1/ Biden told congressional Democrats that he was committed to “running this race to the end” and that it’s time to “end” the pressure on him drop out. Following mounting concern over his poor debate performance, Biden wrote in the two-page letter that “the question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now. And it’s time for it to end,” saying that as a party “We have one job. And that is to beat Donald Trump.” He added that he’s had “extensive conversations” with party leadership, members, and voters over the past 10 days. “Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us,” Biden concluded. “It is time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump.” Biden also made an unscheduled call-in appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and dared Democratic “elites” who’ve called for him to drop out of the race to “challenge [him]” at next month’s Democratic convention in Chicago. “I’m getting frustrated by the elites […] in the party,” he said. “If any of these guys don’t think I should run, run against me. Announce for president […] I am not going anywhere.” And, later in the day, Biden told donors that he’s “done talking about the debate [..] We need to move forward. Look, we have roughly 40 days til the convention, 120 days til the election. We can’t waste any more time being distracted.” Meanwhile, less than 24 hours earlier, four senior Democrats said on a private call with House party leadership that Biden should step aside. (Associated Press / Axios / Politico / NPR / New York Times / Washington Post / ABC News / NBC News / CNN / Bloomberg / Semafor / Wall Street Journal)
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2024/07/08/day-1266/