Welcome to the online version of From the policy deskevening bulletin that brings you the latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill from the NBC News Politics team.
In today’s edition, senior political editor Mark Murray looks at how Democrats’ efforts to play down concerns about Joe Biden’s age have come back to bite them. Plus, we’re breaking down all the takeaways from another day of Thursday’s debates and key Supreme Court decisions.
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Biden’s allies have spent a year dispelling concerns about his age. This was a mistake.
By Mark Murray
After Thursday’s debate, there is a separate storyline outside of President Joe Biden shaky performance and former President Donald Trump lies and misleading statements.
This storyline: A year-long Democratic campaign to play down concerns about Biden’s age, fitness and ability to beat Trump in a non-Covid presidential campaign — especially with the polls shows the vast majority of voters are concerned about Biden’s age.
Biden’s allies and liberal commentators mocked Rep. Dean Phillips. begging Last summer someone, anyone, challenged Biden in the primaries to prove he was up to the task in the race against Trump. (That someone was Phillips, who eventually became a Minnesota Democrat.)
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“He’s essentially completely destroying his career and destroying goodwill within the Democratic Party,” said one House Democrat. This was reported by NBC News On Phillips’ challenge to Biden.
They attacked special prosecutor Robert Hur after his report this year, calling Biden “an old man with a failing memory.”
“Cheap shot” and “playing politics” were Biden’s allies reacted For Hur.
They mocked news organizations (such as The The Wall Street Journal) and prominent commentators (as Ezra Klein and David Ignatius) that has cast doubt on Biden’s eligibility in recent months.
And they started a counter campaign “cheap fake” videos Depicting Biden’s age, mannerisms and demeanor in the public eye — sometimes misleading, sometimes not.
But after last night’s debate, who was more right than wrong — those who voiced concerns about Biden, or those who dismissed and discredited them?
It is important to ask this question now that Democrats are united complete panic Like Biden’s choice for president after last night’s debate.
For a year, the White House, the Democratic Party and their allies have dismissed concerns about Biden’s age and physical health. There is now less than two months until the party officially selects its presidential candidate.
Biden tries to bounce back: ‘I don’t argue as well as I used to’
Biden tried to turn his disappointing debate performance into a rallying cry for his supporters At a campaign event in Raleigh, NCOn Friday, he painted himself as the underdog but did not emerge, with some in his party whispering about replacing him on the ticket.
“I know I’m not young. I don’t walk as comfortably as before. I don’t speak as easily as before. I don’t argue like I used to, but I know what I know – I know how to tell the truth!” an energetic Biden nodded to the criticism he received after the debate, saying several of Trump’s statements contradicted assessments of their accuracy.
“When you fall, you get back up,” Biden shouted to the cheering crowd.
How Democrats Respond: In private, many Democrats, including some MPs — Said they are worried about Biden’s election chances. But clearly, they are putting on a brave face and diminishing the impact of a single discussion.
On Capitol Hill, Democrats He admitted that Biden performed poorly On Thursday night, however, he disagreed with those calling for him to drop out of the presidential race.
“I thought he had a poor performance,” said James Clyburn, D.C., a former House whip and party insider credited with being instrumental in Biden’s victory in the 2020 Democratic primary.
But he said there was a long way to go before the November election and “one debate does not make a campaign.”
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said: “He got off to a bad start. I thought he got better at things later.”
Democrats are running in key races in the Senate and House this fall mostly remained silent or avoided questions On Biden’s debate performance.
But perhaps most critically, Biden received support from his former boss. “There are bad debate nights. Trust me, I know,” said former President Barack Obama Posted in X. “But this election is still a choice between someone who has spent his life fighting for ordinary people and someone who only cares about himself.”
Trump’s reaction: Trump mocked Biden during the rally In Virginia on Friday, he said the president “doesn’t know what he’s doing.”
“It’s not his age, it’s his competence,” Trump said. “He is not respected anywhere in the world.”
Keep up with the latest debate reactions and 2024 election news with our live blog →
A big day in the Supreme Court – another day to come on Monday
Apart from all the results of the debates, a number of key judgments of the Supreme Court were also on display on Friday.
1. Court issued a decision in favor of the former police officer Attempting to overturn an obstruction charge to join the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. A non-ideological 6-3 vote prevailed for respondent. Joseph FisherTrump is one of hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants charged with obstruction of justice in an effort to block Congress from confirming Biden’s election victory.
2. The court too It overturned a 40-year precedent It has been a target of the right because it is seen as strengthening the power of “deep state” bureaucrats and undermining federal agencies. In ruling on a challenge to fishing regulations, the court made history in 1984, Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council. That decision said judges must defer to federal agencies in interpreting the law when the language of the statute is ambiguous, thereby giving bureaucrats regulatory flexibility.
3. And the court rejected the constitutional challenge To laws passed by a small town in Oregon that penalize homeless people with nowhere to go for sleeping on public property.
4. Justice apart from the opinions given by the high court on Friday morning turned down the last-minute offer To suspend a four-month prison sentence from former Trump adviser Steve Bannon for ignoring a January 6 House committee subpoena. Bannon is due to report to prison on Monday.
All this sets the stage for the Supreme Court the highest-profile verdict of the term Monday: Whether Trump has broad presidential immunity that would protect him from prosecution for trying to overturn the 2020 election.
🗞️ Other top stories of the day
- ☑️ Fact check: In Thursday night’s debate, while Biden spoke few facts, Trump spread a series of misinformation. We looked at 17 key claims made by the two candidates. See our verdicts here →
- 📺 Debate ratings: The debate drew about 51.3 million viewers, a sharp drop from previous debates and the smallest audience since the 2004 debate between John Kerry and President George W. Bush, according to Nielsen. More →
- 🌏 World view: The debate, between two candidates with differing views on how to tackle the world’s problems, provided little reassurance to worried US allies. More →
- ⚖️ Abortion in the States: The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s six-week abortion ban can go into effect and struck down an order blocking its enforcement, The Des Moines Register reports. More →
- 🥶 Cooling: A key economic measure for the Federal Reserve showed on Friday that inflation fell to its lowest annual level in more than three years during May. More →
- ⌚ Lost and Found: A pocket watch worn by Teddy Roosevelt has been returned to his family’s Long Island home nearly 40 years after it was stolen from a museum. More →
That’s all for the Policy Desk for now. If you have feedback – like it or not – send us an email politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com
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