of a Biden Disaster Who really is running America? by Victor Davis Hanson

https://www.frontpagemag.com/anatomy-of-a-biden-disaster/

There really was not a debate last Thursday night, merely a one-sided slugfest. The arguments over the issues, such as they were, were over in 30 minutes. The rest was unnecessary. In bullfighting terms, the end-stage tercio de muerte lasted an entire hour.

The back-and-forth invective was overshadowed by Biden thrashing about and the accompanying optics of a near comatose President of the United States.

One candidate was animated and alive; the other cognitively inert, despite apparently more than a week of rest and preparation and perhaps medications. No one believes Biden had a “cold,” given he seemed like the real Biden we’ve all seen over the last four years. He did not ever come out with a wild screaming fit as in his State of the Union address or the creepy Phantom of the Opera semi-fascist rant.

So, Biden was hoarse and almost impossible to understand. He slurred his words; his sentences were jumbled. Sometimes Biden closed his eyes during a brain freeze. Some of his repartee was unworldly, like beating Medicare or women raped by family members (including “sisters”?)

Most of the time, he simply looked down (were they notes?) for talking points, and then recited his prepped and formulaic canned replies, one … two … three….

Of course, some have pointed out that Trump could have been more detailed in his answers in the fashion De Santis dissected Newsom, but he was still vigorous—no notes, ad hoc, and did what he had to do in comparing his successful record to Biden’s failures. Trump stayed calm as Biden’s prepared slurs trailed off into never-never land.

Again, it took Trump about 10 minutes to explain his record on inflation, the border, taxes, foreign policy, and abortion.

And after that it was the story of an 82-year-old man forced to stand for an hour-and-a-half and in muddled efforts to remember all the things he was told to say and to follow the prompts on the rostrum.

No auditory illusions about it : Ruthie Blum

https://www.jns.org/no-auditory-illusions-about-it/

The debate on Thursday evening between U.S. President Joe Biden and predecessor Donald Trump is a gift that keeps on giving. Every syllable spoken by the two presumptive nominees continues to be the focus of both serious and comedic discourse.

Only a handful of desperate straw-graspers are rejecting the consensus opinion that the incumbent’s performance revealed an unacceptable level of age-related brain fog. Even those of his ardent supporters in the media who’ve been telling us not to believe our lying eyes realized that the jig was up.

Fearing electoral defeat in November, especially to Trump, they instantly altered the narrative to one of sadness about the inescapable conclusion that Joe must go. Barack Obama’s feeble attempt at obfuscating the disaster—by posting on X, “Bad debate nights happen”—hasn’t made a dent in the Democrats’ scramble to persuade Biden to back out of the race and settle on a replacement.

And with good reason, from their standpoint. Indeed, Biden didn’t merely have a “bad debate night.” His whatever-stage dementia was on full display.

First Lady “Dr. Jill” hit home this reality particularly hard when, post-fiasco, she cheered in nursery-school-teacher singsong to her husband: “You answered every question! You knew all the facts!”

Cringeworthy doesn’t begin to describe the scene. Nor does it do justice to the entire exchange between the two senior citizens, one a few years younger than the other, but with all his faculties, as farcical as they often seem.