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The New Yorker magazine has joined other major publications in calling for President Biden to step aside after its editor said watching Biden perform during Thursday’s debate was an “agonizing experience.”

The New Yorker is now the third publication, alongside The New York Times and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, to call upon Biden to step-aside for a younger Democratic nominee.

“We have long known that Biden, no matter what issue you might take with one policy or another, is no longer a fluid or effective communicator of those policies,” The New Yorker’s editor, David Remnick, wrote.

“Asked about his decline, the Biden communications team and his understandably protective surrogates and advisers would deliver responses to journalists that sounded an awful lot like what we all, sooner or later, tell acquaintances when asked about aging parents: they have good days and bad days,” he wrote.

ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION EDITORIAL BOARD CALLS FOR BIDEN TO DROP OUT ‘FOR THE GOOD OF THE NATION’

President Joe Biden looks on as he participates in the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections with former US President and presumed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at CNN’s studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

Remnick wrote that watching Biden “wander into senselessness” moved observers to “pity” and “fear for the country.”

“Watching Thursday’s debate, observing Biden wander into senselessness onstage, was an agonizing experience, and it is bound to obliterate forever all those vague and qualified descriptions from White House insiders about good days and bad days,” he said.

“You watched it, and, on the most basic human level, you could only feel pity for the man and, more, fear for the country.”

President Biden, shown here with wife Dr. Jill Biden, faced presumed Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump, in the first presidential debate of the 2024 campaign season last week. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Remnick made his remarks despite defensive comments from Biden’s loyalists, like former President Obama, First Lady Jill Biden and Gov. Gavin Newsom.

THE DEMOCRATS’ SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT ATTEMPTS TO SPIN BIDEN’S DEBATE DEBACLE: ‘DID WE WATCH THE SAME DEBATE?’

“Such loyalty can be excused, at least momentarily,” he wrote. “They did what they felt they had to do to fend off an immediate implosion of Biden’s campaign, a potentially irreversible cratering of his poll numbers, an evaporation of his fund-raising, and the looming threat of Trump Redux.”

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)

The New Yorker editor said that Biden staying in the race would be in direct opposition to his years of public service.

“To stay in the race would be pure vanity, uncharacteristic of someone whom most have come to view as decent and devoted to public service,” Remnick wrote.

“To stay in the race, at this post-debate point, would also suggest that it is impossible to imagine a more vital ticket,” he wrote.

Remnick concluded his piece by noting that there “is no shame in growing old” but rather there would be “honor” to step down and out of the race.

“It is sad to go to pieces like this, but we all have to do it. There is no shame in growing old,” he wrote. “There is honor in recognizing the hard demands of the moment.”

President Biden and former President Trump are facing off in the first presidential debate of the 2024 campaign. (Getty Images)

The New Yorker article came after the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The New York Times called for him to drop out of the race.

“Mr. Biden has said that he is the candidate with the best chance of taking on this threat of tyranny and defeating it,” The Times said. “His argument rests largely on the fact that he beat Mr. Trump in 2020. That is no longer a sufficient rationale for why Mr. Biden should be the Democratic nominee this year.”

“Mr. Biden answered an urgent question on Thursday night. It was not the answer that he and his supporters were hoping for,” the Times concluded. “But if the risk of a second Trump term is as great as he says it is — and we agree with him that the danger is enormous — then his dedication to this country leaves him and his party only one choice.”

President Joe Biden walks off with first lady Jill Biden following the CNN Presidential Debate at the CNN Studios on June 27, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia.  (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Following the debate, Democrats and liberal media figures were reportedly in “panic” after Biden’s performance.

The optics led to a full-on meltdown in Democrat-friendly media, with journalists at various outlets reporting 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.

BIDEN’S INNER CIRCLE SILENT AS PARTY REELS FOLLOWING ‘EMBARRASSING’ DEBATE PERFORMANCE 

Biden gave no indication he would step down at his first rally following the debate Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina, insisting he is capable of beating Trump. 

“I can do this job, because, quite frankly, the stakes are too high,” Biden energetically said. “Donald Trump is a genuine threat to this nation.” 

This combination of pictures created on October 22, 2020 shows US President Donald Trump (L) and Democratic Presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden during the final presidential debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, on October 22, 2020. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI, JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

President Biden also addressed his stumbling performance, saying, “I don’t debate as well as I used to.”

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“I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done,” he told a roaring crowd that chanted “Four more years.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Biden campaign for comment.

A major conservative activist group is preparing for legal battles in case the Democratic Party chooses to pull President Biden out of the running before or after he becomes the nominee.

The Heritage Foundation, one of the United States’ most prominent and well-connected conservative activist groups, is laying the groundwork in case a sudden switch-up in the Democratic roster sparks a legal war.

“We are monitoring the calls from across the country for President Biden to step aside, either now or before the election, and have concluded that the process for substitution and withdrawal is very complicated,” Executive Director of The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project Mike Howell said in a statement. “We will remain vigilant that appropriate election integrity procedures are followed.”

DEM LAWMAKERS STRUGGLE TO DEAL WITH FALLOUT OF BIDEN DEBATE PERFORMANCE: ‘DISAPPOINTMENT’

President Joe Biden walks off stage during the CNN Presidential Debate at the CNN Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Heritage has already identified multiple states in which a switch away from Biden before or after the nomination could mean serious trouble for the Democratic Party.

In a separate statement, the Oversight Project warned, “If the Biden family decides that President Biden will not run for re-election, the mechanisms for replacing him on ballots vary by state. There is the potential for pre-election litigation in some states that would make the process difficult and perhaps unsuccessful. 

“Given the expected intensity of election integrity concerns in this election cycle, policymakers and the public should be educated and aware of the contentious path ahead,” it added.

BIDEN’S INNER CIRCLE SILENT AS PARTY REELS FOLLOWING ‘EMBARRASSING’ DEBATE PERFORMANCE

Heritage points out that many states — including swing states such as Georgia, Nevada and Wisconsin — might not allow a replacement on the ballot.

Wisconsin does not allow a candidate’s name to be withdrawn from the ballot except due to death. Nevada allows changes to its ballot up until 5:00pm on the fourth Friday of June in the election year — it also allows special consideration for if nominees die or are determined to be mentally unable to proceed. 

Georgia would allow Biden to withdraw up to 60 days before the election. If Biden withdraws afterward, his name would remain on the ballot but votes for him would be discarded.

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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. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Other states have restrictions on timing and the reason for withdrawal from ballots, while others have no procedures on the books, making the prospect of switching Biden out an even more perilous legal minefield.

Fox News contributor Jason Chaffetz told ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ that “This whole idea, this whole notion that maybe they should get a different candidate — that’s not how the system works, folks!”

“It depends on the states. Elections are not run by the party, they’re not run by the federal government — they’re administered by states. Each state has state law,” Chaffetz continued. “Once you go through the primary, once you go through the caucus, you have to follow that law.”

Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and Trump primary challenger, warned Republicans should prepare for Democrats to replace President Biden with a candidate who is “younger” and more “vibrant,” while repeating her push for cognitive tests for all candidates for federal office. 

“They are going to be smart about it. They’re going to bring somebody younger. They’re going to bring somebody vibrant. They’re going to bring somebody tested,” Haley told the Wall Street Journal Saturday.

“This is a time for Republicans to prepare and get ready for what’s to come because there is no way that there will be a surviving Democratic Party if they allow Joe Biden to continue to be the candidate.”

Some Democrats have also called on Biden to drop out of the race after his debate performance against former President Trump. 

In reference to Biden’s performance, Haley said, “Our enemies just saw that they have between now and Jan. 20 to do whatever it is they want to do.” 

ATLANTA-JOURNAL CONSTITUTION EDITORIAL BOARD CALLS FOR BIDEN TO DROP OUT ‘FOR THE GOOD OF THE NATION’

Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and Trump primary challenger (center), is warning Republicans they should prepare for Democrats to replace President Biden with a candidate who is “younger” and more “vibrant.”  (Getty Images)

Haley said in May that despite their contentious primary contest in which both candidates threw personal insults at each other, she planned to vote for Trump in November. 

She also told the Journal she had reached out to the former president recently and had a “good conversation.”

Trump previously said he believes Haley will be “on our team in some form.”

Haley previously served as Trump’s United Nations ambassador. 

“America deserves the strongest leader possible,” Haley said on X Saturday. “Thursday night was shocking. It’s exactly why I have been calling for mental competency tests for anyone running for office. Joe Biden owes the American people transparency about his cognitive abilities.”

She added that Washington, D.C. is “full of older people,” and voters need to know “who is up to the challenge and who is not.” 

TOP HOLLYWOOD DONORS THREATEN TO STOP GIVING TO DEMS IF BIDEN NOT REPLACED AS CANDIDATE: REPORT

Former President Trump and President Biden had their first of two planned presidential debates Thursday.  (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“To the millions of Nikki Haley supporters who are tired of Donald Trump and his MAGA allies constantly attacking them, running moderates and independents out of the party and repeatedly refusing to commit to accepting the 2024 election results, you have a home in President Biden’s coalition,” Biden spokesperson Ammar Moussa told Fox News Digital of Haley’s comments.

Haley also questioned Trump’s cognitive abilities during the Republican primary, noting that he seemingly confused her with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 

Haley said in May she plans to vote for Trump.  (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

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Haley, 52, told the Journal Democrats could suffer down-ballot losses if they keep Biden as the nominee.

“If they continue down this path, and they have Biden as their nominee, they are committed to hurting America,” she said. 

The first lady’s steadfast support of President Biden after his heavily criticized debate performance Thursday may seem admirable to some Americans, but not all of them.

Bill Stevenson, who was married to Jill Biden from 1970 to 1975, candidly discussed his ex-wife in an interview with the New York Post Saturday.

“The Dr. Jill Biden who I’ve seen on TV in the last five years is not the same person I married or that I recognize in any way,” Stevenson lamented. “She’s matriculated into a completely different woman.”

On Thursday, the first lady gushed about her husband’s debate performance despite immediate calls for Biden to drop out of the race.

EUROPEAN OFFICIAL APPEARS TO LIKEN BIDEN TO FAILED ROMAN EMPEROR AFTER DISASTROUS DEBATE PERFORMANCE

First lady Jill Biden and President Biden arrive at a campaign event in Raleigh, N.C., Friday. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

“Joe, you did such a great job,” she told him at a debate after-party. “You answered every question. You knew all the facts.”

According to Stevenson, Jill Biden’s support of her husband is far from helpful.

“I just don’t understand why she is so adamant about defending him and keeping him in the race since it appears that he’s struggling,” Stevenson said. “It appears that he’s struggling with everybody these days.

“I’ve been proud of her at certain moments. I have no hard feelings. … I’m just surprised to see her front and center in the middle of this battle after flying under the radar for so many years. She’s always been very driven. People say she’s the one who wants to be president now.”

BIDEN AIMS TO CHANGE NEGATIVE NARRATIVE AFTER ROUGH DEBATE WITH TRUMP

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden speak to supporters at a debate watch party in Atlanta Thursday. (Tasos Katopodis)

Stevenson, a staunch supporter of former President Trump, also accused the sitting president of lying habitually.

“It makes me cringe every time he calls Trump a liar because I’m telling you right now, there is no better liar than President Biden,” Stevenson said.

“He’s just a bad person. I’m probably one of the few people outside his family who has known him for 50 years.”

Biden is facing increased public scrutiny after his appearance at the presidential debate Thursday, where he appeared frail and stumbled numerous times. On Friday, The New York Times editorial board called for the 81-year-old politician to drop out of the race.

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden walk with Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams, right, at Raleigh-Durham International Airport in Morrisville, N.C., Friday. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

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“Biden is not the man he was four years ago,” the editorial board wrote. “The president appeared on Thursday night as the shadow of a great public servant. He struggled to explain what he would accomplish in a second term. … [T]he greatest public service Mr. Biden can now perform is to announce that he will not continue to run for re-election.”

The first lady’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The Democrats’ social media account got roasted in the comment section after asserting President Biden won Thursday night’s presidential debate.

“The winner of tonight’s debate,” The Democrats declared in a X post Thursday night following the first presidential debate. The post included an image — notably not from the debate — of a grinning President Biden wearing his signature aviator sunglasses.

Voters quickly took to the comment section, sharply criticizing the social media post.

“Did you watch the same debate as I did?” one person wrote.

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

President Biden walks off with first lady Jill Biden after the CNN Presidential Debate in Atlanta Thursday.  (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

“Your entire party is out of touch with reality,” another wrote. “When CNN calls Biden’s performance abysmal you know something is wildly wrong with Biden’s performance.”

“You lose all credibility when you lie to people,” another wrote.

“Funny, I am pleased you still have your sense of humor,” one person wrote.

President Biden looks down as he participates in the first presidential debate of the 2024 election season against former President Trump in Atlanta Thursday. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

Others called out the account for “gaslighting” voters.

“This gaslighting won’t work,” one person wrote.

BIDEN’S ‘DISASTER’ DEBATE PERFORMANCE SPARKS MEDIA MELTDOWN, CALLS FOR HIM TO WITHDRAW FROM 2024 RACE

“You guys are seriously gaslighting a lot of people into turning to Trump,” another wrote.

President Biden stands at his podium during the first presidential debate of the 2024 election season against former President Trump at CNN’s studios in Atlanta Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Kevin D. Liles for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Following the debate, Democrats and liberal media figures were in reported “panic” after Biden’s performance.

The optics led to a full-on meltdown in Democrat-friendly media, with journalists at various outlets reporting 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.

BIDEN’S INNER CIRCLE SILENT AS PARTY REELS FOLLOWING ‘EMBARRASSING’ DEBATE PERFORMANCE 

Biden gave no indication he would step down at his first rally following the debate Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina, insisting he is capable of beating Trump. 

“I can do this job, because, quite frankly, the stakes are too high,” Biden energetically said. “Donald Trump is a genuine threat to this nation.” 

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden deliver remarks at a campaign rally Friday in North Carolina. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)

President Biden also addressed his stumbling performance, saying, “I don’t debate as well as I used to.”

“I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done,” he told a roaring crowd that chanted “Four more years.”

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Biden has about four more months and a second debate — to be hosted by ABC News Sept. 10 — to make his case against Trump before Americans head to the polls in November.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Biden’s campaign for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.

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

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) is calling for President Biden to step out of the presidential election after his debate debacle on Thursday night.

The AJC Editorial Board is publishing a front page editorial Sunday arguing that Biden should bow out of the election “for the good” of the country and to defeat former President Trump.

“The shade of retirement is now necessary for President Biden,” the board wrote.

An Axios report explained that Americans were so shocked by Biden’s debate performance because they’re more used to seeing a more competent version of him. (Getty Images)

Biden, they argued, failed to convey a “competent and coherent vision for the future of America” at the first presidential debate in Atlanta on Thursday.

“He failed to outline the most fundamental aspects of his platform,” they wrote. “He failed to take credit for the significant accomplishments of his 3½ years in office. And he failed to counter the prevarications of an opponent, who, according to CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale, lied 30 times during the course of the debate, approximately once every 90 seconds of his allotted time.”

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)

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This is the second newspaper editorial board to call on President Biden to remove himself from the race. The New York Times called for Biden to drop out of the race Friday.

A top Polish official recently appeared to draw an unflattering comparison between President Biden’s Thursday debate performance and the decline of ancient Rome.

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski made the comment in an X post Friday. The statement was posted in English, which hinted it was intended for English-speaking audiences because Sikorski usually posts in Polish. 

In the X post, Sikorski took aim at Marcus Aurelius’s son, Commodus, whose reign marked the end of Pax Romana, an era of peace and prosperity in ancient Rome.

“Marcus Aurelius was a great emperor but he screwed up his succession by passing the baton to his feckless son Commodus (He, from the Gladiator),” Sikorski wrote. “Whose disastrous rule started Rome’s decline.

BIDEN AIMS TO CHANGE NEGATIVE NARRATIVE AFTER ROUGH DEBATE WITH TRUMP

A Polish official referenced Roman emperor Commodus in a post that heavily hinted at President Biden’s dismal debate performance Thursday. (Getty Images)

“It’s important to manage one’s ride into the sunset.”

Biden’s recent debate performance has sparked commentary across the world, prompting increased concern about his advanced age and declining cognitive abilities.

Media publications in Russia, China, Iran and other countries all covered the debate and used it as an opportunity to criticize the U.S.

HERITAGE FOUNDATION WORKING ON ELECTION LEGAL CHALLENGES IN CASE BIDEN PULLED FROM DNC NOMINATION

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski speaks during a joint press conference in Warsaw, Poland.  (Dominika Zarzycka/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Rebekah Koffler, a strategic military intelligence analyst and author of “Putin’s Playbook,” told Fox News Digital most foreign publications “are derogatory of both candidates and mocking America.”

“Bottom line, Moscow feels confident that the societal crisis that has engulfed the U.S. is good for Russia,” Koffler said.

Former President Trump and President Biden squared off in a high-stakes 2024 presidential debate rematch Thursday. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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Fox News Digital reached out to Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for additional comment but did not immediately hear back.

Fox News Digital’s Peter Aitken contributed to this report.

President Biden is facing criticism from Gold Star families after falsely claiming during Thursday’s CNN Presidential Debate that he’s the “only president this century, this decade, that doesn’t have any troops dying anywhere in the world.”

Biden, after denying that 13 American service members were lost in Afghanistan, also said during the debate that “when he [Trump] was president, they were still killing people in Afghanistan. And he didn’t do anything about that.”

Darin Hoover, Gold Star father of Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover who was one of those 13 American service members killed in action on August 26, 2021, in Kabul, Afghanistan, had a strong reaction to Biden’s debate claims.

The younger Hoover, 31, was engaged to be married when he was killed. It was his third tour in Afghanistan.

VOTERS REACT AFTER BIDEN FALSELY CLAIMED THAT NO TROOPS HAD DIED UNDER HIS WATCH

President Joe Biden is under fire from Gold Star families like the Hoovers after denying troops had died under his presidency at CNN’s Presidential Debate Thursday. (Darin Hoover, Getty Images)

“I knew Afghanistan was going to come up sooner or later,” said Hoover in an interview with Fox News Digital, recalling the debate. 

“You know, the stumbling, bumbling buffoon that we have in the White House had the audacity to say that under his watch that no military members have died.”

Thirteen American service members died on August 26, 2021 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover was one of the 11 Marines who were killed in action that day. (Darin Hoover)

The Gold Star dad added, “the rage, the absolute disgust that I got, from hearing him say that–I started yelling back at the TV. Just out of frustration. He’s never acknowledged, not one time, any of our kids. He’s never said their names. Even to this day, I doubt very seriously that he even knows their names.”

Taylor’s mother, Kelly Barnett, had this to say to Biden: “What I would say to them is shame on you using our children as a pawn. It just makes me sick.”

HEROES OF KABUL: STAFF SGT. DARIN TAYLOR HOOVER HANDED OUT AMMO TO HIS MEN DESPITE FACING MORTAL INJURIES

“Shame on you using our children as a pawn…”

— Kelly Barnett, mother of Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover

“It’s sickening, but it goes to the way that we’ve been treated the past three years. It’s three years–we’re going on three years now. And it’s just disrespect after disrespect. This is probably the cherry on top.”

Hoover said the Biden administration sent the 13 Afghanistan Gold Star families letters – a year later. 

“All the 13 families get a canned letter. It said the same exact same thing. And it looked like it was a photocopy of all of that. It was basically, we’re sorry that your service member had died, and that’s been it. We’ve had absolutely nothing before, nothing since,” Hoover added. 

Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover was killed in action in Afghanistan on August 26, 2021. He is a Purple Heart recipient. (Darin Hoover)

Hoover has made efforts to meet with Biden on behalf of the 13 lost on August 26, 2021. He said, “as much as we tried it in the past, when we’ve been going before Congress to try and get a meeting, it’s been denied because he’s a chicken.”

“[Biden] doesn’t want to deal with us. He knows that we’re in his face, but he doesn’t want to deal with us,” said Hoover.

“[Biden] doesn’t want to deal with us. He knows that we’re in his face, but he doesn’t want to deal with us.”

— Darin Hoover Sr.

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According to the St. Charles County Veterans Museum in Missouri, Hoover was bestowed awards including the Purple Heart and the Afghanistan Campaign Medal after 11 years of service to the Marine Corps.

The Biden administration did not return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Former President Trump on Friday endorsed two Republican House candidates, both of whom served in the U.S. Army and are seeking to flip Democrat-held seats this fall.

Trump’s endorsements of Derrick Anderson, a former U.S. Army Special Forces Green Beret, and Laurie Buckhout, a former Army colonel, came one day after his debate against President Biden.

In his endorsement of Anderson, the Republican nominee to represent Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, Trump said, “He bravely fought for our Great Country as a Green Beret, and was deployed to Afghanistan, Bahrain, Jordan, Israel, and Lebanon. Unlike the current administration, he never left anyone behind!

“Derrick is America First all the way, and he is running against a weak and pathetic Democrat named Yevgeny ‘Eugene’ Vindman who, along with Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff and others, lied to push the Ukraine Impeachment Hoax, a continuation of the greatest and most dangerous Political WITCH HUNT in the History of our Country.”

FORMER SPECIAL FORCES SOLDIER LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN IN VIRGINIA TO FLIP SWING HOUSE SEAT FROM DEMOCRATS

Former President Trump endorsed Derrick Anderson, a former U.S. Army Special Forces Green Beret, and Laurie Buckhout, a former Army colonel, in their bids to flip House seats from blue to red. (Getty Images, Derrick Anderson, Laurie Buckhout)

Anderson is running for the seat held by Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat who announced in November that she would seek the Democratic Party’s nomination for governor of Virginia in 2025.

“Derrick Anderson has my Complete and Total Endorsement – HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN,” Trump said.

In announcing his campaign in September, Anderson told Fox News Digital he could “no longer remain silent on the sidelines.”

“I have spent my life serving this country overseas, including combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. Watching President Biden and Washington Democrats squander 22 years of sacrifices made by our service members and their families was the final straw for me,” Anderson said at the time.

Anderson served in the Army from 2006 to 2014 before his first run for Congress in 2022. That year, he narrowly lost the Republican primary to former congressional candidate Yesli Vega. Spanberger, a former CIA operative, defeated Vega in the general election by just under 5%, securing her third term after she was first elected in the 2018 midterms.

Anderson advanced to the general election after defeating five other Republicans in the state’s June 18 primary. He will face off against Vindman, the Democratic Party’s nominee, Nov. 5.

Former Special Forces soldier and Republican Virginia congressional candidate Derrick Anderson. (Derrick Anderson)

In his endorsement of Buckhout, the Republican nominee to represent North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, Trump said, “Laurie bravely served our Country as an Army Colonel and Decorated Combat Commander and, in Congress, she will Grow the Economy, Lower Inflation, Uphold the Rule of Law, Secure our Border, Support our Military/Vets, and Protect our always under siege Second Amendment.”

FORMER ARMY COLONEL SEEKING TO FLIP NORTH CAROLINA HOUSE SEAT SAYS DEM OPPONENT IS ‘BEHOLDEN’ TO BIDEN

Trump said he believes Buckhout “will be an incredible Representative for the fantastic people” of the state’s 1st congressional district.

“Laurie Buckhout has my Complete and Total Endorsement,” the former president added.

Buckhout, who served for 26 years in the U.S. Army and reached the rank of colonel before she retired in 2010, is aiming to flip a blue House seat to red in her challenge against incumbent Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C.

Buckhout advanced to the general election in March after defeating Sandy Smith, her sole primary challenger.

Speaking to Fox News Digital earlier this year, Buckhout accused Davis, a U.S. Air Force veteran who served for 14 years in the North Carolina state Senate before getting elected to the House in Nov. 2022, of being a “career politician” who has “never had a day in his life where he’s run a business.”

Additionally, Buckhout accused Davis of being “beholden” to President Biden and the Democratic policies that continue to wreak havoc on her district.

Laurie Buckhout, the GOP nominee in the race to represent North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, will face incumbent Democratic Rep. Don Davis (left) Nov. 5. (Getty Images, Laurie Buckhout campaign)

Davis later fired back at Buckhout’s allegations during an interview with Fox News Digital.

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“Let me be clear. I want to thank Col. Buckhout for her service to our country. But I think she couldn’t be more off on that whole comment because this is not about being beholden,” the first-term lawmaker said. “I’ve heard about flipping the seat. But, for me, it’s about fighting every day for families of eastern North Carolina.”

Buckhout will face Davis, who ran unopposed, in the general election Nov. 5.

An Ohio Democrat seeking election to the U.S. House believes her party is in danger with President Biden at the top of the 2024 ticket and called on the party to pivot to a new candidate.

The comments from Tamie Wilson, the Democrat challenging incumbent GOP Rep. Jim Jordan to represent Ohio’s 4th Congressional District, came in a lengthy statement to Fox News Digital following Biden’s debate performance against former President Trump Thursday.

“As a candidate running against an extremist like Jim Jordan, the stakes couldn’t be higher for the future of our country,” Wilson said. “After watching the presidential debate, I was left with the same question that many of my constituents are asking me: Can the president defeat the MAGA agenda once again?”

Wilson, seeking to represent a district that overwhelmingly backed former President Trump in previous elections, acknowledged the importance of “winning over independent voters,” claiming it’s the only way Democrats can win elections where Biden isn’t favored.

HERITAGE FOUNDATION WORKING ON ELECTION LEGAL CHALLENGES IN CASE BIDEN PULLED FROM DNC NOMINATION

Tamie Wilson, the Democratic nominee to represent Ohio’s 4th Congressional District, believes her party is in danger with President Biden at the “top of the ticket” in the 2024 race for the White House. (Getty Images I Tamie Wilson for Congress)

“In a race like mine, winning over independent voters is the only path to victory, and I am concerned that the top of the ticket may make that effort more difficult,” she said. “The fight to defeat dangerous extremists like Jim Jordan is so important that I am willing to call the question.”

Though she respects Biden, Wilson said she believes her party is likely to have better odds in the presidential election if someone like Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, was leading the challenge against Trump.

“I have immense respect for President Biden, and I am thankful for his decades of service, but if the Democrats would choose to pivot, I hope they look toward a candidate like my Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown,” she said. “We need Sen. Brown to remain in the Senate, but if Democrats decide to consider their options, we must look to a leader who can identify with voters across the political spectrum.”

Speaking with a raspy voice and delivering rambling answers, Biden struggled during many portions of the debate. Several political analysts noted, however, that the president sharpened his answers as the debate progressed.

Biden’s uneven and, at times, halting performance grabbed the vast majority of headlines from the debate and sparked a new round of calls from political pundits, publications and some Democrats for the president to step aside as the party’s standard-bearer. Top Biden allies have pushed back against such talk as they defended the president and targeted Trump for “lying” throughout the debate.

SPECIAL COUNSEL ROBERT HUR ‘VINDICATED,’ ‘DESERVES AN APOLOGY’ AFTER BIDEN DEBATE PERFORMANCE: ANALYSTS

Tamie Wilson, the Democratic nominee to represent Ohio’s 4th Congressional District in the House, at an event alongside Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. (Tamie Wilson/Facebook)

Biden, on the day after his debate performance, aimed to address Democratic Party panic.

“I know I’m not a young man, to state the obvious,” Biden, at 81 the oldest president in the nation’s history, told cheering supporters at a Friday afternoon rally in the crucial battleground state of North Carolina.

“Folks, I don’t walk as easy as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to,” Biden acknowledged. “But I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done. And I know, like millions of Americans know, when you get knocked down you get back up.”

Despite the president’s performance, Wilson, an executive committee member of the Delaware County Democratic Party, said she will support Biden if he is her party’s presidential nominee in this fall’s election.

“If President Biden is the nominee against Donald Trump, I will support him without fail as I have in the past, but I do have the courage to ask if he is our best option out loud,” she said. “If Democrats want to win, we need to do better or something different. The moment is too important to act otherwise.”

President Biden and former President Trump took part in a presidential debate in Atlanta June 27, 2024. (Getty Images)

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Wilson, a Columbus native who attended Otterbein University, defeated her primary challenger in March to serve as her party’s nominee to represent the state’s 4th District in this year’s general election. She will face Jordan, the popular nine-term GOP incumbent, Nov. 5.

President Biden’s incoherency and fatigue at last night’s CNN Presidential Debate has left Democratic insiders questioning whether President Biden should seek a second term in office. But a more urgent issue is the president’s ability to continue his first term in office. This guide explains the constitutional mechanism for Biden to be replaced as the sitting president.

What does the Constitution say about presidential succession?

The 25th Amendment to the Constitution spells out the presidential order of succession.

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)

The first three scenarios deal with the possibility of death, resignation, or illness. It is through these sections that Vice Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Gerald Ford each became President of the United States. The fourth and most talked about section in the 25th Amendment provides a mechanism to remove a president without their consent. 

It last became part of the national conversation in the aftermath of the January 6 riots, when some cabinet members reportedly discussed removing former President Trump from office.

TRUMP SAYS ‘BIGGEST PROBLEM’ NOT BIDEN’S AGE, ‘DECLINE,’ BUT HIS POLICIES IN FIRST APPEARANCE SINCE DEBATE

How would replacing the president work?

According to the relevant section, these steps would take place: 

• The Vice President (in this case, Kamala Harris) and a majority of cabinet members deliver a written declaration to the president pro tempore of the Senate (Sen. Patty Murray, D-WA) and Speaker of the House (Rep. Mike Johnson, R-LA) saying that he is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” This would make Harris the acting president.
• If President Biden writes a letter saying he is capable of performing his duties, then he resumes them unless Harris and the cabinet majority deliver another declaration stating the same inability. That must be sent within four days of the president’s declaration.
• The question would then go to Congress, who would assemble within 48 hours and vote on the issue within 21 days. If that vote succeeded, Biden would be stripped of his office, and Harris would continue as acting president until Americans chose their next President in the next election. In that scenario, Harris could run for President in that same election.

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

TRUMP SAYS ‘BIGGEST PROBLEM’ NOT BIDEN’S AGE, ‘DECLINE,’ BUT HIS POLICIES IN FIRST APPEARANCE SINCE DEBATE

Are there any signs that it will be invoked?

No. There is no reporting that anyone in Biden’s inner circle or the White House is considering such a move. 

Elsewhere, voices across the political spectrum have raised the possibility that Biden is not capable of remaining in office.

Biden speaks at a post-debate campaign rally on June 28, 2024 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Last night President Biden and Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump faced off in the first presidential debate of the 2024 campaign.  (Allison Joyce/Getty Images)

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That includes figures ranging from Johnson to comedian Jon Stewart.

What if President Biden dies or resigns?

As above, the 25th amendment also deals with succession in the event of death or resignation. In both cases, Vice President Harris would become President of the United States.

Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report described President Biden as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” — and numerous political analysts said that was exactly the impression that the president left on viewers of the debate on Thursday.

In the February report, which noted that Biden’s “memory also appeared to have significant limitations,” Hur said he would bring no criminal charges against the president after a months-long investigation into his improper retention of classified documents related to national security.

“Based on our direct interactions with and observations of him, he is someone from whom many jurors will want to identify reasonable doubt,” the report stated. “It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him — by then a former president well into his eighties — of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness.”

During and after Biden’s debate against former President Donald Trump this week, several political analysts took to social media to suggest that Hur, who faced criticism from Democrats and liberal media figures over the report’s comments about Biden’s memory and judgment, had been “vindicated” and “deserves an apology.”

HOUSE GOP WILL SUE DOJ NEXT WEEK TO GET BIDEN-HUR AUDIO TAPES, JOHNSON SAYS

Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report described Biden as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” mirroring what some analysts believe is the impression he left on viewers of the debate. (Getty Images)

“You know who’s looking really vindicated tonight? Special counsel Robert Hur,” Jim Geraghty, National Review’s senior political correspondent and a Washington Post contributing columnist, said amid Biden’s performance.

Echoing Geraghty, Charles C.W. Cooke, a British-born American journalist and a senior writer at National Review Online, wrote in a post to X, “Robert Hur deserves an apology.”

Former Trump-era White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany also weighed in on Biden’s performance by referencing Hur.

“Biden is worse than anyone knew. Robert Hur must have been truly shocked. Now the country is,” McEnany, the co-host of Fox News’ “Outnumbered,” said in a post to social media.

During the interview with Hur, Biden, according to the report, “did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended (‘if it was 2013 — when did I stop being Vice President?’), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began (‘in 2009, am I still Vice President?’)” 

“He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died. And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him. Among other things, he mistakenly said he ‘had a real difference’ of opinion with General Karl Eikenberry, when, in fact, Eikenberry was an ally whom Mr. Eiden cited approvingly in his Thanksgiving memo to President Obama,” Hur’s report said.

TRUMP SAYS ‘BIGGEST PROBLEM’ NOT BIDEN’S AGE, ‘DECLINE,’ BUT HIS POLICIES IN FIRST APPEARANCE SINCE DEBATE

President Biden and former President Trump during a presidential debate in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27, 2024. (Getty Images)

Biden and his allies aggressively pushed back on concerns about his mental fitness in the report’s wake. Though a full transcript of the interview has been released, Republican lawmakers are still seeking audio tapes of the discussions.

Earlier this week, ahead of the debate, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said House Republicans will file a lawsuit next week to force the Department of Justice (DOJ) to hand over audio tapes of Hur’s interview with Biden.

“We are going to file a suit next week against the — against the Department of Justice to enforce that subpoena. We’ll go to district court here in D.C., which is the appropriate venue, and we will fight vigorously to get it,” Johnson told reporters at his regular press conference.

Attorney General Merrick Garland previously refused House GOP investigators’ subpoena for the audio tapes, citing Biden’s claim of executive privilege.

Garland’s refusal spurred House Republicans to hold him in contempt earlier this month, referring Garland to his own department for criminal charges. The DOJ ultimately declined to prosecute.

Attorney General Merrick Garland (left) previously refused House GOP investigators’ subpoena for the audio tapes, citing Biden’s claim of executive privilege. (Getty Images)

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Following Biden’s debate performance, several media figures now support the release of the audio tapes from the president’s interview with Hur, including Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle.

“If you hold out hope that Biden’s performance on Thursday was just an aberration, you should call for the administration to release the tapes of his interview with Robert Hur so we can all hear what he sounds like when he doesn’t have a cold,” McArdle wrote in a post on X.

Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

The re-election campaign for President Biden says it has raised a whopping $27 million since his rocky debate performance against former President Trump.

From the day of the debate through Friday evening, the Biden-Harris campaign told Fox News that it had raised $27 million.

The updated figure comes after the campaign said on Friday that it raised $14 million in “a sign of strength of our grassroots support” on debate day and the morning after.

The campaign also noted Friday that 11 p.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday – the first hour after the debate – was the single best hour of fundraising since the campaign’s launch in April 2023.

BIDEN AIMS TO CHANGE NEGATIVE NARRATIVE AFTER ROUGH DEBATE WITH TRUMP

The re-election campaign for President Biden says it has raised $27 million since his rocky debate performance against former President Trump. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP)

The large sums of cash come as Biden’s campaign seeks to address Democratic Party panic over whether he is mentally fit to serve as president following his disastrous faceoff with Trump in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday.

“I know I’m not a young man, to state the obvious,” Biden, who at 81 is the oldest president in the nation’s history, told cheering supporters at a Friday afternoon rally in the crucial battleground state of North Carolina.

“Folks, I don’t walk as easy as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to,” Biden acknowledged. “But I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done. And I know, like millions of Americans know, when you get knocked down you get back up.”

The president, pointing to his 2024 rematch with Trump, emphasized, “I would not be running again if I did not believe with all my heart and soul that I can do this job.”

Struggling with a raspy voice and delivering rambling answers, Biden struggled during portions of the debate. Several political analysts noted, however, that the president sharpened his answers as the debate progressed.

HERITAGE FOUNDATION WORKING ON ELECTION LEGAL CHALLENGES IN CASE BIDEN PULLED FROM DNC NOMINATION

President Biden participates in the CNN Presidential Debate on June 27, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Andrew Harnik)

Biden’s uneven and, at times, halting performance grabbed the vast majority of headlines from the debate and sparked a new round of calls from political pundits, publications and some Democrats for the president to step aside as the party’s standard-bearer.

Top Biden allies have pushed back against such talk as they defended the president and targeted Trump for “lying” throughout the debate.

Two Democratic sources confirmed to Fox News that top Biden campaign officials worked to calm concerns and fears as they huddled privately on Friday at a previously scheduled meeting with top party donors.

“Biden‘s record grassroots fundraising from the day of the debate is critical. It helps blunt the criticism from Biden’s performance,” veteran political strategist and Democratic National Committee member Maria Cardona told Fox News.

Cardona, a top Biden supporter, said spotlighting the fundraising “reminds Democrats that there is enthusiasm for the president and urgency to make sure that the liar and criminal Donald Trump doesn’t get close to the Oval Office.”

Another Democratic strategist and presidential campaign veteran said that team Biden’s focus on fundraising “is their best and maybe their only card to play.”

Trump campaign senior adviser Brian Hughes discounted the Biden fundraising.

President Biden and former President Trump debated on Thursday night in Atlanta, Georgia. (Getty Images)

“As of last week, the Biden campaign has spent $100 million on cable, TV and radio. They’ve spent money on a bloated organization. Yet President Trump’s lead has grown in battleground states, and now we see polling and enthusiasm on the ground putting Virginia and Minnesota in play for the GOP nominee for the first time in many election cycles,” Hughes told Fox News.

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The Trump campaign – enjoying the post-debate narrative – had no need to immediately emphasize its own fundraising, but told Fox News Friday afternoon it brought in $8 million the day of the debate.

The Trump campaign is demanding an apology from the White House and President Biden’s campaign for dismissing videos of Biden’s public gaffes and miscues as “cheap fakes” and “misinformation” promoted by conservatives. 

Following repeated instances of Biden appearing to stand motionless during public events, being guided offstage by family or allies, or appearing confused during public events, the White House slammed such videos as “cheap fakes” promoted by the Trump campaign and its allies. Cheap fakes, under the White House’s definition, are understood as real videos that are cropped or edited in an allegedly deceptive manner. 

The Trump campaign fired back on Friday that following Biden’s debate performance, “everyone sees there’s NOTHING fake about Biden’s decline.”

“It’s only been a week since our fantastic team @TrumpWarRoom & @RNCResearch were wrongly accused of editing ‘cheap fakes’ to make Biden look bad,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X Friday. “The Democrats, and of course their mouthpieces in the Fake News, peddled this ridiculous lie.”

INDEPENDENT, GOP VOTERS SHOW SPIKING SUPPORT AS TRUMP SLAMS BIDEN’S ‘FULLY DEBUNKED’ CHARLOTTESVILLE NARRATIVE

“We actually had to spend time fighting ‘journalists’ on this ridiculous narrative and telling them Americans can believe their own eyes!” she continued. “Now everyone sees there’s NOTHING fake about Biden’s decline. We were right and simply sharing the TRUTH!”

“We will take an apology now,” Leavitt added, tagging the Biden campaign and a handful of media outlets. 

When asked about the Trump campaign’s call for an apology, the Biden campaign told Fox News Digital that Trump is a “liar” in addition to “a pathetic loser.”

“Trump lied countless times during the debate and so does his campaign, in real life and on the internet. Trump lied Thursday about whether he called fallen soldiers suckers and losers, and he’s still triggered that mainstream media fact checkers called out his cheap fakes.  So sure, we will amend our previous statement: Trump is not just a liar he is also a pathetic loser,” a spokesperson for the Biden campaign said.

The call for an apology comes after former President Trump and Biden faced off in the 2024 election cycle’s first debate on Thursday evening, with Biden subsequently coming under fire from conservatives and his traditional allies for his disastrous performance. The New York Times even called on Biden to drop out of the race over his performance, which underscored already mounting concerns over the president’s age and mental acuity.

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL BOARD CALLS FOR BIDEN TO DROP OUT: HIS CANDIDACY IS A ‘RECKLESS GAMBLE’

While a good or bad debate performance can make or break any campaign, this year’s debates may be President Biden’s last shot at saving his re-election prospects. (Left: Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images, Right: (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images))

Biden’s debate performance included him having a raspy voice, losing his train of thought at times, and stumbling over some responses. Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged this week that Biden had a “slow start” to the debate, but defended his performance overall and his record in office since 2021. 

WHITE HOUSE ‘CHEAP FAKES’ RESPONSE TO BIDEN VIDEOS PART OF PUSH FOR SOCIAL MEDIA CENSORSHIP: EXPERT

Leavitt told Fox News Digital that, in addition to apologizing to the campaign, Biden’s administration and campaign should “more importantly” apologize to Americans. 

“The Biden White House and entire Democrat Party are both directly implicated in the greatest coverup in U.S. political history — and the mainstream media is complicit in their lies to the American public about Joe Biden’s mental state. They owe an apology to not just our campaign, but more importantly to the American people, for this major scandal that has led to the demise of our country over the past four years,” she said. 

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. (Photo by Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images) (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Ahead of the debate, Biden faced criticism for a series of gaffes and missed cues during public appearances, including events abroad with fellow world leaders. Those include: former President Obama taking Biden’s wrist to seemingly lead him offstage at a fundraiser in Los Angeles this month; Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni directing Biden back to a gaggle of world leaders in Italy this month after he took a few steps away from the group to give a thumbs up to a parachutist; and viral video showing the president standing relatively motionless during a Juneteenth concert event at the White House. 

SOCIAL MEDIA MOCKS BIDEN BEING LED OFFSTAGE BY FIRST LADY

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni directs President Biden during G7 event.  (Fox News/POOL)

OBAMA DEFENDS BIDEN, HAMMERS TRUMP AFTER TELEVISED SHOWDOWN: ‘BAD DEBATE NIGHTS HAPPEN’

The White House pushed back following criticisms of such videos that they were “cheap fakes,” birthing a new 2024 campaign buzz word that was soon mocked by conservatives on social media, who argued that the administration was “gaslighting” Americans. 

President Obama takes President Biden by the wrist at fundraising event.   (Christopher Gardner via Storyful)

“They are cheap fakes. . . . They are done in bad faith. And some of your news organizations have been very clear, have stressed that these right-wing . . . critics of the president have a credibility problem, because the fact-checkers have repeatedly caught them pushing misinformation, disinformation,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier this month of cheap fakes.

The Biden-Harris campaign also promoted the “cheap fake” narrative, calling them “a huge part of Trump’s campaign strategy.”

OBAMA LEADING BIDEN OFF LA FUNDRAISER’S STAGE JUST LATEST EXAMPLE OF ALLIES DIRECTING PRESIDENT

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“Rob Flaherty, Biden-Harris Deputy Campaign Manager: Donald Trump is desperate to distract from his unpopular agenda. That’s why his campaign is deploying ‘cheap fakes,’ which are deceptively edited videos of President Biden. These doctored videos are a huge part of Trump’s campaign strategy,” the campaign posted on X earlier this month. 

President Biden and former President Donald Trump traded jabs over the issue of abortion and their views on Roe v. Wade at Thursday night’s presidential debate, with independent voters who were part of a Fox News Digital focus group favoring the former president’s remarks on the subject.

Asked whether he supports “any legal limits on how late a woman should be able to terminate a pregnancy,” Biden said, “I support Roe v. Wade, which has three trimesters. First time is between a woman and a doctor. Second time is between a doctor and an extreme situation. The third time is between the doctor, I mean, between the woman and the state.

“The idea that the politicians, that the founders wanted the politicians to be the ones making decisions about a woman’s health is ridiculous. No politician is making that decision. A doctor should be making those decisions. That’s how it should be run. That’s what you’re gonna do, and if I’m elected, I’m gonna restore Roe v. Wade.”

During Biden’s remarks, approval from independent voters in the focus group consistently ranked around 30% or lower and never reached 35% approval.

TRUMP VOWS HE ‘WILL NOT BLOCK’ ABORTION PILLS OR MEDICATION IF ELECTED, SAYS HE BELIEVES IN ‘EXCEPTIONS’

During President Biden’s remarks, approval from independent voters in the focus group consistently ranked around 30% or lower. (Fox News Digital)

Responding to Biden, Trump said, “So that means he can take the life of the baby in the ninth month and even after birth, because some states — Democrat-run — take it after birth.”

“So he’s willing to, as we say, rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month and kill the baby,” Trump added. “Nobody wants that to happen.”

Independent voter response to Trump’s comments on Biden’s positioning on abortion soared to higher than 75% approval.

Biden interjected to deny Trump’s claim, saying it was “simply not true” and that Roe v. Wade “does not provide for that.”

“That’s not the circumstance. Only when the woman’s life is in danger, if she’s going to die — that’s the only circumstance in which that can happen,” Biden said. “But we are not for late-term abortion, period.”

Amid the president’s interjection of Trump’s comments, approval from independent voters for what Biden had to say quickly started to trickle down.

CNN HOST ABRUPTLY ENDS INTERVIEW WITH PRO-LIFE ACTIVIST AFTER CLASH OVER SCOTUS DECISION

President Biden participates in the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections in Atlanta on Thursday. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

Refutting Biden’s claim and garnering further support from independent voters who were part of the focus group, Trump said, “Under Roe v. Wade, you have late-term abortion. You can do whatever you want, depending on the state. … We don’t think that’s a good thing. We think it’s a radical thing.”

“For 51 years, that was the law,” Biden fired back. “Constitutional scholarship said it was the right way to go. Fifty-one years, and it was taken away because this guy put very conservative members on the Supreme Court. He takes credit for taking it away.”

Upon his speaking again, real-time independent voter approval of Biden’s remarks dropped significantly.

“What’s he going to do? What’s he going to do, in fact, if — if the MAGA Republicans — he gets elected and the MAGA Republicans control of the Congress and they pass a universal ban on abortion, period, across the board, at six weeks, or seven, or eight or 10 weeks, something very, very conservative. Is he going to sign that bill? I’ll veto it. He’ll sign it,” Biden said.

The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

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Trump also said during the debate that he “will not block” abortion pills or abortion medication should he be elected president.

The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, effectively ending recognition of a constitutional right to abortion and giving individual states the power to allow, limit or ban the practice altogether.

Democrats under threat of losing their seats to Republicans appear to be leaving President Biden high and dry after what’s been widely viewed as a “disastrous” performance in Thursday’s presidential debate.

Fox News Digital asked multiple Democratic senators, House members and candidates facing tough races for their reaction to the debate and whether they agreed with the assessment by others in their party that Biden should step aside as a presidential candidate. 

Not one stepped up to defend him.

REPUBLICANS DECLARE BIDEN ‘UNFIT FOR OFFICE’ FOLLOWING ‘DISASTROUS’ DEBATE PERFORMANCE

Senators Jon Tester, Jacky Rosen, Sherrod Brown, Tammy Baldwin and Bob Casey (Getty Images )

The names most notably absent from jumping to Biden’s defense were senators Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.; Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.; Jon Tester, D-Mont., Bob Casey, D-Pa., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, all of whom have been quick to praise the president in the more recent past.

Tester, for example, previously described Biden as “absolutely 100% with it,” and said, “He’s fine. He’s doing a good job. I think folks are making a bigger deal out of it than it is.” Republicans have been going after him by running those very words in ads across the state.

Baldwin’s campaign distanced itself from Biden following the debate, telling one news outlet Friday, “Tammy Baldwin is running her own race for the people of Wisconsin.”

BIDEN RIPPED FOR ‘OLD’ APPEARANCE, ‘WEAK’ VOICE DURING FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: ‘DEEPLY ALARMING’

“Senate Democrats have been telling Americans Joe Biden is still sharp. Jon Tester even went so far as to say Biden is ‘absolutely 100% with it.’ It is clear they were lying, and voters will remember that in November,” National Republican Senatorial Committee communications director Mike Berg told Fox News Digital.

Reps. Ruben Gallego, the likely Democratic nominee for Senate in Arizona; Colin Allred, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Texas; Elissa Slotkin, the likely Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan; and Angela Alsobrooks, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Maryland, also failed to defend Biden when asked about the debate.

Some House Democrats facing tough races, such as Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, have taken a similar approach. The National Republican Congressional Committee on Friday posted a video on social media of Kaptur being trailed in the airport by a GOP operative asking if Biden was “fit to be president.”

BODY LANGUAGE EXPERT’S BRUTAL TAKE ON BIDEN’S DEBATE AGAINST TRUMP: ‘LIKE A DEAD MAN WALKING’

“Joe Biden is president,” Kaptur said, refusing to give a direct answer. When pressed by the operative, Kaptur simply said, “Are you fit to be president?”

Kaptur’s campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Democratic Rep. Emilia Sykes won a tight race in Ohio’s 13th Congressional District in 2022, and Cook Political Report ranks her race in 2024 as a “Democrat Toss Up.” Fox News Digital reached out to her office and did not receive a response.

In Washington state, Dem. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is facing a tough reelection campaign that the Cook Political Report ranks as a “Democrat Toss Up.” Her office did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Ohio Rep. Greg Landsman, who also could be facing a tough re-election fight this year, did, however, admit what the others wouldn’t.

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“Biden struggled, but he’s an honest person who cares deeply about the country, and Trump, on the other hand, is a con man and only cares about himself,” Landsman told Fox News Digital. 

“I’m not sure what happens next. I’m clear about my job, which is to serve the 700,000 people we represent, working to make life better for children and families by getting costs down, strengthening our democracy, restoring freedoms and helping to solve the big problems we face so families don’t have to worry as much as they do now.”

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

Rep. Chip Roy from Texas is pushing to force President Biden out of office via the 25th Amendment.

The U.S. lawmaker from Texas introduced legislation this week that would urge Vice President Kamala Harris to bring together executives of the executive cabinet and jointly declare Biden unfit to continue as president.

Roy introduced the resolution on Friday “calling on Vice President Kamala D. Harris to convene and mobilize the principal officers of the executive departments of the Cabinet to activate section 4 of the 25th Amendment to declare President Joseph R. Biden incapable of executing the duties of his office and to immediately exercise powers as Acting President.

OBAMA DEFENDS BIDEN, HAMMERS TRUMP AFTER TELEVISED SHOWDOWN: ‘BAD DEBATE NIGHTS HAPPEN’

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. (Kevin D. Liles for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The resolution claims that Biden “has repeatedly and publicly demonstrated his inability to discharge the powers and duties of the Presidency, including, among others, the powers and duties of the Commander-in-Chief.”

Section 4 of the 25th Amendment authorizes the vice president and a majority of the executive cabinet to make the decision whether the president is fit to continue in office or not.

Biden has faced severe backlash following a disastrous debate performance on Thursday in which the president was seen visibly confused, mouth agape, and frequently unable to complete sentences.

REPUBLICANS DECLARE BIDEN ‘UNFIT FOR OFFICE’ FOLLOWING ‘DISASTROUS’ DEBATE PERFORMANCE

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

Biden appeared tired and unfocused at times during his 90-minute face-off with Trump. At one point, Trump fired back, “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.”

Some Democrats have floated the idea of pulling Biden out of the Democratic primary at the last second, despite the fact he’s been the overwhelming winner of every state.

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U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at a post-debate campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina.  (Allison Joyce/Getty Images)

Such a radical move would certainly lead to legal battles, voter confusion, and a last-minute scramble for a new candidate to connect with the American people.

Republicans have seized the moment as vindication after years of questioning the president’s mental acuity but being denied by the mainstream media and political insiders.

Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. 

What’s happening…

– Biden’s “disaster” debate

– SCOTUS decides Jan. 6 case

– NASA’s ‘stranded’ astronaut crisis averted

NO MORE ROOM

Migrants sleeping on the floors of Boston’s Logan International Airport will soon be banned from doing so and Massachusetts officials are telling migrants currently at the southern border that its shelter system is out of space.

Illegal migrants line floors of terminal in Boston Logan Airport as Massachusetts’ shelters are overrun.  (WBZ)

More than 100 migrants have been using the facility as a shelter — lining the floors of Boston’s main air hub with makeshift beds and air mattresses — but they will be prohibited from doing so from July 9 and instead be offered free tax-payer-funded accommodation at a former minimum-security dorm-like facility in Norfolk, Gov. Maura Healey announced Friday.

White House

‘PULL’ FACTOR: Mayorkas moves to shield hundreds of thousands from deportation back to troubled Caribbean nation …Read more

Capitol Hill

‘IT’S NOT STORY TIME’: Rep. Nancy Mace rips civil rights activist for defining ‘woman’ as ‘a person who says she is’ …Read more

CONTROVERSIAL LAWS: U.S. Supreme Court upholds controversial anti-camping laws used against homeless people in Oregon city …Read more

‘ROUGH DEBATE’: Fetterman urges Dems to ‘chill the f–k out’ about Biden, says he’s proof ‘rough debate’ isn’t dealbreaker …Read more

SURPRISING DISSENT: Supreme Court decides Jan. 6 rioter ‘obstruction’ case that could carry significant implications for Trump …Read more

BUREAUCRATS’ WORST NIGHTMARE: Supreme Court sides with fishermen in landmark case deciding fate of the administrative state …Read more

Tales from the Campaign Trail

CHANGING MINDS: Fox News Digital focus group members shift who they are voting for after debate …Read more

‘TIME TO GO, JOE’: Biden’s ‘disaster’ debate performance sparks media meltdown, calls for him to withdraw from 2024 race …Read more

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)

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Jamie Metzl, who worked for President Biden during the Clinton administration as deputy staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when Biden was a senator, told Fox News Digital the president shouldn’t accept the nomination for the Democratic ticket after Biden’s debate performance. 

“I have tremendous respect for Joe Biden. He’s my former boss. I think he’s a great person and a great American patriot. But I think most people seeing him in the debate last night would have to come to the conclusion that he may not have 4½ healthy years left where he can perform at the highest level that’s required for a United States president,” said Metzl, author of the book “Superconvergence: How the Genetics, Biotech, and AI Revolutions Will Transform Our Lives, Work, and World.” 

“And so, it’s with a very heavy heart and deep sadness that I’ve come to the conclusion that the best step for the Democratic Party and for the country is for President Biden to announce that he will not seek the Democratic Party’s nomination to be the presidential candidate,” Metzl said. 

DNC INSIDER CLAIMS BIDEN MEETING WITH OBAMA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST FOLLOWING DEBATE DISASTER

Metzl said he believes Biden did an “excellent” job in his first term, adding that before he took office, “we had significant attacks on our democracy and literally an attack on our Capitol. Our alliances were in shambles. So, I think that President Biden has done actually a quite good job. Certainly not perfect. And there’s lots of things that I and we can and should criticize.”

He added that calling on Biden to drop out is not “a statement about his performance in his first term as president. It’s a statement about what is required to be the president of the United States for four years. And, unfortunately, Joe Biden, who I greatly respect, I don’t believe has that capacity anymore.” 

Jamie Metzl, who worked for President Biden, above, on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when Biden was a senator, told Fox News Digital the president shouldn’t accept the nomination for the Democratic ticket following Thursday night’s debate performance.  (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Metzl explained that he worked with Biden nearly 25 years ago, and that he notices a “marked difference” between Biden then and now. 

“And that’s perfectly normal. We all have parents and grandparents, and we see that age is a very real thing even for a vigorous person like President Biden,” Metzl said. “When you get to be in your 80s, just the ravages of time catch up to us all. So, I have great respect for him, but I just think that we in the Democratic Party need to be brutally honest with ourselves. Because, if we’re not, the voters in November will certainly be brutally honest with us.”

Open convention

Metzl said while the Democratic Party has a provision for an open convention, “I think it would be a mistake to begin this process then, because a person who is going to be the nominee needs to have legitimacy. Not just from being selected at the convention, but through some type of popular engagement and popular process. So, I think that President Biden should announce that he will not seek the nomination at some point over the next couple of days, and that anyone who wants to step forward should do so.”

He suggested that, over the next month, the candidates could have weekly debates about the leading candidates along with “old-fashioned retail politics at scale, where these candidates are going to have to, in a very condensed period of time, communicate who they are and what they stand for and engage with voters. This is not something that is comfortable. It would have been much better if we had had a regular primary, perhaps, beginning a year ago. But this is where we are now, and I think we need to make the most of it.” 

Metzl called watching the debate Thursday night “deeply painful.”  (Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Biden didn’t have any serious primary challengers and quickly became the presumptive Democratic nominee. His team also insisted Friday he wouldn’t consider leaving the race. 

“I don’t know what’s realistic and what’s not,” Metzl said when asked whether Biden would consider dropping out. “I certainly know that if President Biden and his team this morning had said, ‘We’re thinking about what’s the next step,’ it would have been game over from that point. So, they almost have to say, ‘We’re in it to win it’ now.”

‘Private conversations’

“And the question will be what happens over the next couple of days? Perhaps there’ll be additional polls that will give information. Perhaps, very likely, there are private conversations. But I do think that, after the performance last night, it will just be impossible for President Biden to rebrand himself to the American people.” 

OBAMA DEFENDS BIDEN, HAMMERS TRUMP AFTER TELEVISED SHOWDOWN: ‘BAD DEBATE NIGHTS HAPPEN’

Metzl said there are a number of Democratic candidates who could take Biden’s place, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, California Gov. Gavin Newsom or Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.

“I certainly think that there are some strong candidates,” he said. “But the problem is that, in our system, it takes a long primary year in many cases for people to get to know a candidate. Bill Clinton, Barack Obama were relative unknowns when they announced that they were running for the presidency. 

“And it took all of the give and take of the primaries for the electorate to get to know them. So, it’s going to be an extremely tall order for people who, whether they’re governors or senators or others who aren’t that well known to the general public, to become so well known over the next month or so that they would have some tailwinds coming into the Democratic convention in August.” 

Biden and Trump had their first of two presidential debates Thursday.  (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)

While admitting it would be difficult for a replacement candidate to be able to beat Trump, Metzl said, “I do think it’s possible. I do not think that Donald Trump is a strong candidate at all, and I don’t think the American people were well served by the choice.

CAN BIDEN BE REPLACED AS THE DEM NOMINEE? HOW THE EXTRAORDINARY MOVE COULD OCCUR

“President Biden is clearly looking his age, and it was clear from the debate last night that President Trump is unrepentant, and that he’s standing by the attacks on the United States Capitol, standing by efforts to undermine the structures of American democracy, standing by his efforts to cast doubt on our entire electoral system. And, so, that’s why I’m certainly not a fan of Donald Trump. I believe Donald Trump poses a pretty significant threat to American democracy. But President Biden is just not presenting a level of vigor that will make voters believe he will be capable of carrying out the responsibilities of president over the next four and a half years.”

Time to move on

If Metzl could speak to Biden, he said he would tell him, “President Biden, you are a personal hero of mine. You’re a man of great ethics, great integrity. You’ve contributed a great deal to this country, which you love. And now for your perhaps last and greatest act of patriotism, it’s time for you to pass the torch to a new generation.”

But, Metzl said, he will vote for Biden if he’s still on the ticket in November because he believes Trump is “unfit to be the president of the United States.”

“By casting doubt on the electoral system, which, by all accounts, these last elections were the cleanest in American history, by supporting an attack on the capital of our own country, Donald Trump has made himself unfit for this role, in my view,” Metzl said.

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Metzl said it would be difficult for him to “change my views” on Biden following the debate. 

“Everybody saw the experience of the debate last night,” he said. “It was deeply painful. It was deeply sad. It felt to me like King Lear. And while I have a great love and respect for President Biden, I believe the time has come. And I believe that he has one last great act of patriotism left in him. And I believe that making a statement that he will not accept the party’s nomination for the presidency is that statement.” 

WASHINGTON – Democrat lawmakers came to the defense of President Biden’s re-election bid after serious concerns were raised over Thursday night’s debate performance.

Biden’s physical and mental appearance was noticed just minutes into the debate as he stumbled over words with a raspy voice and appeared to at times lose his train of thought — with one well-connected Democrat source telling Fox that “everyone is freaking out” and that Biden “needs to go.”

Despite the backlash, Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill rallied behind the president when asked by Fox News Digital if Biden should remain on the 2024 ticket as the Democratic nominee.

One Democrat said that Biden “absolutely” had a bad night, but that he should still represent the party on the general election ballot.

TRUMP SAYS BIDEN ‘WILL BE THE NOMINEE’ AMID DEM PANIC OVER DEBATE PERFORMANCE

President Biden participates in the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections at CNN’s studios in Atlanta on Thursday. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP)

“Did Joe Biden have a bad night, in my opinion? Yes, he absolutely did. And he needs to get out and talk to the American people and answer the question that needs to be,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y. “But I know it’s focused. And staying with Joe Biden because he is the right guy at the right time.”

Rep. Robert Garcia, R-Calif., suggested that Biden was acting a certain way because he “was not feeling well.”

“Look, I get that President Biden had a sore throat, but apparently was not feeling well. At the end of the day, we’ve seen the president in action for years,” Garcia said. “We know what he’s like. And I think 20 minutes of a debate, half an hour of a debate where he did obviously have some sort of… throat challenge or perhaps was sick, I don’t think it’s gonna matter at the end of the day.”

FOX NEWS DIGITAL FOCUS GROUP MEMBERS SHIFT WHOM THEY ARE VOTING FOR AFTER DEBATE

“I will take the honest old guy over the dishonest old guy any day of the week,” Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., told Fox News Digital.

Democratic lawmakers including, from left, Reps. Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill.; Andre Carson, D-Ind.; and Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., spoke with Fox News Digital in Washington, D.C., on Friday. (Fox News Digital)

Another Democrat, Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind., said Biden “started off very slowly, but he picked up the pace.”

“He was on message. He made compelling reasons and points why his administration has had to correct the mess that was the Trump administration,” Carson said. “And I think he’s shown that he’s fit for leadership. He supports law enforcement. He supports our troops. He supports economic development and growth. And he’s proven that. Look at the record.”

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Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., also told Fox News Digital that Biden should “absolutely” be representing the Democratic Party on the 2024 ticket.