Throwing cold water on rumors this week that Joe Biden might drop out of the presidential race as soon as this weekend, the president has lined up a high profile fundraising event in Martha’s Vineyard that will be headlined by David Letterman.
Scheduled for July 29, the fundraiser will feature the “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction” host alongside Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. It’s one of 10 fundraisers Biden has lined up through the end of July, all of which, for now, serve to reiterate the campaign’s insistence that he will remain in the race.
The news of the Letterman-headlining fundraiser comes three weeks after the disastrous June 27 debate against Donald Trump that ignited concerns about Biden’s fitness to serve a second term. Since then, an increasing number of powerful Biden allies have called on him to quit.
For example, on Wednesday Presidential campaign co-chair Jeffrey Katzenberg warned Biden on that donors have stopped contributing and Senate candidate. Also this week, Adam Schiff called on him to drop out publicly. Most major party figures haven’t taken that step, but multiple reports hold that Nancy Pelosi, Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer are effectively doing so behind the scenes. And anonymous sources told The Washington Post that even Barack Obama is wavering.
But the news also comes the day after the final night of the 2024 RNC, and the timing may not be coincidental.
That’s because prior to his acceptance speech, Donald Trump had strong winds at his back thanks to national sympathy from the failed assassination attempt a week ago. He was even reported, vaguely it should be noted, to have prepared a speech emphasizing “unity,” and offering a different tone from the hateful and often violent rhetoric and narcissism that he’s known for.
Instead, Trump delivered a rambling, incoherent filibuster that ditched the unity messaging within minutes, demonized political opponents and even vaguely threatened another Jan. 6 style uprising should he lose. And it went on for an excruciating 93 minutes. Widely mocked as both confusing and boring, even some Trump supporters were baffled and turned off by it.
Afterward, pundits panned Trump and multiple outlets reported that Democrats came away reassured that convicted felon remains very beatable. Perhaps the Biden campaign sees this as a second chance to reset the conversation that since June 27 has been dominated by a focus on his alleged enfeeblement.
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