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Friday, July 12, 2024 BY CROOKED MEDIA

- Jen O’Malley Dillon, President Biden’s campaign chair, describing the vibe around the Biden campaign, in a leaked all-hands call reported by Axios.

President Biden landed in the crucial swing state Michigan on Friday, where some high-profile local Democrats notably did not show up to greet him.

Biden arrived in Detroit on Friday afternoon, following through on his pledge to allay concerns about his age and acuity by staying in the public eye. “I promise you, I am OK,” he told supporters at a restaurant in the Detroit suburb of Northville. But big-name local Dems were notably absent from his welcoming party, the New York Times observed. That included Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI), although she posted a welcome note on social media. The state’s two Democratic Senators also seemed to have other things to do. Awkward!

Biden left Washington D.C. churning in uneasy apprehension behind him. House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) met with Biden Thursday night to share the misgivings of nervous House Democrats. Jeffries released a short, terse letter about the meeting afterwards, which notably did NOT include a full-throated endorsement of Biden’s campaign. “In my conversation with President Biden, I directly expressed the full breadth of insight, heartfelt perspectives and conclusions about the path forward that the Caucus has shared in our recent time together,” Jeffries wrote. Jeffries, his predecessor Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are widely seen as three of the most influential voices in Washington’s will-he-or-won’t-he run saga with the kind of political pull required to move the needle.

Biden survived his “big boy press conference” on Thursday night, showing both a deep command of foreign policy and committing a few notable gaffes. In the end, the press conference was a Rorschach test: Biden gave viewers evidence to support whichever view they already held. On the one hand, he discussed U.S. policy towards China in mind-numbing detail. On the other, he also mixed up his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris, with his opponent, disgraced former President Donald Trump.

Biden’s passable performance Thursday night forestalled a mass revolt by elected Dems. But House members continued issuing calls for him to drop out, including Reps. Scott Peters (D-CA), Jim Himes (D-CT) and Eric Sorensen (D-IL).

Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL), who has called on Biden to pack it in, told the What A Day podcast Biden’s press conference was “fine” (lol, the enthusiasm!) but that it also reinforced one of Quigley’s main concerns: that people won’t hear what the president says, while preoccupied with his performance. “It is all about Biden, and not about Trump,” the Illinois Congressman noted. He described “grave” fears among his colleagues that Biden, who is trailing Trump in key swing states, can’t win. “My impression is that people are saying, ‘Oh he did fine now, but what about tomorrow?’ And I think that uncertainty is what is hurting him,” Quigley said.

Biden’s performance probably did, however, buy him more time, according to Pod Save America co-hosts Dan Pfeiffer and Jon Favreau. “Everyone in politics pulls the bandaid off as slowly as possible,” Pfeiffer said, adding Biden won’t be able to “unring the bell of the debate.” The president “still doesn’t have a message that is going to persuade people who are on the fence,” Favreau said. Biden simply didn’t “frame the choice in the election.” Everyone focused, instead, on whether Biden could make it through the press conference at all.

Trumpworld thrilled at Biden’s middling display. Thursday’s performance, a Trump ally told Politico, was the “best of both worlds,” because it was “bad, but not bad enough to be forced out.” Asked about the Democratic meltdown, Pro-Trump Rep. Nancy Mace (R-NC) gushed: “It’s fucking awesome.”

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President Biden said Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire “framework” but there is “still work to do” on “complex issues.” U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Thursday the two sides still have “miles to go” to finalize a ceasefire, but added that “signs are more positive today than they have been in recent weeks.”

Meta said Friday that the company will rollback restrictions that had been in place on Trump’s accounts. The idea, as Axios reported, is to ensure “parity” between presidential candidates. The reality, of course, is that Trump will abuse any leniency offered to him to spew more racist, incendiary garbage into the Facebook feed of every aunt and uncle you know. Thanks, Zuckerberg!

Climate advocacy group the Sunrise Movement called on Biden to drop his presidential bid and “pass the torch” in the November election.

Major Democratic donors informed the pro-Biden super PAC Future Forward they will withhold roughly $90 million in funds as long as Biden remains Democrats’ presidential pick. That’s quite the chuck of change.

The ever-elusive Melania Trump will reportedly grace Milwaukee, WI with her presence at the Republican National Convention next week. I really don’t care, do you?

Senator J.D. Vance appears to soften his stance on abortion as Trump’s veepstakes escalate ahead of the RNC convention next week. Yet another rock-ribbed conservative taking a strong, principled stance in favor of getting himself elected! Aborshion, shmorshion?

In a plot twist, the judge in Alec Baldwin’s manslaughter case dismissed the indictment against the actor on Friday after the revelation that the state didn’t turn over a batch of bullets to the defense.

EPA Commissioner Michael Regan laughed in Rep. Lauren Boebert’s (R-CO) face when the Colorado lawmaker flagrantly misstated the impact of a recent Supreme Court ruling, suggesting the move would force the environmental agency to repeal existing regulations.

AT&T announced Friday that the company was victim to a sprawling hack in April that compromised “nearly all users,” making it one of the most severe data breaches of a private communications company in recent history. Maybe don’t phone a friend on this one?

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Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) shared on Twitter that she is cancer free after a battle with breast cancer. Huzzah!

A judge threw out Rudy Giuliani’s bankruptcy case, leaving the Borat film star without a legal shield against his thirsty creditors, to the tune of nearly $153 million.

More than a decade after wildfires devastated Yosemite National Park, 118 rare toads have been returned to their natural habitat. Hop on, lil fellahs!

Stocks hit a record high on Friday in anticipation that the Federal Reserve will relax monetary policy this fall, following a dip in previously stagnant inflation. Dear Lord, free us from Biden’s economic hellscape!

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