Madeline wrote earlier today that the Biden campaign has finally run aground. The president was diagnosed with COVID in Las Vegas yesterday, canceling scheduled events, including an address to UnidosUS. Biden flew back to Delaware, where he can recover in the comfort of his home and without visitor logs.
1. Arizona (+7)
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) July 18, 2024
2. Georgia (+4)
3. Michigan (+2)
4. Nevada (+4)
5. North Carolina (+4)
6. Pennsylvania (+3)
7. Wisconsin (+5) https://t.co/YKtWxCHBxc
Though not his fault, it was a brutal coincidence, especially since he had told BET that he’d exit the race if a medical episode arose, seemingly stepping back from his intransigent ‘I’m never leaving’ stance from a few weeks ago. Huddled in his COVID bunker, Biden is facing another issue besides a wholesale Democratic Party rebellion and bad polling: his campaign operation is running out of money. After Semafor posted the story, Biden’s main big money man, Jeffrey Katzenberg, said everything was fine. Yeah, are you sure about that (via Semafor):
.@jmart on the pressure campaign from
— Elex Michaelson (@Elex_Michaelson) July 18, 2024
Dem leaders for Biden to drop out:
“At some point…this is going to penetrate, because no major party nominee in America can afford to have an intraparty coup leading up to his or her convention & expect to have a successful campaign.” pic.twitter.com/clb6W6rf8w
Joe Biden met privately in Las Vegas Wednesday with Jeffrey Katzenberg, the film producer and a top campaign adviser, who conveyed a warning: The president’s donors’ patience is wearing thin, and their cash soon will, too.
Katzenberg, one of Biden’s closest counselors and a conduit to moneyed circles in media and finance, told the president that major donors, doubtful of his ability to win in November, have all but stopped writing the kind of big checks that sustain campaigns in the home stretch, people familiar with the meeting said. One of the people said the donor warning came in a broader discussion of other campaign topics.
After this story was published, Katzenberg said in a statement that it was a “misread of a private meeting” and that he and Biden “talked about everything from the convention to new ads. And by the way, we will raise the money we need to run a winning campaign.”
[…]
“This I can confirm,” James Carville, a veteran of Democratic presidential campaigns including Bill Clinton and a respected voice among donors, told Semafor. “Donors in revolt.”
[…]
The freeze extends beyond Biden’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee to the web of super PACs and outside groups that make up the party’s infrastructure.
“It’s a crisis,” said a top Democratic fundraiser. “The money isn’t moving.”
Katzenberg directed Semafor’s questions to the Biden campaign, which declined to comment.
[…]
Biden’s campaign isn’t at immediate risk of running out of cash. But the final months of presidential races are dominated by expensive television campaigns in swing states — made all the more necessary by Biden’s inability to communicate regularly himself. That will only be exacerbated by the president testing positive for Covid on Wednesday.
Bide also exposed Katzenberg to COVID.
Carville has been one of the most vocal in wanting to dump Biden. ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos said that the walls were closing in on the president, where the dam likely broke last night during the Republican Convention. Stephanopoulos was the host from a major network to interview Biden about what was going to be his media rehab tour, which quickly and brutally careened off the cliff. He later was caught saying that he felt Biden couldn’t serve another four years, which prompted the former Clinton operative to apologize for telling the truth.
ABC's George Stephanopoulos: "Boy, the walls are closing in on" Biden!
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 18, 2024
Jon Karl: "Oh, they sure are...But — but George, I just don’t see how it is tenable for — for Joe Biden to continue as the — as the Democratic nominee, President — and Democratic nominee" pic.twitter.com/ComOVTpDbN
It seemed like over the course of the past few days, top Democrats staged a political intervention on Biden, who refused to believe he was losing. That’s when this ‘death by a thousand’ cuts protocol by leaking details of these meetings were set into motion. If you’re a Democrat, it had to be done. They face a total wipeout with Biden at the top of the ticket.
The two leaders told Biden they were delivering the views privately but the messages might not necessarily stay that way. They became public after the two leaders grew frustrated that they did not think Biden was listening to them. https://t.co/ttdE4A7Q7G
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) July 18, 2024
Of course, the Biden campaign is playing defense, but like the Alamo, the walls have been breached:
Joe Biden is his party’s nominee. He’s the President of the United States. He’s running for reelection. Baseless conjecture from anonymous sources isn’t a scoop. Tonight a convicted felon will talk about how he’ll make people’s lives worse if he gains power. Let’s focus. https://t.co/RZBb9k6g9d
— TJ Ducklo (@TDucklo) July 18, 2024
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