Favorite emerges Trump VP race as Biden preps for press convention

Biden commits a significant flub, just hours after blowing his introduction of President Zelensky.

While defending his viability, he trumpets Vice President Kamala Harris – but bizarrely refers to her as ‘vice president Trump.’

‘Look, I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president, did I think she’s not qualified to be president. Number one,’ Biden said.

He then moves beyond the mixup, before getting a question referencing his earlier comments blowing his introduction of Zelensky.

Biden took a bizarre shot at his staff for packing his schedule, then shared his interior monologue that the quip may get him in trouble with his wife.

‘I love my staff but they add things. They add things all the time. I’m catching hell from my wife,’ Biden said.

It came after he pushed back on a report that he told Democratic governors following his debate disaster he would pare back events after 8 pm.

‘That’s not true,’ he said, laughing. ‘Look, what I said was instead of my every day starting at 7 o’clock and going to go to bed at midnight, it’d be smarter for me to pace myself a little bit more,’ Biden said.

He said it would be better, for example, to push forward a fundraiser by an hour. ‘Start at 8 – people get to go home by 10,’ Biden said.

During the press conference, a reporter noted President Biden mixed up Presidents Zelensky and Putin earlier in the day.

Biden could be heard laughing as he asked the question.

The reporter continued to ask the president if his apparent decline has ‘become damaging for America’s standing in the world?’

‘Did you see any damage of our standing in my leading this conference?’ Biden shot back. ‘Have you seen a more successful conference? What do you think?’

Biden also claimed he was talking about Putin at the very end and then fixed it to Zelensky.

House Foreign Affairs Chairman Mike McCaul called on Democrats to ‘make’ President Biden step aside after he introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as ‘President Putin.’

‘This is the person who has first-strike capabilities with our nuclear arsenal. We are continuing to send a powerfully dangerous signal to our adversaries that the commander-in-chief is not in control of his faculties,’ the Texas Republican said in a statement.

‘The emperor has no clothes, and if he won’t step aside other senior leaders in the Democratic Party need to stand up and make him – for the security of our nation.’

The snafu had occurred just before Biden’s post-NATO press conference.

President Biden mixed up the words in his opening statement while talking about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

‘My foreign policy – many foreign policy experts thought as Putin ammased Russian forces just 100 miles north of Kiev, the capitol of Ukraine — but he thought he, Putin thought it was the mother home of Russia, the capitol would fall in less than a week,’ the president said.

‘But the Ukrainian people, backed by a coalition I helped build stopped them,’ he continued.

Biden, who spent 36 years in the Senate, is showing he can still filibuster. His extended remarks at the top of his press conference are taking advantage of a nationwide TV audience, even as reporters wait to question him.

After blasting Putin, he references the recent ‘great economic report showing inflation is down.’ Then he hammered Republicans for kowtowing to Donald Trump on the border, and pitches his plan to end the war in Gaza.

President Joe Biden begins his high-wire press conference at the NATO summit with a prepared statement. As at prior press conferences, there is a teleprompter set up.

He cleared his throat early in his remarks, where he notes the 75th anniversary of the treaty organization that ‘grew out of the wreckage of World War II.’

Then he starts reading from prepared remarks on the prompter, using hands to gesticulate and blasting Vladimir Putin – who he accidentally invoked hours ago referring to Volodymyr Zelensky.

President Biden takes the stage for his high-stakes press conference.

Despite the event being delayed by more than an hour from its intial time, the president was still nearly an hour late.

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi is working behind the scenes to get President Joe Biden to reconsider remaining on the Democratic ticket in the presidential race.

One of the party’s most influential figures, who has staunchly defended the ailing 81-year-old, is now urging colleagues to stop saying he shouldn’t drop out, The Hill reported.

Pelosi hasn’t said definitely that Biden should step aside, but members of her party are deeply concerned that he can’t beat Donald Trump in November.

French President Emmanuel Macron has defended President Joe Biden after his brutal gaffe where he confused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin.

‘We can all have a slip of the tongue. It can happen to me,’ the French leader said at a press conference shortly after Biden’s blunder.

President Biden is set to speak to reporters in a high-stakes press conference Thursday evening as be battles questions about his fitness to serve.

But the press conference has been delayed twice.

It was initially slated for 5:30pm ET before being moved to 6:30pm ET.

It is now expected to begin by 7:30pm ET.

A sitting Democrat became the first to suggest President Joe Biden should resign from office in a stunning statement.

Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., said ahead of Biden’s highly-anticipated press conference Thursday that she has ‘doubt’ about his ‘health and fitness to do the job’ following his disastrous debate two weeks ago.

Perez also said she has concerns about whether he is actually the ‘one making important decisions about our country, rather than unelected advisors.’

President Joe Biden called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ‘President Putin’ in a brutal gaffe after the NATO summit.

Gasps were heard in the room when the 81-year-old made the flub as he fights to prove he could serve another term.

He is facing a mountain of calls to drop out of the presidential race over his cognitive decline.

He clears his throat again and apologizes to the gathered media, then intones that he ‘will not bow down to Putin.’

Democrat Senators left a meeting with the president’s reelection staff skeptical that Joe Biden will be able to lead the party atop the November ballot.

Two weeks after Biden’s terrible debate performance against former President Trump, questions are swirling on Capitol Hill about whether his leadership will help or hurt down-ballot Democrats.

Amid the chaos, Biden campaign advisors Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti and Biden’s campaign Chair Jen O’Malley Dillon orchestrated a last-minute meeting with Democrat senators.

‘Some of my concerns are allayed, some others have been deepened,’ Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told reporters after the private meeting. ‘I need more of the kind of analytics that show the path to success.’

News that Donald Trump Jr. was scheduled to speak at the Republican convention right before Sen. J.D. Vance set off new speculation that he could be Trump’s selection for VP.

Axios reported it was the latest sign that Trump had ‘zeroed in’ on Vance. The Hillbilly Elegy author is already a leading contender, in part due to his ability to speak to midwestern voters in battlegrounds like Michigan and Wisconsin.

But the slots were booked weeks ago, and there have been no indications from inside Trump world that anything has changed in Trump’s VP search.

On Thursday, Vance was still fielding questions about another disputed clue: a report that Trump wouldn’t go for his beard. Trump said in response he ‘looks like a young Abraham Lincoln.’

‘I have no idea’ how it started,’ Vance said. ‘These media stories …’

A group of wealthy New York donors have committed $2 million to the House Majority PAC, a super PAC for House Democrats, specifically for Dems who spoke out against Biden early, according to Punchbowl.

So far only 13 House Democrats have publicly called on Biden to resign, most of them moderates from swing districts – Reps. Pat Ryan, N.Y., Angie Craig, Minn., Marie Gleusenkamp Perez, Wash., and Jared Golden, Maine.

‘I will continue to highlight politicians who aren’t afraid to speak the truth,’ one of the donors, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz wrote on X.

President Joe Biden concerned guests at a Juneteenth event 17 days before his disastrous debate, it has been revealed.

The White House have insisted that the 81-year-old just had a ‘bad night’ and have dismissed all suggestions he has long-term issues.

But there is mounting evidence that his alarming signs of cognitive decline aren’t new.

A guest at the event on June 27th – where Joe appeared to freeze while watching a musical performance – told ABC News that he thought Biden was ‘altered’.

Texas Democratic State Rep. Ron Reynolds told ABC News: ‘Having seen him on the debate stage, it was characteristic of what I witnessed that evening at the White House.

‘Unfortunately, it reminded me that it was maybe not a one-off or just a bad night’.

Other guests also said Biden seemed ‘stiff’ and ‘aloof’.

It isn’t just Biden’s press events that are highly choreographed. Even closed-door cabinet meetings have elements of stagecraft and advanced preparation work.

Cabinet members typically turn in talking points and questions they intend to engage with the president on beforehand, sources told CNN.

‘The entire display is kind of an act,’ said a source. ‘Hey, the president is going to call on you about 25 minutes in, and ask this question. What are the bullet points you’ll respond with?’

It just the latest report on efforts to manage the 81-year-old president, following public attention to former President Obama and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni guiding him at big events. Biden faces another big test tonight at his press conference.

Here’s the list of elected Democrats who are publicly calling on him to step down from his reelection race:

1. Sen. Peter Welch, Vermont
2. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, Texas
3. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, Arizona
4. Rep. Seth Moulton, Massachusetts
5. Rep. Mike Quigley, Illinois
6. Rep. Angie Craig, Minnesota
7. Rep. Adam Smith, Washington
8. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, New Jersey
9. Rep. Pat Ryan, New York
10. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Oregon
11. Rep. Hillary Scholten, Michigan
12. Rep. Brad Schneider, Illinois
13. Rep. Greg Stanton, Arizona
14. Rep. Ed Case, Hawaii

Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz. says although he was one of President Biden’s ‘earliest supporters’ the stakes ‘ in 2020, the stakes ‘could not be higher’ this year.

‘For our country’s sake, it is time for the President to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders.’

Hawaii Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, also called for Biden to step down.

‘My guidepost is what is the best way forward for our country. I do not believe President Biden should continue his candidacy for re-election as President.’

The Earl Ingram was one of two radio programs contacted by the Biden campaign following the June 27th debate to speak with President Biden. The interview was recorded on July 3rd and aired on July 4th on Civic Media radio stations across Wisconsin.

On Monday, July 8th, it was reported to Civic Media management that immediately after the phone interview was recorded, the Biden campaign called and asked for two edits to the recording before it aired. Civic Media management immediately undertook an investigation and determined that the production team at the time viewed the edits as non-substantive and broadcast and published the interview with two short segments removed.

In the interest of transparency, and consistent with Civic Media’s mission and core value, we are sharing the edited segments now, and making the full, unedited interview available.

Given the gravity of the current political moment, the stakes in this election, and the importance of public scrutiny of public officials in the highest office, we believe it is important to share this information.

With a high-profile interview comes a listener expectation that journalistic interview standards will be applied, even for non-news programming. We did not meet those expectations.

Civic Media disagrees with the team’s judgments in the moment, both with respect to the handling of the interview questions and the decision to edit the interview audio. We have taken this opportunity as a new media organization to clarify our internal policies to ensure that everyone in the organization understands the standards we expect for live and pre-recorded interviews, particularly for commentators and other non-news personnel. A policy defining Civic Media’s content and production standards for non-news programming that covers our opinion content, including The Earl Ingram Show, is in the process of being reviewed and finalized, based in part on our published Civic Media News Ethics and Standards that applies to hard news.

Civic Media unequivocally stands by Earl Ingram and his team. Earl is an invaluable voice for Milwaukee and Wisconsin, and remains a crucial member of the Civic Media organization. The decision to make the requested edits to the interview was made in good faith. While we disagree with the decision, we stand by our team. This has been a learning experience and we will do better moving forward.

From Morgan Phillips, Congress Reporter

The speaker revealed that world leaders he’s met with as part of the NATO conference have expressed concerns about the president’s cognitive abilities.

‘All those NATO leaders are here on the Hill as you know,’ Johnson told Fox News‘s Laura Ingraham on Wednesday evening. ‘These foreign leaders are coming in, prime ministers, heads of state and they are telling us privately that they are deeply concerned.’

Johnson’s comments came just after meetings with United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

A new firestorm has erupted over another radio interview Joe Biden conducted in the aftermath of his disastrous debate.

Civic Media, a progressive talk show based in Madison, Wisconsin, admitted that it agreed to edit parts of its interview with Biden after the campaign called and demanded changes.

They took out a portion where Biden claimed he had ‘more blacks in my administration than any other president, all presidents combined.’

The station revealed the decision fell short of ‘journalistic standards’ and did not ‘meet the expectations’ of their listeners.

Last week, it was uncovered that a disastrous radio interview where Joe Biden called himself a black woman was scripted, with the president knowing exactly the questions he’d be asked.

The station ultimately fired black host Andrea Lawful-Sanders for using the pre-vetted questions from the Biden camp, saying she ‘violated our practice of remaining an independent media outlet accountable to our listeners.’

On Wednesday, Civic Media in Wisconsin said it launched an investigation after discovering producers agreed with the campaign’s request to remove two quotes.

The two edits, according to the station, were:

1. At time 5:20, the removal of ‘…and in addition to that, I have more Blacks in my administration than any other president, all other presidents combined, and in major positions, cabinet positions.’
2. At time 14:15, in reference to Donald Trump’s call for the death penalty for the Central Park Five, the removal of ‘I don’t know if they even call for their hanging or not, but he–but they said […] convicted of murder.’

The station insisted they are standing behind host Earl Ingram, who conducted the interview.

‘I love President Biden … The time has come, however, for President Biden to heroically pass the torch to a new generation of leadership to guide us to the future he has enabled and empowered us to pursue,’ Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., said in a statement Thursday.

He said Biden had the opportunity to ‘seal his place in history as one of the greatest leaders of our nation.’

‘I fear if he fails to make the right choice, democracy hangs in the balance.’

‘The narrative that the President simply had one bad debate performance reflects a continuing pattern of denial and self-delusion. The President did not just have one “bad debate.”’

‘The reality we saw with our own lying eyes is evidence of a deeper challenge. The notion that the President is going to be saved by this interview or that press conference misses the forest for trees,’ Torres said in a post on Twitter.

Just days ago Torres said that the ‘intra-party mixed messaging’ about Biden’s fitness for the nomination is ‘deeply destructive.’

From U.S. Politics Reporter Jon Michael Raasch

Democrats are trickling out of a closed-door meeting with a few of Biden’s reelection team.

Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., says she is supporting the president, but her colleagues are divided on how to proceed.

Before the meeting kicked off, Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., said that he’s pessimistic about how the Democrat Party will fare come November if Biden remains at the top of the ticket.

‘If things stay as they are, it’s likely that Donald Trump will win the election and we’ll lose the Senate and we’ll lose the house,’ he told DailyMail.com.

‘Candid, comprehensive and clear-eyed conversations’ is the alliterative phrase Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries now uses to describe the internal turmoil House Democrats are facing as they weigh whether to turn up the public pressure on President Biden to step aside from the top of the ticket.

He answered multiple questions about Biden’s fitness for the Democratic nomination during a weekly news conference:

Our conversations have been candid, comprehensive and clear-eyed and they continue.

About what happens if Biden ‘fails to deliver,’ he had a stark response:

That’s a speculative question, and as I indicated, we’re involved in an internal process that we take seriously. And until that process is completed, I’m not really in a position to comment.

Some of President Joe Biden’s closest advisors are trying to devise a plan to urge him to drop out of the race, a bombshell report claims.

Members of the 81-year-old’s are ‘increasingly convinced’ he will have to step aside and are considering how to make the case to him that he cannot beat Donald Trump in November, The New York Times reported.

The latest claims show even staff in the White House are fearful of Biden’s future and his chances in the general election after his disastrous debate performance.

It’s not clear if Biden is aware about the dissent in the West Wing, while he has insisted he is staying in the race.

The White House rejected claims in the report. ‘Unequivocally, this is not true,’ White House spokesman Andrew Bates told The Times.

By Emily Goodin, senior U.S. political reporter

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer denied that President Joe Biden is senile or too old to be in office.

He said the president was ‘on really good form’ during their hour-long Oval Office meeting on Wednesday.

‘We were going [at] pace through a number of issues, which was really important to me, because obviously, it was my first opportunity to have a bilateral like that. And he showed incredible leadership,’ Starmer told the BBC.

‘We’ve covered a lot of ground, strategic ground, international stuff … He was on good form. And of course … we went straight from that to the dinner that he hosted,’ he added.

There were reports that foreign leaders were concerned about Biden’s ability to be president after his disastrous debate performance and that he could lose in November to Donald Trump.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Thursday he had not heard any kind of talk like that.

‘I haven’t heard that in the President’s conversations with his counterparts,’ he said. ‘What I have heard, as they went around the table yesterday … was a drumbeat of praise for the United States but also for President Biden personally, for what he’s done to strengthen NATO, especially as president.’

From Rob Crilly, Chief U.S. Political correspondent

Joe Biden‘s team believes Barack Obama is secretly orchestrating efforts to push him out of the 2024 election, according to one of the president’s confidants.

While Obama has offered public support for his former vice president, alumni of his administration have been some of the loudest voices warning of an election wipeout and his friend George Clooney went public with criticism on Wednesday.

Biden ally Joe Scarborough let rip on his ‘Morning Joe’ TV show a day later, exposing the burning tensions running through the Democratic Party.

‘The Biden campaign and many Democratic officials do believe that Barack Obama is quietly working behind the scenes to orchestrate this and, if Joe Biden believes that, that’s not going to get him out of the race any faster anytime,’ he said.

Scarborough went on to describe years of resentment and the way Biden felt he was passed over by Obama in 2016 when the then president picked Hillary Clinton to be his successor.

The House voted down an effort to fine Attorney General Merrick Garland $10,000 for every day that he does not hand over audio recordings from President Biden’s special counsel interview.

The resolution was brought to the floor after Rep. Anna Paulina Luna forced a vote on it by making it ‘privileged.’  It failed 210 to 204 – 12 Republicans had missed votes, as did seven Democrats.

Holding an official in inherent contempt usually means after a House vote the sergeant-at-arms would be instructed to arrest the official, which is what Luna had originally proposed. But fearing such drastic measures could not pass, she changed the consequences to a steep fine.

President Joe Biden was faced with yet another jarring poll as he approaches a crucial press conference amid growing calls by congressional Democrats for him to step back form his reelection campaign.

Just 42 per cent of members of his own party want him to stay, according to the poll. Among U.S. adults overall, a stunning 67 per cent want Biden to step aside, with just 30 per cent wanting to continue his campaign.

Despite the grim numbers for Biden, the poll has the president and former President Donald Trump tied at 46 percent, as Democrats in Congress weigh whether to try to push him to end his campaign.

By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor

It has been a challenging week for the communications staff charged with representing President Biden while a string of elected lawmakers and even George Clooney have called for him to step back.

A new sign of strain came in the daily press schedule for the president released by the White House Thursday – just hours before Biden faces a high-wire press conference.

‘THE PRESIDNET holds a bilateral meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine,’ according to the schedule, which had the misfortune both of misspelling the president’s title and putting it in all-caps.

Earlier this week, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was forced to clarify information that a neurologist who visited the White House January 17 did so as part of the president’s physical. She also accused a reporter of ‘aggressive’ questioning when he said the press was ‘miffed’ about how information was being shared.

Some of the latest efforts to try to spin Biden’s predicament have fallen flat, as when a campaign source sought to slap back at Clooney following his devastating op-ed calling on Biden to go by noting Biden had stayed three hours longer than Clooney at their Hollywood fundraiser.

When CNN anchor heard reporting on the spin during an on-air broadcast, he cast a dismissive smile and offered a simple, ‘Okay.’

Democratic Michigan Congresswoman Hillary Scholten called on President Biden to step aside in teh presidential race on Thursday.

‘President Biden has spent his life serving our nation and building the next generation of American leadership,’ she said in a lengthy statement.

‘For the good of our democracy, I believe it is time for him to step from the presidential race and allow a new leader to step in,’ she continued.

Scholten noted that ultimately the choice ‘belongs to the president and the president alone’ and said if he choose to remain in the race ‘I will still vote for him’ as the ‘clear and necessary alternative to Donald Trump.

Nine other Democratic House members and Vermont Senator Peter Welch have already called for Biden to exit the race.

President Joe Biden has begun a pivotal day of his career by meeting world leaders at the NATO summit in Washington D.C.

The 81-year-old president sat next to the newly-elected UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer and shook hands with NATO General Sec. Jens Stoltenberg ahead of talks.

The eyes of the world are on how he performs as Democrats demand he drop out of the race.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said she doesn’t think it would hurt for President Biden to take a cognitive test amid concerns over his fitness to serve a second term.

‘I don’t think that it’d hurt, to be honest,’ Whitmer said in an interview on CNN Wednesday night in response to a question over whether the president should take a cognitive test and demand Donald Trump do the same.

She reiterated ‘I don’t think it would hurt’ when asked to clarify if Biden should.

Whitmer, who is a national co-chair of Biden’s reelection campaign, has been out defending the president amid fallout over his poor debate performance.

Ohio Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno campaigned outside of his opponent Sen. Sherrod Brown’s office Thursday morning.

Moreno traveled to D.C. to highlight Brown’s ties to Joe Biden amid the president’s cognitive capability scandal that has plagued him since his CNN debate against Donald Trump two weeks ago.

‘Sherrod Brown has been very, very close personal friends with Joe Biden,’ Moreno charged.

‘For decades he knew that Joe Biden was in cognitive decline.’

He then claimed Brown has been ‘covering up’ Biden’s decline.

President Joe Biden’s press conference that could decide his political future has been pushed back by an hour.

The 81-year-old was set to face the media at the NATO summit at 5.30 PM Eastern Time.

It has now been delayed by an hour. The reason why has not been revealed by the White House.

Speaker Mike Johnson discussed a wide range of issues on Fox Business’ Mornings with Maria Thursday morning.

He said the ongoing Democrat dysfunction about Biden’s mental and physical health will ultimately hand the GOP a ‘big win’ in the election.

Johnson also said Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s ‘inherent contempt’ resolution against AG Merrick Garland is ‘extreme’ but ‘will pass today.’

Garland has withheld audio tapes of Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Rob Hur.

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., suggested Boebert’s ‘rapid physical cognitive decline’ was caused by the Covid-19 vaccine, posting photos of Biden getting the jab on X.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., says he is preparing for the upcoming lunch meeting with Biden campaign advisors.

He told reporters in the Senate:

I’m hoping that this meeting will address concerns that have been raised. I’m hoping that in addressing the concerns they’ve been raised, the president’s advisers will present data clear analytics that show the path to success in November.

From Rob Crilly, Chief U.S. Political Correspondent

If looks are the key to Donald Trump‘s vice presidential pick then there is only one winner.

J.D. Vance‘s blue eyes and thick beard first caught the attention of the former president two years ago, when the author and former Marine was competing for the Republican nomination in Ohio‘s Senate race.

‘He’s one handsome son of a bitch,’ Trump told his inner circle.

Since then Vance has emerged as one of his most formidable promoters on cable news channels.

And a strict running regimen instituted during his run for Senate has seen the possible veep lose weight recently, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by Trump himself, according to a source familiar with the former president’s conversations.

Speaker Mike Johnson touted robust fundraising figures in the second quarter of 2024, raising $23.5 million. His fundraising efforts have now surpassed $50 million since becoming speaker.

While Obama didn’t encourage or advise Clooney, he also didn’t object, sources told Politico.

Clooney’s demand sent shockwaves throughout the Democratic Party and the report that Obama knew about it is fueling speculation he is secretly working to oust Biden as the nominee – despite publicly defending the president after his dismal debate performance.

‘The Biden campaign and many Democratic officials do believe that Barack Obama is quietly working behind the scenes to orchestrate this,’ MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, who is frequently in touch with the campaign, said on Thursday of Clooney’s op-ed.

Vermont Sen. Peter Welch became the first Democratic senator to call for President Joe Biden to quit his reelection campaign.

But then he noted that we ‘cannot unsee President Biden’s disastrous debate performance’ nor ‘ignore or dismiss the valid questions raised since that night.’

Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman has said he is getting ‘closer and closer’ to calling on President Joe Biden to drop out of the race.

The Ohio lawmaker, who is facing his own tight race in November, admitted he is inching towards joining his colleagues who have said it is time for the 81-year-old president to step aside.

‘It’s becoming increasingly likely that this is, this may be just too high of a hill for him to climb,’ he told CNN.

If looks are the key to Donald Trump‘s vice presidential pick then there is only one winner.

J.D. Vance‘s blue eyes and thick beard first caught the attention of the former president two years ago, when the author and former Marine was competing for the Republican nomination in Ohio‘s Senate race.

‘He’s one handsome son of a bitch,’ Trump told his inner circle.

Since then Vance has emerged as one of his most formidable promoters on cable news channels.

And a strict running regimen instituted during his run for Senate has seen the possible veep lose weight recently, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by Trump himself, according to a source familiar with the former president’s conversations.

The eyes of the world will be on Joe Biden on Thursday evening and all the 81-year-old has to do is give strong, forceful answers to a series of questions, showing he can perform well in an unscripted setting and quiet the talk he is not mentally fit for a second term in office.

But in a sign of how worried aides are about his performance at the 5:30 pm ET press conference, they have a backup plan in place in case Biden fumbles for words and stares into space like he did in the first presidential debate.

The pressure is on Biden as he tries to tamp down the voices in the Democratic Party calling for his exit from the presidential race and shore up support behind his candidacy. At least a dozen Democratic lawmakers have called for him to bow out.

A good performance can reassure his frantic allies that he has the mental and physical energy to compete against Donald Trump. A bad perfomance could be a disaster and the nail in the coffin for his chances of staying as the Democratic nominee.

President Joe Biden faced a barrage of questions during his meeting Wednesday with new British PM Keir Starmer about George Clooney’s stunning op-ed calling for him to step aside.

Biden’s response, as he faces calls in Congress to step down, was to say: ‘AFL-CIO. Go, go, go!’ His response suggests he puts more stock in the powerful labor union, which issued a statement saying it stood in ‘strong solidarity’ with him on July 3, following his debate fiasco.

The cacophony in the Oval Office came as reporters got their first sustained chance to ask Biden about the Hollywood star’s call for him to step down from the race – just weeks after helping him haul in nearly $30 million at an L.A. fundraiser.

He is certain to face more questions on the matter when he holds what the White House is now calling a ‘big boy press conference’ on Thursday at the NATO summit he is hosting in Washington.

‘Joe Biden is a hero; he saved democracy in 2020. We need him to do it again in 2024,’ Clooney wrote in his bombshell New York Times op-ed.

George Stephanopoulos was threatened with being taken off air if he didn’t clarify his position on Joe Biden‘s ability to serve another four years, it is claimed.

The ABC host gave his blunt assessment of the president’s performance in a brief interview when he was ambushed on Tuesday.

The former Bill Clinton aide was asked on the street in Manhattan if Biden should step down and responded: ‘I don’t think he can serve four more years’.

Biden’s interview with the former White House press secretary on Friday followed a disastrous debate performance on June 27.

Donald Trump is expected to announce his running mate at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee next week.

Speculation over who will get the nod to be on the GOP ticket has been growing for months.

He has narrowed his list of contenders to just a handful of party heavyweights and has teased when he will make the announcement.

But betting odds in Las Vegas show one man inching ahead.

Senator Marco Rubio was the slight +225 favorite at BetOnline as of Tuesday.

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and Ohio U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance were each listed at +250.

However, on Wednesday, Burgum surged into the lead with odds of +150, with Vance the second choice at +285.

Trump has held auditions for his VP slot for months. Rubio, Burgum and Vance have emerged as the frontrunners in recent weeks.

The former president hosted Rubio at his rally in Miami on Tuesday night and kept the audience guessing as to whether he would be the choice.