Thread: President Joe Biden

• Biden weighs response on Iran after deadly drone attack

The attack has left the White House facing the difficult balancing act of responding to Iran in ways that will deter future attacks without triggering a wider conflict — something the Biden administration has been adamant about avoiding since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

Sunday’s attack in Jordan marked the first time U.S. service members have been killed in the Middle East since the war in Gaza began in October, adding a new layer of complexity for the White House.

“ We do not seek another war. We do not seek to escalate. But we will absolutely do what is required to protect ourselves … and to respond appropriately to these attacks,” national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Monday.

President Biden has pledged to respond to the latest attacks in a “time and manner of our choosing.”

The president met Monday with members of his national security team, including national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who on Monday returned to the Pentagon for the first time since undergoing surgery for prostate cancer.

Asked if Biden is considering a strike inside the country, Kirby would not say whether it was on the table.

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• Biden team thanks Trump for ‘lifting up’ strong economic news

President Biden’s reelection campaign thanked former President Trump on Monday for “lifting up” strong news on the economy after Trump claimed credit for the record-high stock market.

Ammar Moussa, spokesperson for Biden’s campaign, criticized Trump’s comments from earlier Monday and reminded him that Biden is in the White House, in a statement first shared with The Hill.

“Thank you Donald for lifting up today’s strong economic news, but on this planet, Joe Biden is the president, and is the one whose policies are helping achieve historic GDP growth, a stronger than ever stock market, and real job creation after Trump tanked our economy,” Moussa said.

Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index set record highs over the past week.

White House spokesman Andrew Bates also bashed Trump’s comments, touting that the economy under Biden was strong in 2023 and that Biden has also successfully taken steps to rebuild infrastructure and lower drug prices.

“While we do not comment on the 2024 election, we welcome the wide range of ideologically diverse voices who are increasingly conceding that President Biden is building an economy that actually delivers for hardworking families — not just billionaires or executives at multinational corporations,” Bates told The Hill.

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Biden-Harris HQ - Left: Trump in 2020 claiming the stock market will collapse if President Biden wins

Right: Trump today desperately trying to take credit for the stock market hitting record highs under President Biden: https://twitter.com/BidenHQ/status/1752049980963987589

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• Biden’s new economic messaging strategy: Attack Trump’s tax legacy

The Biden White House has spent months trying to make “Bidenomics” work. But as the general election campaign begins, the president’s team is rolling out something a little different: an economic argument that tries to frame former President Donald Trump as the candidate of corporate tax cuts and Biden as a scourge of the ultra-wealthy.

It is a decidedly populist turn meant to overcome voters’ doubts about the state of the economy by moving the debate away from a referendum on Biden and into a choice between the two main parties.

“What we want the fight to be about is their record, and who you’re for and what you care about,” said one person familiar with the internal messaging discussions. “The polling shows overwhelmingly that people think Biden cares about people like them and Trump does not. And that’s going to be the core of this economic attack.”

It’s an argument that recognizes the sales job Biden has tried to make about his economic needs to be more of a contrast. But aides also believe they have the fodder to make this messaging shift work.

In particular, Biden officials have homed in on the GOP frontrunner’s passage of massive corporate tax cuts during his term as a key piece of the attack. They believe they can dent Trump’s appeal to working class voters by warning he would similarly prioritize the wealthy if elected again.

The specifics of the messaging shift are still under debate and have not yet been finalized, according to a half-dozen people familiar with the discussions within the White House and the campaign, who were granted anonymity to speak freely.

But Biden aides view March’s State of the Union address as a high-profile platform to sharpen the argument that the race represents a clear option between siding with the working class or the wealthy.

White House officials are leaning toward proposing an expanded slate of tax increases on corporations and those earning above $400,000 as a central part of the address, the people familiar with the discussions said. Also under discussion is pitching those new taxes as a way to fund Social Security benefits, underscoring Biden’s commitment to protecting the program.

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• Biden administration finalizes weaker gas stove rule

The Energy Department said in a press release that 97 percent of gas stoves and 77 percent of electric stoves on the market already meet the requirements it is proposing.

This is down from the 50 percent of gas stoves on the market it estimated would be impacted by the rule last year.

The actual efficiency requirement for the gas stoves is also weakened, now allowing stoves that use 1.77 million British Thermal Units (BTUs) of energy per year, up from only allowing 1.204 million BTUs in its initial proposal.

The rule only applies to new stoves being sold and would not force households whose stoves do not meet the standards to get rid of their existing appliances.

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• Biden bucks Obama’s legacy on climate and gas with LNG export pause

The Biden administration and Democrats are pushing back against a years-long trend in energy policy that was set in motion by their own former leader.

In tandem with actions aimed at protecting the climate, former President Obama pursued an aggressive policy of natural gas exports — one which President Biden continued for most of his first term.

Early Friday morning, however, Biden — under heavy pressure from many in his own party — signaled a step back, announcing a pause on permits for the segment of the vast fleet of new gas export terminals still awaiting federal permission to build.

During that pause, the president wrote, the administration will “take a hard look at the impacts of [liquified natural gas, or LNG] exports on energy costs, America’s energy security, and our environment.”

Environmentalists, congressional Democrats and communities in the shadow of the export terminals have pushed Biden on the issue, fearing that the gas terminals will fuel an enormous boom in the burning of the planet-heating chemical and undercut renewables, potentially hamstringing attempts to slow climate change.

The gas industry contends that because the fuel burns cleaner than coal, the expansion of U.S. gas exports will help the world at large cut emissions — and their restriction will hand the initiative to less responsible actors.

Critics, however, have pointed to findings that even relatively small amounts of leakage from natural gas pipelines can make the fuel as damaging to the climate as coal — findings the industry disputes.

The Biden administration’s decision to implement the pause and review LNG exports’ impacts marks an elevation of critics’ concerns. It also represents a sea change from Obama’s tenure, when the White House didn’t see the themes of climate action and gas boosterism as contradictory, and when the current boom in U.S. gas exports began.

Back then, the White House embraced the idea that gas could be a “bridge fuel” connecting a largely coal-based U.S. power system to a glittering future of renewables — and that U.S. exports of fracked gas could do the same thing for the world at large.

Obama took office amid an epochal boom in U.S. oil and gas that he had inherited from former President George W. Bush. Starting in the second half of the Bush administration, surging gas prices — which spiked sixfold between 2002 and 2005 — helped fund revolutionary new drilling methods that fueled a gas boom.

These shifts had a dramatic effects on the formerly placid world of U.S. gas, which had been largely flat for decades. In 2005 — the year prices spiked — the nation produced about as much gas as it had in 1967.

That changed quickly. By 2008, when Obama took office, gas production had edged up to 13 percent over where it had been in 2005. By the time he left, it was 50 percent higher — and for the first time in history, the United States had a gas export industry.

Much more in the link

• Senate confirms Biden nominee to lead EPA’s climate and clean air office

Three years into the Biden administration, it finally has a Senate-confirmed official leading the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) work on clean air and climate change.

In a 50-49 vote, the Senate confirmed Joseph Goffman to be the EPA’s assistant administrator, leading its Office of Air and Radiation.

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• Sierra Club Statement on the Confirmation of Joe Goffman to Lead EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation

Goffman was originally nominated for the position by President Biden in March of 2022, but his confirmation vote was delayed by partisan holds on all EPA nominees.

In response, Patrick Drupp, Sierra Club’s Director of Climate Policy, released the following statement:

“After nearly two years of waiting, it’s great to see Joe Goffman officially confirmed to lead the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. He has proven himself to be the right person for the role and has done an outstanding job leading this critical office for the past two years in the face of much opposition. The American people deserve to breathe air that is clean and know that their government is working tirelessly to protect public health and secure a safe climate for all.”

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• Podesta to replace Kerry as country's top climate diplomat

White House adviser and veteran Democratic strategist John Podesta will assume John Kerry’s international climate portfolio when Kerry steps down later this spring.

The White House announced the move Wednesday. It was first reported by The Washington Post. Kerry is leaving the post in part to promote the Biden administration’s work during a critical election year, after three years in the role.

“In three years, Secretary Kerry has tirelessly trekked around the world – bringing American climate leadership back from the brink and marshalling countries around the world to take historic action to confront the climate crisis,” White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients said in a statement.

Podesta will assume the title of senior adviser to the president for international climate policy. He will also remain in his current White House role overseeing the implementation of the massive climate law known as the Inflation Reduction Act.

“We need to keep meeting the gravity of this moment, and there is no one better than John Podesta to make sure we do. John has – and will continue to be – at the helm of driving the implementation of the most significant climate law in history,” Zients said.

Podesta told the Post in an interview that Kerry had helped the U.S. regain its global climate leadership role, and he would work to “ensure that we keep up the momentum that has been built up through his efforts.”

Kerry has played a pivotal role in helping broker several U.N. climate agreements, including the one at last month’s climate talks in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where countries pledged to transition away from oil, gas and coal, starting this decade.

The change of envoys comes at a critical period for the U.S. as it heads toward an election year that could see a major shift in its approach to climate change. Biden is almost guaranteed to run against Donald Trump, who pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement during his presidency and has pledged to gut Biden’s climate policies if he is returned to the White House.

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• Historic $250M Ad Buy by Future Forward to Boost Biden's Reelection

The Future Forward super PAC has unveiled its plan to bolster President Biden’s reelection bid with an unprecedented $250 million advertising campaign. This record-breaking investment, the largest single ad buy by a super PAC in U.S. history, is slated to be split between television and digital platforms, with $140 million earmarked for TV spots and $110 million for online ads.

Targeting Battleground States and Key Demographics

The ad campaign has been strategically designed to target battleground states, where Biden is lagging behind his anticipated Republican opponent, former President Trump, as per recent polls. These key states include Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Major cities such as Atlanta and Phoenix are set to receive a lion’s share of the ad spend, with allocations exceeding $16 million and $12 million respectively. Notable investments are also planned for smaller markets like Madison, Reno, and Flint.

Joe Biden attends the national prayer breakfast

• Biden Attends Prayer Breakfast, Promotes Global Peace and Unity

Top U.S. leaders, including President Joe Biden, gathered Thursday for the National Prayer Breakfast, held in Washington.

President Biden was joined by U.S. officials including House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, as well as the event’s chair, former Senator Heidi Heitkamp, and co-chairs, Representatives Tracey Mann and Frank Mrvan.

Musical guest Andrea Bocelli performed at the event, and Senate Chaplain Barry Black spoke about the historic importance of the event and read Scripture from the Bible.

Black discussed the significance of religion in Congress, saying that since Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, members of Congress have been fasting and praying.

One theme of his remarks was turning "crisis into conquest," and he said that people’s ability to come together and "lift our hearts across the religious spectrum in prayer and praise" is proof of the ability to do so.

Biden also spoke during the event; in his remarks at last year's event, he promoted unity, referencing the lives taken by the pandemic, gun violence, police brutality and climate change.

This year, Biden talked about the recent attacks on U.S. soldiers in Jordan, which killed three and injured dozens of others, as well as the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

"I … see the trauma, the death and destruction in Israel and Gaza and understand the pain and passion felt by so many here in America and around the world," he said, adding that he is "engaged in this day and night … to find the means to bring our hostages home, to ease the humanitarian crisis [and] to bring peace to Gaza and Israel – an enduring peace, with two states for two peoples."

He spoke about the war in Ukraine, saying that the Ukrainian people have "showed incredible resolve and resilience against Putin's aggression," and that we "must continue to help them."

After Biden's speech, Senators Kirstin Gillibrand and Marsha Blackburn prayed for the president. The breakfast ended with a prayer from House Chaplain Reverend Dr. Margaret Kibben and a group prayer led by Mann and Mrvan.

The event was organized by the nonprofit National Prayer Breakfast Foundation, which says that all faiths are welcome. Before 2023, it was run by the Fellowship Foundation, a religious group.

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• Joe Biden joins UAW in Michigan: ‘When labor does well, everybody does well’

President Joe Biden met with metro Detroit voters and United Auto Workers members on Thursday, celebrating his recent endorsement by the union and touting positive signs in the national economy.

“Wall Street didn’t build the middle class, labor built the middle class, and the middle class built the country,” Biden said in brief remarks at the UAW Region 1 training hall in Warren, where union members were calling voters ahead of Michigan's Feb. 27 presidential primary.

“When labor does well, everybody does well.”

Biden is expected to coast through the Democratic primary, but the Michigan ballot will include two challengers: U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota and spiritual author Marianne Williamson.

A likely general election rematch looms with former President Donald Trump, who Biden defeated in Michigan by 154,188 votes in 2020.
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• Joe Biden issues executive order against Israeli settlers in West Bank

Joe Biden has issued an executive order targeting Israeli settlers in the West Bank who have been attacking Palestinians, amid fast-growing frustration in Washington at Israel’s trajectory in the midst of its war in Gaza.

The order initially imposes financial sanctions and visa bans against four individuals, and US officials said they were evaluating whether to punish others involved in attacks that have intensified during the Israel-Hamas war.

According to at least one report before the executive order, options included the potential to sanction officials.

Palestinian authorities say some Palestinians have been killed, and rights groups say settlers have torched cars and attacked several small Bedouin communities, forcing evacuations.

In the order, Biden said that extremist settler violence in the West Bank had “reached intolerable levels and constitutes a serious threat to the peace, security and stability of the West Bank and Gaza, Israel, and the broader Middle East region”.

He said: “These actions undermine the foreign policy objectives of the United States, including the viability of a two-state solution and ensuring Israelis and Palestinians can attain equal measures of security, prosperity, and freedom.

“They also undermine the security of Israel and have the potential to lead to broader regional destabilisation across the Middle East, threatening United States personnel and interests.”

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• What Biden *really* says about Trump behind closed doors

“What a sick …”

Puppy?

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• Whopper! Employers Added 353K Jobs in January, Blowing Past Estimates

The year opened with a bang as employers added 353,000 jobs in January, far exceeding the most optimistic of forecasts.

Job gains were fairly widespread with the strongest gains in professional and business services, health care, retail trade and social assistance.

https://www.usnews.com/news/economy/...past-estimates

• Biden attends dignified transfer for U.S. service members killed in Jordan

President Joe Biden performed one of the most solemn duties of his office Friday in attending the dignified transfer of the three American soldiers killed in Jordan this week in a drone strike that the U.S. has attributed to Iranian-backed militant groups.

The president and first lady Jill Biden first met with the families of the three fallen soldiers at the Center for Families of the Fallen at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. The Bidens then stood at the base of the aircraft that brought the the service members remains back to the U.S. as the chaplain gave a prayer, and rejoined the formation on the tarmac while a carry team from the fallen members’ military branch removed the service members’ flag-draped transfer cases from the aircraft.

The soldier's remains were then taken to a waiting van to transport them to a mortuary facility to be prepared for their final resting places.

After the ceremony concluded, Biden returned to Air Force I. He did not make any public remarks.

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• Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Steps to Protect Communities from PFAS and Other Emerging Chemicals of Concern

Proposed rules would better enable regulators to address PFAS under the nation’s hazardous waste law to protect families across the nation

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the latest efforts to protect communities and the environment from the health risks posed by certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS are widely used, long-lasting chemicals that break down very slowly over time, and they have been used in many different consumer, commercial and industrial products. Scientific studies show that some PFAS exposure is linked to harmful health effects. EPA is proposing two rules that would add to the agency’s comprehensive approach to tackling PFAS pollution across the country. These proposals will also help deliver on President Biden’s agenda to better protect public health and advance environmental justice.

“From day one, President Biden promised to address harmful forever chemicals and other emerging contaminants to better protect communities from exposure, and today’s actions are just the latest from EPA as we continue to deliver on the president’s commitment,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Thanks to strong partnerships with our co-regulators in the states, we will strengthen our ability to clean up contamination from PFAS, hold polluters accountable and advance public health protections.”

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My highlights

• 30 Things Joe Biden Did as President You Might Have Missed

First over-the-counter birth control pill to hit U.S. stores in 2024

Renewable power is the No. 2 source of electricity in the U.S. — and climbing

The nation’s farms get big bucks to go “climate-smart”

Preventing another Jan. 6

A penalty for college programs that trap students in debt

Countering China with a new alliance between Japan and South Korea

Reinvigorating cancer research to lower death rates

Fixing bridges, building tunnels and expanding broadband

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• January jobs report shows the labor market is hot, hot, hot

Remember that talk about hiring cooling off? Nevermind.

What's new: The economy kicked off 2024 with a blockbuster gain of 353,000 jobs in January, the most in a year.

• Hiring in December, too, was hotter than previously thought, with revisions showing 333,000 jobs added — 117,000 more than first reported.

Why it matters: The details of the payrolls report show an incredible environment for working Americans and a job market that, so far, appears unstoppable.

• Employers look to be hiring at a furious pace, joblessness remains low and wage growth is beating inflation — developments that all defy predictions of a more muted labor market.

What they're saying: "If the dominant labor market narrative in 2023 was slow and steady moderation, then 2024 began fast and furious," Indeed economist Nick Bunker wrote in a note.

Details: The unemployment rate held at an ultra-low 3.7%. That means the jobless rate has now been below 4% for two years — a historic stretch you would have to go back to the late 1960s to beat.

• Meanwhile, wage growth was strong: Average hourly earnings rose 0.6% last month. Over the last 12 months, wages by this measure are up 4.5% — which looks likely to top inflation over the same period.

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• 5 takeaways from a stunning January jobs report

The labor market shows little sign of cooling

Fed rate cuts will likely be pushed back

More fuel for Biden’s economy pitch against Trump

Will Democrats keep up the pressure on the Fed to cut rates?

Recession fears recede further into the distance

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• Dow, S&P 500 Mark Record Closes After Jobs Report

The S&P 500 and the Dow notched new record closes on Friday afternoon.

Meta Platforms marked the single biggest one-day gain in market value by any U.S. company on Friday, as investors cheered its blockbuster earnings report.

Investors also digested stronger-than-expected jobs data. The U.S. labor market started the year on a strong note as payroll growth in January once again tore past more modest expectations, with a gain of 353,000 jobs.

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Taylor Swift Legion: https://twitter.com/TSwift13legion/s...74708480135352

• Biden lauds South Carolina victory: ‘Let’s finish what we started’

President Biden, who sailed to an easy victory Saturday in South Carolina’s Democratic primary, lauded the win as a way to make former President Trump “a loser” in November.

In his celebration, Biden looked back to the 2020 election, when the Palmetto State primary became a turning point in his bid for the White House.

As I said four years ago, this campaign is for everyone who has been knocked down, counted out and left behind,” Biden wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “That is still true today.”

“In 2020, it was the voters of South Carolina who proved the pundits wrong, breathed new life into our campaign, and set us on the path to winning the Presidency,” he added. “Now in 2024, the people of South Carolina have spoken again and I have no doubt that you have set us on the path to winning the Presidency again—and making Donald Trump a loser—again.

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97% in

a closer look

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• Biden to address House Dems at party retreat

President Joe Biden is set to address House Democrats next Thursday at the caucus’ annual issues conference, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The White House Friday evening also announced Vice President Kamala Harris’ expected appearance at the party conference for a Wednesday moderated conversation to “discuss the Biden-Harris Administration’s ongoing fight for fundamental freedoms.”

It’s Biden’s third time as president speaking at the annual party retreat, where lawmakers gather to devise strategy and messaging. Democrats are convening for closed-door sessions at the Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Virginia, in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.

• Joe Biden courts Nevada voters after South Carolina win

President Joe Biden took his pitch for re-election to Nevada voters on Sunday as part of a two-day stop in the battleground state ahead of Tuesday’s Democratic primary.

The president is hosting at least two campaign events in the arid Western state, which has just more than 3-million people, most of them clustered in or near the gambling centre of Las Vegas.

Biden appears on Nevada’s Democratic presidential primary ballot along with self-help author Marianne Williamson and other lesser-known challengers. Democratic US representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota missed the filing deadline and will not appear on the ballot.

Biden narrowly beat his Republican rival Donald Trump in Nevada by 33,596 votes, or less than 3%, in 2020, and opinion polls show a rematch between the two, which seems likely in 2024, would be close. About 30% of Nevada’s population is described as Latino or Hispanic on the US census and Republicans are making some inroads with these voters nationwide.

Nevada, with six electoral college votes towards the 270 needed to be elected president, is viewed as a litmus test for Latino and Hispanic support and for independent voters.

• President Joe Biden meets with union members in Las Vegas

President Joe Biden met with members of Culinary Local 226 and Bartenders Local 165 on Monday morning in Las Vegas, thanking them for their support and the work they do.

When unions do well, everybody does well, Biden told union members in a Vdara employee cafeteria.

Culinary Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge walked alongside the president as he mingled with housekeepers and other Culinary union members.

Reps. Dina Titus and Susie Lee, both Nevada Democrats, were also present.

Biden, who is on the ballot for Tuesday’s presidential preference primary, spoke Monday morning about the importance of growing the economy from the middle out and the bottom up, arguing that trickle-down economics did not work. He talked about corporate greed and the roles unions have played in expanding the middle class.

The president also made a stop at a No. 1 Boba Tea in Las Vegas’ Chinatown Monday, ordering an original boba milk tea, before heading back to Harry Reid International Airport. He was joined by Reps. Titus and Lee, as well as several Nevada Democratic legislators.

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• Biden admin to restrict visas for individuals abusing commercial spyware

The State Department will start restricting visas Monday for people who are believed to be linked to misuses of commercial spyware.

Why it matters: The move marks an escalation in the Biden administration's effort to curtail abuses of commercial spyware, including cases where spyware is used to target journalists, political dissidents, members of marginalized communities and family members of people in these groups.

Details: The State Department plans to decide who would fall under this category on a case-by-case basis, a senior administration official told reporters.

• The visa restrictions would prevent those who have profited from or facilitated the misuse of commercial spyware from traveling to the U.S., the official added.
• The new policy is operating under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
• The administration official declined to say whether the State Department has already drafted a list of people who are affected, how many people it intends to apply visa restrictions to and what the threshold is for the U.S. to add officials, executives or investors to this list.

What they're saying: "The new visa restriction policy adds to the tool set that the administration is using to combat the growing misuse of commercial spyware that has facilitated the repressions, restricted the free flow of information and enabled human rights' abuses," the official told reporters.

The big picture: The Biden administration has been working to track and squash foreign government and U.S. agency uses of commercial spyware.

• Last year, President Biden signed an executive order banning U.S. government agencies and departments from using commercial spyware that could pose national security risks.
• The Commerce Department has also placed several prolific spyware vendors — including NSO Group, Candiru, Intellexa and Cytrox — on trade blacklists in recent years.

Between the lines: Commercial spyware vendors have a "number of reasons why they would want to travel to the United States," the administration official said.

• The official did not provide those specific reasons, but spyware executives, including NSO Group CEO Yaron Shohat, have been traveling to the U.S. over the last year to attract new customers, court lawmakers and lobby to get off of Commerce's blacklist.

What we're watching: The State Department does not intend to release details when it applies the new visa restrictions.

• However, it's unclear how the policy will apply to affected people who have passports for countries that don't require a visa to enter the U.S., including those with EU and Israeli passports.

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• Scoop: Obama veterans relaunch national security group backing Biden

Veterans of the Obama administration are re-launching an advocacy group, National Security Action, to make the case for President Biden's re-election based on his foreign policy, according to a memo obtained by Axios.

Why it matters: The Israel-Hamas war in Gaza has divided the Democratic Party and the group will try to make the case for Democrats to unite, using the argument that Biden is better than another Trump term.

Driving the news: National Security Action was originally co-founded in 2018 by Jake Sullivan — now Biden's national security adviser — and Ben Rhodes, the former deputy national security adviser for Barack Obama.

• Rhodes told Axios they will work to "remind people that this is a choice that Trump represents a different approach to foreign policy that is very dangerous, and rather than making the crises in the world better, he is likely to make all of them worse."
• He added: "I really think that [Trump winning] is incredibly dangerous for democracy globally, because it will validate that the trend in global politics is in this autocratic direction. And so whether you're Xi Jinping or Vladimir Putin or Kim Jong-un or even a far-right party in Europe, you are going to feel the wind in your sails."

Of note: Rhodes, who has been critical of the Biden administration's approach to the Israel-Hamas conflict, said a Trump presidency would be even worse — including for Gaza.

• "With all the people that will be contributing to this, I wouldn't expect everybody to agree with 100% of the things that Joe Biden is doing, but I do think that pretty much everybody thinks that a second Trump presidency is dangerous."

Zoom in: The group conducted polling last fall on the U.S. approach to China and plans to do more.

• That poll concluded that voters preferred a more nuanced approach to China — firm, but diplomatic — with only 5% of people wanting a confrontational approach.
• The group will have a surrogate training and booking operation for prominent national security voices to make the case against Trump.

Zoom out: The group's leaders didn't expect to get involved in campaigns after Biden beat Trump in 2020, but the former president's resurgence led them to try to get involved in the 2024 election.

• "Our goal was to put ourselves out of business – and to a great extent we did. Yet today, the dire threat of a second Trump Administration necessitates that we once again mobilize to communicate the unique danger Donald Trump presents to the American people and the world," wrote the group's executive director Caroline Tess who also worked in the Obama White House's National Security Council.

The group's leaders do not think that foreign policy will necessarily be the biggest issue in the election, but they believe it can be part of a larger argument against Trump's conduct.

• "You have to connect with things that people already are concerned about with Trump — he's chaotic, he only cares about himself, he is hostile to democracy — and you have to connect that to the things that are happening in the world," Rhodes said.
• Wendy Sherman, the former deputy secretary of state for Biden, told Axios that the group knows "that the campaign is going to likely be decided on issues like economy and choice and climate, but they also know that people understand better than perhaps they used to the interaction with what we're doing in national security and foreign policy."

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• Biden would veto standalone Israel aid bill, administration says

President Biden would veto a standalone House bill that would provide $17.6 billion in aid to Israel, if it reaches his desk, the Office of Management and Budget announced late Monday.

The veto threat comes after the administration and many in Congress worked for months on a larger national security supplemental funding bill that would provide support not just to Israel, but to Ukraine and make changes to border security. Republicans in the House intend to move forward this week with a vote on the standalone Israel aid bill, despite the Senate's work on the larger supplemental aid agreement.

"Instead of working in good faith to address the most pressing national security challenges, this bill is another cynical political maneuver," OMB said in a statement of administration policy. "The security of Israel should be sacred, not a political game ... The administration strongly encourages both chambers of the Congress to reject this political ploy and instead quickly send the bipartisan Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act to the president's desk."

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• Trump wants to debate Biden ‘immediately’ — but president shrugs him off

Donald Trump on Monday said he wants to debate President Joe Biden “immediately” — but the Democratic incumbent quickly brushed off that idea.

“I’d like to call for, immediately, debates,” Trump said on “The Dan Bongino Show.”

“I’d like to debate him now because we should debate,” said the former president, who is the front-runner for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination. “We should debate for the good of the country.”

Biden dismissed the idea.

“Well, if I were him, I’d want to debate me too,” Biden told reporters at a boba shop in Las Vegas when asked about Trump’s challenge. “He’s got nothing else to do,” Biden added.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/05/trum...s-him-off.html

Polls closed at 10 : 00 pm. Early results

Joe Biden - Thank you, Nevada! We're building a campaign that leaves no one behind.

Let's keep up this momentum.: https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1755093804195959189

a closer look

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• Biden, Obama and Bill Clinton fundraiser set for March 28 in New York City

The Biden campaign has set its blockbuster fundraiser with three Democratic presidents — Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton — for March 28, and it's closing in on a location in New York City, according to four people familiar with the planning.

One of the venues under consideration is Radio City Music Hall, these people said.

The fundraiser could include a moderated discussion with the three presidents, according to one of the sources.

Spokespeople for Obama and Clinton declined to comment, although the two former presidents tweeted about the fundraiser Tuesday afternoon.

A spokesperson for the Biden campaign said no details have been finalized, including venue or location.

NBC News first reported last month that the Biden campaign was trying to organize a fundraiser with the current president and his two most recent Democratic predecessors.

Biden aides hope this type of fundraiser, which would mark a first for a presidential campaign, will raise a large amount of money for his reelection effort and energize Democrats. Obama and Clinton also remain popular leaders in the Democratic Party.

A venue as large as Radio City Music Hall, which can hold nearly 6,000 people, suggests the campaign is looking to host at least a couple thousand supporters.

People familiar with the planning for the March fundraiser have said if it’s a success, the campaign could try to organize another one with the three presidents later this year.

__________

• Joe Biden blames Donald Trump for sinking US deal to fund Ukraine war effort

President Joe Biden has blamed Donald Trump for sinking a bipartisan bill delivering billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine along with stricter immigration policies, after Republicans signalled their opposition to the deal under pressure from the former president.

The legislation worth $118bn agreed on Sunday by Democratic and Republican negotiators in the Senate could be the last chance for the Biden administration to secure new military support for Ukraine in its defence against Russia’s invasion — alongside other national security goals including aid to Israel and Taiwan.

It also marks a rare compromise on efforts to curb immigration through the border with Mexico, including restrictions on asylum, which has been a rallying cry for Republicans and a political liability for Democrats throughout Biden’s presidency.

But the bipartisan dealmaking has been trashed by Trump in recent weeks — and the frontrunner for this year’s Republican White House nomination moved to torpedo the latest breakthrough again this week.

“He’d rather weaponise this issue than actually solve it,” Biden said of his predecessor from the state dining room of the White House on Tuesday.

“For the last 24 hours, he’s done nothing at all but reach out to Republicans in the House and the Senate and threaten them and try to intimidate them to vote against this proposal. And it looks like they’re caving,” the president added.

https://www.ft.com/content/bd3b8f97-...e-8c94900680c3

________

• House Republicans fail to impeach Biden’s homeland security secretary

House Republicans on Tuesday narrowly failed to impeach homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, a stinging – but possibly only temporary – setback for the majority’s deeply partisan effort to punish a cabinet official in a presidential election year.

In a vote of 216-214, four Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing the two articles of impeachment against the secretary. When the gavel came down, Democrats burst into applause, having assailed the impeachment case against Mayorkas as a “bunch of garbage” designed to boost Donald Trump’s electoral prospects in the November election.

In a sign that Tuesday’s defeat may only be temporary: Republican Congressman Blake Moore of Utah supports the impeachment effort but switched his “yes” vote to a “no” in a procedural move that would allow the motion to be brought up to the floor again at a later date.

_________

• Biden pledges to campaign "every day" on Trump's border meddling

In a stark reversal of his campaign messaging, President Biden vowed to tell voters "every day between now and November" that former President Trump and his GOP allies in Congress are the "only reason the border is not secure."

Why it matters: In blaming former President Trump for blowing up the Senate's bipartisan border security bill, Biden is trying to turn a policy setback into a political asset.

• "This bill won't even move forward to the Senate floor. Why? A simple reason: Donald Trump," Biden said in remarks from the White House on Tuesday. "He'd rather weaponize this issue than actually solve it."
• "The American people are going to know why it failed," Biden pledged. "I'll be taking this issue to the country."

Biden says he met former French president François Mitterrand shortly after Biden was elected president. Not a bad feat for Joe. François Mitterrand died in 1996.

Originally Posted by Neverna

Biden says he met former French president François Mitterrand shortly after Biden was elected president. Not a bad feat for Joe. François Mitterrand died in 1996.

Pitiful and will get worse as November approaches. This could well result in Trump not only winning the electorial vote but also the first time in 20 years since a Republican has won the popoular vote.

• President Biden Names Forty-Fifth Round of Judicial Nominees and One New Nominee to Serve as U.S. Marshal

The President is announcing his intent to nominate four individuals to federal district courts—all of whom are extraordinarily qualified, experienced, and devoted to the rule of law and our Constitution.


These choices also continue to fulfill the President’s promise to ensure that the nation’s courts reflect the diversity that is one of our greatest assets as a country—both in terms of personal and professional backgrounds.


This will be President Biden’s forty-fifth round of nominees for federal judicial positions, bringing the number of announced federal judicial nominees to 219.


The President is also announcing his intent to nominate one individual to serve as U.S. Marshal. This official will be indispensable to upholding the rule of law and was chosen for his devotion to enforcing the law, his professionalism, his experience and credentials, and his dedication to pursuing equal justice for all.


The President has now announced 27 nominees to serve as U.S. Marshals.

United States District Court Announcements

1. Judge Sanket J. Bulsara: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
2. Judge Dena Michaela Coggins: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California
3. Eric Schulte: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota
4. Judge Camela C. Theeler: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota

United States Marshal Announcement

1. Colonel John E. Richardson: Nominee for United States Marshal for the Middle District of Alabama

Colonel John E. Richardson has been Executive Assistant to the President of Alabama State University since 2017. He was previously Director of Public Safety and Colonel in the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency from 2014 to 2017. Prior to that, Col. Richardson served in the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board Enforcement Division from 1988 to 2014, rising from the rank of Agent to Captain and Assistant Director of the Enforcement Division. Col. Richardson began his career in law enforcement as a Police Officer in Opelika, Alabama from 1985 to 1987.

__________

• Joe Biden just did the rarest thing in US politics: he stood up to the oil industry

Ten days ago Joe Biden did something remarkable, and almost without precedent – he actually said no to big oil.

His administration halted the granting of new permits for building liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals, something Washington had been handing out like M&Ms on Halloween for nearly a decade. It’s a provisional “no” – Department of Energy experts will spend the coming months figuring out a new formula for granting the licenses that takes the latest science and economics into account – but you can tell what a big deal it is because of the howls of rage coming from the petroleum industry and its gaggle of politicians.

And you can tell something else too: just how threadbare their arguments have become over time. Biden has called their bluff, and it’s beautiful to watch.

To give you an idea, politicians beholden to the industry are using this week and next to hold hearings about natural gas in Congress. Joe Manchin – who has received more lobbying money from big oil than anyone else in Congress, and is the founder of a coal brokerage business – is convening a session in the Senate on Thursday, but on Tuesday the House began the action with a hearing before a subcommittee of the House committee on energy and commerce.

One “expert” summoned by the panel, Toby Rice, owns the company that produces more natural gas than any other in the country. And he immediately deployed the sleight of hand that his ilk have used over and over again. I’ll try and slow it down enough that you can see the hand dealing from the bottom of the deck.

The fracking revolution, Rice said, “has powered our economy and prevented us from being reliant on foreign sources of natural gas – all the while driving over 60% of the emissions reduction the United States experienced since the turn of the century by displacing coal-fired power generation”.

The key word here is “emissions”, by which Rice means carbon dioxide. And indeed fracked gas, when burned in a power plant, produces fewer emissions than coal. But there’s another major greenhouse gas – methane – and that’s basically what “natural gas” consists of. When it leaks from a well or a pipeline, it’s 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, molecule per molecule, at trapping heat.

And so much is leaking that – when you combine those emissions with the carbon that still comes from burning gas – America’s total contribution to global warming has probably not gone down at all over the last two decades. Far from being a boon, natural gas has been a trap, one that the industry now wants to catch the rest of the globe in.

Snip

That won’t stop the industry from shouting. At this point, bypassed by new renewable technology, their only real hope is political gamesmanship. But it’s getting far easier for enlightened leaders to stand up to them. In December, in Dubai, the world signed a pledge to “transition away” from fossil fuels. Last month, in Washington, Joe Biden started to show that he meant it.

_________

• Biden campaign accuses Trump of 'standing in the way' of securing border

The Biden campaign took aim at former President Donald Trump Wednesday, claiming Trump is "standing in the way" of border security by refusing to support President Biden's latest legislative proposal.

A bill to fund increased security at the southern border narrowly failed in the Senate despite high praise from President Biden. Republican opposition largely stemmed from the belief the bill didn't go far enough to stem the flow of migrants. House Speaker Mike Johnson went as far as to say the bill would "incentivize more illegal immigration."

Ammar Moussa, the Biden campaign’s rapid response director, claimed to The National Desk Wednesday that former President Trump is ultimately to blame for the bill's failure because he vocally opposed it.

Donald Trump always puts himself and his dangerous pursuit of power first — even if it means defunding the Border Patrol. Donald Trump’s role is clear as day: He is personally standing in the way of giving Border Patrol the resources it needs to stop the flow of fentanyl and secure the border,” Moussa said.

Moussa claimed that President Joe Biden is running counter to Trump, who the campaign accused of "abandoning" law enforcement.

“Trump caused chaos at the border as president when he separated families and put kids in cages, and now, he’s abandoning law enforcement agents instead of helping them do their job,” Moussa continued. “President Biden is standing with law enforcement and working across the aisle to secure the border.”

The reason for Republicans tanking the bill, he said, is to secretly boost Trump's electability come November.

Donald Trump blew up the bipartisan border deal solely because he thinks it helps his own political prospects,” Moussa said. “Trump wants the crisis at the border to continue, harming Americans and eroding national security.”

The president also made similar remarks Tuesday, remarking how Republicans are “caving.”

"Donald Trump thinks it’s bad for him politically he’d rather weaponize this issue than solve it," President Biden said. "Republicans are caving - frankly they owe it to the American people to show some spine and do what they know to be right."

_________

• Special counsel in Biden classified documents case to release report soon

The Justice Department special counsel investigating President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents has completed his inquiry and a report is expected to be made public soon to Congress and the public, Attorney General Merrick Garland told lawmakers in a letter Wednesday.

Garland did not detail the conclusions of the report from special counsel Robert Hur, but said he was committed to disclosing as much of the document as possible once the White House completes a review for potential executive privilege concerns. That process is expected to be completed by the end of the week, said Ian Sams, a spokesman for the White House counsel’s office.

The yearlong investigation centered on the improper retention of classified documents by Biden from his time as a U.S. senator and as vice president. Sensitive records were found at his Delaware home and at a private office that he used in between his service in the Obama administration and becoming president.

The resolution of the investigation arrives in a pivotal year for the president as he pursues reelection in a deeply polarized political time. Though the probe’s outcome is expected to lift a legal cloud over Biden, criticism of his handling of classified records could blunt his ability to attack Donald Trump — his presumptive opponent in November — over a pending indictment charging the former president with hoarding top-secret files at his Mar-a-Lago estate and obstructing FBI efforts to get them back.

Trump and other Republicans are likely to challenge the legitimacy of the investigation by noting that it was launched by the Biden Justice Department.

But Garland sought to insulate the department from claims of bias and conflicts of interest by last year appointing Hur, a former U.S. attorney for Maryland during the Trump administration, to handle the Biden investigation and by naming a different special counsel, Jack Smith, to oversee investigations into Trump.

While the Trump investigation resulted in dozens of felony charges against the ex-president last year, the outcome of the Biden probe is expected to be different. Justice Department policy prohibits the indictment of a sitting president and, unlike in the Trump investigation, no evidence has emerged to suggest that Biden engaged in comparable conduct or willfully held onto records he wasn’t supposed to have.

Even so, the White House’s response to the discovery of classified documents early last year was delayed and incomplete.

The White House did not disclose the Justice Department’s investigation until January 2023, when it acknowledged the discovery two months earlier of a “small number” of classified documents by Biden lawyers as they closed an office at the Penn Biden Center, a think tank affiliated with the Ivy League school. Biden has said he was surprised by the initial trove discovered by his lawyers.

The FBI subsequently conducted a 13-hour, top-to-bottom check of his Wilmington, Delaware, home, where agents located documents with classified markings from his time as a vice president and senator and took possession of some of his handwritten notes. Biden’s personal lawyers have also revealed that they had found a document bearing classified markings while searching the Wilmington property but said they had not found others during a separate inspection of his Rehoboth Beach home.

The looming conclusion of the investigation had been foreshadowed last fall when Biden sat for a voluntary interview at the White House with Hur’s team. Interviews of key subjects in an investigation are often done near the end.

Justice Department regulations require Congress to be notified of any investigative steps or proposed actions by a special counsel that were rejected by department leadership. There were no such actions, Garland wrote.

Oh dear, surely they will have to look at replacing him now. Even Trump would be able to make him look like a doddery old fool on the debate stage.

The American president - the most powerful man in the world - has a memory so "hazy" and "poor" that he couldn't remember when he was vice president.

That was one of numerous startling assessments of a Justice Department special counsel appointed to determine if Joe Biden should face charges for holding classified documents at his Delaware home.

The lack of charges is not the story. The story is him and it is devastating.

Over more than 200 pages, Robert Hur explains why President Joe Biden will not face charges for holding classified documents after leaving office as vice president.

"Mr Biden's memory was significantly limited, both during his recorded interviews with the ghostwriter in 2017, and in his interview with our office in 2023… He did not remember when he was 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."

For any sitting president this would be a damning portrayal. But for President Biden it's particularly troubling. The 81-year-old is facing growing questions about his age and mental capability.

On Thursday, his spokesperson said: "Many people, elected officials… they can misspeak sometimes," after three slip-ups over the past few days.

He confused French President Emmanuel Macron with his predecessor of three decades ago, Francois Mitterrand.

On Tuesday he couldn't remember the name 'Hamas' when discussing the war in Gaza and on Wednesday he confused former German chancellor Angela Merkel with one of her predecessors Helmut Kohl.

This report will increase concerns from his own side about his fitness for office and will supercharge the critics on the other side.

Joe Biden's critics supercharged with particularly troubling verdict on president's 'limited' memory | US News | Sky News

• Biden strikes defiant tone on special counsel report in national address

'How in the hell dare he': Biden strikes defiant tone about special counsel report

President Joe Biden forcefully defended himself against charges that he suffers from memory loss, delivering remarks Thursday night in response to special counsel Robert Hur's report on his handling of classified information.

Hur’s report included characterizations of the president’s mental state, saying that Biden’s memory was “significantly limited, both during his recorded interviews with the ghostwriter in 2017, and in his interview with our office in 2023.”

The report also said that he had trouble remembering the timing of his son Beau's death.

"How in the hell dare he raise that," Biden said.

He also said: "My memory’s fine."

Later in his remarks, Biden mistakenly referred to Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi as the president of Mexico. The flub took place when Biden was answering a question about the Israel-Hamas war.

Biden also reiterated the distinction the report made between his handling of classified documents compared with former President Donald Trump’s. The president pointed to his cooperation with Hur's investigation.

In response to a reporter's question about what he would have done differently, Biden talked about the importance of overseeing the transfer of materials.

The president also pushed back on the report's language that he "willfully retained" classified documents, calling such assertions "not only misleading, they're just plain wrong."

Biden’s appearance come hours after Hur released his report into the president’s handling of classified documents. Hur declined to prosecute the president, but found that the president “willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen.”

Biden briefly addressed the report earlier Thursday during a pre-announced speech, saying that he was “especially pleased” that Hur’s report “made clear the stark differences between this case and Donald Trump.”

The report also threw doubt on whether a jury would convict the president, if Hur decided to bring charges.

• Biden rallies House Democrats, calls Trump and his MAGA friends ‘losers’

President Biden called former President Trump and his allies in Congress losers while rallying House Democrats Thursday.

Biden projected confidence ahead of 2024, when House Democrats are looking to win back the lower chamber, and noted that 2022 marked a good year for Democrats who experienced better-than-expected midterm results and created razor thin margins in the House.

“When voters have a choice between what we stand for and what Trump and the MAGA Republicans stand for, we win,” he said. “Which makes Trump and his MAGA friends losers.”

“We’re investing in America, bringing back pride to communities, pride to our country. I want to thank you for doing the job you’re elected to do. It matters to the American people, and we’re in a position to win in 2024, I think,” the president said at the caucus’s annual strategy retreat in Leesburg.

Biden also blasted Trump for his role in torpedoing the bipartisan border deal, accusing him of trying to intimidate Republican lawmakers into opposing the bill.

“You had worked so hard, a bipartisan group, so hard for so long to deal with the border,” he said. “And, guess what? Donald Trump allegedly — I can’t prove this, I’m told — called people and said, ‘if you support that, I’m coming after you.’”

“Are we here to solve a problem or just to weaponize for political attacks those problems?” Biden added.

“We’re here to serve the American people,” he said of Democrats.

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• Biden will not be charged over top secret documents

US President Joe Biden "wilfully retained and disclosed classified materials", a special counsel has found, but he will not be charged.

The report says it would be difficult to convict him as he comes across as an "elderly man with a poor memory".

The investigation began more than a year ago after secret documents were found at Mr Biden's home and former private office.

The files were returned to US officials once discovered.

The special counsel's report revealed for the first time that the documents were classified as Top Secret - the highest level of secrecy, and were about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan.

The files recovered included notebooks containing Mr Biden's entries about national security and foreign policy matters "implicating sensitive intelligence sources and methods".

The report by justice department Special Counsel Robert Hur says: "We conclude that the evidence does not establish Mr Biden's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

"Prosecution of Mr Biden is also unwarranted based on our consideration of the aggravating and mitigating factors."

Read the special counsel's report on Biden's handling of classified documents

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• Biden's EPA begins crackdown over soot

The Environmental Protection Agency just tightened standards for tiny, pervasive soot particles from construction sites, smokestacks, tailpipes, wildfires and other sources.

Why it matters: This form of air pollution is dangerous. It's linked to asthma, irregular heartbeats, bronchitis, even premature death in people with heart or lung disease, per the EPA.

• Environmental groups — a key Democratic political constituency — loudly cheered, calling it an important public health move.
• But business groups, citing steady improvements in air quality, say ratcheting down requirements again would throttle development and jobs.

State of play: The agency is imposing a new annualized exposure mandate for fine particulates of 9 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3), down from the current 12 µg/m3 requirement.

Zoom in: The agency estimates the rule will provide $46 billion in net health benefits in 2032, the earliest date that states must begin achieving the lower levels.

• These projected upsides in 2032 include up to 4,500 avoided premature deaths and 800,000 avoided cases of asthma symptoms.
• EPA says compliance costs are a tiny fraction of the benefit value. It rejects claims the rule hurts the economy, noting that since 2000, this pollution has fallen 42% while gross domestic product climbed 52%.

Yes, but: Many industries — petroleum, metals, mining, and forest and paper, to name just a few — allege dire economic outcomes from tougher mandates.

• A late 2023 letter to the White House warns of "permitting gridlock" and "no room" for further development — even climate-friendly infrastructure — in some areas.
• "For each level of increased stringency of the standards, the burdens on states and manufacturers increase exponentially," a suite of industry groups wrote.

The intrigue: This is among the most heavily lobbied EPA rules of the Biden era.

• Backers and critics held dozens of closed-door talks with White House and EPA staff to sway the outcome (check this "meetings" link).

Threat level: Multiple studies show people of color face higher exposure to fine particulates.

There have been improvements in lowering soot concentrations, but a significant number of places would not currently meet the new limits (see above).

• It's a broad national snapshot based on 361 monitoring sites, so your mileage may vary.

Yes, but: "EPA expects that 99% of U.S. counties will be able to meet the revised PM2.5 annual standard with actions already in place as of 2032," EPA said.

What we're watching: Potential litigation, and whether a potential Trump administration would seek to alter the rule, or stop defending it in court.

• When he was president, Trump officials decided not to lower the standards.

__________

• S&P 500 hits 5,000 for the first time, but closes just under the milestone

The S&P 500 finished little changed on Thursday after briefly topping the 5,000 milestone for the first time on record.

The broad-based index edged up 0.06% to finish at 4,997.91 after reaching a high of 5,000.40 heading into the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 48.97 points, or 0.13%, to end at 38,726.33, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.24% to close at 15,793.71.

Glad to see Biden is finally getting tough, and forcing Mexico‘s president to open up the gates, to get the much-needed supplies in.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Oh dear, surely they will have to look at replacing him now. Even Trump would be able to make him look like a doddery old fool on the debate stage.

I am not buying into the narrative that Biden is a doddering old fool and am quite sure trump would have a meltdown at any debate

not sure if your oracle has counted the number of times trump has said " I don't recall" during his numerous court cases

Originally Posted by baldrick

I am not buying into the narrative that Biden is a doddering old fool and am quite sure trump would have a meltdown at any debate

not sure if your oracle has counted the number of times trump has said " I don't recall" during his numerous court cases

That is what is known as a false equivalence.

"I don't recall" is exactly what his lawyers tell him to say.

Originally Posted by baldrick

I am not buying into the narrative that Biden is a doddering old fool....

And no one should. Just a silly hit job from a US attorney (Robert Hur aka Dr. Neurologist Wannabe) who was appointed by trump. Dr. Neurologist Wannabe was sending a thank you note to trump for a lifetime position.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

"I don't recall" is exactly what his lawyers tell him to say.

which is exactly the point , but it seems to have been translated into

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

"Mr Biden's memory was significantly limited, both during his recorded interviews with the ghostwriter in 2017, and in his interview with our office in 2023

by another trump sycophant

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Robert Hur

So Bidens ticket is "I'm not as decrepit as you think, and look at the alternative". It's not looking great over there.

President Biden is doing just fine for most Americans