Archive for the ‘Democrat’ Category
Warner Is Working to Convene Democratic Senators to Talk About Biden’s Future – The New York Times
Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, is working to convene Democratic senators next week to discuss a path forward after President Bidens disastrous debate performance, and to discuss their concerns about him remaining as the nominee, according to five people with direct knowledge about the effort.
The push by Mr. Warner reflects a mounting sense of panic among some Democrats in the Senate about Mr. Bidens viability to continue in the presidential race, and growing frustration among senators that the president and those around him have not communicated directly with them about how they plan to address such concerns.
The people insisted on anonymity to discuss Mr. Warners efforts, and a spokeswoman for the senator did not respond to requests for comment. His outreach efforts were reported earlier by The Washington Post.
While some House Democrats have been outspoken in their harsh assessments of Mr. Bidens performance last week and three have called on him to end his candidacy most senators have so far been quieter about their concerns.
Mr. Warner, a centrist former governor who himself weighed a presidential run in 2008, has been reaching out to colleagues since the night of the debate last week to express anguish about Mr. Bidens performance and a sense of urgency for Democrats to figure out what to do about it. As chairman of the Intelligence Committee, he is a trusted voice in the Senate and has cultivated a reputation for bipartisanship.
While his conversations with Democratic senators have conveyed his dismay about the situation, Mr. Warner, according to one person who spoke with him on Friday, was not trying to organize an effort to persuade the president to withdraw from the race but was instead working to facilitate a discussion about the right way to proceed.
Mr. Biden told reporters on Friday that he had spoken to at least 20 members of Congress, and theyre telling me to stay in the race.
When a reporter said Mr. Warner was trying to get him to step aside, Mr. Biden responded that the senator was the only one considering that. No one else has called on me to do that.
Democratic Representatives Lloyd Doggett of Texas, Ral Grijalva of Arizona and Seth Moulton of Massachusetts have all called on him to do so this week.
Senators are scheduled to return to Washington on Monday after a weeklong recess.
Luke Broadwater and Carl Hulse contributed reporting.
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Warner Is Working to Convene Democratic Senators to Talk About Biden's Future - The New York Times
The UK’s new prime minister Keir Starmer hoping for a Democrat in the White House, preparing for Trump – The Conversation
Keir Starmer, the UKs new prime minister, was quiet on the question of relations with the US prior to his election, choosing to avoid, in particular, talk of how he would manage a second Donald Trump presidency.
Starmer is a centre-left politician the first to come to power in the UK for over a decade so his views are hardly aligned with Trumps. But the US presidential election is a few short months away and, depending on the result, the relationship between the UK and US could look very different on the other side of it.
After the first US election debate, and Joe Bidens dismal performance, the new British government will be focusing on how to plan for Trumps potential return to the White House in January 2025. And while Starmer has been silent in public, he and his top team have been preparing behind the scenes for some time.
Before arriving in government they put significant effort into building relationships with figures in the US leadership. This is a well-trodden path for UK Labour politicians and was most notable in the close relationship between Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and President Bill Clinton in the 1990s.
Impressively, Starmer and his foreign secretary, David Lammy, have been trying to build relationships on both sides of the aisle. Theyve spoken to Republicans as well as Bidens Democrats on visits to the US.
Lammy, who was the first black British man to study at Harvard Law School and spent time working as a lawyer in the US after graduating, recently said in a speech the special relationship is core not just to our own national security, but the security of much of the world.
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Responding to a question about past comments he had made about Trump, he said that the two sides must work together whoever is in the White House.
The questioner may have been referring to the time before he became a minister when Lammy called Trump a a racist KKK and Nazi sympathiser and said he would protest in the streets if Trump was allowed to come to the UK. Lammys cautious response to questioning now reflects his far more tempered language on the subject since it first started to look like Labour could actually win power, and he may be a member of the cabinet.
Starmer will be aiming to demonstrate the usefulness of the UK in the US-UK alliance. With Biden, this will be fairly routine. In the event of a Trump victory in November, however, Starmer would need to show this usefulness to those around Trump a more difficult task.
Diplomatically, Starmer can help US administrations manage relations with Nato, encouraging more reluctant members, such as Germany, whilst restraining some of the more proactive NATO members pushing to expand the alliance. Given Trumps stated commitment to reevaluating the purpose of Nato, Starmer will also need to coordinate with European allies to demonstrate Natos relevance to the US.
Militarily, the UK has to demonstrate intent to restore the armed forces, especially after the US declared that the UK military was no longer a top-tier military partner.
Doing so would make it clear that the new British government is listening to its American allies but would also show that the UK intends to be able to deploy its military in support of US and Nato operations. Trump has repeatedly referred to his reluctance to deploy the US military, and his expectation that allies carry more of the military burden.
Until the presidential election in November, Starmer will be dealing with President Biden. The two met at the recent D-Day commemorations and less than a week after taking office, Starmer will meet Biden again, this time as prime minister at a Nato summit.
Like every other world leader, Starmer will have to tread carefully here. Given Trumps overt dislike for his successor, proximity to the Biden administration creates the potential for difficulties when trying to build good relations with any incoming Trump administration.
Biden has been clear in his foreign policy priorities since entering office: competition with China, and guardrails on the relationship with Russia. These guardrails flew off when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Yet, the Biden administration has been able to coordinate international support for Ukraine, and had a clear set of priorities.
In contrast, Trump has given little insight into how he would approach foreign policy. He has declared he would end the Ukraine conflict but given scant detail on how. What we do know is that he intends to stop funding Ukraines defence efforts and wants European allies to pay to restock US military supplies. He has also pledged to fully support Israels war with Hamas in Gaza, which has been a point of division within Starmers party since before the election.
Democratic leaders from around the world struggled to deal with Trump during his first term. Typically, they either had to ignore controversies that swirled around him or become an apologist for Trump. The former US presidents preference for strongmen was repeatedly on show.
It would be near impossible for Starmer to emulate those who do what Trump likes best by rolling out the red carpet and lining the streets with applauding crowds. Freedom of speech in the UK means that Starmer would not be able to prevent protests against Trump if he were to come to the UK and such protests are practically inevitable given what happened last time he visited. Starmer would do best to try to avoid a state visit from Trump which would include meeting the king.
The implications of the year ahead for the special relationship are clear: demonstrating the UKs value will be far easier for Starmer in a Biden presidency than in a Trump presidency. Starmer would feel compelled to react against the damage Trump would do to US credibility rather than be able to support it but this would further degrade the US-UK alliance.
The UKs new government has been preparing for a relationship with either a Republican or Democratic president. As will be the case for many world leaders, Starmer will be hoping for the predictability of Biden, whilst planning for the chaos of Trump.
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The UK's new prime minister Keir Starmer hoping for a Democrat in the White House, preparing for Trump - The Conversation
Fourth Democratic House member calls on Biden to exit 2024 race after clips of ABC interview released – New York Post
Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) on Friday became the fourth Democratic member of the House of Representatives to call on President Biden to end his re-election effort.
The Illinois Democrat made a direct plea to the 81-year-old president during an appearance on MSNBC, after clips of Bidens much-anticipated interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos aired.
Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this, Quigley said during an appearance on All In with Chris Hayes.
The congressman argued that with Biden off the ticket, Day One were back in a dogfight with former President Donald Trump.
All of the sudden, all the things were talking with President Biden weve got a lot more we can talk about with Trump, Quigley said, claiming that the 78-year-old presumptive GOP nominee has cognitive issues.
Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) and Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) had previously called on Biden to step aside.
Earlier this week, Reuters reported that as many as 25 Democrats in the House are preparing to call for the president to end his campaign.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) has also reportedly been working to organize a meeting between the president and Democratic Senators, where they would ask Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, according to the Washington Post.
Biden, in his interview with Stephanopoulos, could not definitively remember if he watched a replay of his June 27 showdown with Trump.
I dont think I did, no, he told the This Week host.
Trump campaign adviser Steven Cheung mocked Bidens answer on social media.
How the hell do you not know if you re-watched the debate? Cheung wrote on X.
Quigley said he found Bidens response to the question disturbing, during an appearance on CNN.
When Stephanopoulos asked if he knew how poorly he was performing at the time, Biden launched into a rambling statement.
The whole way I prepared, nobodys fault, mine. Nobodys 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, the president said.
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 couldnt I mean, the way the debate ran, not my fault, nobody elses fault, no one elses fault, he added.
This is a pretty incoherent answer, pollster Nate Silver wrote on X.
Im there now, theFiveThirtyEight founder added, indicating that based on Bidens ABC News interview, he now believes the president should drop out of the presidential race.
Something is clearly wrong here, Silver said.
ABC News journalist Jonathan Karl reported after the full interview aired that for some Democrats Bidens sitdown raised new concerns.
Particularly concerning, according to Karl, was Bidens response when asked how he would feel if Trump defeats him in November.
Ill feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the goodest job as I know I can do thats what this is about, the president said.
Karl reported that a prominent Biden ally responded, Wow, when they heard the presidents response.
With the greatest respect, all that really matters is avoiding a second Trump presidency, Quigley said in reaction to Bidens bizarre answer.
The congressman also said that it appeared as if the president was in absolute denial about polling indicating that he stands to lose the election to Trump.
David Axelrod, a political consultant and former adviser to President Barack Obama, said he didnt believe Biden did enough in the interview to change the minds of Democratic voters who are concerned about his November chances.
Some of it I found sad, Axelrod said during an appearance on CNN.
He seems not able to compute the fact people have these questions about him, the ex-Obama adviser said, reffering to questions about Bidens cognitive abilities.
In response to Bidens insistence that he takes a full neurological test every day because of his duties as commander in chief, Axelrod noted that 75% of the American people say he fails those daily tests, referring to polling where large majorities of voters say Biden is not fit for office.
Axelrod argued that Biden is hiding from reality by refusing to heed warnings from Democratic lawmakers, strategists and polls that say Trump is pulling away in the race, and the reality is grim right now.
Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer described the interview as the worst of all worlds for Democrats.
Biden committed no real flubs. He didnt do anything to force himself out of the race. But he appears old, weak, tentative and hes losing to Trump, the former Bush White House official wrote on X.
So Biden will dig in and stay. The Ds are stuck, he added.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) likened the interview to a therapy session, arguing that Stephanopoulos was begging President Biden to get out of the race.
What we saw tonight was chilling, Graham tweeted.
If you believe President Biden is as fit now as he was when he took office, as he claims, you need a cognitive test.
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Fourth Democratic House member calls on Biden to exit 2024 race after clips of ABC interview released - New York Post