President Joe Biden no longer appears to have the favor of his own party—let alone the American people.
Nearly two-thirds of registered Democrats—approximately 65 percent—want Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential election, according to a survey released Wednesday by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The poll also found that just 27 percent of Democrats felt “extremely” or “very confident” in the 81-year-old president’s mental acuity and his ability to serve effectively as president.
Nearly two dozen lawmakers have already formally called on the president to exit the race, but many more have quietly signaled similar messaging, including top Democrats such as former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Still, others are reportedly “not budging” until Biden makes another egregious mistake—though the level of mistake required is aboundingly unclear.
The DNC, meanwhile, has already announced its plans to nominate Biden via a “virtual roll call” vote weeks before the Democratic National Convention in August. The effort was initially pitched as a workaround to an Ohio law that requires party candidates to be nominated 90 days out from Election Day, but the Ohio state legislature passed a law resolving the issue.
House Democrats came out against the preemptive vote, but withdrew a letter of opposition after party leaders changed the nomination date from July to August 1, promising that no voting would happen before then—though it would still take place two weeks prior to the convention.
In the original letter, House Democrats argued that “there is no legal justification” to move the nomination away from the conference date, and slammed the virtual nomination as an opportunity to “[stifle] debate” by “prematurely shutting down any possible change in the Democratic ticket.”
Former Trump lawyer Peter Navarro was released from federal prison Wednesday morning. His first stop? The Republican National Convention.
After serving four months for contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the House January 6 committee, Navarro will be taking a flight from Miami to Milwaukee where he will take the mic on the RNC stage. Navarro is set to speak at 6 p.m. Central time, a person familiar with the schedule told the Associated Press.
During his time in federal prison, Navarro worked as a clerk in the prison law library and lived in the “elder dorm,” according to ABC News. Navarro’s prison consultant, Sam Mangel, told ABC that Navarro was “well respected” in prison and got through his four-month sentence with “surprising grace and fortitude.”
But perhaps four months was not enough time for him to learn his lesson if he’s headed back into the thick of it.
Navarro was the first senior member of Trump’s administration to report to prison for the January 6 insurrection after being sentenced in January. When he reported to prison in March, he called his arrest a “partisan weaponization of the judicial system.”
This line is echoed by Trump and his allies as they face their own legal battles, calling cases against them politically motivated “witch hunts.” In reality, like Trump’s hush-money trial, Navarro was not convicted by the political system or Biden himself but by a jury of his own peers.
Donald Trump is apparently hoping to cash in on his own assassination attempt by once again selling tacky, limited-edition sneakers.
The new, white high-top sneakers feature a decal of Trump with his fist in the air and blood splattered across his face, and the phrase “FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT,” the words the former president shouted as he was pulled off stage by Secret Service agents during his rally in Pennsylvania Saturday.
For only $299, plus shipping costs, Trump’s fans can preorder a way to “honor his unwavering determination and bravery” on their feet.
Within less than a week, Trump’s assassination attempt has brought about a tidal wave of merchandise on demand, rather than a resigned movement for political unity as Trump promised.
The shoe launch also comes in the midst of the Republican National Convention, and the site welcomes visitors from the event in a banner on its home page, warning them that they will only be able to purchase three pairs of shoes each.
Despite the fact that the website explicitly states that its products “are not designed, manufactured, distributed or sold by Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization or any of their respective affiliates or principals,” Trump reported owning the company, CIC Ventures LLC, on a 2023 financial disclosure, according to ABC News. The company’s address listed by the Florida Division of Corporations is the same as the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Axios reports.
Over the course of his campaign, Trump has repeatedly boosted the website’s products. The former president made a campaign stop at Philadelphia’s Sneaker Con in February to unveil his golden “Never Surrender” high tops, only one day after he and the Trump Organization were ordered to pay $355 million in legal penalties. He’s also offered his gaudy golden kicks as a gift to any donors who shell out at least $2.5 million.
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