NationalWatch

With growing calls from some Democrats for President Biden to step aside in favor of a different presidential candidate in the wake of his presidential debate performance last week, it has raised the possibility of a President Kamala Harris – raising questions about how she would handle the ongoing border crisis.

Many Democrats and liberal media figures were left shaken by President Biden’s performance at last week’s debate, during which he stumbled over his words and sounded tired. It has fueled discussion about whether he should step down in favor of another candidate. Should he resign as president, Harris as vice president would be the automatic successor. If he were to finish his term, but did not wish to serve a second, then the DNC would elect a new nominee for the presidential election. Harris would likely be one of the top candidates in that scenario.

Whoever took over from Biden would immediately be thrust into the role of dealing with the ongoing crisis at the southern border, which has seen a record number of encounters since Biden took office. Numbers have dropped in recent months, but it is unclear to what extent that will continue over the typically busy summer months. 

BIDEN VOWS TO KEEP WHITE HOUSE, UNDETERRED BY DEMOCRATIC PANIC AFTER DEBATE DISASTER

US Vice President Kamala Harris has been going around the country on her Economic Opportunity Tour. (Leigh Vogel/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Vice President Harris would in many ways be a voice of continuity for the current practices of what officials call the Biden-Harris administration. Like President Biden, she has supported the rolling back of Trump-era border policies and has called for a sweeping immigration bill that the administration introduced on day one. That bill not only includes significant reforms and funding measures, but would also provide a pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants already in the U.S.

“Our immigration system has been broken for decades. That is why President Biden and I have spent the last three years putting forward solutions to fix it and address the root causes of migration,” she said in a statement in February.

Similarly, Harris has backed the bipartisan Senate package which Biden has also supported but has failed to pass the Senate. Like Biden, she has also blamed the failure of that bill to pass the chamber on former President Donald Trump.

“Then, of course, we know that there was bipartisan work that happened, including involving some of the most conservative members of the United States Senate.  A deal was reached, and they got a call from Donald Trump, who said, ‘Don’t put it for a vote.’ Because Donald Trump would prefer to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem,” she said last month.

Harris has also taken the lead on some policy matters. She was tasked in 2021 with leading with leading the diplomatic outreach to tackle the “root causes” of migration in the Northern Triangle countries.

The administration had leaned firmly into the root-causes narrative in early 2021, claiming that those causes – which include climate change, violence, poverty and economic insecurity – were driving migration to the U.S. border. Its answer, therefore, was to engage with governments and to invest in targeting those causes, eventually bringing migration down. 

TRUMP MAKES CASE FOR RETURN TO ‘REMAIN IN MEXICO’ TO SOLVE HISTORIC BORDER CRISIS 

June 6, 2024: Migrants line up at the southern border in San Diego. (Fox News)

The assignment quickly led to Harris being dubbed the “border czar” – a title the White House rejected, stressing instead that it was more to do with international engagement. She would go on to visit the border in El Paso in June 2021 after facing pressure to do so.

In that mission, she has seen some success. The project to rally private-sector investment to the region via a call to action has seen more than $5.2 billion committed since May 2021 from over 50 companies and organizations.  Additionally, while it is unclear the extent to which investment has played a role, the numbers of encounters from those three countries has fallen from over 700,000 in FY 21 to over 330,000 so far as of May, with four months left to go.

Harris’ 2019 presidential campaign suggests that, should she become president, she may attempt a more aggressive use of executive action when it comes to granting protection to some illegal immigrants. 

In her campaign platform, Harris promised to expand the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) by executive order – which gives protection to illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as minors. She said she would eliminate age requirements on applications, and use parole authority to create a “parole in place” program to put those illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship. Her campaign estimated that the executive actions would result in more than 2 million “Dreamers” being given a pathway to citizenship.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

Also by executive order, she promised to shield illegal immigrant parents of American citizens and green card holders from deportation. Overall her plan was predicted to protect over 6 million illegal immigrants from deportation.

The parole in place authority was recently used by President Biden to protect some spouses of American citizens from deportation. In a statement on that action, Harris said it was something she supported — but added that more, including a citizenship pathway for illegal immigrants, still needed to be accomplished.

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“While today’s actions are a significant step forward, there is more work to be done to fix our broken immigration system. That includes the need for a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. President Biden and I continue to call on the United States Congress to join us in acting by passing permanent protections for Dreamers,” she said.

Donors supporting President Biden’s re-election bid reportedly are now backing a “Plan B” and are describing the situation as “Armageddon” following the 81-year-old’s widely panned debate performance against former President Trump last week. 

The development comes as Biden’s campaign announced that it has raised $264 million over the last three months, including at least $27 million since last Thursday’s debate. But behind the scenes, donors are spooked over the way Biden handled himself onstage, reports say. 

“Unless he shakes up the campaign and shows leadership, it’s going to be a really, really tough time with money,” said one Democrat, identified by The Washington Post as a top fundraiser. 

The source added that “it’s Armageddon” now among Biden donors and “people have got to see changes.” 

DEMOCRAT DONORS PRESS CAMPAIGN ON BIDEN’S HEALTH, STAMINA IN PRIVATE CALLS: REPORT 

President Joe Biden speaks in the Cross Hall of the White House on Monday, July 1. (AP/Jacquelyn Martin)

The newspaper reports that another major supporter who has given to Biden created a Google Docs poll following the debate to question other donors about where they stand. 

That person said of the 65 donors who responded, around 74% supported the option of “we need a Plan B” — which includes consideration of new Democratic presidential and vice-presidential candidates – while 15% said they stood behind Biden and 11% were undecided, according to The Washington Post. 

BIDEN DONORS ‘FREAKED OUT’ BY HIS RELIANCE ON TELEPROMPTERS AT PRIVATE FUNDRAISERS 

President Biden and former President Trump debated on Thursday night.  (Getty Images)

John Morgan, another top Democratic donor, told Politico that the “whole planning [and] preparation” that Biden had received for the debate was “political malpractice,” specifically blaming senior adviser Anita Dunn, former chief of staff Ron Klain and Dunn’s husband, Bob Bauer, who is Biden’s personal lawyer. 

“I think he has a misplaced trust in these three people, and I believe he has from the inception,” Morgan told Politico, while a Democratic strategist from a battleground state added that “The number of people who have access to the president has gotten smaller and smaller and smaller” and “They’ve been digging deeper into the bunker for months now.” 

Democratic donor Whitney Tilson, a former hedge fund manager, also told The New York Times that he received a scathing text from a House Democrat regarding the debate. 

President Biden looks on as he participates in the first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle with former President Trump at CNN’s studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

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“Biden’s debate performance was a catastrophe from which there may be no recovery,” the text reportedly said. 

New York has not favored a Republican presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan’s 1980 and 1984 upsets, but that trend is likely to change, state Republican Party Chair Ed Cox told Fox News Digital in a Monday interview.

President Biden’s tenure is increasingly showing parallels to that of then-President Carter, Cox said, adding that while the Empire State is a blue state, it is truly “blue-collar blue, not West-Side-Manhattan blue.”

In that regard, Cox said, while the state has high-profile pockets of progressive strongholds, New Yorkers overall are “pragmatic” and are truly having déjà vu from the run-up to the last time the state shocked the country on Election Day.

“We have a lot of independents here in New York. And they’re the ones who are going to take a look, and they’re going to say, ‘Are we going to risk [it]?’” Cox said, underlining his belief Trump can win its 28 electoral votes.

OLBERMANN LEADS LIBERAL MELTDOWN AGAINST CNN CALLING TO ‘BURN IT DOWN’ AFTER BIDEN’S DEBATE PERFORMANCE

Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Trump Tower. (AP/Julia Nikhinson)

“New Yorkers take a look at what’s going on in the foreign arena and the weakness of [Biden].”

Cox said he had come to his conclusion prior to Biden’s disastrous debate performance, but added the forum did underline his case.

“It just shows again that Biden is just out of touch with what the American people want, probably because of his infirmities, whatever you want to say. But Carter was out of touch, too, if you take a look at his malaise speech,” Cox said.

“It’s not quite the same, but it still shows they’re out of touch with where the American people are while President Trump is in touch. It leads to other very interesting analogies.”

STATE DEMOCRATIC OFFICIALS RALLY BEHIND BIDEN AS A DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIR SUGGESTS REPUBLICANS PULL TRUMP

Cox noted that Reagan’s “Are you better off than you were four years ago” remark was a game-changer against Carter, drawing a parallel to Trump’s rally reminders of his four-year record and saying that messaging will again resonate in New York.

Cox noted that Hispanic and African-American voting blocs in the state are shifting in Trump’s favor. He said he attended the former president’s recent Bronx rally and saw that assertion personified in the massive crowd at Crotona Park.

In 1980, New Yorkers were feeling the weight of “stagflation” under Carter and a floundering GDP in what was and is the business capital of the world, Cox said. The chair is also the son-in-law of another president from that era: Richard Nixon.

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“It was ‘It’s the economy, stupid’ then, and it’s ‘It’s the economy, stupid’ now,” Cox said.

While former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., came very close by New York standards to defeating Gov. Kathy Hochul, he still fell short. 

Zeldin, too, was buoyed by a tough-on-crime message, while unlike the state’s last Republican governor, George Pataki, he had to prematurely expend resources in a costly primary.

When asked why 2024 would look different from 2020 in that respect, when Biden won New York by double digits, Cox returned to the pragmatism he sees in New Yorkers.

Democrats within New York also tend to support more populist candidates, he said, pointing to how New York Mayor Eric Adams trounced more progressive opponents in his primary before defeating GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa.

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In making the case for Trump’s chances, Cox pointed to the state’s beginnings in present-day New York City:

“Go back to New Amsterdam. Why did people leave the Netherlands to come to the United States? Because Amsterdam was a wide-open city that judged people on their merit. Yeah, they smoked too much, they drank too much, this and that. But by golly, they were an energetic international city where people were judged on their merit,” he said.

“New York inherited that.”

In that way, New Yorkers are likely to judge Trump and Biden on their merits now that they have lived through four years of each, giving the former a better shot, Cox added.

A Republican has not held statewide federal office there since Sen. Al D’Amato preceded Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., in 1998.

Fox News Digital reached out to several New York Democrats for comment, while Hochul’s office could not be immediately reached.

As calls for President Biden to retire have increased in the Democratic Party following Thursday night’s presidential debate against former President Donald Trump, replacing him could prove to be an uphill legal hurdle, albeit one that some political groups are already preparing for. Biden’s troubles come amid a recent series of progressive figures in Congress and the courts who have refused to retire despite pressure from liberal activists.

“The leverage is pretty much all with President Biden,” Mike Howell, executive director of the Heritage Oversight Project – a conservative watchdog group – told Fox News Digital in an interview. 

“It is much more difficult to forcefully replace him than it would be for him to voluntarily withdraw, and so I expect that is the nature of the conversations. I think the only people right now that are fighting to keep President Biden on the ballot are President Biden, Jill Biden and, interestingly enough, me, because we will sue to make sure his name stays on the ballot.”

JILL BIDEN BACKS HUSBAND AFTER BRUTAL DEBATE, TELLS VOGUE ‘WE WILL CONTINUE TO FIGHT’

President Biden speaks during a campaign event at the Martin Luther King Recreation Center in Philadelphia on April 18, 2024. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Howell added it’s “not easy” to fill a replacement for a presidential candidate, which would create a “massive legal and logistical nightmare for the replacement candidate.”

“There are precedents of candidates dying and other state and local races before, but this is unchartered territory, because it’s presidential and so what you have are basically 50 different steps, sets of rules, laws, procedures and political environments that they have to navigate through,” Howell said. “And so ultimately, whatever they do, it will be so fact dependent that certain states will become more important than others.”

And Biden isn’t the first Democrat politician or liberal political figure to disappoint progressives by refusing such calls to retire.

FIRST 2024 TRUMP-BIDEN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: TOP CLASHES OVER ISSUES FROM THE BORDER TO UKRAINE

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in 2020 after 27 years in her role. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

The late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in 2020 after 27 years in her seat. She was 87 years old when she died during President Trump’s term in office. Amy Coney Barrett was nominated and successfully confirmed to replace her on the bench.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., died in September at age 90. Just hours before her death, she cast her last Senate vote. The seat is now one of this election’s hotly contested seats, with Republican candidate and ex-MLB star Steve Garvey and Rep. Adam Schiff vying for the job. 

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., 84, also a former speaker of the House, has faced calls to retire. Instead, Pelosi has doubled down and vowed to seek re-election this year to extend her 36-year House tenure. Pelosi has long been a lightning rod who generates Republican passions and is a boon for conservative fundraising and get-out-the-vote drives.

WATCH: FOX NEWS DIGITAL FOCUS GROUP REACTS TO TRUMP SAYING HIS RETRIBUTION WILL BE SUCCESS

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Drew Angerer/Getty Images/File)

On the other side of the aisle, Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell – the longest serving Senate party leader in history – also faced growing calls from his party to retire last year. McConnell announced he would step down from his leadership position in November. 

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“There’s not a comparison between him and Biden because Republicans called on McConnell to step down, and McConnell is stepping down,” Howell added. “So, that is an apples to oranges thing.”

The president’s mental acuity became the center of political discourse last month after a bombshell Washington Journal report, which the White House dismissed, revealed that many lawmakers on Capitol Hill had questions about Biden’s mental acuity after many said his aging was apparent in private meetings.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Legal experts say it is unlikely that former President Trump will face trial in his Washington election interference case before election day, given the Supreme Court’s new ruling on the issue.

The Court on Monday ruled that Trump and all former presidents enjoy presumptive immunity for “official acts” made while in office. The ruling sends Special Counsel Jack Smith’s indictment back to lower courts, where they will battle over whether Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results were “official acts.”

Jonathan Turley, a law professor and Fox News contributor, says the Supreme Court gave clear instructions to lower courts on how to separate official and private actions.

“The opinion was not the vague remand that some expected. It states clearly that the motivations of a president are not matters for litigation. It also states that presidents are expected to speak to the public on matters of great importance and specifically cited Trump’s Jan. 6th speech. It also said that conversations with executive branch officials like former Vice President Pence are part of official functions, Turley told Fox News Digital.

TRUMP ATTORNEY, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE CLASH ON WHETHER A PRESIDENT WHO ‘ORDERED’ A ‘COUP’ COULD BE PROSECUTED

Legal experts say it is unlikely that former President Trump will face trial in his Washington elections interference case before election day giving the Supreme Court’s new ruling on the issue. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)

“The court’s descriptions of official functions and the penumbra around those functions will heavily impact these cases. Special Counsel Jack Smith has benefited from a highly favorable trial court judge. However, Judge Chutkan is no longer writing on a blank slate. The Court followed the right hook in the Fischer case with an absolute haymaker in the Trump case,” he added.

JUSTICE ALITO QUESTIONS WHETHER PRESIDENTS WILL HAVE TO FEAR ‘BITTER POLITICAL OPPONENT’ THROWING THEM IN JAIL

Still, debate over Trump’s actions following the 2020 election will take time. Attorney and legal commentator John Shu says a trial before Election Day is almost certainly off the table.

Debate over Trump’s actions following the 2020 election will take time. Attorney and legal commentator John Shu says a trial before election day is almost certainly off the table. (Getty Images)

“Logistically, I don’t see how Jack Smith and the DOJ can start either the D.C. or Florida trials against former president Trump before November, let alone finish them by then,” he told Fox, referencing the D.C. election interference case and Florida classified documents case. “Jack Smith has a well-earned reputation of being hyper-aggressive, however, and so it is possible that he and the DOJ now feel pressure to push [Southern District of Florida] Judge Cannon even harder, which will likely backfire on them.”

SCOTUS WEIGHS MONUMENTAL CONSTITUTIONAL FIGHT OVER TRUMP IMMUNITY CLAIM

Turley agreed that the Court’s ruling will likely push Trump’s trial past November, saying Smith may be forced to retrace his steps and create another superseding indictment.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that presidents enjoy presumptive immunity for their official acts taken while in office. (Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States via Getty Images)

“It is unlikely that a trial can occur before the election. There was a halt on pre-trial motions during the appeal. Now the court must also address the Fischer and Trump rulings,” he said. “[D.C. District] Judge Chutkan undermined the case by yielding to Smith and pursuing a rushed calendar. The court found little record to answer these questions. To rush this again would invite a similar result.”

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Trump and his allies in Congress cheered the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision on Monday.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., the No. 3 House GOP leader, said, “The Democrats have proven they will do everything in their power … to destroy [Trump]. Today’s Supreme Court decision is a positive step in the right direction of ending their senseless lawfare.”

Fox News’ Brianna Herlihy contributed to this report

President Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign and the Democratic National Committee combined brought in over a quarter of a billion dollars in fundraising the past three months, Biden’s team announced early Tuesday.

And the campaign, in showcasing the $264 million raked in during the April-June second quarter of 2024 fundraising, noted that it pulled in $127 million in June alone, which it touted was the president’s best month of fundraising since he launched his re-election bid over a year ago.

The announcement comes as the Biden campaign tries to flip the script on a negative narrative coming out of last week’s first debate with former President Trump.

Biden’s June fundraising was up from the roughly $85 million the campaign and the DNC brought in during May. And the campaign spotlighted that their second quarter haul was $75 million more than they brought in during the first three months of the year.

BIDEN TRIES TO FLIP THE SCRIPT ON DISASTROUS NARRATIVE COMING OUT OF FIRST DEBATE

President Joe Biden reacts after speaking at a campaign rally in Raleigh, N.C., Friday, June. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley) (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

They also touted that they had a whopping $240 million cash-on-hand as of the end of June, up from $212 million a month earlier.

A sizable chunk of June’s haul was raked in at a star-studded fundraiser in Los Angeles with former President Obama, Hollywood heavyweights George Clooney and Julia Roberts, and late night TV talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. The campaign said after the event that it set a new Democratic Party fundraising record with a $30 million haul. 

DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION OF BIDEN IN VIRTUAL ROLL CALL COULD COME AS EARLY AS THIS MONTH

The president also brought in over $8 million a few days later at a fundraiser at the Northern Virginia home of former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, where Biden was also joined by former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State and former Sen. Hillary Clinton, who was the Democrats’ 2016 standard-bearer.

But boosting the June fundraising to higher heights was the $33 million the campaign says was raised last Thursday through Saturday, the day of the first presidential debate and the following two days. And the Biden campaign showcased that their single best hour of fundraising this cycle came during the 11pm to midnight eastern hour on Thursday, immediately after the end of the debate with Trump in Atlanta, Georgia.

President Joe Biden (right) and former President Donald Trump participate in their first of two 2024 general election debates, on June 27, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The Biden campaign has been spotlighting its pre- and post-debate fundraising as it aims to alter the brutal conversation coming out of last week’s showdown. This, after the 81-year-old president’s halting delivery and stumbling answers at the debate sparked widespread panic in the Democratic Party and spurred calls from political pundits, editorial writers, and some party politicians and donors, for Biden to step aside as the party’s 2024 nominee.

The campaign also showcased its grassroots appeal, noting that nearly two-thirds of June’s haul came from small-dollar donors and that more than $30 million of the $38 million raised during the final few days of the month came from grassroots contributors.

“Our Q2 fundraising haul is a testament to the committed and growing base of supporters standing firmly behind the President and Vice President and clear evidence that our voters understand the choice in this election between President Biden fighting for the American people and Donald Trump fighting for himself as a convicted felon,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement.

President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden walk off the stage after a campaign event in Raleigh, North Carolina, on June 28, 2024. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

DNC chair Jaime Harrison noted that “grassroots donors across the country are chipping in every day because they know that this election will determine the course of history.”

In announcing their May fundraising figures, the Biden campaign waited until June 20, the final day the presidential campaigns had to file their monthly fundraising figures with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

But when it came to announcing their June and second quarter figures, the Biden campaign wasted no time in showcasing their numbers, announcing them just two days after the fundraising period ended.

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Biden and the DNC enjoyed a large fundraising lead over Trump and the Republican National Committee earlier this year. But Trump and the RNC topped Biden and the DNC in fundraising for the first time in April.

And in May, the Trump campaign and the RNC, fueled in part by a fundraising surge following the former president’s history-making guilty verdicts in his criminal trial, combined hauled in a stunning $141 million, easily besting Biden and the DNC.

Former President Donald Trump walks offstage after giving remarks at a rally at Greenbrier Farms on June 28, 2024, in Chesapeake, Virginia.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The Trump campaign has until later this month to file its fundraising figures with the FEC and has yet to announce its June and second quarter hauls.

Fundraising, along with public opinion polling, is a key metric used to measure the strength of a candidate and their campaign. Money raised can be used to build up grassroots outreach and get-out-the-vote operations, staffing, travel and ads, among other things.

The Biden campaign has been using its funds to build up what appears to be a very formidable ground operation in the key battleground states and announced two weeks ago that they had hired their 1,000th staffer and had opened over 200 coordinated offices in the swing states. The Biden campaign enjoys a large organizational advantage over the Trump campaign when it comes to grassroots outreach and get-out-the-vote ground game efforts in the states that will likely decide the outcome of the election rematch.

“Team Biden-Harris grew its historic war chest while also significantly expanding its footprint and operations both in HQ and across the key states – the resources needed to win a close election,” the campaign highlighted in a release.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

It was just a bad night. You can’t judge a presidency by 90 minutes. It’s the inner circle’s fault for screwing up the debate prep. 

It’s the media’s fault for obsessing on the age issue. It’s the CNN moderators who failed to push back on Donald Trump’s falsehoods. It’s the Democratic Party’s fault for being a bunch of bed-wetters.

The blame-shifting has kicked into high gear as President Biden and his campaign try to minimize the damage from his disastrous debate performance and silence criticism that he is destined to lose the election.

The problem with all the finger-pointing is that 50 million people watched the president struggle to deliver any kind of coherent message or to challenge Trump’s attacks, at times completely losing his train of thought.

JUSTICE THOMAS BRINGS HAMMER DOWN ON TRUMP SPECIAL COUNSEL IN SHARP OPINION: ‘SERIOUS QUESTIONS’

President Biden participates in the CNN Presidential Debate at CNN Studios in Atlanta on June 27. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

No one needed a bunch of pundits to analyze what they could see with their own eyes – a White House incumbent with a vacant stare and his mouth agape.

Now it’s true that the liberal media establishment has proclaimed that Biden should step aside in favor of a younger nominee. That includes the editorial boards of the New York Times, Chicago Tribune and Atlanta Journal-Constitution, as well as prominent names like Tom Friedman, Paul Krugman, David Ignatius, Nick Kristof and David Remnick.

As for the impact, a post-debate CBS poll found that those who don’t believe Biden has the mental fitness to serve another term jumped from 65% to 72%. 

But Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon put out a memo saying: “If we do see changes in polling in the coming weeks, it will not be the first time that overblown media narratives have driven temporary dips in the polls.”

BIDEN’S LONGTIME DEMOCRAT COLLEAGUE IN SENATE SENDS PARTY DIRE MESSAGE AFTER DEBATE

Excuse me, this was the debate that Biden wanted, and it was carried out under the no-interruption rules that he demanded. With the Democratic Party in a state of panic and talk of the convention picking someone else, of course it’s going to be covered as a huge story.

Trump also got an assist yesterday from the Supreme Court, which ruled that he has absolute immunity for official acts – such as dealing with the Justice Department – while sending parts of the Jan. 6 indictment back to the trial court, which means more litigation. Trump called it “a big win for our Constitution.”

The “one bad night” defense doesn’t hold water. While Barack Obama said he too had a bad night (against Mitt Romney in 2012), he was 51 years old. Nobody was questioning his stamina or mental acuity. It’s very different with a faltering 81-year-old asking for another term.

At a Biden family gathering on Sunday at Camp David, the discussion centered not on whether the president would step aside but how to move past this crisis, the Times reports. And Jill Biden, who in my view is drawing plenty of unfair attacks, is supporting her husband. The couple has always backed each other’s decisions, it’s not realistic to expect her to tell the president to abdicate.

On the heels of President Biden’s poor debate performance last week, the Democratic Party is attempting to save face by blaming anyone and anything but Biden. (SAMUEL CORUM/AFP via Getty Images)

The media are taking plenty of heat for supposedly covering up Biden’s growing infirmities, but they have collectively been making an issue of the president’s age for a long time. With a handful of exceptions, most journalists don’t have access to Biden. They have seen what everyone else has seen on the air, the president increasingly mumbling and stumbling, and now it’s clear why his top advisers have been so determined to shield him from the press – even a softball Super Bowl interview.

Even more stunning is an Axios report saying that most White House officials and even the residence staff, including butlers, were barred from Biden’s presence, so they wouldn’t see his true condition. Think about that. They, led by Jill Biden’s top aide, kept the president bubble-wrapped and isolated from most of those working for him on the taxpayer’s dime. They were therefore shocked at his debate performance.

THE VEEPSTAKES GOES ‘APPRENTICE’: WILL TRUMP REALLY PICK RUBIO, VANCE OR BURGUM?

Now the reason the Democrats are in such freakout mode is their absolute conviction that if Trump wins he will end democracy as we know it and govern as an authoritarian. To this day, liberals fail to understand Trump’s appeal and why, even as a convicted felon, he is leading this race.

But if their fears are well-founded, how can they risk putting Trump back in the Oval Office against an octogenarian who suffered such a humiliating meltdown on debate night? The Democrats regularly accuse Trump of caring only about himself, but aren’t they being selfish as well?

Former President Trump participates in the first presidential debate at CNN Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)

It’s probably too late now, but those who suggested that perhaps Joe shouldn’t run – former Obama-Biden official David Axelrod said last November he should consider dropping out – suffered huge blowback. The White House leaked word that Biden had called Axelrod a “prick.”

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I have covered Joe Biden since the 1980s, when he enjoyed talking to journalists at length, and profiled him when he launched his first White House campaign in 1987, which ended in a plagiarism scandal. He also flamed out in 2008, only to be named Obama’s running mate, and the press declared him toast in 2020 when he finished fourth in Iowa and fifth in New Hampshire – before a huge win in South Carolina sent him hurtling toward the nomination.

Biden has spent his adult life trying to become president. Flying around on Air Force One is addictive. He still thinks he’s the only Democrat who can beat Trump. 

He is not going to walk away from the White House, even though much of his party thinks he should.

In their dissents from the Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity, the court’s liberal justices suggested that the majority opinion allows for a slew of alarming scenarios — including a president ordering a Navy SEAL team to “assassinate” his political rival or even poisoning one of his own cabinet members.

The high court on Monday ruled 6-3 that a president has substantial immunity for official acts that occurred during his time in office. It’s a decision that has significant implications for former President Trump, whose prosecution on charges related to the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol breach and alleged 2020 election interference spurred the Supreme Court to hear the case. 

But although the majority opinion from Chief Justice John Roberts explicitly stated that the president “is not above the law” and immunity is only a factor when it involves an “official act” — the justices sent the case back to lower courts to determine if the acts at the center of Trump’s case were “official” — the ruling raised a series of frightening possibilities, according to the trio of dissenting justices.

Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan wrote in the primary dissent that the court’s majority opinion “makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to our Constitution and system of Government, that no man is above the law.” 

TRUMP IMMUNITY CASE: SUPREME COURT RULES EX-PRESIDENTS HAVE SUBSTANTIAL PROTECTION FROM PROSECUTION

Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor, and Amy Coney Barrett, not pictured, hold a conversation with moderator Eric Liu, co-founder and CEO of Citizen University, during a panel discussion at the Civic Learning Week National Forum at George Washington University on March 12, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

“The President of the United States is the most powerful person in the country, and possibly the world. When he uses his official powers in any way, under the majority’s reasoning, he now will be insulated from criminal prosecution,” Sotomayor wrote. “Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune.”

She continued: “Let the President violate the law, let him exploit the trappings of his office for personal gain, let him use his official power for evil ends. Because if he knew that he may one day face liability for breaking the law, he might not be as bold and fearless as we would like him to be. That is the majority’s message today.”

Sotomayor added that the majority decision has “shifted irrevocably” the relationship between the president and the American people, being that “in every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.”

BIDEN CAMP DISMISSES TRUMP IMMUNITY RULING: ‘DOESN’T CHANGE THE FACTS’

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Yet another startling scenario is included in a footnote from a separate dissent authored by Jackson.

Noting that the president’s removal of a cabinet member would constitute an official act, Jackson says that “while the President may have the authority to decide to remove the Attorney General, for example, the question here is whether the President has the option to remove the Attorney General by, say, poisoning him to death.”

She adds: “Put another way, the issue here is not whether the President has exclusive removal power, but whether a generally applicable criminal law prohibiting murder can restrict how the President exercises that authority.”

Sotomayor’s conclusion summed up the prevailing tenor of her and Jackson’s writings: “With fear for our democracy, I dissent.”

Both dissents were taken to task in the court’s majority opinion.

“As for the dissents, they strike a tone of chilling doom that is wholly disproportionate to what the Court actually does today…,” Roberts wrote.

He added: “Coming up short on reasoning, the dissents repeatedly level variations of the accusation that the Court has rendered the President ‘above the law.’”

TRUMP TOUTS SUPREME COURT’S PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY RULING AS ‘BIG WIN FOR OUR CONSTITUTION AND FOR DEMOCRACY’

Former President Trump speaks during the Independence Day Spectacular on Friday, June 30, 2023, in Pickens, South Carolina. (Sam Wolfe for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Adding that the dissents came “up short on reasoning,” Roberts wrote that the “positions in the end boil down to ignoring the Constitution’s separation of powers and the Court’s precedent and instead fear mongering on the basis of extreme hypotheticals about a future where the President ‘feels empowered to violate federal criminal law.'”

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Sotomayor’s dissent swiftly reverberated throughout social media. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump in the 2016 election, posted on X that she agrees with Sotomayor’s stand against the “MAGA wing” of the high court. 

“It will be up to the American people this November to hold Donald Trump accountable,” Clinton wrote.

President Biden slammed the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity in Trump v. United States, saying it means there are virtually no limits on what a president can do, in a speedy address Monday evening.

The president spoke for less than five minutes – four minutes and 40 seconds to be exact – before turning his back to the press and walking away. 

“This is a fundamentally new principle, and it’s a dangerous precedent, because the power of the office will no longer be constrained by the law, even including the Supreme Court of the United States,” Biden said.

The Supreme Court ruled that a former president has substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts committed while in office, but not for unofficial acts.

TRUMP IMMUNITY CASE: SUPREME COURT RULES EX-PRESIDENTS HAVE SUBSTANTIAL PROTECTION FROM PROSECUTION

Trump and Biden squared off in their high-stakes 2024 election debate rematch last week.  (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, left, )

In a 6-3 decision, the Court sent the matter back down to a lower court, as the justices did not apply the ruling to whether or not former President Trump is immune from prosecution regarding actions related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Biden continued his address, saying that the American people must decide whether Donald Trump’s assault on democracy on January 6th makes him “unfit” for public office and the highest office in the land.

“The American people must decide if Trump’s embrace of violence to preserve his power is acceptable. Perhaps most importantly, the American people must decide if they want to entrust the presidency to Donald Trump once again. Now knowing, he’ll be even more emboldened to do whatever he pleases, whenever he wants to do it,” Biden said.

Biden also spoke about the character of the nation’s first president, George Washington, and how he believed power was limited, not absolute.

Biden wrapped his speech and dodged questions from reporters as he left abruptly. 

Reporters shouted questions at Biden, asking him if he plans to drop out of the presidential race following his debate with Trump. 

TRUMP TOUTS SUPREME COURT’S PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY RULING AS ‘BIG WIN FOR OUR CONSTITUTION AND FOR DEMOCRACY’

US President Joe Biden speaks during a Memorial Day address at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, US, on Monday, May 27, 2024.  (Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Biden has not taken questions from the press and has used teleprompters at his events, including a fundraiser in the Hamptons, following his disastrous debate performance against Trump last week.

“Today’s Historic Decision by the Supreme Court should end all of Crooked Joe Biden’s Witch Hunts against me, including the New York Hoaxes – The Manhattan SCAM cooked up by Soros backed D.A., Alvin Bragg, Racist New York Attorney General Tish James’ shameless ATTACK on the amazing business that I have built, and the FAKE Bergdorf’s “case.” PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!,” Trump wrote in a post on his social media site Truth Social. 

BIDEN CAMP DISMISSES TRUMP IMMUNITY RULING: ‘DOESN’T CHANGE THE FACTS’

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges and argued he should be immune from prosecution from official acts done as president of the U.S.  (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

The former president was charged in August 2023 by Special Counsel Jack Smith with conspiring to overturn the results of his election loss to President Biden in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. 

Trump has denied doing anything wrong and has said this prosecution and three others are politically motivated to try to keep him from returning to the White House.

Trump shared his reaction to the Supreme Court’s ruling on his presidential immunity case, saying it’s a “big win for our constitution and democracy,” according to his Truth Social page. 

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“THE SUPREME COURT DECISION IS A MUCH MORE POWERFUL ONE THAN SOME HAD EXPECTED IT TO BE. IT IS BRILLIANTLY WRITTEN AND WISE, AND CLEARS THE STENCH FROM THE BIDEN TRIALS AND HOAXES, ALL OF THEM, THAT HAVE BEEN USED AS AN UNFAIR ATTACK ON CROOKED JOE BIDEN’S POLITICAL OPPONENT, ME. MANY OF THESE FAKE CASES WILL NOW DISAPPEAR, OR WITHER INTO OBSCURITY. GOD BLESS AMERICA!” Trump posted. 

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman and Brianna Herlihy contributed to this report.

A recent poll has found that President Biden’s core supporters are now doubting whether he should stay in the 2024 presidential race.

The poll was conducted by USA TODAY/Suffolk University between Friday and Monday. Pollsters utilizing a probability-proportionate-to-size method telephoned 1,000 respondents living in all U.S. states.

The survey found that more four in ten Democrats said that the Democratic Party should intervene and replace Biden as the nominee. Overall, 54% of the voters polled were in favor of Biden dropping out.

The poll also noted that Trump’s base “appeared more solid immediately after the debate,” according to a press release published by Suffolk University. Only 14% of Republicans said that the Republican Party should replace Trump as nominee, even after his recent conviction.

MAJORITY OF VOTERS THINKS BIDEN IS COGNITIVELY UNFIT TO SERVE AS PRESIDENT: POLL

President Joe Biden stands at his podium during the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections between himself and former president Donald Trump at CNN’s studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Kevin D. Liles for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Pollsters also noted that Trump won the debate, by a margin of nearly five to one, or 50% to 11%. Among Biden supporters, only 28% said that the sitting president won.

“Most voters cited mental sharpness as a factor in their opinion on the debate performance of both candidates,” the release noted. “Those criticizing the 81-year-old Biden’s performance used words like ‘confused’ and ‘incoherent.'” 

“Supporters of Trump, who is 78, praised their candidate with words like ‘coherent/articulate’ and ‘cognizant/present.”

Biden’s weak debate performance continues to rattle the Democratic Party. On Monday, one of Biden’s longtime Senate colleagues called for a new nominee.

JILL BIDEN’S EX-HUSBAND CALLS HER OUT FOR DEFENDING ‘STRUGGLING’ JOE BIDEN, ‘KEEPING HIM IN THE RACE’

US President Joe Biden, right, and former US President Donald Trump during the first presidential debate in Atlanta, Georgia, US, on Thursday, June 27, 2024. Biden and Trump are facing off for their first 2024 debate, a high-stakes opportunity to break through to politics-weary Americans and one that holds the potential for disastrous missteps.  (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Speaking to Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Former Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin called Thursday’s debate “a disaster from which Biden cannot recover.”

“Of course, Trump’s answers were meandering, gobbledygook, and full of lies, BUT they were said with force and directness,” he said. “I also think all incumbent Democratic Senators should write to Biden asking him to release his delegates and step aside so the convention can choose a new candidate.”

“A couple of governors may need to do the same.”

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President Biden, left, and first lady Jill Biden arrive at McGuire Air Force Base, Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Burlington County, New Jersey. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Fox News Digital reached out to the Biden and Trump campaigns, but did not immediately hear back.

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, said he was “horrified” and remains concerned about President Biden‘s performance during last week’s presidential debate, which has put Democrats on the defensive about their presumptive nominee’s health and mental capacity. 

Whitehouse was interviewed by 12 News about his reaction to the Thursday debate, which pitted Biden against former President Donald Trump in Atlanta. 

“I think like a lot of people I was pretty horrified by the debate,” Whitehouse told the news outlet. “The blips of President Biden and the barrage of lying from President Trump were not what one would hope for in a presidential debate.”

PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE SHOWS DEMOCRATS ‘LIED’ ABOUT BIDEN: ‘I BLAME BARACK OBAMA’

He said Democrats remain united in the need to defeat Trump. Following the debate, reports began surfacing almost immediately that Democrats were in a state of “panic” over Biden’s performance. 

“People want to make sure that…the president and his team are being candid about his condition that this was a real anomaly and not just the way he is these days,” said Whitehouse. 

WASHINGTON – JUNE 13: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., leaves the Senate Democrats’ lunch in the Capitol on Tuesday, June 13, 2023.  (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Fox News Digital has reached out to the senator’s office. 

AFTER BIDEN’S DISASTROUS DEBATE, CAMPAIGN EMAILS SUPPORTERS ON HOW TO DEFEND HIM: ‘BEDWETTING BRIGADE’

The optics prompted journalists at various outlets to report on dozens of Democratic Party officials who said the 81-year-old Biden should consider refusing his party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.

“I don’t debate as well as I used to,” he told a crowd at a North Carolina rally on Friday. “I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done.”

Other Democrats have raised issues following the subpar debate performance. 

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“I’ve been very clear that it was an underwhelming performance on Thursday during the debate, as President Biden and his campaign have acknowledged,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told MSNBC on Sunday. 

Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., told CNN he “thought it was a tough night” for the president. 

Fox News Digital’s Aubrie Spady contributed to this report. 

Ralph Nader, the Green Party’s presidential nominee in 2000, urged Judge Juan Merchan to sentence former President Trump to prison, calling the judge the “last best hope” to preserve the republic.

On Monday, Nader shared a link to the letter on X, which is his plea to the judge on why a prison sentence is imperative.

“In light of the Supreme Court blocking all avenues of accountability for Trump with its decision in Trump v. United States, Judge Merchan is the last best hope to preserve the Republic from its overthrow by Donald Trump,” Nader posted.

The letter, dated June 28, 2024, was signed by both Nader and attorney Bruce Fein. It starts out by pointing to July 11, 2024, and stressing its importance in terms of the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law.

NY V TRUMP: JUDGE MERCHAN PARTIALLY LIFTS GAG ORDER ON FORMER PRESIDENT

Ralph Nader wrote a letter to Judge Juan Merchan, urging him to sentence former President Donald Trump to prison. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

“The future of the United States will be materially influenced by your sentencing Donald J. Trump,” the two attorneys wrote. “He was found guilty of 34 felonies under New York law and twice found guilty of violating your constitutionally irreproachable ‘gag order’ to protect trial participants from death threats, harassment, defamation, and stalking.”

Nader and Fein remind Merchan the law gives him the discretion to sentence Trump to up to four years in prison, based on the circumstances of the felonies, among other things, adding that the case for prison time is “open and shut based on the character of the offender alone.”

“Mr. Trump threatens a counter-revolution against the American Revolution and the United States Constitution in favor of executive absolutism indistinguishable from French King Louis XIV,” Nader and Fein wrote. “On July 23, 2019, Mr. Trump proclaimed, ‘Then I have Article 2, where I have the right to do anything I want as president.’ On December 4, 2022, Mr. Trump bugled that whenever he decrees that an election has been fraudulent, ‘termination of…the Constitution’ is justified.”

NEW YORK APPEALS COURT REJECTS TRUMP’S BID TO LIFT GAG ORDER

Trump is set to be sentenced on July 11, 2024. (AP)

The two continued to plead their case to sentence Trump to prison, proclaiming to Merchan that Trump had not disowned threats of a civil war on social media by “MAGA ruffians” after he was convicted of 34 felonies.

“As to a hammer everything looks like a nail, to Mr. Trump every legal or political adversity is a corrupt witch hunt aiming at the destruction of America,” Nader and Fein wrote.

They then turned their attention to Trump’s relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, claiming Trump “covets dictatorial powers” like the Russian leader.

TRUMP ATTORNEYS REQUEST MERCHAN LIFT GAG ORDER AHEAD OF PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE, FOLLOWING END OF TRIAL

“Your task is to ensure that the sentence matches the character of the offender, including his clear and present danger to the peaceful transfer of presidential power,” Nader and Fein wrote. “Set a standard to which the wise and honest judge may repair with a jail term — at least a serious fraction of the 4-year statutory maximum.”

Nader and the Trump campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the matter.

The former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee was found guilty on all 34 counts of first-degree falsifying business records in May. The six-week trial stemmed from charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. 

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Trump on Monday moved to overturn his criminal conviction in the Manhattan case after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a former president has substantial immunity for official acts committed while in office.

Trump’s sentencing date is set for July 11 – just four days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where he is expected to be formally nominated as the 2024 Republican presidential nominee.

Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Maria Paronich contributed to this report.

Former President Trump on Monday moved to overturn his criminal conviction in the Manhattan case after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a former president has substantial immunity for official acts committed while in office, according to reports. 

In a 6-3 decision, the court narrowed the case against him and returned it to the trial court to determine what is left of special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment. 

Donald Trump arrives to Trump Tower, Thursday, May 30, 2024 after being found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged the former president in May with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.

JUSTICES CLAIM IMMUNITY RULING ALLOWS PRESIDENTS TO POISON STAFF, HAVE NAVY SEALS KILL POLITICAL RIVALS

The New York Times reported Monday that lawyers for Trump had filed a motion to dismiss the verdict just hours after the Supreme Court’s ruling. 

The motion came on the same day that the district attorney’s office had sent sentencing recommendations to Judge Juan M. Merchan though it remains unclear whether that will be seen by the public. 

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Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts in the Manhattan case.  

Fox News Digital has reached out to the DA’s office and representatives for Trump for comment. 

This is a developing story. Check back for updates. 

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

President Biden addressed the nation Monday evening following the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity in Trump v. United States. 

The Supreme Court ruled that a former president has substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts committed while in office, but not for unofficial acts.

In a 6-3 decision, the Court sent the matter back down to a lower court, as the justices did not apply the ruling to whether or not former President Trump is immune from prosecution regarding actions related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Biden has not taken questions from the press and has used teleprompters at his events, including a fundraiser in the Hamptons, following his disastrous debate performance against Trump last week.

TRUMP IMMUNITY CASE: SUPREME COURT RULES EX-PRESIDENTS HAVE SUBSTANTIAL PROTECTION FROM PROSECUTION

Trump and Biden squared off in their high-stakes 2024 election debate rematch last week.  (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, left, )

“Today’s Historic Decision by the Supreme Court should end all of Crooked Joe Biden’s Witch Hunts against me, including the New York Hoaxes – The Manhattan SCAM cooked up by Soros backed D.A., Alvin Bragg, Racist New York Attorney General Tish James’ shameless ATTACK on the amazing business that I have built, and the FAKE Bergdorf’s “case.” PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!,” Trump wrote in a post on his social media site Truth Social. 

TRUMP TOUTS SUPREME COURT’S PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY RULING AS ‘BIG WIN FOR OUR CONSTITUTION AND FOR DEMOCRACY’

US President Joe Biden speaks during a Memorial Day address at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, US, on Monday, May 27, 2024.  (Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The former president was charged in August 2023 by Special Counsel Jack Smith with conspiring to overturn the results of his election loss to President Biden in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. 

Trump has denied doing anything wrong and has said this prosecution and three others are politically motivated to try to keep him from returning to the White House.

BIDEN CAMP DISMISSES TRUMP IMMUNITY RULING: ‘DOESN’T CHANGE THE FACTS’

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges and argued he should be immune from prosecution from official acts done as president of the U.S.  (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Trump shared his reaction to the Supreme Court’s ruling on his presidential immunity case, saying it’s a “big win for our constitution and democracy,” according to his Truth Social page. 

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“THE SUPREME COURT DECISION IS A MUCH MORE POWERFUL ONE THAN SOME HAD EXPECTED IT TO BE. IT IS BRILLIANTLY WRITTEN AND WISE, AND CLEARS THE STENCH FROM THE BIDEN TRIALS AND HOAXES, ALL OF THEM, THAT HAVE BEEN USED AS AN UNFAIR ATTACK ON CROOKED JOE BIDEN’S POLITICAL OPPONENT, ME. MANY OF THESE FAKE CASES WILL NOW DISAPPEAR, OR WITHER INTO OBSCURITY. GOD BLESS AMERICA!” Trump posted. 

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman and Brianna Herlihy contributed to this report.

Kentucky Democrat Gov. Andy Beshear told reporters Monday that even though President Biden’s recent debate performance was “rough,” he has no intention of sliding into presidential contention unless Biden bows out of the race.

Reporters asked Beshear what he thought about Biden’s performance in last week’s debate and whether he should remain in the race.

“Well, the debate performance was rough. It was a very bad night for the president,” the Kentucky governor said. “But he is still the candidate. Only he can make decisions about his future candidacy, so as long as he continues to be in the race, that’s important.”

The question came just days after the first presidential debate between Biden and former President Trump, which left many Democrats shocked and concerned about the current president’s performance. Biden’s rambling answers and raspy voice raised concerns about his age, mental state and whether he is fit to serve another four years.

TOP HOUSE DEM ADMITS BIDEN DEBATE WAS A ‘SETBACK,’ CALLS FOR COMEBACK AFTER ‘UNDERWHELMING PERFORMANCE’

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear was asked about his thoughts on President Biden’s debate performance and whether he would consider sliding in to run for the top spot on the ticket in November. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley/File)

Following the debate, multiple Democrat figures and media outlets called for the current president to step out of the race and allow another Democrat to take the party’s spot at the top of the ticket.

When asked if he would slide into the slot if Biden were to bow out of the race, Beshear reiterated that only the president can determine his future as a candidate.

“He is the candidate, and as long as he is, I’m supporting him,” Beshear said.

BIDEN DEBATE DEBACLE: 10 EYE-OPENING MEDIA RESPONSES, FROM MSNBC PANIC TO ‘THE VIEW’ CALLING FOR REPLACEMENT

Voters have expressed concerns over Biden’s age and capability to serve a second term after the debate. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images | Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

But he also told reporters that he was flattered when people mention his name as someone being considered to lead the party as a presidential candidate.

“I think it’s a reflection of all the good things going on in Kentucky. As compared to the rest of the country, the temperature’s been turned down here,” Beshear said.

He explained that state Democrats and Republicans are excited about the jobs the state has created as well as the record-low unemployment and decreases in overdose deaths, among other things.

BIDEN REPORTEDLY HUMILIATED BY DEBATE PERFORMANCE, LACKS CONFIDENCE: ‘IT’S A MESS’

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley/File)

Beshear said he thinks the rest of the country is turning to the things being done in Kentucky, and he talked about how a Democrat governor and a Republican general assembly can get good results.

“I think the answer to that is everything is not partisan, and people are tired of the clashes, day in and day out,” he said. “So, when they look at what we have done in Kentucky, they see a better future that’s beyond some of the back-and-forth that we see on the federal level.”

Biden has not bowed out of the race, though he was reportedly humiliated by his debate performance and “devoid of confidence,” according to an NBC News report that cited a person familiar with the president’s mood.

“It’s a mess,” the source reportedly told NBC News.

The outlet reported that several prominent Democrats expressed concern in private over Biden’s chances of beating Trump in November after his debate performance. However, they remain steadfast in their support for Biden in public.

During a speech at a New Jersey fundraiser on Saturday, the president acknowledged he didn’t have a “great night.”

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“Research during the debate shows us converting more undecided voters than Trump did, in large part because of his conduct on Jan. 6,” he said. “People remember the bad things during his presidency.”

Biden’s campaign said it has raised $27 million since his debate performance.

Fox News Digital’s Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.

A new poll released over the weekend shows former President Trump holding a four-point lead over President Biden in Michigan. 

The EPIC-MRA poll, released Saturday, shows that in a matchup between Trump and Biden, 49% of survey respondents said they would vote for the Republican and 45% said they would vote for the Democrat. 

The survey, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4%, was conducted between June 21 and June 26, days before Biden’s widely criticized debate performance.

Favorability for Trump and Biden dipped slightly when third-party candidates were factored in. Trump dropped to 41% and Biden to 38%.

CNN’S DANA BASH REVEALS BIDEN ‘WAR ROOM’ MAY URGE PRESIDENT TO DROP OUT IF POLLING CRATERS: ‘SO DESPERATE’

President Biden and former President Trump squared off in their high-stakes election debate on June 27, 2024, and the contrast between the pair could not have been starker, a body language expert tells Fox News. (Justin Sullivan | Getty Images)

Among the 600 participants in the survey, 42% identified as Democrats, 42% identified as Republicans and 13% identified as independents. 

PRESSURE MOUNTS ON BATTLEGROUND STATE DEMS AFTER BIDEN DEBATE DISASTER

The poll was released over the weekend. It was overshadowed by Thursday’s presidential debate that had even die-hard Biden supporters panicking over the president’s ability to beat Trump in November. 

President Biden and former President Trump participate in the presidential debate at CNN Studios in Atlanta on June 27, 2024. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Many have called for Biden to step aside, though there is no indication that he is willing to do so.

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Flash polls from CNN and Ipsos on Friday called Trump the clear victor of the debate.

Fox News’ Rémy Numa contributed to this report.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., is now threatening to force a vote on a measure to impose a $10,000 per day fine on Attorney General Merrick Garland for every day he does not turn over audio tapes of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s interview with President Biden.

Luna said she would force a vote on her inherent contempt resolution against Garland on Friday, but a source familiar with the matter said she agreed to delay that move after a conversation with Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. Luna later confirmed on X, formerly Twitter, that she intends to call up that vote next week.

Inherent contempt is a rarely-used congressional maneuver that would effectively allow the House to try and convict Garland.

She filed a new resolution to both hold Garland in inherent contempt and fine him for the tapes on Friday, and is expected to declare the measure “privileged” when the House is back in session on July 8. 

DOJ WON’T PROSECUTE AG GARLAND FOR CONTEMPT FOR REFUSAL TO TURN OVER AUDIO FROM BIDEN, HUR INTERVIEW

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna wants to force a second vote on whether the House should arrest Attorney General Merrick Garland. (Getty Images)

Deeming a resolution “privileged” forces the House to take it up within two legislative days.

Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson’s office for further comment.

While Luna had been prepping her inherent contempt resolution for some time, the added threat of fines comes after Biden’s disastrous debate performance against former President Trump on CNN last Thursday.

The 81-year-old president spoke with a hoarse voice, reportedly due to a cold, and stumbled over his own answers several times during the primetime event. Viewers also observed him appearing tired and noticeably less sharp than he looked the last time he faced Trump in 2020.

DOJ WON’T PROSECUTE AG GARLAND FOR CONTEMPT FOR REFUSAL TO TURN OVER AUDIO FROM BIDEN, HUR INTERVIEW

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna also wants to fine Garland for every day the DOJ holds onto the Biden-Hur audio tapes. (Getty Images)

It’s prompted new pushback from Republicans and even fear among some Democrats that Biden may not be fit for another four years in the White House.

House Republicans, some of whom long held that Biden is not mentally fit for office, voted to hold Garland in contempt of Congress last month for his refusal to turn over audio tapes of Hur’s interview with Biden on his handling of classified documents. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has refused to prosecute, citing Biden’s decision to call executive privilege over the tapes.

Biden’s counter is that the full transcript is already available – he has bashed the GOP effort as nakedly partisan.

EX-REP. CHARLIE RANGEL, 94, QUESTIONS WHETHER BIDEN BELONGS IN NURSING HOME, NOT WHITE HOUSE

But Republicans argue that the tapes would provide necessary context about Biden’s mental acuity that could not be gleaned from the transcript.

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The House GOP also sued Garland on Monday in order to obtain the tapes, with the lawsuit being led by House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

Fox News Digital was first to report that Luna informed colleagues last week that she intends to force a vote on holding Garland in inherent contempt. 

The little-known maneuver, not used since the 1930s, would direct the House sergeant-at-arms to detain Garland for a House-led trial. It’s never been invoked on a Cabinet official, but the Supreme Court upheld Congress’ ability to use it in 1935.

Former Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, who served with President Biden in Congress for over 20 years, is calling on Democrats to pressure the president into bowing out of the 2024 race following his widely panned debate performance.

Harkin told Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck following the debate that voter perception is that Trump is the candidate best “able to take command of a situation and control the outcome.”

“Of course, Trump’s answers were meandering, gobbledygook, and full of lies, BUT they were said with force and directness,” the 84-year-old Harkin said.

“I also think all incumbent Democratic Senators should write to Biden asking him to release his delegates and step aside so the convention can choose a new candidate,” Harkin added. “A couple of Governors may need to do the same.”

BIDEN CAMPAIGN STAFFER REPORTEDLY ATTEMPTED TO SHUT DOWN INTERVIEWS CRITICAL OF THE PRESIDENT: ‘STOP IT HERE’

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin share a laugh at the 36th Annual Harkin Steak Fry on September 15, 2013 in Indianola, Iowa. Sen. Harkin’s Democratic fundraiser is one of the largest in Iowa each year.  (Steve Pope/Getty Images)

“Last night was a disaster from which Biden cannot recover,” Harkin said.

The Iowa Democrat said that the president “has gone downhill since his State of the Union speech.”

“Look how he walked and handled himself on the House floor even after the speech, and watch how he walks and uses his arms now,” Harkin said. “Startling!”

THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER CALLS ON DONALD TRUMP TO DROP OUT AFTER DEBATE PERFORMANCE

President Joe Biden delivers remarks during the CNN Presidential Debate at the CNN Studios on June 27, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Harkin’s comments come after Biden’s performance in the CNN presidential debate on Thursday that immediately sparked calls from within the Democratic Party for Biden to drop out of the race over age concerns.

Other Democrats, including Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Whip James Clyburn have rallied behind the president saying his poor performance was due to “preparation overload.” 

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President of the United States Joe Biden and Former President Donald Trump participate in the first Presidential Debate at CNN Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, United States on June 27, 2024. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

“Folks, I know I’m not a young man,” a Biden campaign ad following the debate said. “But I know how to do this job. I know right from wrong. I know how to tell the truth,” 

“And I know, like millions of Americans know, when you get knocked down, you get back up.”

Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick is leveraging President Biden’s widely panned debate performance to challenge incumbent Sen. Bob Casey as other Democrats face similar criticism about their prior knowledge of the president’s apparent decline.

“No question, he’s prepared to do this job today, and would be, were he re-elected,” Casey is heard saying in a new ad from McCormick’s campaign. The recording is from just a few months prior, in March. 

The ad further highlights the close friendship between Biden and Casey, with footage of Biden calling the Pennsylvania senator “one of my best buddies.” 

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President Biden arrives with Sen. Bob Casey and his wife Terese to speak at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on Aug. 30, 2022. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

On screen, the words, “Casey knew about Biden’s condition,” appear. 

The Pennsylvania senator’s campaign did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication. 

The criticism of Casey, specifically, for not coming forward about Biden’s ability or lack thereof ahead of the debate comes as Democrats in races across the country are facing similar scrutiny for not saying something. 

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“Senate Democrats have spent years propping up Joe Biden despite his obvious mental deficiencies,” said NRSC spokesman Philip Letsou. (Getty Images)

One day following the debate between former President Trump and Biden, which was widely criticized across ideological lines as a poor showing by the latter, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) released an ad showing several sitting Democrats who are up for re-election and those running for open seats defending Biden’s mental acuity. 

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Sens. Jon Tester, Jacky Rosen, Sherrod Brown, Tammy Baldwin, Bob Casey (Getty Images)

“Senate Democrats have spent years propping up Joe Biden despite his obvious mental deficiencies, now the world can see he isn’t fit for the job. This disaster is on their hands,” said NRSC spokesman Philip Letsou. 

President Biden is helped up after falling during the graduation ceremony at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado, on June 1, 2023. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

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Democrats have uniformly brushed off and denied concerns regarding Biden’s age and physical and mental abilities, assuring the media and public that he was up to the challenge of being president for another term. However, after his less than stellar performance on debate night, reports immediately emerged alleging Democratic panic behind closed doors. Even on CNN and MSNBC, hosts and analysts acknowledged Biden’s lackluster debate showing and the panic reportedly following it. 

Lawmakers such as Casey, Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Jon Tester, D-Mont., Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., were already in a difficult position as they tried to balance supporting their party with appealing to a broad group of voters to hold onto their seats. Now, they will certainly face questions about their previous statements of support for the president and their vouching for his mental acuity as fresh questions about Biden’s ability swirl.