Joe Biden — to quit or not to quit

President Joe Biden is up against a wall following his disastrous debate performance last week, and his family is pulling out all the stops to try and ward off any last-minute intra-party challengers. They’re relying on a famous photographer and top surrogates to convince the Democratic Party that last week’s debacle was a one-off and not how the leader of the free world normally functions.

Biden’s family is lashing out at staff for poorly preparing him for the debate, according to reports, rolling out Vogue cover shoots with first lady Jill Biden and and showcasing unwavering endorsements from the Democratic Party’s prime leaders, like former president Barack Obama. For the most part, it’s working. The Democrats’ allies in elected office and in the media have gotten the memo: Biden isn’t going anywhere, at least willingly, and if he does, the only alternative is Vice President Kamala Harris.

Consequently, elected Democrats have mostly gotten in line, with former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Maryland governor Wes Moore and Georgia senator Raphael Warnock going to bat for the president on yesterday’s Sunday shows. Editorial boards across the country are starting to push for President Donald Trump to drop out of the race instead of Biden. That hasn’t stopped some Democrats from wish casting for alternatives to the two major candidates. Governor Gretchen Whitmer is one popular alternative whose name has been floated in the past few days, but she told Biden’s team that she remains on board, while also cautioning that “Michigan, in the wake of the debate, was no longer winnable for Biden,” per Politico.

Others haven’t yet clocked that it’s full spin ahead for Biden. Maryland congressman Jamie Raskin made it sound like Democrats are having hospice care conversations about the president of the United States. “Honest and serious conversations are taking place” about whether Biden will be their party’s nominee,” he said. Former senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, who overlapped for years in the Senate with Biden, even went so far as to tell some Democrats that “all incumbent Democratic senators should write to Biden asking him to release his delegates and step aside so the convention can choose a new candidate.”

While Democrats are dithering about what to do with their likely nominee, Trump’s orbit for one, can’t wait to face him — or whoever a divided Democratic Party puts up to replace the president. 

-Matthew Foldi

On our radar

BIDEN BUST 72 percent of registered voters no longer believe Biden has the mental and cognitive health to serve as president. Nearly three in four voters also don’t think Joe Biden should be running for president, according to CBS News.

BOOMER HAS IT Former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson claimed in a tweet that  an “unusually good source” told him that former President Obama does not support Joe Biden in private — Obama’s public approval is “disingenuous.” Bill O’Reilly, who once hosted the same primetime hour on Fox, claimed that Biden will drop out of the presidential race imminently. 

NAKED AND AFRAID Hunter Biden filed a lawsuit against Fox News on Sunday because the network allegedly targeted him “in an effort to harass, annoy, alarm, and humiliate.” Hunter is suing over a six-part “mock trial” miniseries that includes images of the first son in the nude. A Fox News spokesperson described the “entirely politically motivated lawsuit” as “devoid of merit.”

SCOTUS grants Trump ‘absolute immunity’ for official acts

The Supreme Court ruled today that former president Donald Trump retains “absolute” immunity from prosecution for official acts committed while in office. The Court’s 6-3 ruling does not cover unofficial acts.

“The president enjoys no immunity for his unofficial acts, and not everything the President does is official,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority.

“The President is not above the law,” he added, but “Congress will not criminalize the President’s conduct in carrying out the responsibilities of the Executive Branch under the Constitution.”

What exactly constitutes an official versus an unofficial act remains unclear and will be an issue decided by lower courts, at least in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of Trump for his alleged obstruction related to actions to “overturn” the election on January 6. 

“This is a big win for our constitution and for democracy,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News. “Now I am free to campaign like anyone else. We are leading in every poll — by a lot — and we will make America great again.” 

Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson lashed out in their dissent against the majority opinion. It “makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to our constitution and system of government, that no man is above the law,” Justice Sotomayor wrote, imaging a scenario in which Trump might use Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival. 

“Because our constitution does not shield a former president from criminal and treasonous acts, I dissent,” she stated. 

Democrats ramped up their attacks on the Supreme Court’s legitimacy in the wake of the ruling.

“The Supreme Court has become consumed by a corruption crisis beyond its control,” Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X. She intends to file articles of impeachment against the nation’s highest court.

On a similar note, author Stephen King posted: “Thanks to the Supreme Court, the next president will have the powers of a King… Today’s decision takes power from all of us.” 

SCOTUS’s decision comes just months before the presidential election, all but ensuring that Smith’s case will not see a court room before the contest is decided by voters. 

–Elisenne Stoller

Steve Bannon ‘proud’ to serve his prison sentence

Former Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon reported to federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut on Monday. The War Room host is set to begin a four-month sentence for defying a subpoena from the House’s select committee on January 6.

Bannon and many others in Trump’s orbit have long argued that not complying with the January 6 committee’s congressional subpoenas is covered by executive privilege. After unsuccessfully making the case, however, a defiant Bannon finds himself in the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, where he was formally taken into custody this afternoon.

Before entering the prison, Bannon told reporters that he is “proud” to serve his sentence, blasting President Joe Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and others. It was hard to hear Bannon’s message at times as a noisy audience cheered “lock him up” and banged on metal. 

Bannon assured supporters that War Room will continue in his absence, recording his show live outside of the federal prison before surrendering to authorities. “I’ll drop the mic and then go surrender,” Bannon told the Daily Beast.

Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who appeared with Bannon during his final rally, said, “Just because Steve Bannon is going to prison for four months, doesn’t mean you will silence him or the War Room posse… You multiplied it by 10,000!”

Trump official Peter Navarro is currently three months into his four-month sentence for similarly defying a subpoena. 

–Juan P. Villasmil