Biden debate performance worries Democrats

VP Harris: "It was a slow start"

Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for June 28, 2024:

• Supreme Court to work into next week.

• House poised to approve three government funding bills.

• Greene loses big in bid to block Ukraine aid.

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DEBATE NIGHT. If Democrats had hoped that Thursday night's first debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump would convince Americans that Trump was unworthy of another term in the White House - that wasn't the dominant message which emerged from the CNN debate. Instead, it only seemed to raise more questions about whether Biden should stay in the race.

• SLOW. “It was a slow start, that was obvious to everyone,” Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged in a CNN interview after the debate, as Biden's voice was off and his answers at times weren’t focused. “Listen, people can debate on style points, but ultimately this election, and who is the President of the United States has to be about substance, and the contrast is clear."

• COLD. During the debate, the Biden team clearly felt the need to leak out word to reporters that the President had been suffering from a cold in recent days. Whether that was the problem or not - it was telling that Biden officials dropped that on reporters about one hour into the debate.

• OFF THE RECORD. There were no incumbent Democrats in Congress who jumped ship in the immediate aftermath of the debate. But many were giving anonymous quotes to reporters indicating their displeasure with the events of last night.

• HEADLINES. Let’s just sample a few. There’s one word which stands out.

  • New York Times: "Biden Struggles as Trump Blusters."

  • Washington Post: "Biden struggles, Trump deflects questions."

  • USA Today: "Biden supporters alarmed after President's debate struggles."

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ТРИВОЖНО. "It was a really disappointing debate performance from Joe Biden," said Kate Bedingfield on CNN after the debate. "I don’t think there’s any other way to slice it." Who is Bedingfield and why does she matter? She was Biden's White House Communications Director and a former top official on Biden's campaign.

• LONE STAR. "Biden had a very low bar going into the debate and failed to clear even that bar," said ex-Rep. Julian Castro (D-TX). "He seemed unprepared, lost, and not strong enough to parry effectively with Trump, who lies constantly."

• LET’S GET REAL. The only way Biden drops out is if top elected leaders in the party run away from him. Do you really think that's going to happen? It's hard to envision. What's very clear is that House Democrats probably won't be too happy to see reporters chasing them around the Capitol today for comments.

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ISSUES. Normally, we would be talking in depth about issues and the accuracy of detailed answers from the candidates after a debate for President. That has never really mattered for Donald Trump - and last night was no exception. As usual, Trump threw out numerous whoppers which would never pass the smell test for a candidate - but he does that on a daily basis, making his debate performance seem no crazier than what everyone has come to expect.

• ELECTION RESULTS. Asked whether he would accept the results of the November election, Trump again turned on his fire hose of never-ending lies about fraud in 2020. “The fraud and everything else was ridiculous,” Trump said, after dodging the question twice. (Narrator - there was no evidence of widespread fraud in 2020.)

• JANUARY 6. Trump tried to use a video of Nancy Pelosi shot by her daughter on January 6 - and recently released by House Republicans - to claim he wasn't responsible for the violence that day, and that Democrats were to blame. We all know that's not the truth, but it's being peddled by Trump and the GOP.

• BLACK JOBS. One Trump line that immediately garnered negative attention was when Trump said that immigrants were taking 'Black jobs.' That was a cringe-worthy item. "My 'Black Job' is a U.S. Congresswoman," said Rep. Sydney Kamlager (D-CA).

• ALLEY CAT. Just go back to the era before Trump and imagine what would have happened if this line was used in a general election debate for President: "I didn't have sex with a porn star." Trump said that last night, as Biden said, ‘You have the morals of an alley cat.’ Here’s the video.

• SAY WHAT? This Trump attack on Biden was hard to decipher in real time, and when I watched it again. "He's become like a Palestinian," Trump said of Biden. "They don't like him because he's a very bad Palestinian. He's a weak one."

• VA CHOICE. It's just amazing that Trump keeps saying that he got the Veterans Choice program put into law. That was signed by Barack Obama in 2014 - before Trump was even running for President. But Trump doesn't care. He just keeps taking credit for something he didn't do.

• TRANSCRIPT. If you don’t want to watch the debate, you can read through it. Here is the CNN transcript.

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SPORTS. Yes, there was a point during the debate where the two candidates sparred over their golf handicaps. Trump boasted about winning two club championships. Biden said Trump couldn't walk 18 holes and carry his own bag, basically calling him fat. Here’s more of Trump’s answer, which reads like it is straight out of a Saturday Night Live skit:

I took two tests, cognitive tests. I aced them, both of them, as you know. We made it public. He took none. I’d like to see him take one, just one, a real easy one. Like go through the first five questions, he couldn’t do it. But I took two cognitive tests. I took physical exams every year. And, you know, we knock on wood, wherever we may have wood, that I’m in very good health. I just won two club championships, not even senior, two regular club championships. To do that, you have to be quite smart and you have to be able to hit the ball a long way. And I do it. He doesn’t do it. He can’t hit a ball 50 yards.

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SOCIAL MEDIA. I like to watch Twitter during debates, because it gives a great real-time reaction experience from members of Congress. It wasn’t hard to tell which party felt better after the debate. Republican tweets were flying out at a rapid pace last night. Democrats - not so much.

• GOP. For Republicans, there was just an endless buffet of choices for their reaction. They could trumpet the answers of Trump - and swing for the fences at Biden to accuse him of being senile.

• OLD FART. "What Jill Biden and the Biden campaign did to Joe Biden tonight - rolling him out on stage to engage in a battle of wits while unarmed - is elder abuse," said Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY). “The leader of the greatest nation has trouble finishing sentences,” said Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA).

• DEMS. "An unhinged Trump rewrote history and fabricated his way through the night," said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), as Democrats were more muted in their response. "President Biden shared a vision for America where everyone thrives," said Rep. Nikema Williams (D-GA). "Donald Trump told lie after lie and then lied some more."

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ON DECK. Okay, let's say that you feel like Biden should drop out. The logical replacement is Vice President Harris, but the conventional wisdom is that many Democrats aren’t impressed. Think about that for a minute. Are you really going to have Biden drop out and then have a gigantic intraparty fight to stop Harris? That doesn't sound like a recipe for victory in November. Just saying.

• HISTORY. I’ve covered a lot as a reporter. I certainly didn’t think it would include a violent effort by a President to stay in office. But that’s what happened on Jan. 6. I guess there is still one thing I haven’t done - and that is cover a brokered convention. It’s always talked about - but never happens. Stay tuned.

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NOT GOOD. We heard Donald Trump lie again last night about claims of election fraud in 2020. That's become part of the playbook among Republicans unfortunately, and we're seeing it right now in Virginia, where Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) is making all sorts of claims about his apparent primary defeat. More in my column for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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SUPREME COURT. Now that the Trump-Biden debate is over, the U.S. Supreme Court is free to issue a decision in the Trump immunity case, without worrying about the impact on that debate. Does it happen this morning - or does the Chief Justice wait until Monday, which has now been designated a day for opinions? The Court convenes at 10 am.

• JULY. Usually, this final Friday in June would typically be the final day of the Court's term. But the Justices were in no hurry to finish this week, and there are eight cases left. We will find out today if Monday is going to be the conclusion of the 2023-24 term.

• RULINGS. There were four decisions handed down on Thursday.

  • The court put an EPA pollution plan on hold.

  • The justices blocked a major opioid settlement.

  • The court limited securities enforcement proceedings.

ABORTION. As for the fourth ruling - a day after one news organization stumbled upon an unreleased Supreme Court decision on the court's website, the Justices released that ruling, which will allow emergency abortions to protect the life of a mother in Idaho - even though the state has very restrictive abortion laws. You can read the ruling at this link.

• DIG. The court did not rule on the merits of the case, instead the Justices decided that they never should have heard arguments in the first place. "Dismissed, Improvidently Granted," is the official term. The dispute will go back to lower courts, and could ultimately reach the Supreme Court again.

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CONGRESS. Senate Democrats are probably pretty happy they're not at work today on Capitol Hill, as House Democrats will get chased through the halls of the Capitol for their take on last night's Trump-Biden debate. After today, the House and Senate aren't back in Washington, D.C. until July 8.

• SPENDING. The House will wrap up work for the week by taking final votes on a trio of GOP government funding bills - for the Pentagon, State Department, and Homeland Security. All three measures are under White House veto threats because of a series of conservative policy riders added on by the GOP.

• NO PAY. A day after the House approved a plan to *not pay* the salary of the Homeland Security Secretary, the House okayed an amendment to stop paying the Secretary of State. But the House drew the line there - later voting 308-103 against a plan to cut the salary of the Secretary of Defense to $1.

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UKRAINE. The House on Wednesday rejected a series of efforts by Republicans to restrict or block aid for Ukraine. The votes were not close - even though the MAGA wing of the Republican Party has made opposition to Ukraine a litmus test for many candidates running for Congress.

• MRS. GREENE OF GEORGIA. Suffering a pair of very large losses on Ukraine was Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). Her plan to prohibit funding for Ukraine on a foreign aid bill was defeated 342-70. In a later vote to block aid on a Pentagon funding bill, she lost 335-76.

• BACKERS. Democrats say what the House should be doing is approving extra aid for Kyiv to fight off a Russian invasion. "We must keep pushing for additional assistance and expanded capabilities to help Ukraine gain the upper hand over Russia," said Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL).

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NO SHT ACT. June isn’t over yet, but this seems to be the clear winner in the email press release category, from Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ). "U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced the NO Stool in Herds’ Troughs (NO SHT) Act, legislation aimed at eliminating the egregious factory farm practice of adding animal excrement to livestock feed."

• BOOKER. "The NO SHT Act specifically targets the alarming practice of feeding chicken litter—which includes dead birds, feathers, and chicken excrement—to cows in large-scale feedlots and dairies."

• BILL TEXT. While Booker's press office was happy to call the bill the 'NO SHT ACT,' the actual bill text didn't go that far - leaving a few blanks.

  

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RAP SHEET.  A Tennessee man who told FBI agents, "We don't talk to cops," has been arrested and charged for his actions on Jan. 6.  Chad Hedgcock entered the U.S. Capitol after rioters busted open a Senate fire exit door that day.  After being pushed out of the building by police, Hedgcock went to the original breach site where he could be seen on security cameras, but stayed outside.

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MUSE OF HISTORY.    June 28, 1974.  On this date, Rep. Charles Whalen of Dayton, Ohio made an unusual submission for lawmakers into the Congressional Record - three full pages of details about his personal finances.  "Our family's net worth is $1,484,902.20," Whalen wrote, detailing stock holdings for his wife and children, the value of his homes in Ohio and Maryland, the amount of taxes he and his family paid, and more. 

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LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:

The House convenes at 9 am.

The Senate next has votes on July 8.

Check President Biden’s schedule.

Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree.

Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com

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