THE SHOW NOTES: Joe Biden Is Slipping, Israel's Two Front War, & Post-Conviction Polling

Welcome! An Iranian writer was jailed for replying to the Ayatollah’s tweets with a dot.

HEADLINE 1: Donald Trump's Conviction Was Expected to Sink Him in the Polls. It Hasn't. - Newsweek

HEADLINE 2: A Bug Allowed Kids to Visit X-Rated Sites. Apple Took Three Years to Fix It. - WSJ (free)

NEW: Biden is alienating progressives yet again — but he may have no choice - CNN

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MUST READ: Joe Biden Is Slipping

The Wall Street Journal (free) conducted interviews with 45 Republicans and Democrats who recently met with President Biden to answer the question everyone is wondering: Is Joe Biden mentally slipping? Here’s the first three paragraphs:

When President Biden met with congressional leaders in the West Wing in January to negotiate a Ukraine funding deal, he spoke so softly at times that some participants struggled to hear him, according to five people familiar with the meeting. He read from notes to make obvious points, paused for extended periods and sometimes closed his eyes for so long that some in the room wondered whether he had tuned out.

In a February one-on-one chat in the Oval Office with House Speaker Mike Johnson, the president said a recent policy change by his administration that jeopardizes some big energy projects was just a study, according to six people told at the time about what Johnson said had happened. Johnson worried the president’s memory had slipped about the details of his own policy.

Last year, when Biden was negotiating with House Republicans to lift the debt ceiling, his demeanor and command of the details seemed to shift from one day to the next, according to then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and two others familiar with the talks. On some days, he had loose and spontaneous exchanges with Republicans, and on others he mumbled and appeared to rely on notes.

It gets worse: Even CNN noted in the clip below that White House officials were so worried about the WSJ’s investigation that they kept tabs on the Democrats who spoke to the Journal. The Democrats who did not speak favorably enough of Biden were told to call the Journal back and reclarify their statements. Watch:

Context: The damning WSJ story comes less than 24 hours after Biden sat for a gaffe-filled interview with TIME Magazine which only released an edited transcript of the interview. Biden confused President Xi of China with President Putin of Russia, he claimed Africa would surpass 1 billion inhabitants over the next 10 years (it currently has 1.4 billion), and on three separate occasions TIME editors described Biden’s speech as "unintelligible.”

Three Israel Updates

One: As the war against Hamas rages in southern Gaza, it appears increasingly likely that Israel could be entering a second war against Hezbollah in the north. Hezbollah has launched a bevy of missile and drone attacks into Israel’s northern territory which sparked a wildfire causing widespread damage yesterday. The Iranian proxy group is considered to be substantially more organized and better funded than Hamas thanks to deep connections in neighboring Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. - WSJ

Two: Biden’s highly touted ceasefire proposal for Israel and Hamas has now been swiftly rejected by both sides. While Israel rejected the offer almost immediately, a Hamas spokesperson roundly rejected Biden’s proposal yesterday. - Bloomberg

Three: Joe Biden’s mixed signals in support of Israel were on display again yesterday. When Biden was asked by Time Magazine whether Benjamin Netanyahu was prolonging the war in Gaza for his own political gain, he claimed: “There is every reason for people to draw that conclusion.” Before the day was over, Biden appeared to reverse course by telling a reporter that Netanyahu “was not playing politics with the war.” - Jewish Insider

Kamala Kush

Kamala Harris appeared quite uncomfortable when Jimmy Kimmel informed her that a cannabis strain was named after her called Kamala Kush.

Context: Kamala Harris has faced significant backlash from the left in recent years over her record as Attorney General of California. While in office, Harris oversaw the prosecution of 1,956 misdemeanors and felony convictions of marijuana resulting in a high number of minorities forced to serve extended prison sentences.

Trending news:

• The $64 million mystery: How a wave of anonymous donations is fueling the 2024 presidential campaign - CBS

• Professor by Day. Porn Star by Night. Can He Be Both? - The Free Press

• As drag events face threats, Philly sets record for most attended story time - Washington Post (free)

• What’s Wrong With Boys at School? - IFS

• Gov. Hochul ditches hated congestion pricing plan in stunning reversal over economic fears: ‘New Yorkers are struggling’ - NY Post

• Biden Is Abusing the FACE Act To Silence His Pro-Life Critics - Newsweek

• Boys Get Everything, Except the Thing That’s Most Worth Having - NYT (paywall)

Market snapshot: