Disaster in Atlanta.
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Much has happened since our report last week.
More than 100 million Americans watched last Thursday as the most dramatic presidential debate since televised debates began in 1960, played out on live, primetime television.
The debate between President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump marked the first candidate debate to take place in advance of the party conventions. The rules for the debate were set by the Biden campaign. It was hosted by CNN, a network generally thought to be friendly to Biden.
It was a catastrophic night for the president.
The president was unable to hold a train of thought. He frequently looked lost and vacant. His speech was hesitant, halting and at times, barely audible.
Reaction was swift and negative. The New York Times, among others, is calling for Biden to pull out of the race. Democrats are reported to be in a mode close to panic.
FOX New Radio’s Madeleine Rivera filed this report yesterday:
The Biden campaign is having a hard time calming supporters down. They reportedly had an hour long Zoom call with hundreds of Democratic donors on Monday. One participant said no one feels good about this. Another said there are still a lot of unanswered questions. Today, the Biden team is touting their fundraising numbers. They raised $127 million in June, which they say was the campaign’s best month of the cycle. More than $30 million came after the debate, the majority of which they say came from grassroots donations. So, they see this all as a sign of the president’s viability, even if a lot of donors remain unconvinced.”
The White House is gamely trying to turn the page on the debate, dismissing it as simply a bad night. But normally friendly media is not cooperating in that effort, as FOX’s Jacqui Heinrich reports:
A rough first day for officials taking questions from the press corps here. And there’s more to answer to. The New York Times just reported the president’s lapses have recently become more frequent, more worrisome, and that his debate prep was supposed to be two days longer but was cut short for rest. Each day didn’t begin before 11:00 a.m. and included an afternoon nap. And Axios reports that White House staffers are even melting down because they’re getting no explanation to quell their own concerns about Biden’s mental fitness. And senior leadership is operating as business as usual. The White House chief of staff might address that tomorrow in an all-staff call.”
Meanwhile, it has been a very good week for Donald Trump. In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court held that a president is entitled to immunity from prosecution for acts taken under the Constitutional authority of his office. Among other things, the decision has served to cast doubt over the cases now pending against him, and to postpone the sentencing date for his New York felony convictions, a date originally set for next week.
Again we say, we promised you a dramatic election year. Promise made. Promise kept.
