THE SHOW NOTES: The Press Conference, The Intellectual Inconsistency At CNN, & The Committee to Unelect the President

Welcome! The Democratic Socialists of America have pulled their support of AOC for not being progressive enough.

STEPDOWN TRACKER: 19 sitting Democrats are calling for Biden to step down.

DATA: 2 in 3 Americans and nearly 4 in 10 Democrats believe Biden lacks the mental fitness to be president. - NPR

HEADLINE: AT&T says hackers stole records of nearly all cellular customers' calls and texts - NBC

NEW: NRA Membership Fell to 3.8 Million in 2023 - The Reload

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The Press Conference

Joe Biden’s highly anticipated first solo press conference in eight months began with a catastrophic start when Biden mistakenly referred to Trump as his Vice President. Though far from perfect, Biden’s performance improved throughout the hour-long event and reached a peak when Biden discussed various foreign policy issues at the end.

Result: A growing consensus is that Biden’s better-than-expected performance will make it increasingly challenging for anti-Biden Democrats to galvanize a majority of their caucus to pressure him to step aside.

The end: As much as the presser may have temporarily alleviated pressure from Biden, the end was not great.

Reporter: “Earlier you referred to Vice President Harris as Vice President Trump. Right now he is using that to mock your age and memory. How do you deal with that criticism?” Biden: “Listen to him.”

This Intellectual Inconsistency Cannot Stand at CNN

Below are two headlines. The top one is from Oliver Darcy, CNN’s Media Reporter, and the other is a well-sourced story by multiple CNN political reporters.

The top story is, we all have to acknowledge now, derived from spin based on Democrat talking points.  The bottom is a deeply sourced story based on the news fallout of a CNN debate that exposed the first story as spin.

Why this matters: In a world where journalists are on the side of truth and not on the side of a political party, the top headline cannot continue. It cannot because it must now be seen, in light of both the evidence from the CNN debate and the remarkable journalism from CNN’s journalists since the debate, as remarkably dishonest spinning on behalf of a political party.

If CNN is unwilling to correct this, the network can only be said to be doing its current journalism because the coverup of Biden’s condition failed and it was, otherwise, part of that coverup. I hope the network judiciously considers the situation because its current work is serious and newsworthy and it must now be abundantly obvious to everyone working there that the first headline was not.

The Plot to Oust Biden

Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi spoke privately this week about their shared concern over Biden’s reelection prospects.

Context: The news comes as Axios reports that a loose - but growing - coalition of prominent Democrats are circulating polls, strategizing with megadonors, pressuring former Presidents, and communicating with foreign leaders to force Biden out of the race. Aside from pressuring Biden to withdraw on CNN, MSNBC, and across print media, members of this group have successfully pressured major donors to drop financial commitments to Biden. The result is that $90 million has been withheld according to a major Biden Super PAC.

They are, “The Committee to Unelect the President.”

President Putin

MUST WATCH: Earlier yesterday, Biden accidentally referred to Ukraine’s President Zelensky as President Putin.

MUST READ: Democrats Fear Safe Blue States Turning Purple as Biden Stays the Course

As President Biden insists he will stay in the presidential race, Democrats are growing increasingly alarmed that his presence on the ticket is transforming the political map, turning light-blue states into contested battlegrounds.

Down-ballot Democrats, local elected officials and party strategists say Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Virginia — all of which Mr. Biden won comfortably in 2020 — could be in play in November after his miserable debate performance last month.

Some polls in these states suggest a tightening race between Mr. Biden and former President Donald J. Trump, with one showing a virtual tie in Virginia, which has not voted for a Republican for president since 2004, and another showing Mr. Trump squeaking ahead in New Hampshire, which has been in the Democratic column since 2000.

On Tuesday, the Cook Political Report, a prominent elections forecaster, downgraded New Hampshire and Minnesota from “likely” wins for Mr. Biden to only leaning in his direction. And in a meeting at the White House last week, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico told Mr. Biden that she feared he would lose her state, according to two people briefed on her comments.

Full story at The New York Times (paywall)

Trending news:

• CNN quietly disbands ‘Race and Equality’ team as part of layoffs - NY Post

• Biden camp tries to rebound after "bad f***ing weeks" - Axios

• AI's problem: The missing revenues - Axios

• Sharply More Americans Want to Curb Immigration to U.S. - Gallup

• At least 200 crocodiles crawl into cities as heavy rains hit northern Mexico, near Texas - ABC

• Serena Williams aims dig at Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker at ESPY Awards - CNN

• Twenty Years of RedState - The Transom

• Three-quarters of Jewish people in Europe hide their identity - Yahoo

• Biden’s Press Conference Won’t Stem Tide of Defections - WSJ (paywall)

• A Couple Won the Powerball. Investing It Turned Into Tragedy. - WSJ (paywall)

Market snapshot: