What's happening in the 2024 race
- President Joe Biden was back on the campaign trail today with an energetic rally in Detroit, where he bashed former President Donald Trump and laid out his goals for the first 100 days of a second term.
- Biden's much-anticipated news conference last night did not silence his critics within the party: A growing number of Democrats have called on him to step aside after he defended his candidacy.
- In a letter to colleagues, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said he met with Biden last night to share insights and concerns from caucus members. Biden spoke with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in a virtual meeting this afternoon.
- Trump does not have any campaign events scheduled for today but plans to hold a rally in Pennsylvania tomorrow.
GOP campaigns eye ads linking Democrats to questions about Biden’s mental fitness
Two new ads on the Arizona airwaves are offering a preview of how Republicans plan to tie Democrats further down the ballot to Biden following last month’s disastrous debate performance.
“Arizonans witnessed Joe Biden incoherently try to defend his failed policies that allowed in millions of illegal immigrants, forced Arizonans to pay higher grocery and gas prices and made housing unaffordable,” a narrator says in a new TV ad from Senate Republicans’ campaign arm and Republican Kari Lake, as footage of the debate plays on screen. Lake and the National Republican Senatorial Committee launched a similar spot yesterday.
The ads appear to be some of the first on TV to directly reference the debate, where Biden struggled at times to finish thoughts and provide coherent answers. After that brief reference, the ad goes on to stress Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego’s support for Biden’s policies.
Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., tells NBC News' Kristen Welker that “more people than [he] can count” in his district have called for Biden to step down following his debate performance.
Sen. John Fetterman criticizes Biden's Democratic detractors
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., tonight criticized people who questioned Biden's candidacy.
"How many weeks are you gonna do the work for Trump?" Fetterman asked in an interview on CNN.
Later he said, "Who are you really helping?"
Biden blasts Project 2025 in Michigan and ties it to Trump in effort to regain footing
Biden tore into the “right-wing Project 2025” and made it a central theme of his speech at a rally tonight in battleground Michigan as he seeks to put a lid on Democratic calls that he withdraw from the presidential race.
“Folks, Project 2025 is the biggest attack on our system of government and on our personal freedom that’s ever been proposed in the history of this country,” Biden told the crowd, adding that the initiative “is run and paid for by Trump people” and is “a blueprint for a second Trump.”
He said it would unleash a “nightmare” on the country if his Republican rival is elected and implements it. “Another four years of Donald Trump is deadly serious. Project 2025 is deadly serious,” Biden said, describing it as a threat to American values.
White House official explains why Biden called out the press
A senior White House official said Biden called out the press at tonight's rally because "he knows you guys have been f---ing with him, and he was having a little fun.”
In his remarks in Detroit, Biden said that the media has "been hammering me" since last month's debate, arguing that "Donald Trump has gotten a free pass."
In response to his remarks, the audience booed the media as Biden said, "No, no, no. It's OK."
Rally attendees booing the media has long been a staple of Trump rallies, where the former president often lashes out at journalists over their coverage of him.
Why some frontliners haven't called for Biden to step aside
Five vulnerable House Democrats have publicly called on Biden to step aside and "pass the torch." But many others are still on the fence, taking a much more cautious approach as they wait to see whether he drops out.
One Democratic frontliner shared with NBC News how they are approaching the difficult political landscape. They said calls to their office are evenly split, with half saying Biden should step down and half saying he should stay. And they don't want to take a formal position against Biden until they are convinced doing so will result in him leaving.
Some frontline Democrats are also worried that calling for Biden to quit the race could dampen enthusiasm from base voters, the lawmaker said, which could make all the difference in close, competitive races.
A number of at-risk Democrats plan to participate in a virtual meeting between Biden and the New Democrat Coalition tomorrow afternoon. The frontline lawmaker said they hope to share polling with Biden showing that he can't win in this person's congressional district, underscoring why the lawmaker can't appear with Biden on the campaign trail.
NBC News correspondent Shaquille Brewster sat down with Milwaukee’s Democratic Mayor Cavalier Johnson and former RNC Chair Reince Priebus on the bipartisan effort to get this year’s convention off the ground.
Biden outlines priorities for the first 100 days of a second term
Biden laid out his top priorities for the first 100 days of a second term at tonight's campaign rally in Detroit.
The president pointed to working to codify the protections of Roe v. Wade as well as signing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. The president said he would expand and strengthen Social Security, raise the federal minimum wage and ban assault weapons, among other initiatives.
Several of his goals would require congressional support — a tall order without robust Democratic majorities.
RFK Jr. sent a text message apologizing to a woman who said he assaulted her
Independent candidate for president Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reached out to a woman who once worked for his family after she alleged that he sexually assault assaulted her in the 1990s.
In an article published by Vanity Fair last week, Kennedy was accused of groping then-23-year-old Eliza Cooney in 1999 while she was at Kennedy’s home. Cooney kept this allegation and other incidents quiet until 2017 when she revealed them to her mother and years later, to two friends and a lawyer, Vanity Fair reported.
NBC News has not independently confirmed the allegations.
Then, on July 4, two days after the Vanity Fair article was released, Kennedy attempted to contact Cooney to apologize by phone.
When Cooney did not respond almost 12 hours later, Kennedy followed up with text messages. “I have no memory of this incident, but I apologize sincerely for anything I ever did that made you feel uncomfortable,” Kennedy said in the messages, which Cooney shared with NBC News.
Cooney told the Washington Post that she thought his messages were "disingenuous and arrogant." She added, "I’m not sure how somebody has a true apology for something that they don’t admit to recalling. I did not get a sense of remorse."
The Washington Post was first to report on the text messages.
When asked by the Boston Globe this week about the allegations and if other women may come forward, Kennedy said, “I don’t know. We’ll see what happens.”
The Kennedy campaign did not return NBC News’ request for comment.
Biden delivers energetic defense of his candidacy
Biden delivered a forceful defense of his candidacy during his Detroit remarks.
“I am running, and we’re gonna win!" Biden said.
The crowd energetically voiced support for Biden throughout the speech, chanting "We got your back." Biden's speech has been punctuated by shouts of support, like "We love you!"
Biden also slammed Trump, calling him "a loser." In response, the crowd broke into chants of "lock him up" multiple times.
Biden criticized media coverage of his recent verbal flubs (such as referring to Vice President Kamala Harris as Vice President Trump.) The crowd booed in response to his digs at the media.
Trump's speeches also often feature press criticism. His supporters have also chanted support for locking up opponents.