WaPo: Obama Tells Allies Biden Needs to 'Seriously Consider His Viability'

A debate broke out on Tuesday night between PBS's resident political analyst and forecaster Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report and die-hard Democrat and columnist Jonathan Capehart. At the 10:13 p.m. (ET) juncture, after Walter had shared data showing Biden in a shaky position, and noted the Democratic party's lack of confidence with him at the top of the ticket, Walter walked into a spat with a prickly Capehart, who fiercely defended, in an aggrieved tone, the Democratic president from critics. Amy Walter: So, this gets back to the other issue we have sort of touched on, but we will be spending a lot more time in the next week about, which is what’s going on, on the Democratic side. And the fact that it is the president who should be able to make this case about the dissonance, the president who should be talking about what a Donald Trump second term would look like, who would be pointing to these as examples of the differences between the two parties, he's unable to do that, because even within his own party he is seen as not able to go forward. We still don’t have an answer for whether he will be on the top of the ticket!  And that is, at its very core, we can’t even begin to have a conversation about what does November look like when we don’t have a presidential candidate. The royal "We" is a little much for involuntary PBS funders. Capehart launched into defending Biden's vitality -- personal and political: Jonathan Capehart: Okay, wait a minute. We do have a presidential candidate. I don't know how many times President Biden has to say “I am running, I am running, I am running,” and the message is "Y'all stop asking me to get out, I'm not getting out."  This moment reminds me of the 2020 campaign, when Joe Biden's campaign was basically like the Hindenburg; lost Iowa, lost New Hampshire, lost Nevada, lost one other state that’s in there, and I kept saying, gotta wait ‘til black voters have their say. And miraculously, the Hindenburg sealed up and became president of the United States. And I think that the president is looking back on 2020, he said, “My candidacy was almost finito then, here we are now.”  We’re in July, people! People are losing their minds over polls that are snapshots in time. And I still contend that if that debate was so disastrous on June 27th, and it was, his poll numbers should be in the toilet -- beyond the toilet. And yet the PBS-NPR-Marist poll, Washington Post-ABC poll, NBC News poll, all done after the debate, no change, no change. It is still a dead heat and within the margin of error. I know I am arguing with a polling expert….[unintelligible crosstalk] arguing with a pollster! Walter said she's not a pollster, but went on to more politely explain to Capehart how Biden is polling poorly in swing states, causing doom about the Electoral College. 

Vivek Ramaswamy may have dropped out of the running to be the Republican nominee for president — but that’s not stopping him from sending a unifying message to the entire country. At the RNC, Ramaswamy gave a speech that did exactly that. “I’d like to deliver a message that the media doesn’t want you to hear from the Republican Party,” Vivek told the crowd.“Our message to black Americans is this: The media has tried to convince you for decades that Republicans don’t care about your communities, but we do. We want for you what we want for every American: safe neighborhoods, clean streets, good jobs, a better life for your children, and a justice system that treats everyone equally regardless of your skin color and regardless of your political beliefs.” “Our message to every legal immigrant in this country is this: You’re like my parents. You deserve the opportunity to secure a better life for your children in America,” he continued, before addressing the illegal immigrants. “We will return you to your country of origin, not because you’re all bad people, but because you broke the law. And the United States of America was founded on the rule of law.” “Our message to millennials, speaking as one myself, yes, it’s true our government sold us a false bill of goods with the Iraq War and the 2008 financial crisis. Loading up our national debt that falls on our generation’s shoulders, telling us that if we took out college loans we’d somehow get a head start on the American dream, when it hasn’t worked out that way.” “But, we can’t just be cynical about our country, because the United States of America is still the last best hope that we have, and we deserve a better class of politician, one who actually tells us the truth even if it comes with some mean tweets from time to time.” “And our message to Gen Z is this: You’re going to be the generation that actually saves this country. You want to be a rebel, you want to be a hippie, you want to stick it to the man? Show up on your college campus and try calling yourself conservative. Say you want to get married, have kids, teach them to believe in God and pledge allegiance to their country,” he said. As the speech went on, the crowd’s cheers escalated, and people rose to their feet. The crowd wasn’t alone in its response, as Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” is also incredibly impressed with Vivek. “An absolutely spectacular speech,” Rubin says.

Last night, Sen. JD Vance officially accepted the Republican nomination for vice president at the 2024 Republican Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, sending optimism to Silicon Valley and the tech community.A right-wing populist, Vance has been critical of the old right’s market fundamentalism in favor of the new right’s pro-worker economic nationalism — one that calls for antitrust crackdowns on Big Tech. A New York Times article described Vance as “pro-labor, a fan of crypto and the F.T.C.'s Lina Khan, and says Big Tech is too powerful.”Without tough antitrust legislation against Big Tech monopolies and pro-innovation regulatory reform, Big Tech will continue to enjoy its “wall of laws and regulations that protect and entrench their positions and that new startups cannot possibly scale.” Breaking up Big Tech, on the other hand, will empower startups and foster an innovative environment.Last February, Vance called for government action against Google, tweeting, “It’s time to break Google up,” since Google is “an explicitly progressive technology company“ and “a threat to democracy.”“In October and November, as millions of undecided voters consider their choice for president, they will go to Google and ask 'Did Donald Trump say X?' 'Is Biden too old to be president?' The results they see will be explicitly biased towards Democrats,” Vance tweeted.A conservative trustbuster?Vance has drawn criticism from the libertarian right for bucking the GOP’s free-market orthodoxy and praising Biden-appointed Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan’s aggressive trust-busting revolution against Silicon Valley and private equity. As FTC chair, Khan has battled various big multinational businesses by cracking down on corporations who make bogus “Made in America” claims, going after a private equity firm’s plan to “drive up the price of anesthesia services provided to Texas patients,” and suing Kochava for selling geolocation data and violating Americans’ privacy. At RemedyFest, an antitrust conference organized by Y Combinator and Bloomberg, Vance told conference attendees that he “look[s] at Lina Khan as one of the few people in the Biden administration who ... is doing a pretty good job.”Following Vance’s VP announcement, Reason, a libertarian publication, put out a story attacking Vance’s “love” for Khan’s “anti-free markets” and “anti-innovation, anti-tech, anti-big business, and anti-consumer agenda.”“A second Trump administration may mirror some of the tactics of Khan and the Biden administration but turn them against policies and companies that left-leaning types support. No matter who wins the election this November, we're looking at four more years of aggressively anti-free market policies coming from the FTC,” Reason’s Elizabeth Nolan Brown wrote.Some, like libertarian journalist Brad Polumbo, have also likened him to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), claiming Vance “has more in common with [her] on economic policy than Ronald Reagan” due to his open willingness to go after large corporations, raise their taxes, and “do whatever else is necessary to fight these goons.” Others, however, are pleased with the GOP’s populist trajectory. Oren Cass, chief economist at American Compass, tweeted, “Exceptional VP pick. @jdvance1's conservative economics and dedication to American workers captures perfectly the Republican Party’s transformation over the past eight years.”Little Tech vs. Big Tech’s agenda Marc AndreesenJustin Sullivan/Getty Vance’s support for aggressive trust-busting and regulations creates an interesting dynamic within the GOP. With the exception of being pro-crypto, Vance holds many ostensibly anti-tech stances, putting him at odds with some of his biggest supporters — tech billionaires and venture capitalists. It was reported that Elon Musk and tech investor David Sacks helped push Vance over the line for Trump’s VP selection. Furthermore, Vance first got into politics through his exploration into venture capital. He initially worked at Peter Thiel’s Mithril Capital after briefly working in corporate law. And a couple of years later, he started his own venture capital firm, Narya Capital, where he raised $93 million from several tech billionaires, including Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen. After his spell in venture capital, Vance shifted his eyes to holding public office. Vance went on to win an Ohio Senate seat even after a hotly contested GOP primary in large part due to Peter Thiel’s record-breaking $15 million donation. Thiel also helped garner large donations from wealthy individuals, including David Sacks. Considering the tech sector’s increasing support for Trump and Vance’s ties to tech billionaires and venture capitalists, some are starting to think the 47th administration might go soft on Big Tech and “switch on Lina Khan now.”Fortunately, Vance is not likely to. After all, Big Tech’s agenda isn’t always in the interest of America’s tech sector because “their interests are often at odds with a positive technological future as they are more interested in regulatory capture and preserving their monopolies. As a result, technology startups need a voice,” venture capitalist Ben Horowitz wrote in a blog post. Startups, also referred to as “Little Tech,” are at the heart of the American tech sector and could turn the 21st century into the American century. In Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz’s Little Tech Agenda, they highlight Little Tech’s role as "the vanguard of American technology supremacy." They say, “From Edison and Ford to Hughes and Lockheed to SpaceX and Tesla, the path to greatness starts in a garage.”Vance’s endorsement of Khan’s antitrust revolution serves as a net positive for America’s tech industry since Little Tech faces huge disadvantages by having to “go up against incumbent companies that have overwhelmingly superior brands, market positions, customer bases, and financial strength — incumbents that are out to strangle startup competition in the cradle.”The Little Tech agenda could be the catalyst that recaptures American supremacy. The Trump/Vance ticket must not back down from Big Tech. Andreessen and Horowitz don’t explicitly endorse Khan’s trust-busting, but without tough antitrust legislation against Big Tech monopolies and pro-innovation regulatory reform, Big Tech will continue to enjoy its “wall of laws and regulations that protect and entrench their positions and that new startups cannot possibly scale.” Breaking up Big Tech, on the other hand, will empower startups and foster an innovative environment.As Andreessen and Ben Horowitz write, “The glory of a second American Century is within our reach. Let’s grasp it.”

President Joe Biden suffered yet another gaffe in a recent interview. During a sit-down interview with Black Entertainment Television that aired on Wednesday, Biden seemingly forgot the name of his secretary of defense and called him "the black man." The 81-year-old president made the remark while speaking about his record of appointing black individuals in his administration during a BET segment called "Black America Votes." “And so ... it’s all about, it's all about treating people with dignity. And it's about making sure that, look. For example, look at the heat I’m getting because I named a, uh, the secretary of defense, the black man,” Biden began.“I named Ketanji Brown, I mean, because of the people I’ve named,” Biden said, making a reference to Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.The video clip of Biden appearing to forget the name of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin quickly went viral online. The verbal miscue comes at a time when his critics are questioning his cognitive abilities, and top leadership in his own party is calling on him to drop out of the presidential race with only 109 days until the 2024 election. Also in the BET interview, Biden conceded that he would abandon his re-election campaign if he had a "medical condition." Biden told BET News' Ed Gordon, "If I had some medical condition that emerged, if somebody — if doctors came to me and said you got this problem, that problem."In an interview with ABC News a week after the disastrous debate, Biden declared that only the "Lord Almighty" could persuade him to discontinue his presidential campaign. Last week, Biden mistakenly referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as "President Putin" during a NATO event regarding U.S. support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. "And now I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination, ladies and gentlemen, President Putin," Biden said.Biden started to walk away from the podium until he suddenly realized his faux pas.He corrected himself by saying, "President Putin? We're going to beat President Putin."Also last week, Biden wrongly referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as "Vice President Trump." On Wednesday, the White House announced that Biden had tested positive for COVID-19, and he would isolate at his beach house in Delaware. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Democratic operative Van Jones delivered a brutal takedown of President Joe Biden's re-election campaign on Wednesday using just one sentence.Earlier in the day, the White House announced that Biden — despite being vaccinated and boosted — tested positive for COVID-19 once again. Because of illness, the president canceled campaign plans and returned home to Delaware.'The Democrats are coming apart. The Republicans are coming together.'Reacting to the news later on CNN, Jones contrasted Trump's show of strength after his assassination attempt with the optics of Biden's weakness in the face of COVID-19."Today is a terrible day," Jones said. "If you pull back and look at this thing, strength versus weakness," he continued, before delivering a brutal assessment of the situation, "a bullet couldn't stop Trump — a virus just stopped Biden.""You've got the nominees of this party getting their butts kissed. Biden is getting his butt kicked by own party," Vance went on to say. "The Democrats are coming apart. The Republicans are coming together. That is what's happening. And at some point, this party has to look at the reality of that and move."The candid observation reflects the growing discord within the Democratic Party.In the weeks since Biden's disastrous debate performance, the chorus of Democrats calling on their leader to step aside has become deafening. Even Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — the two most influential congressional Democrats — see the writing on the wall. Up to this point, however, Biden has resisted calls to stand down as his party's presidential nominee. But the first cracks are beginning to appear in Biden's resolve.The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Biden is becoming "more receptive" to the idea of stepping aside. Then on Thursday, Axios reported that Biden could drop out of the presidential race as soon as this weekend.The Biden-Harris campaign, however, denied that the campaign is preparing for any scenario that doesn't include Biden at the top of the Democratic Party ticket.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

A first-term Democrat on the New York City council was placed in handcuffs and hauled away to the police station after she allegedly bit an NYPD deputy patrol chief during an unruly protest over a prospective homeless shelter.On Wednesday, 38-year-old Susan Zhuang — a Brooklyn-area city councilwoman who describes herself as a "common-sense Democrat" — joined others gathered near the intersection of 25th Avenue and 86th Street in Gravesend, Brooklyn, to protest the construction of a men's homeless shelter. The protesters believe that the shelter would pose a risk to nearby schools and senior centers because it is likely to attract men struggling with mental illness and substance abuse.'There is never any excuse or justification for assaulting a police officer. There should be no double standard in this case.'The group of protesters began with some 150 participants but soon swelled to about 300, creating safety concerns for police at the scene. At one point, some of the protesters, perhaps including Zhuang, tussled with cops over some security barriers. Some of the incident can be seen at the tail end of this video.Tensions at the protest apparently reached such a fever pitch that Zhuang allegedly bit Borough Brooklyn South Deputy Chief of Patrol Frank DiGiacomo. Her office later claimed she had attempted to protect an 80-year-old woman who was pushed against the barriers.Zhuang was arrested at the scene and taken to the 62nd Precinct for processing. She has been charged with second- and third-degree assault, resisting arrest, and obstruction of governmental administration.NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell was shocked by her arrest. "Councilwoman Zhuang has been a great partner with the NYPD for a long time," he insisted. "But the actions today, by assaulting one of our police officers, a deputy chief, by biting him viciously in the arm, I can't explain it right now."Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association — which endorsed Zhuang — was likewise stunned. "We are extremely shocked by the reported violence against NYPD members at today’s protest in Brooklyn, especially because Councilmember Susan Zhuang has been a steadfast supporter of police officers during her time in the Council," he said."There is never any excuse or justification for assaulting a police officer. There should be no double standard in this case. After a full and fair investigation, Councilmember Zhuang and anyone else involved must face full accountability for their conduct."Democrat Mayor Eric Adams described the entire incident as "unfortunate" and claimed he would "reach out" to Zhuang and the NYPD to get better clarity on what happened.In a statement, the New York City Council condemned violence in general and added that it "will respect the processes of the NYPD and Brooklyn District Attorney" with regard to Zhuang's case.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

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