©  Greg Nash

President Biden’s wounded campaign enters a vital stretch this weekend as Democratic panic over the 2024 election hits new heights.

Biden has a series of tests laid out in front of him, starting with an an interview that will air this evening with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.

Biden struck a combative tone at a campaign rally in Madison, Wisc. on Friday. He unequivocally declared that he has no intention of leaving the race.

“They’re trying to push me out of the race,” Biden said. “Well let me say this as clearly as I can: I’m staying in the race. I beat Donald Trump, I’ll beat him again.”

Biden sought to flip the debate about his age, ticking through his accomplishments as evidence that he can still get things done.

“My critics said sure, you did all of that, but that was in the past. What about now?…Do you think I’m too old to beat Donald Trump?,” Biden asked the crowd, which responded with an emphatic “No!”

“I can hardly wait,” Biden said.

Biden is pressing on in the face of extreme adversity:

• The Biden campaign announced a $50 million swing-state ad blitz, coupled with a $17 million investment in voter outreach. 
  
  
• Biden will hold a press conference next week during the NATO summit, and then strike out on a swing through the Southwest to court Black and Latino voters.
  
  

• Biden’s planned speech Sunday to the National Education Association Staff Organizations (NEASO) has been canceled because the workers are going on strike. Biden is still planning a visit to Philadelphia, though the campaign has not announced its replacement plans. 

   

Every minor flub or miscue by Biden will be magnified.

The media, which was far behind the public in questioning Biden’s mental stamina, has written scores of stories in recent days detailing the president’s physical decline.

The floodgates have openend on leaks from the White House and blind quotes from Democrats:

• Semafor: A scared Biden aide sounds the alarm.
• Axios: Jill Biden’s aides remind Biden of staffers and advisers he should know.
• The New York Times: Biden stumbles over his words as he tries to right campaign.
• The Washington Post: Biden’s aging seen as accelerating, lapses becoming more common.
• CNN: Biden tells Democratic governors he needs more sleep and plans to stop scheduling events after 8 p.m.
• New York: The conspiracy of silence to protect Joe Biden.

Read More:

• How to watch the Stephanopoulos interview.
• Ezekiel J. Emanuel: Some 81-year-olds would make great presidents, but not Biden.
• Sanjay Gupta: Biden must undergo cognitive test and share results.

Welcome to Evening Report! I’m Jonathan Easley, catching you up from the afternoon and what’s coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here.

• The U.S. economy added 206,000 jobs in June. while job numbers from April and May were revised down. It’s the latest sign the economy may be cooling.
  
  

• In a leftward surge, Keir Starmer’s Labour Party secured one of the biggest parliamentary majorities in history. The U.K. picked a no-drama prime minister after years of post-Brexit chaos.
  
  

• France could be in line for a surge to the right.

©  Kevin Winter/Getty Images

It’s been a remarkable week of donors and key allies abandoning President Biden at the lowest moment of his presidency.

• Top Democratic donors are aiming to raise $100 million to put in an escrow fund that could be used for Biden’s replacement.
  
  
• Abigail Disney told CNBC she’d stop giving to the Democratic Party until Biden is replaced.
  
  
• A group of 168 business leaders, including former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, Walmart heir Christy Walton, and shoe magnates John and Tom Floresheim, are calling on Biden to end his campaign.
  
  
• Media executive Barry Diller and his wife Diane von Furstenberg, a designer, no longer support Biden’s campaign, according to The Ankler. They join top media execs and former Biden donors such as Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and producer Damon Lindelof, who have called on Biden to drop out and are closing their wallets until he does.

The exodus comes after the Democratic governors who gathered at the White House on Wednesday emerged to say they had Biden’s back.

The unity didn’t last long, as Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) on Friday nudged Biden to exit the race:

“The best way forward right now is a decision for the President to make. Over the coming days, I urge him to listen to the American people and carefully evaluate whether he remains our best hope to defeat Donald Trump.”

Read More:

• Third House Democrat calls on Biden to drop out.
• Democrats in competitive House races break with Biden.
• California Democrat says Biden campaign “arrogant” after debate.
• Paul Whelan asks Biden to act as if his own son were held hostage.
• What happens to Biden’s campaign cash if he drops out?

Former President Trump on Friday disavowed the conservative Heritage Foundation’s controversial 900-page “governing agenda” for Republicans, which has been a target for Democrats.

“I know nothing about Project 2025,” Trump wrote on TruthSocial. “I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.”

Heritage’s “Project 2025” outlines actions for a potential Republican majority, including national restrictions on abortion; the elimination of abortion pills; ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs; and reclassifying government workers to make them easier to fire.

Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts stepped into controversy this week when he said a “second American revolution” would “remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”

Trump has kept a low profile amid the Democratic meltdown over Biden’s candidacy.

But he’s been more vocal in recent days.

In a video of Trump and his son youngest son Barron on the golf course, Trump called Biden an “old broken-down pile of crap” and predicted he’d leave the race.

“That means we have Kamala,” Trump said. “She’s so bad. She’s so pathetic.”

Trump also challenged Biden to an additional “no-holds barred” debate. And he blasted ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos, whose interview with Biden will run Friday night.

Trump called the newsman “George Slopadopoulos” and called “FAKE NEWS ABC” one of the “worst and most vile Broadcasters in the business.

©  Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

A couple of noteworthy court rulings with implications for November…

• The Kansas Supreme Court struck down a ban on second-trimester abortions and state laws that regulated abortion providers more stringently than other health care providers.
  
  

• The liberal majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that absentee drop boxes can be used in 2024, reversing a ruling from 2022, when conservatives had a majority on the court.

Read More:

• Supreme Court’s weakening of public corruption safeguards sparks alarm.
• Biden, critics fear emboldened Trump after Supreme Court immunity ruling.

“The Electoral College may finally be an asset for panicking Democrats,” by James Sieja for The Hill.

“It’s time for Democrats to roll the dice,” by Anne Applebaum for The Atlantic.

“It’s freak-out time for Democrats,” by Kimberley A. Strassel for The Wall Street Journal.

“The White House’s Kamala Harris blunder,” by Elaina Plott Calabro for The Atlantic.

10 days until the Republican National Convention.

45 days until the Democratic National Convention.

67 days until the second presidential debate.

123 days until the 2024 general election.

199 days until Inauguration Day 2025.

Friday

• Biden’s interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos airs at 8 p.m.

Is there a story you think should be getting more attention? Something people should be talking about? Drop me a line: jeasley@digital-stage.thehill.com

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