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U.S. president Joe Biden is reportedly weighing whether to remain in the 2024 presidential race following a disastrous debate performance last week that showcased his cognitive decline, according to a prominent mainstream media report.
Katie Rogers – White House correspondent for The New York Times – reported Wednesday (July 3, 2024) that Biden told a key ally this week “he knows he may not be able to salvage his candidacy if he cannot convince the public in the coming days that he is up for the job after a disastrous debate performance last week.”
The report also cited a “top advisor” to Biden as saying the president was “well aware of the political challenge he faces” – which was no doubt the part of the story his critics found most ironic.
The White House rebuked Rogers’ report as “absolutely false,” highlighting the escalating tension between the administration and the once-malleable mainstream media.
Biden huddled with family over the weekend at Camp David in Maryland and emerged committed to the 2024 campaign, per reports. Since then, however, Democrats have drawn their knives on him as his viability as a candidate has continued to erode.
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Even before his calamitous debate performance last Thursday night against former president Donald Trump, Biden was already struggling mightily against the 2024 Republican nominee.
Trump has consistently led Biden – albeit by narrow margins – in virtually all of the battleground states where the November election will be decided. Heading into the debate, Trump led in Arizona (+6.2), Georgia (+4) Michigan (+1.4) Nevada (+5), Pennsylvania (+3) and was tied with Biden in Wisconsin, according to polling averages from RealClearPolling.
The incumbent won all of those states in 2020.
Meanwhile, erstwhile swing states including Florida, North Carolina and Ohio are all solidly in Trump’s camp.
More ominously, Biden’s approval rating – which was already at a record low level last month – has dipped further over the last few days. According to the latest polling averages from FiveThirtyEight, 56.9 percent of America currently disapproves of the current president – compared to only 37.2 percent who approve. That’s a record disapproval gap of 19.6 percent with just four months to go before election day.
Biden has been “underwater” with voters – i.e. he’s had higher disapproval than approval ratings – since September 1, 2021, according to FiveThirtyEight. He’s been “underwater” by more than double digits since May 14, 2023.
Count on this media outlet to keep our audience in the loop on the very latest developments as this powerful play rolls on …
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina and before that he was a bass guitarist and dive bar bouncer. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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2 comments
For those trying to defend Biden here, what really matters the most is comparing where he was four years ago versus where he is today. Cognitive decline isn’t something that “heals” or “gets better”, it usually gets a lot worse, and a lot more quickly as it progresses.
He shouldn’t have run. He should’ve known to not run again. He should’ve been told to not run again. The DNC should have made him not run again. God damn, RBG and Feinstein didn’t teach them anything.
Let’s not break commandment #3.