Politics

(WASHINGTON) — The GOP’s first new platform since 2016 will also be the first truly defined by former President Donald Trump, Republicans who have served on the platform committee say.

In 2016, then-candidate Trump deferred to party operatives to craft the document, according to the platform veterans.

In 2020, the GOP declined to introduce a new platform, merely appending an updated introduction to the same platform from Trump’s first campaign. Now, several veterans of the platform committee predict that the document to be unveiled at the RNC convention in two weeks will reflect a Republican Party united behind the person and policies of Donald Trump.

“I think the dynamic between then and now is totally different,” said Tom Schreibel, the Wisconsin Republican Party national committeeman and a platform subcommittee chair in 2016.

“The campaign didn’t carry as much sway back then,” said Schreibel, who serves on the Committee on Arrangements for the 2024 convention, which will take place in his home-state capital of Milwaukee. “We spent weeks working with House and Senate staff to get their insights on what was happening currently.”

“What were the sensitivities of the House? What were the sensitivities of the Senate? Where were the conferences at at that point? And what was the art of the possible?” said Schreibel, recalling the considerations he had weighed.

James Bopp Jr., an Indiana lawyer who served on every platform committee from 2000 through 2016, called the process that produced the former president’s first platform “quite unusual.”

“The Trump campaign took the explicit and well-circulated position that they were going to be very light-handed in terms of fashioning the 2016 platform,” said Bopp, “and leave it to the platform committee and the delegates to do that.”

While that platform certainly bore Trump’s mark, it also contained positions out of step with the former president. On LGBTQ+ issues, it veered to Trump’s right, affirming a definition of marriage as strictly a union between a man and a woman, something fought for by religious conservatives. And at the convention, then-Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort successfully pushed to dilute the platform’s support for Ukraine — a change Trump later said he was neither involved in nor aware of.

This year, Trump may not be able to say the same.

“I expect this to be Trump’s platform,” said Jesse Law, a 2016 platform committee member reprising his role this year. “I expect the members of the committees to fall in line.”

Schreibel concurred, saying, “Trump has gained control of the Republican Party, being the former president.”

Schreibel, Law, and Bopp each made a version of the same point, though: This platform won’t be Trump’s because Trump has commandeered the platform process — this platform will be Trump’s because Trump has united the party behind him.

“If you have 50 states, and we’re averaging 70% of every state party, every county party being pro-Trump in such a way, you’re going to see this in the makeup of those who are delegates,” said Law, who serves as chairman of the Republican Party in Clark County, Nevada.

Law contrasted this dynamic with the 2016 convention, where “you had the Bible Belt, and you had the northeastern folks, and you had the Midwest folks, and you had the West Coast folks.”

“We didn’t have a lot of cohesion,” he added.

To Law’s point, RNC platform committee membership lists reviewed by ABC News show that only 12 members of the 2024 committee also served on the committee in 2016 — less than 15% of the total. While an ABC News analysis finds that this figure is consistent with the churn from 2012 to 2016, it shows that the 2024 platform will be shaped by a new generation of party leadership.

The three leaders of the 2024 platform committee — who work with policy staff weeks before the convention to decide the drafts on which the broader committee will then deliberate — also come from Trump’s orbit.

Two — Randy Evans and Russ Vought — served in the Trump administration, as ambassador to Luxembourg and Office of Management and Budget director, respectively. The third platform leader, Ed Martin, did not have a role in the Trump administration, but he marched to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and has become a prominent figure in the “Stop the Steal” movement advancing the false theory that Trump won the 2020 election.

Schreibel pointed to a similar dynamic in the congressional considerations that influence the platform, noting that “issues within the House and Senate on X, Y or Z are turned by President Trump and his ideals.”

And, said Schreibel, because Trump was relatively new to politics in 2016, he had less familiarity with the process, causing him to have “a lot of people at the table” working on plans for transition and the administration.

One area where Trump’s influence over the party platform may make all the difference is on the polarizing issue of abortion rights.

Since the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade in 2022, ruling that there is no constitutional right to abortion, nearly two dozen states have banned or severely restricted access to abortion. This tide of state-level restrictions has become politically toxic for national Republicans, as Democrats have made it a signature campaign theme, attacking the GOP as extreme on the issue.

As recently as a year ago, Trump — who appointed the conservative justices that enabled the overturning of Roe — eagerly took credit for the decision, writing in a post on Truth social, “I was able to kill Roe v. Wade.” More recently, however, the former president has adopted a more muted tone, saying that he wouldn’t sign a national abortion ban and emphasizing his support for leaving the issue to the states.

Trump’s circumspection — along with the news that the 2024 platform will be much shorter than usual — has fueled speculation that the document might only briefly discuss the issue, drawing criticism from some anti-abortion rights groups. The New York Times has reported that a coalition of advocacy groups sent a letter to Trump, asking he “make clear that you do not intend to weaken the pro-life plank.”

But the platform committee veterans who spoke with ABC News were largely unconcerned.

Bopp, who told ABC News he had played an instrumental role in advocating for anti-abortion rights provisions in the platform since 1980, said of Trump’s abortion stance, “I fully embrace it, 100%. I think he’s absolutely right that the focus should be on the states.”

“There is no votes for any national, substantive law on abortion,” said Bopp. “We should not be — nor have I ever been — confused with Don Quixote.”

For Law, Trump’s line on abortion in the first presidential debate augured the approach the platform would take: “He was very concise with his comments the other day. That’s what I would expect.”

“The majority of the Republican base agrees with that,” Law added.

During his debate with President Joe Biden, Trump said he would not block access to the mifepristone abortion pill and stressed that the states should decide the extent of abortion rights, with exceptions for rape, incest, and danger to the life of the mother.

As much as the 2024 platform may bespeak a party remade in Trump’s image, the platform committee veterans interviewed by ABC News stressed that it will remain, at least in part, a document that responds to the needs of the party as a whole.

“This is a document that is worked on and thought about quite a bit by many members. Ensuring that all the parts of the Republican Party are heard and that we hear from the leadership — the elected leadership of the party — is important,” said Arkansas Lt. Gov. Leslie Rutledge, who chaired a platform subcommittee in 2016. “It will be reflective of the Republican Party as a whole.”

“President Trump is in charge of the Republican Party, and so he’s going to have a bigger voice in what is said,” echoed Schreibel. “But still, at the end of the day, that document’s gonna have to represent House members and also Senate members.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — A second local radio host on Saturday told ABC News that he was provided a list of questions in advance of his interview with President Joe Biden this week.

“Yes, I was given some questions for Biden,” Earl Ingram of CivicMedia told ABC News. Ingram, a prominent host of a Wisconsin radio station, interviewed Biden this week in the wake of his debate performance.

Ingram said he was given five questions and ended up asking four of them.

“I didn’t get a chance to ask him all the things I wanted to ask,” he said.

The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

Ingram told ABC he didn’t see anything necessarily wrong with the practice. “To think that I was gonna get an opportunity to ask any question to the President of the United States, I think, is a bit more than anybody should expect,” he said.

He continued that he was grateful for the opportunity to interview Biden at all.

“Certainly the fact that they gave me this opportunity … meant a lot to me,” Ingraham said.

“The questions were sent to me for approval; I approved of them,” she said.

“I got several questions — eight of them,” she continued. “And the four that were chosen were the ones that I approved.”

Responding to Lawful-Sanders, Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said in a statement that it’s not “uncommon” for interviewees to share topics they would prefer. She noted that Lawful-Sanders was “free” to ask any questions she saw fit. She also noted that it was the campaign who sent over the questions and not the White House as other reports claim.

Lawful-Sanders did note in her interview with CNN that she ultimately “approved” the questions provided.

“It’s not at all an uncommon practice for interviewees to share topics they would prefer. These questions were relevant to news of the day – the president was asked about this debate performance as well as what he’d delivered for black Americans,” the statement said. “We do not condition interviews on acceptance of these questions, and hosts are always free to ask the questions they think will best inform their listeners. In addition to these interviews, the President also participated in a press gaggle yesterday as well as an interview with ABC. Americans have had several opportunities to see him unscripted since the debate.”

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(WASHIGNTON) — President Joe Biden, in an exclusive interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos, acknowledged last week’s debate was a “bad episode” but pushed back strongly against broader questions about his age and mental fitness.

Stephanopoulos, over the course of 22 minutes, pressed Biden repeatedly not only on his debate performance against Donald Trump but also on reports that his lapses have become increasingly common these past few months — and on what he would be willing to do to reassure the American people.

“Are you the same man today that you were when you took office three-and-a-half years ago?” Stephanopoulos asked.

“In terms of successes, yes,” Biden responded. “I also was the guy who put together a peace plan for the Middle East that may be comin’ to fruition. I was also the guy that expanded NATO. I was also the guy that grew the economy. All the individual things that were done were ideas I had or I fulfilled. I moved on.”

“Do you dispute that there have been more lapses, especially in the last several months?” Stephanopoulos asked.

“Can I run the 100 in 10 flat? No. But I’m still in good shape,” Biden said.

Stephanopoulos followed up, asking, “Are you more frail?”

“No,” Biden said, flatly.

Biden’s sit-down with ABC News is his first television interview since the June 27 debate. ABC News reached out to Trump to offer him an equivalent interview opportunity, but his team declined.

The interview is part of a push from the White House and the campaign to recalibrate after Biden’s halting debate performance left some Democrats panicked about his ability to carry out a grueling reelection campaign and a second term.

Looking ahead to a possible second term, Stephanopoulos said the question on the minds of many Americans is whether Biden would be able to serve effectively. If reelected, Biden would be 86 at the end of a second term.

“Do you have the mental and physical capacity to do it for another four years?” Stephanopoulos asked.

“I believe so. I wouldn’t be runnin’ if I didn’t think I did,” Biden said. “Look, I’m runnin’ again because I think I understand best what has to be done to take this nation to a completely new new level. We’re on our way. We’re on our way. And, look. The decision recently made by the Supreme Court on immunity, you know, the next President of the United States, it’s not just about whether he or she knows what they’re doin’.

“It’s– it’s– it’s not– not about a con– a conglomerate of people making decisions,” Biden continued. “It’s about the character of the president. The character of the president’s gonna determine whether or not this Constitution is employed the right way.”

Stephanopoulos then pressed him, asking if in on a personal level, Biden was being honest with himself about his mental and physical ability to lead for four more years.

“Yes, I am, because, George, the last thing I want to do is not be able to meet that,” Biden said. “I think, as some of senior economists and senior foreign policy specialists say, if I stop now, I go down in history as a pretty successful president. No one thought I could get done what we got done.”

Biden declined to agree to have an independent medical evaluation that included cognitive tests and share the results with the public.

Biden also repeatedly brushed off recent poll numbers that show him behind Trump both in the general election and in specific swing states, as well as concerns voiced by some Democrats that staying in the race is not in the interest of the party or the country.

“If you can be convinced that you cannot defeat Donald Trump, will you stand down?” Stephanopoulos asked.

“It depends on — on if the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that, I might do that,” Biden said.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Despite a drop in multiple polls after his debate performance last week, President Joe Biden told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Friday that he doesn’t believe the numbers and thinks more Americans back him than the polls indicate.

During his first television interview since the debate, Stephanopoulos pressed Biden on recent surveys that show he had lost ground to former President Donald Trump and still had a low approval rating.

A New York Times/Siena College poll released on Monday found that the president had a 36% approval rating among likely voters.

“Mr. President, I’ve never seen a president [with] 36% approval get reelected,” Stephanopoulos said

“Well, I don’t believe that’s my approval rating. That’s not what our polls show,” Biden responded.

Biden didn’t make clear what his campaign’s internal polls show his approval rating to be.

The same Times/Siena College poll showed Trump gained ground with voters after the debate with a 49-41% split. An Ipsos poll released on Tuesday also showed the race was a toss-up with 40% split between both candidates.

ABC News had reached out to Trump to offer him an equivalent platform to Biden, but his team declined.

Stephanopoulos questioned Biden on why the race was a close even though Trump was a convicted felon. In May, the former president was found guilty of 34 felonies in his New York hush-money trial.

“You guys keep saying that. George, do you– look, you know polling better than anybody. Do you think polling data as accurate as it used to be?” Biden asked.

“I don’t think so, but I think, when you look at all the polling data right now, it shows that he’s certainly ahead in the popular vote, probably — even more ahead in the battleground states,” Stephanopoulos responded.

The president acknowledged that some polls show Democratic House and Senate candidates polling better than he does, but added that he’s seen similar scenarios in the recent election cycles.

“I carried an awful lot of Democrats last time I ran in 2020. Look, I remember them telling me the same thing in 2020, ‘I can’t win, the polls show I can’t win.’ Remember 2024 — 2020 — the red wave was coming. Before the vote, ‘I said that’s not going to happen, we’re going to win,'” Biden said.

Stephanopoulos questioned if Biden had heard from some complaints from Democrats who questioned his future and some who have asked him to step down.

When asked how he would respond if congressional Democratic leadership came to him and said they were worried he was bringing other candidates down, Biden responded he would “go into detail with them.”

“I’ve speaken with all of them in detail, including [Rep.] Jim Clyburn, everyone of them. They all said I should stay in the race. Stay in the race. No one said — none of the people said I should leave.”

Stephanopoulos pressed on.

“If you are told reliably from your allies, from your friends and supporters in the Democratic Party in the House and the Senate, that they’re concerned you’re going to lose the House and the Senate, if you stay in, what will you do?” he asked.

“I’m not gonna answer that question. It’s not gonna happen,” Biden responded.

Stephanopoulos brought up the fact that some polling showed the number of people who think Biden is too old to be president has doubled since 2020 and asked the president if he thought it was going to be tougher to beat Trump.

“Not when you’re running against a pathological liar. Not when he hadn’t been challenged in a way he’s about to be challenged,” the president said.

Biden added that the pollsters he has talked to have said the race is a “toss-up.”

“New York Times had me behind before anything having to do with this race, had me hind — behind 10 points. Ten points they had me behind,” he said. “Nothing’s changed substantially since the debate.”

Biden doubled down on his claims and contended that he didn’t believe the poll numbers that showed he was down in the popular vote.

“Is it worth the risk?” Stephanopoulos asked.

“I don’t think anybody’s more qualified to be president or win this race than me,” Biden responded.

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(WASHINGTON) — After days of panic and concern, Democrats across the country were on edge watching George Stephanopoulos’ interview with President Joe Biden Friday night.

And a fifth congressional Democrat joined in the call for Biden to step aside from the ticket.

In Biden’s first sit-down interview since last week’s debate against former President Donald Trump, the president acknowledged the debate was a “bad episode,” but pushed back strongly against broader questions about his age and mental fitness.

While the president vowed to keep running, several Democrats on Capitol Hill expressed concern.

“One interview is not going to change the perception — we need more than 22 minutes — people have got to know he has the stamina to do the job and right now there are still concerns,” one Democratic representative expressed to ABC News. Adding, the “aftermath” of the debate has been just as bad as the debate night itself, with the president waiting too long to do an interview and call leaders.

Speaking on “ABC News Live” just moments after the interview aired, Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois expressed what signaled his openness to replace Biden as the nominee.

“Look, I think there’s growing concern,” Quigley said, “I think this is going to be an intense week in D.C., never mind all the critical issues that are taking place on the floor and in the country and the world … The political realm is going to go into hyperdrive this week.”

Quigley became the fourth House Democrat to openly call for Biden to step aside, which he said was a “painful” decision. Quigley joined Reps. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, and Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz.

Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., released a statement Saturday morning calling on the president to step aside and not run for re-election.

“Given what I saw and heard from the President during last week’s debate in Atlanta, coupled with the lack of a forceful response from the President himself following that debate, I do not believe that the President can effectively campaign and win against Donald Trump,” she said.

Craig praised Biden for his accomplishments as president but ultimately said there was too much at stake.

“If we truly believe that Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans must be stopped, there is only a small window left to make sure we have a candidate best equipped to make the case and win. This future of our country is bigger than any one of us. It’s up to the President from here,” she said.

Another Democrat on Capitol Hill told ABC News that Biden’s interview with Stephanopoulos was “Better, but not sure it’s enough.”

Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, Biden’s home state, quickly came to the president’s defense after the interview, saying on X, “I can’t wait to help him continue to take the fight to Trump and win in November.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is set to hold a virtual meeting with House Democratic ranking committee members on Sunday afternoon, multiple sources told ABC News on Friday.

The president is expected to be the focus of the meeting, which would come a day before members return to Washington on Monday night as a handful of members have already called for him to step aside.

One senior Dem aide told ABC News Biden should “buckle up for a wild week” ahead.

The White House quickly reacted to Biden’s determination to stay in the race. One senior official told ABC News, “It’s clear that the voters on the ground are encouraging Biden to stay in and that he’s the best to take on Donald Trump.”

A Biden campaign adviser told ABC News the interview was “solid.”

The president has a busy few days coming up with a few campaign events in Philadelphia on Sunday and hosting the NATO summit next week.

ABC News’ Selina Wang, Will Steakin, John Parkinson and Ben Siegel contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Supreme Court ruling granting presidential immunity for official acts — seen as benefiting Donald Trump in his Jan. 6 trial — has renewed calls to impeach or take other “aggressive oversight” against conservative members of the court.

The day the ruling came down, New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez vowed to file articles of impeachment when Congress returns next week, although that would be a political long shot.

“The Supreme Court has become consumed by a corruption crisis beyond its control,” said Ocasio-Cortez in a social media post. However, she did not explain who she would be targeting and has not yet responded to an ABC News request for clarification. “Today’s ruling represents an assault on American democracy. It is up to Congress to defend our nation from this authoritarian capture.”

A fellow New York Democrat, Rep. Joe Morelle, said he will propose a constitutional amendment, a similar long shot.

“I will introduce a constitutional amendment to reverse SCOTUS’ harmful decision and ensure that no president is above the law. This amendment will do what SCOTUS failed to do—prioritize our democracy,” he posted on X.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats have long sought to enforce more accountability on the court in the wake of recent reports about the justices accepting travel and other gifts — and have called on Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito to recuse themselves in Jan. 6-related cases.

What the court said and reaction

The court said Trump is entitled to some immunity from criminal prosecution, including some for actions taken to overturn results of the 2020 election, but sent the case back to the trial court to sort out which charges can stand — which are “official acts” versus “unofficial acts” not covered by immunity.

Experts say that will effectively delaying any potential trial until after the November election.

In the court’s majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that a president’s motives are not relevant to the assessment of whether an official act is covered by immunity, nor whether an act would have allegedly violated a generally applicable law.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor in a strong dissent, said the ruling makes the president “a king above the law,” dealing a blow, she argued, to the founding principles of the U.S. Constitution and the American system of government that generally holds “no man is above the law.”

Democrats joined in the outrage.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, slammed the decision, calling for increased oversight and action concerning the nation’s highest court, but with Republicans controlling the House, there’s a limit to what Democrats can do on their own.

“House Democrats will engage in aggressive oversight and legislative activity with respect to the Supreme Court to ensure that the extreme, far-right justices in the majority are brought into compliance with the Constitution,” Jeffries said in a statement.

Republicans applauded the presidential immunity decision as a win, claiming the Biden administration has weaponized the Department of Justice against Trump.

“The President of the United States must have immunity, like Members of Congress and federal judges, which is necessary for any presidency to function properly,” said Rep. Elise Stefanik in a social media post.

Amid the heightened scrutiny, here’s a look at some legislative options Supreme Court critics have suggested:

How would impeachment work?

According to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, only Congress has the authority to remove a federal judge for “‘treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors” through a vote of impeachment by the House of Representatives and a trial and conviction by the Senate.

Article III of the Constitution adds that judges “shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour.”

A simple majority vote is required for the House to adopt the articles — 218 votes — for impeachment.

Right now, Republicans hold 219 seats and Democrats hold 213.

If approved, the articles of impeachment are then referred to the Senate, where a two-thirds vote — 67 votes — is needed to convict. The penalty for an impeached official upon conviction is removal from office.

In the Senate, Democrats hold 47 seats, independents hold 4 seats, and Republicans hold 48.

Has a Supreme Court justice been impeached before?

Only one Supreme Court justice has ever been impeached, according to the Federal Judicial Center.

Associate Justice Samuel Chase was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives in 1804, “on charges of arbitrary and oppressive conduct of trials,” the center states. However, he was acquitted by the U.S. Senate in 1805 and remained on the Supreme Court bench.

More than a dozen federal judges have been impeached for reasons including improper business relationships with litigants, charges of abuse of the contempt power, intoxication on the bench, and other misuses of office.

Three resigned before the completion of impeachment proceedings. Only eight have been convicted.

Supreme Court rocked by recent scandals

The Supreme Court has been the target of ethics concerns in recent years after investigative news outlet ProPublica alleged that Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito failed to disclose ties to wealthy businessmen and political donors. It reported as well that Justice Sonia Sotomayor used taxpayer-funded court staff to help sell her books.

Alito argued in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that he acted appropriately. In Thomas’ case, he said he believed he didn’t have to disclose those ties. In Sotomayor’s case, the court said she and the others had been urged to follow proper protocols.

Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib called for Alito’s and Thomas’s impeachment in June in connection with the reports.

“We need urgent action to hold these unhinged, corrupt extremists accountable,” Tlaib said on the House floor in June. “It is extremely disturbing that the United States Supreme Court, the highest court of our land, is the only court that does not have an enforceable code of conduct.”

Justices Thomas, Alito, Sotomayor, Neil Gorsuch and John Roberts have also been criticized for monetary or personal ties to businesses and groups with cases before the court.

These scandals have prompted the introduction of the Democrat-backed “Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act” which would mandate greater oversight of the justices and bind them to the same disclosure rules for gifts, travel and income as lower court judges.

The bill would also create a system to investigate complaints about their behavior and boost transparency around potential conflicts of interest with parties before the court. The bill was first introduced in 2023.

“It’s no wonder that the public trust is being so deeply damaged,” said Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley in a recent statement championing the bill. “It’s unacceptable the Supreme Court justices have no enforceable ethics guardrails fostering corruption.”

However, some Republicans say the proposed oversight reform is an attempt to delegitimize the court.

“This is a bill not designed to make the court stronger or more ethical, but to destroy a conservative court,” said Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham last year in opposition of the bill. “It’s a bill to rearrange the makeup of how the court governs itself.”

In April 2023, all nine justices released a joint statement, arguing that they already adhere to a code of “ethics principles and practices” and are in opposition to independent oversight.

ABC News’ Devin Dwyer contributed to this report.

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(MADISON, Wis.) — President Joe Biden, in his first television interview since his CNN debate with Donald Trump, brushed off the poor performance as a “bad episode” and said he alone was to blame for what transpired.

Biden sat down with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos in Madison, Wisconsin, on Friday after a fiery rally with Democratic supporters, during which Biden insisted he is remaining in the race.

Stephanopoulos immediately dove into last Thursday’s showdown, which sparked widespread alarm among Democratic lawmakers and pundits about Biden’s ability to campaign and serve another four years.

“Let’s start with the debate. You and your team have said you had a bad night,” Stephanopoulos began.

“Sure did,” Biden responded.

Stephanopoulos went on to ask Biden about a statement from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who led the House during the first two years of Biden’s administration and ushered through some of his signature policy achievements.

“But your friend Nancy Pelosi actually framed the question that I think is on the minds of millions of Americans: Was this a bad episode or the sign of a more serious condition?” Stephanopoulos asked.

“It was a bad episode,” Biden said. “No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and — and a bad night.”

Biden traveled internationally in mid-June to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day in France. But he spent nearly a week at Camp David after that in the run-up to the debate to meet with close advisers and prepare.

Stephanopoulos pressed Biden, “Why wasn’t that enough rest time, enough recovery time?”

“Because I was sick. I was feeling terrible,” Biden said. “Matter of fact the docs with me. I asked if they did a COVID test because they’re trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, you know, a virus. I didn’t. I just had a really bad cold.”

“Did you ever watch the debate afterwards?” Stephanopoulos asked Biden.

“I don’t think I did, no,” the president said.

But did he know how badly it was going while he was on stage?

“Yeah, look. The whole way I prepared, nobody’s fault, mine. Nobody’s fault but mine. I– I prepared what I usually would do sitting down as I did come back with foreign leaders or National Security Council for explicit detail. And I realized– partway through that, you know, all– I get quoted the New York Times had me down, ten points before the debate, nine now, or whatever the hell it is. The fact of the matter is, what I looked at is that he also lied 28 times. I couldn’t– I mean, the way the debate ran, not– my fault, nobody else’s fault, no one else’s fault.”

“But it seemed like you were having trouble from the first question in, even before he spoke?” Stephanopoulos asked.

“Well, I just had a bad night,” Biden said.

ABC News offered a similar interview opportunity to Trump but he declined.

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(WASHINGTON) — Feeling confident after last week’s debate, former President Donald Trump is uncharacteristically staying out of the public eye while questions swirl about President Joe Biden’s mental fitness and status of his reelection campaign.

“We’re trying something new and shutting up,” is how one source described the Trump team’s strategy.

Multiple sources close to Trump tell ABC News they’re watching and waiting to see how Biden and his campaign answer tough questions about his political future.

Biden will have a critical opportunity to do so when he has a sit-down interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Friday. The first excerpts will air on “World News Tonight” and then the interview will be broadcast in its entirety in a prime-time ABC network special on Friday evening at 8 p.m. ET.

The White House has repeated this week that Biden is not considering stepping down.

Trump and his campaign have publicly contended that Biden will end up being the Democratic nominee, while at the same time arguing he’s not competent enough to survive through November.

However sources say the campaign is preparing for all scenarios, going on to tout Trump’s debate performance and polling they feel is tracking in their direction.

As an example of that, the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee have spent the week highlighting what it said were Vice President Kamala Harris’ gaffes and slamming her record. It comes as buzz has built around Harris as a possible Biden replacement should he withdraw.

“Joe Biden is weak, failed, dishonest, and not fit for the White House,” senior campaign advisers Chris Lacivita and Susie Wiles wrote in a statement. “Every one of them has lied about Joe Biden’s cognitive state and supported his disastrous policies over the past four years, especially Cackling Copilot Kamala Harris.”

This week, Trump was filmed outside the clubhouse of his Bedminster golf course where he bashed Biden’s chances at reelection, going on to disparage Harris.

“I got him out of the race — and that means we have Kamala,” Trump said in a video someone covertly took of him and obtained by “The Daily Beast,” which Trump later posted on his social media platform. “I think she’s going to be better. She’s so bad. She’s so pathetic. She’s just so f—— bad.”

The Biden campaign responded to the video with a list of some of the “bad” things that have happened under Trump.

“No, Donald. What is bad is taking away women’s rights; What is bad is losing an election and encouraging a violent mob to attack the Capitol,” the Biden campaign said in a statement with more than 20 reasons — including that he has a bad golf game.

Aside from that video, a couple of radio interviews and victory social media posts after the Supreme Court largely ruled in his favor regarding presidential immunity, Trump has remained quiet, allowing the Biden campaign’s future to consume the news cycle.

On Thursday, Trump spent July Fourth evening delivering virtual remarks to veterans in Wisconsin and Florida — doing so from Bedminster, New Jersey, where he has been staying this past week, Trump himself posted on his social media platform.

Next week, he is set to campaign in Doral, Florida, and Butler, Pennsylvania, ahead of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee later this month — which will be his first public campaign appearance since his Virginia rally the day after the debate.

The light campaign schedule this past week comes on the heels of Trump campaigning and fundraising back to back in the past few weeks. This has been the case since the conclusion of his hush-money payment trial, which freed him from the Manhattan courthouse, but ended with a jury finding him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in New York.

Since the end of the trial in late May, the former president has criss-crossed the country courting wealthy donors in the West Coast and rallying with battleground state voters in Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Biden, in contrast, has been making back-to-back public appearances since the debate in an attempt to prove to the American people that he’s fit for the job and ease doubts inside his own party. Biden has hit big and small campaign stops, held multiple campaign fundraisers and participated in official White House events as president.

Sources maintain that Trump is the calmest they have seen him in recent months as he has finally had the time to dive into more of his political life as the courtroom has quieted down.

The downtime has also given Trump the ability to focus on convention planning and the selection of a vice presidential candidate, aides told ABC News.

A running-mate selection is not a done deal just yet, sources insist to ABC News, but next week could be the marker when the former president chooses to announce his pick ahead of the party’s convention starting July 15.

The former president has also been fundraising off of this week’s news cycle and the potential announcement of his running mate, claiming to supporters in a fundraising blast Friday morning that Biden “could be dropping out.”

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(WASHINGTON) — As President Joe Biden attempts to rebound from his disastrous debate performance last week, he has spent the days since trying to steer attention back to former President Donald Trump’s record and rhetoric even while acknowledging his own shortcomings.

However, during some of those now heavily scrutinized appearances and radio interviews, he’s made gaffes similar to one in his debate performance — mistakes he’s been trying to avoid as questions have grown — even among some Democratic supporters — about his mental and physical fitness for office.

While not as visible to millions as what was described as vacant stares and lost trains of thought in the debate, they add to a list of previous incidents the White House has had to push back on: what some say was his appearing to freeze during a Juneteenth celebration and at a fundraiser with former President Barack Obama; his sometimes garbled public comments during the D-Day anniversary in France and his halting comments and appearances at the G7 summit.

In an interview with Philadelphia radio host Andrea Lawful-Sanders that aired Thursday, Biden attacked Trump, claiming he “questioned the humanity of George Floyd, led the birther movement and accused the Central Park Five, they should be in jail.”

Biden spotlighted the stakes in the election and noted several times Trump’s comment that he wants to be a “dictator” on “day 1” of his second term. Trump later claimed he was joking.

“Not a joke, he means it,” Biden said.

But Biden at one point also claimed, “I’m proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, first Black woman, to serve with a Black president.”

He also said, when speaking about discrimination against Catholics, that he was “the first president [who} got elected statewide in the state of Delaware” when he apparently meant he was the first Catholic elected to statewide office.

Biden brought up Trump again later Thursday — appearing to start to refer to him as “my former colleague” during the annual White House July 4th barbecue for military families, recounting his D-Day anniversary visit to Normandy and a cemetery he says Trump reportedly said was filled with “losers” and “suckers.”

“And by the way, you know, I was in that World War I cemetery in France and — the one that my — one of our col — the former president didn’t want to go and be up there,” Biden told them before taking a beat and saying, “I probably shouldn’t even say it. At any rate, we got to just remember who the hell we are. We are the United States of America.”

Biden then stopped using a teleprompter at a lectern and made off-the-cuff remarks to audience members, walking among them using a handheld microphone.

After someone in the crowd shouted, “keep up the fight,” he responded, “You’ve got me, man,” laughing. “I’m not going anywhere. All right? All right.”

Then, in an unclear transition, he said there’s “no congestion on the highways” and spoke about his staff efforts to get him to stop talking.

“One last thing, and I used to think when I was a senator, was there were always congestion on the highways. No congestion anymore. We go on the highway, there’s no congestion. And so what? The way they get me to stop talking, they’ll say, we just shut down all the roads, Mr. President, you’re gonna lose all the votes if you don’t get in,” he said. “If you don’t get anything, I’ll be back out. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I love you. Thank you. You. “

ABC News’ Will McDuffie, Cheyenne Haslett, Molly Nagle and Rachel Bade contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — Even as many Democrats lawmakers call for President Joe Biden to exit the race after his poor debate performance last Thursday, a growing number of wealthy Democratic donors — whose money Biden is relying on to bolster his fight against former President Donald Trump — are publicly sounding the alarm on his ability to lead the ticket.

An Arizona donor, who asked to remain anonymous, gave about $25,000 to Biden last year and planned on holding a fundraiser for the president in March or April. While they told ABC News they “struggled” in the spring to get other donors onboard, they face an even great challenge now.

“We had been talking to [Biden’s] team about doing a fundraiser, but I cooled off on it. I struggled to get other people involved,” the donor said. “People were not bullish on Biden. Now, it is a ‘hell no.'”

“Trying to get to a million at this point is not going to happen,” the donor added, referencing the politically precarious post-debate environment Biden finds himself in.

Many donors may be looking at Biden’s public appearances and interviews to help make a determination about how they will move forward. Biden will have a critical opportunity when he has a sit-down interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Friday. The first excerpts will air on “World News Tonight” and then the interview will be broadcast in its entirety in a prime-time ABC network special on Friday evening at 8 p.m. ET.

The donor from Arizona, a critical battleground state, said Democrats should turn to Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the ticket in November’s election.

“I was going to give another 10-15 grand. It’s sad. I don’t want to — Trump to win, but I think the Democratic Party needs a better strategy to take place to defeat Trump,” the donor said. “I don’t know if the existing strategy is the right one. Kamala Harris should take his place. Introducing a new person at this point doesn’t make sense.”

This donor is not alone. Deep-pocketed donors that have supported Biden before are expressing their concerns with the president continuing on and their reluctance to fork over more cash to his campaign.

Marty Dolan
Marty Dolan, a former banker and executive who ran and lost in the New York congressional primary against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez earlier this year, questioned the party’s confidence in Biden during an interview on CNN on Friday morning.

“I think our job as a party is to nominate somebody who can do the job for what’s going to be four and a half years … the simple question that the Democratic leadership has to ask is: are we nominating somebody that has the confidence of the party and the country to do the job for another four and a half years,” Dolan asked. “And I think when you ask the question that way, it sort of leads you to the answer.”

Pressed on what that answer is, Dolan said, “I don’t believe Biden has the confidence of the party and the country that he can lead the country for another four and a half years,” adding that he believes the next steps need to be about more than just “getting through one night or getting — you know, just kind of creeping across the — the deadline to the election.”

Dolan did not indicate if he would be pausing any donations to the campaign or to the Democratic Party. According to Federal Elections Commissions filings, he donated more than $5,000 to the Biden campaign and $3,400 to the Democratic National Committee in April; USA TODAY reported that he attended a major fundraiser for Biden that month and bought four tickets.

Reed Hastings
Reed Hastings, who helped found Netflix almost three decades ago, along with his wife, donated more than $20 million to support the Democratic Party over the last few years. Most of their donations have gone to super PACs meant to help House and Senate Democrats, according to FEC filings.

In an email to the New York Times he said, “Biden needs to step aside to allow a vigorous Democratic leader to beat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous,” the Times reported.

Mark Cuban
Billionaire investor, Dallas Mavericks minority owner and “Shark Tank” host Mark Cuban told CNN last Saturday he wants to see polling to “find out if there are any potential replacements” who could outperform Trump in a hypothetical matchup.

Earlier in the 2024 race, Cuban voted for former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley during the Republican primary. But, he later attended a Biden fundraiser in Dallas in March “to show … support” to Biden, he said.

Abigail Disney
CNBC reported on Thursday that Abigail Disney, a philanthropist and filmmaker who is a granddaughter of the Walt Disney Company’s co-founder Roy Disney, said in a statement to CNBC on Thursday that she will stop donating to the Democratic Party until Biden leaves the race. (Abigail Disney is not involved with the Walt Disney Company, which is the parent company of ABC News.)

In a statement to CNBC, Abigail Disney wrote, “I intend to stop any contributions to the party unless and until they replace Biden at the top of the ticket. This is realism, not disrespect. Biden is a good man and has served his country admirably, but the stakes are far too high. If Biden does not step down the Democrats will lose. Of that I am absolutely certain. The consequences for the loss will be genuinely dire.”

Disney also praised Harris, indicating to CNBC that she could serve as a strong replacement nominee: “If Democrats would tolerate any of her perceived shortcomings even one tenth as much as they have tolerated Biden’s (and let’s not kid ourselves about where race and gender figure in that inequity) and if Democrats can find a way to stop quibbling and rally around her, we can win this election by a lot.”

According to Federal Elections Commissions filings, Disney donated $50,000 to the Democratic-leaning Jane Fonda Climate PAC in April and in the fall donated to groups such as Forward Majority PAC and Rep. Katie Porter’s Senate campaign.

Barry Diller
Barry Diller, billionaire chairman of IAC — an internet media and publishing company — and husband of designer Diane von Fürstenberg, was asked by The Anker if he’s still holding firm with the Biden campaign. He replied simply, “No.”

According to FEC Filings, Diller maxed out with a $6,600 contribution to the Biden campaign in 2023, and gave $100,000 to the president and the Democratic Party’s joint super PAC for the general election.

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