Biden’s physician says why Parkinson’s disease neurologist visited the White House
President Biden’s
physician said Monday night that a neurologist who specializes in Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders visited the White House as part of his annual physical examinations, as concerns mount over the president’s health and mental acuity.
White House physician Kevin O’Connor said in a letter that Dr. Kevin Cannard was chosen for Biden’s annual physicals “not because he is a movement disorder specialist, but because he is a highly trained and highly regarded neurologist here at Walter Reed and across the Military Health System.”
Cannard has a “very wide expertise which makes him flexible to see a variety of patients and problems,” O’Connor continued.
No signs of neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease, were found during Biden’s physical in February, O’Connor wrote. The president did not see a neurologist outside his annual physicals.
O’Connor said he received permission from the president and Cannard to confirm the neurologist’s identity and the nature of the visit, noting, “To protect patient privacy for the thousands of patients of the White House Medical Unit and the physicians who treat them, normally we do not disclose the names of specialists we work with.”
This, after White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at a briefing earlier Monday that she would not identify Cannard or details of his visits due to privacy reasons.
President Biden spoke on the phone Monday with the Congressional Black Caucus about November’s election and what role the caucus will play in his re-election campaign.
A spokesperson for the Biden campaign confirmed the call to Fox News Digital:
“Tonight, President Biden joined a call with the Congressional Black Caucus to discuss the November election,” the spokesperson said. “Chairman Horsford opened the call, former Chairman Beatty introduced President Biden, and Congressman Clyburn closed the call.”
“During the conversation, President Biden thanked those on the call, talked about the stakes of this election, and the critical role CBC leaders will play in reelecting him and beating Donald Trump,” the spokesperson continued.
Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., released a statement after the call saying she stands with Biden for another four years “because he’s consistently stood with my community.”
“President Biden spoke extensively about his plans to uplift Black Americans and grow Black wealth,” Wilson wrote. “He’s already increased Black wealth and if we elect him for another four years, we can continue to slash Black poverty and help Black Americans thrive.”
“Today’s call reaffirmed my support for Biden and Harris,” she continued. “Undermining Biden only weakens our resolve to defeat Donald Trump in November. I reject Trump’s racism and authoritarianism and stand firmly for democracy. And in November, everyone holding ‘Black jobs’ are going to send Donald Trump back whining to Mar-a-Lago! This election is a clear choice between democracy and authoritarianism, and we choose democracy every day.”
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Former President Trump
on Monday predicted that President Biden will resist calls from Democrats to drop out of the race, saying the commander-in-chief has “got an ego.”
“Well, they cover for [Biden] and they still are sort of covering, but now it’s getting very difficult to do that,” Trump said during an exclusive interview on Fox News’ “Hannity,” referring to Democrats and the media. “And you know, it looks to me like he may very well stay and he’s got an ego and doesn’t want to quit. He doesn’t want to do that.”
Calls for Biden to drop out of the presidential race have grown louder over the past week, following his disastrous debate performance against Trump late last month.
Trump further predicted that if Biden were to drop out, Vice President Kamala Harris would be the Democrats’ heir.
“Well, I think that it will be her. I think they are very concerned about the vote,” Trump said. “If it’s not her, they are very … gun shy. They don’t want to do it any other way. I think I’ve actually come to believe that’s what they’re going to do.”
Former President Trump on Monday accused President Biden of leading the nation into World War III.
Trump made the ominous remarks during an exclusive interview on Fox News’ “Hannity.”
“We’re heading into World War III, in my opinion, with this man, semi-running things, because he’s not running things,” Trump told Hannity. “The people that surround the Oval Office, the people that surround, the Resolute desk … they’re really running things in Washington, I suspect.”
Trump later said the president was “not respected and our country is in serious trouble.”
“And I’ll tell you what, if we’re not careful, we’re going to be right in the middle of World War III and that will be a war like nobody’s seen before because the weaponry.”
First lady Jill Biden scolded reporters for “screaming” at her Monday, as one tried to ask a question about her husband as she walked from a coffee shop to the car.
In a video shared by Washington Post senior video journalist JM Rieger, the first lady was confronted by a reporter who asked her about the growing number of Democrats calling for Biden to leave the race.
“Dr. Biden, do you have any message to House Democrats who are calling for your husband to drop out of the race? How are you feeling about the state of the race?” a female reporter could be heard shouting.
“Why are you screaming at me? You know me. Don’t scream at me, just let me talk,” Jill Biden responded.
This is an excerpt of a story by Fox News Digital’s Lindsay Kornick. Click here to read the full report.
HOOKSETT, N.H. – Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, who’s a top surrogate for President Biden’s re-election campaign, is taking aim at the small but growing number of Democrats urging the president to end his re-election bid.
“It doesn’t help. Let’s be candid here,” Newsom said as he spoke with reporters during a stop Monday in New Hampshire, the third swing state that the governor has campaigned in on behalf of Biden since Thursday.
Following his extremely rough debate performance a week and a half ago in his first face-to-face showdown with former President Trump, Biden has been attempting to prove that he still has the stamina and acuity to handle the toughest and most demanding job in the world. And he’s trying to prove that he has the fortitude to defeat Trump.
This is an excerpt of a story by Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and Deirdre Heavey. Click here to read the full report.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., on Monday weighed in on whether Presidential Biden should stay in the race following his disastrous debate performance against former President Trump late last month.
Speaking to reporters outside the U.S. Capitol Monday, Ocasio-Cortez “the matter is closed.”
“Joe Biden is our nominee,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “He is not leaving this race. He is in this race and I support him.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had an explosive exchange with CBS reporter Ed O’Keefe as the Biden administration faces intense scrutiny over recent revelations of the repeated White House visits of a Parkinson’s disease expert, fueling more questions about President Biden’s mental health.
A series of reports, first reported by the New York Post, showed that Dr. Kevin Cannard, a neurologist from Walter Reed Military Medical Center who specializes in Parkinson’s disease, met several times with Biden’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, over the past year.
During Monday’s press briefing, Jean-Pierre repeatedly would not confirm Cannard’s White House visits to reporters, citing security and privacy concerns despite the fact that Cannard’s name was listed in the public visitor logs.
After Jean-Pierre dodged questions from Associated Press reporter Zeke Miller about whether Cannard’s visits pertained to Biden’s health, saying, “I’m not going to share people’s [doctors’] names,” O’Keefe lost his patience.
This is an excerpt of a story by Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn. Click here to read the full report.
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., on Monday said President Biden must convince the American people that’s he’s up to the task of another four years as commander-in-chief.
“President Biden has got to prove to the American people—including me—that he’s up to the job for another four years,” Tester said in a statement. “Meanwhile, I’ll continue to do what I’ve always done: Stand up to President Biden when he’s wrong and protect our Montana way of life.”
Sources confirm to Fox News that President Biden is expected to virtually join the Congressional Black Caucus for a special meeting tonight as calls for him to step down from the presidential race grow louder.
Monday’s meeting comes after CBC chair, Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., endorsed the president for re-election, saying Biden and Vice President Harris “don’t want to see Donald Trump back in the White House and are ready to work and VOTE to ensure that doesn’t happen.”
The CBC typically meets on Wednesdays.
A sixth House Democrat is now asking President Biden to duck out of the 2024 White House race and accusing his campaign of dismissing concerns from fellow members of his party.
Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, told CNN host Jake Tapper point-blank on Monday afternoon that he believes the 81-year-old president is not the best candidate to beat former President Trump in November.
“I think he should step aside. I think it’s become clear that he’s not the best person to carry the Democratic message,” Smith said.
He maintained that Biden did “a great job” so far, citing the U.S.’s economic rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is an excerpt of a story by Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind. Click here to read the full report.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre suggested Monday that “thousands” of military personnel have been treated at the White House’s medical unit.
The comments came when responding to questions about a New York Times report which said an expert on Parkinson’s disease from Walter Reed National Medical Center had visited the White House eight times in the past eight months – including “at least once for a meeting with President Biden’s physician.”
A reporter asked Jean-Pierre if she could confirm ‘yes or no’ that the Parkinson’s expert’s visit had anything to do with the health of President Biden.
Jean-Pierre pivoted, saying the most recent report on the president’s health, released in February had no findings consisted with cerebellar or any other central neurological disorder such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s or ascending lateral sclerosis.
Pressed to be more concise in her answer, Jean-Pierre said, “There are thousands of military personnel who come onto this White House. Many of them get the care from the White House medical unit.”
“The medical unit hosts a wide range of specialists, from dermatologists to neurologists and so, I cannot speak to every person because … there’s actually security reasons to protect their privacy,” Jean-Pierre said.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters during a raucous press conference Monday that President Biden speaks with his doctor “multiple times a week.”
A reporter had pressed Jean-Pierre on her comments the week prior, when she denied that president Biden had had any medical examinations since his physical in February – including up to and after his disastrous debate performance that re-ignited questions about his mental fitness.
“When you were here last Tuesday you were asked if the president had any medical examinations since [the president’s] physical in February,” a reporter asked. “You said flatly, ‘no.’ Three days later you admitted the president had a short check-in with the medical team … I mean those are two very different things,” the reporter said.
Jean-Pierre doubled down on her remarks, explaining that she said the president had had a “check in” rather than a “medical exam.”“He had a check-in with his medical doctor – which, is something he does a couple of times a week,” Jean-Pierre said, noting that the president’s medical unit is “literally on the other side of the colonnade.”
President Biden was defiant in a call with donors Monday, saying he would not step down from the presidential race and was “not going anywhere.”
The president held a call with the Biden National Finance Committee, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jenn O’Malley Dillon, and Maryland Governor Wes Moore.
Fox News Digital is told the president was defiant, saying that people need to stop questioning him and took only four questions.
Many in the call praised Biden, with one saying the would “crawl over broken glass for him” and others saying, “We love you Joe.”
White House national security spokesman John Kirby fended off questions about President Biden’s mental fitness from the podium Monday.
While trying to convey Biden’s mental acuity, Kirby said earlier that morning the president had asked him a question about the situation on the European continent that he couldn’t answer.
“I told him I had to get back to him,” Kirby said.
The comments had come in response to a reporter who asked whether the National Security spokesman had seen Biden conduct himself behind closed doors the same way the nation saw him during his disastrous debate performance against former President Trump late last month.
A reporter later pressed Kirby on the matter, asking again whether he had seen similar lapses in judgement behind closed doors.
Kirby said he was “uncomfortable” with these types of questions as it was “inappropriate” to respond to in his capacity as a spokesman for the White House.
“In my experience, the last two and a half years, I have not seen any reason whatsoever, to question or doubt his lucidity, his grasp of context, his probing nature, and the degree to which he is completely, in charge of facts and figures,” Kirby said.
On the anecdote for his interaction with the president earlier in the morning, Kirby said he had to “fess up” when he isn’t in command of “facts and figures.”
“And he asked me some questions this morning, I didn’t have answers for,” Kirby said.
The White House of Monday made a subtle jab at Bloomberg’s Justin Sink who had previously asked whether President Biden would be doing any “big boy” press conferences.
While rattling off Biden’s schedule this week, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president will hold a “big boy press conference,” as Sink put it, after speaking to national labor leaders of AFL-CIO and hosting a NATO summit.
White House national security communications advisor John Kirby repeated the line again later in the press conference.
“Thursday afternoon, there’ll be a meeting of the NATO Ukraine Council, after which the president will host an event with President Zelensky and nearly two dozen of our allies and partners who have signed bilateral security agreements with Ukraine, just as the president did. As you saw in Italy a week or so ago. After that, the president will hold a press conference — I guess a big boy press conference is what we’re calling it,” Kirby said.
President Biden’s Monday letter to House Democrats lashed out at Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., the lone Democrat to challenge President Biden and raise the issue of his age during the Democratic primary.
Biden’s letter did not mention Phillips by name, but rather acknowledges his repeated efforts to draw attention to the president’s age and mental capability.
“This was a process open to anyone who wanted to run,” Biden wrote of the primary. “Only three people chose to challenge me. One fared so badly that he left the primaries to run as an independent. Another attacked me for being too old and was soundly defeated. The voters of the Democratic Party have voted. They have chosen me to be the nominee of the party.”
Biden’s letter also referenced John F. Kennedy Jr., who is currently running as an independent.
During his campaign, Phillips argued it would be “impossible” for Biden to fulfill his office for four more years.
“At that stage of life, it is impossible ultimately to conduct, to prosecute the office of the American presidency in the way that this country in the world needs right now. That is an absolute truth,” Phillips said at the time.
Senior adviser for the Trump campaign Jason Miller said Monday that former President Trump is narrowing down candidates for his running mate and is close to making his final decision, perhaps as soon as this week.
“It’s almost an embarrassment of riches that there are so many good people,” Miller said on “Fox & Friends” Monday of Trump’s choices for running mate. “And what President Trump has said is that whoever he does pick needs to be able to step in and do the job on day one.”
“It’s almost an embarrassment of riches that there are so many good people,” Miller said on “Fox & Friends” Monday of Trump’s choices for running mate. “And what President Trump has said is that whoever he does pick needs to be able to step in and do the job on day one.”
Miller added that Trump has many “great choices” and that the final decision could happen any time between now and the Republican convention starting on July 15.
When asked if Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, or North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum are the most serious candidates to be Trump’s running mate, Miller said that “President Trump has discussed even more names than that.”
“What we don’t know is who President Trump and his running mate will be running against,” Miller said. “Ultimately, with all the talk this morning about Joe Biden and whether or not he can hang on in the presidential spot.”
“I look ahead as a campaign strategist to what does that vice presidential debate look like,” Miller said, referencing calls from within the media for Biden to withdraw from the race. “We don’t know if that’s going to be Kamala, or maybe they swap her out for someone who’s even more liberal, more extreme, although that might be tough to do,” Miller said.
Democratic strategist Jon Favreau highlighted polls showing that large majorities of Democrats want to replace President Biden on the ticket Monday.
Favreau, who worked at the White House under former President Obama, rejected Biden’s claim
that calls for his withdrawal are only coming from “elite” sources. He cited a pre-debate poll from the New York Times that found 64% of all voters wanted Biden replaced, including 48% of people who planned to vote for Biden.
Roughly 55% of Hispanic voters and 66% of black voters also wanted Biden to withdraw.
Another 69% agreed that President Biden is too old to effectively serve as president.
“This is not an elite thing. This is not a media thing. This is not a one-bad-debate-freakout thing,” Favreau wrote. “The voters have been voicing these concerns for months now. Denying them or dismissing them is not the way to overcome them…”
An interview from January of First Lady Jill Biden defending her husband’s ability to serve is being shared online after President Biden’s shaky debate performance last month.
MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski had asked the first lady during an exclusive interview if she was concerned about the president’s “age and health.”
“He can do it,” Biden said. “I see Joe every day. I see him out traveling around this country. I see his vigor. I see his energy. I see his passion.”
Jill Biden also said her husband’s age was an “asset” because he’s “lived history.”
“His age is an asset,” she said as Brzezinski chuckled. “He’s wise.”
“He has wisdom,” Biden continued. “He has experience. He knows every leader on the world stage. He’s lived history. He knows history. He’s thoughtful in his decisions. He is the right man, the right person for the job at this moment in history.”
This is an excerpt of an article by Fox News’ Jeffrey Clark
First Lady Jill Biden says she is “all in” on President Biden’s re-election campaign Monday as she plans to make three stops in separate states.
“Joe has made it clear he is all in,” she told the crowd in North Carolina. “That’s the decision he’s made. And just as he has always supported my career, I am all in too.”
The first lady will also make appearances at campaign events in Florida and Georgia later Monday, though Biden himself has no public events on his schedule.
Jill’s declaration of support comes as Biden is working to fend off members of his own party who want him to drop out of the race. His critics say his disastrous performance in the debate against former President Trump proves he is no longer fit to hold office.
Biden has so far rejected calls to withdrawal, writing a letter to House Democrats urging them to drop the issue earlier Monday.
President Biden is urging congressional Democrats to stop questioning whether he should end his re-election bid and “move forward as a unified party” in order to defeat former President Trump in their 2024 election rematch.
And the president, in a letter sent to congressional Democrats on Monday as they return from the July 4th holiday recess, reiterated that he’s “firmly committed to staying in this race” and argued that any further questioning of his candidacy “only helps Trump and hurts us.”
Following his extremely rough debate performance a week and a half ago in his first face-to-face showdown with Trump, the president has been attempting to prove that he still has the stamina and acuity to handle the toughest and most demanding job in the world. And he’s trying to prove that he has the fortitude to defeat Trump.
The debate was a major setback for Biden, who at 81 is the oldest president in the nation’s history. His halting delivery and stumbling answers at the showdown in Atlanta sparked widespread panic in the Democratic Party and a rising tide of public and private calls from within his own party for him to step aside as its 2024 standard-bearer.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser
President Biden has no public events scheduled Monday following his call-in interview with MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe,’ despite First Lady Jill Biden hitting the campaign trail hard.
The First Lady will attend three separate campaign events on Monday, traveling to Wilmington, North Carolina; Tampa, Florida and Columbus, Georgia.
Biden’s lack of public events comes as he faces unprecedented scrutiny over his mental health and fitness for office. He wrote a defiant letter to Congressional Democrats reaffirming his commitment to the race and demanding an end to party drama.
:I’m more than the presumptive nominee. I’m gonna been the Democratic nominee,” Biden said
Veteran Democratic strategist David Axelrod ramped up his criticism of President Biden’s 2024 campaign on Monday, suggesting former President Trump is hoping to keep Biden as an opponent.
“Trump’s not talking much about Biden’s bad debate,” Axelrod wrote on Twitter. “Trump’s campaign is not blitzing ads about it. And Lara Trump said last week it would be an affront to democracy if Biden were not the nominee. Question: Why do you think they are uncharacteristically holding fire?”
Multiple media figures and Biden allies have called on the president to withdraw from the race after a devastating debate performance last month.
“There are certain immutable facts of life,” Axelrod said in an interview with CNN while discussing Biden’s age and leadership. “Those were painfully obvious on that debate stage. The president just … hasn’t come to grips with it. He’s not winning this race.”
“He seems not to grasp what the big concern is that people have,” Axelrod said.
Axelrod, who formerly served as President Obama’s chief campaign strategist, said that Biden is used to fighting “his way back from political defeats and against the odds.”
Former President Donald Trump will sit down on Monday for his first interview following the debate against President Biden.
The interview with Trump will air on July 8 at 9 PM ET on “Hannity.” Host Sean Hannity is expected to ask the former president
about growing calls for Biden to drop out of the 2024 race.
The former president previously appeared for an interview on Hannity to discuss the state of the country and his political campaign after he was found guilty last month on 34 counts of falsifying business records in NY v. Trump.
Hannity asked the former president what he would say to people who believe he wants retribution and will use the justice system to go after his political adversaries if he returns to the White House in 2025.
“No. 1, they’re wrong,” Trump replied. “It has to stop, because otherwise, we’re not going to have a country. Look, when this election is over, based on what they’ve done, I would have every right to go after them, and it’s easy, because it’s Joe Biden and you see all the criminality, all of the money that’s going into the family and him, all of this money from China, from Russia, from Ukraine.”
On Thursday, Trump challenged Biden to another debate, this time with a catch: no moderators.
In a Truth Social post, Trump requested a “no holds barred” and “all on” discussion with Biden about the future of the country.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Nikolas Lanum
President Biden lashed out at Democrats calling for him to drop out of the race on Monday, calling into MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ to share his thoughts.
Biden, defiant and often sounding angry, demanded that his fellow Democrats cut off talk of replacing him as the party’s nominee to go against former President Trump.
“I’m more than presumptive. I’m gonna be the Democratic nominee,” Biden said.
Host Mika Brzezinski questioned Biden about his catastrophic performance in the debate against Trump, and asked whether he had received any cognitive tests afterward.
Biden brushed off the question, however, saying he is tested “every day” by working as president. It was at least the second time Biden has dodged questions about taking a mental competency test in recent days.
The president went on to decry the “elites,” who he says are the only ones calling for him to step aside. He challenged critics to run against him at the Democratic National Convention later this month.
President Biden reaffirmed his commitment to his 2024 campaign in a letter to Congressional Democrats on Monday.
The letter rebuked Democratic lawmakers who have called for Biden to withdraw following his disastrous debate performance against former President Trump. Biden urged Democrats to drop the issue and move forwarded in a united fashion.
“This morning, I sent a letter to my fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill. In it, I shared my thoughts about this moment in our campaign. It’s time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump,” Biden wrote.
Biden writes in the letter that he “declines” to step aside and argued it is time for the party drama “to end.”
The letter comes after several high ranking Democrats called on Biden to drop out of the race in a private meeting this weekend.
Hollywood director, actor and major Democratic Party donor Rob Reiner called on President Biden to withdraw from the race on Sunday, joining a long list
of high-profile supporters who’ve urged the president to step aside following his debate fiasco last month.
“It’s time to stop f—ing around. If the Convicted Felon wins, we lose our Democracy. Joe Biden has effectively served US with honor, decency, and dignity. It’s time for Joe Biden to step down,” Reiner posted on X.
The director of “When Harry Met Sally” has been a longtime supporter and donor of the Democratic Party.
He previously praised Biden as a “decent law abiding person” while characterizing former President Trump as a “pathologically lying criminal.”
Reiner’s call for Biden to withdraw comes shortly after he hosted a fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris, Deadline reported. The Los Angeles event took place two days after Biden’s politically devastating debate, in which the president was seen visibly confused at times, mouth agape, and frequently unable to complete sentences.
Biden’s performance has caused widespread concern about his candidacy among Democrats who now believe he is not equipped to govern for another four years, let alone defeat Trump in November. An onslaught of media outlets and high-profile Democrats have since called for him to step aside from re-election, and more reports have emerged of behind-the-scenes decline. Biden has insisted he is staying in the race.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Yael Halon
Former President Trump’s approval rating has surpassed 50%, as the presumptive Republican nominee leads President Biden on voters’ top two issues, according to a new poll.
The poll by USA TODAY/Suffolk University was conducted on a sample of 1,000 registered voters between June 28 and 30, after Biden’s stalled and stumbling debate performance against Trump sent shock waves through the Democratic Party. It shows 51% of respondents said they approve of Trump’s job performance as president from 2017 to 2021, compared to 41% who said they approve of Biden’s current job performance.
Regarding two of the top issues of the 2024 campaign, the economy and immigration, more registered voters said they believed Trump would do a better job than Biden.
The poll found 53% of registered voters trust Trump to handle immigration compared to 40% who said the same for Biden.
Respondents also viewed Trump as more capable than Biden of handling national security, 52% to 42%, and on dealing with China, 51% to 41%.
Biden scored higher than Trump on just two of the six key issues the poll asked about: race relations and healthcare. The poll found 51% of registered voters believed Biden is the better candidate to handle race relations, compared to 41% who said the same for Trump. On healthcare, Biden scored better than Trump, 50% to 40%.
Trump is leading Biden overall 41% to 38%, a three point jump for the Republican since USA TODAY’s previous poll in May, though that’s within the bounds of the poll’s 3.1% margin of error.
President Biden, reeling from a disastrous debate performance and calls to step aside, addressed a Black church service in Pennsylvania on Sunday, acknowledging the “world’s looking to America.”
Speaking from a stage at Mount Airy Church of God in Christ in northwest Philadelphia, the 81-year-old Biden laughed off concerns about his age, joking, “I know I look 40” but “I’ve been doing this a long time.”
“I, honest to God, have never been more optimistic about America’s future if we stick together,” Biden said.
The president, later on in his remarks, also addressed the upcoming NATO summit in Washington, D.C.
“I’m about to host the NATO nations in Washington. We put them together,” Biden said. “The world’s looking to us. Not a joke. The world is looking to America not to carry their burden, but to lead their hopes.”
“When I ran for the first time for president, I said something basic. I said, we have to bring back dignity and hope in America, number one,” the president added, wrapping up his remarks.
“Number two, we have to give working class and middle class people, like the family I came from, a shot and build the economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down,” Biden said. “And thirdly, we must unite America again. That’s my goal. That’s what we’re going to do. God bless you all and may God bless our troops.”
This is an excerpt of an article by Fox News’ Danielle Wallace
President Biden is relying on his allies in the black caucus and unions as his last line of defense amid his crumbling campaign, according to a new report from Politico.
Biden is facing growing calls to withdraw from the race from members of his own party, though lawmakers in the black caucus have so far remained staunchly in his camp. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., urged her fellow caucus members to support Biden during a call this week.
“The people Joe Biden fights for — middle-class labor union members, Blacks, Latinos — they know he fights for them and they’re going to stay in the fight for him,” Biden adviser Anita Dunn told the outlet.
Biden’s loyalists say the Democratic base has no desire to see Biden leave the race, arguing that drama over his candidacy is limited to Washington.
White House staff remain in a dour mood following President Biden’s debate performance, and many have now turned to gossip about anonymous senior staffers who have been cited in the New York Times and elsewhere saying the president should drop out of his race.
The staffer was described by the Times as having worked with Biden during his presidency, vice presidency and 2020 campaign. When asked about the individual, one senior White House official told CNN, “They shouldn’t be in the White House. Period.”
The staffer went on to insist that no one in the White House is considering the possibility of Biden dropping out. Nevertheless, reports of a somber mood at the West Wing and executive offices continue to spill out into the public.
“They’re just kind of: ‘He’s in.’ They’re not veering off that, because once that cracks, that cracks hard,” one senior Democrat in close contact with both White House and campaign officials told CNN.
FIRST ON FOX – House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer is demanding that the White House physician appear before Congress to answer questions on President Biden’s “declining mental state,” while also revealing that the doctor has been involved in the Biden family’s business dealings.
Fox News Digital obtained the letter Comer, R-Ky., sent to Dr. Kevin O’Connor on Sunday. Comer is seeking to question O’Connor, given his “connections” with the Biden family, on whether he is “in a position to provide accurate and independent reviews of the President’s fitness to serve.”
Comer wants to know whether O’Connor’s medical assessments of the president have been improperly influenced by his work with the Biden family with the company Americore.
“After a concerning debate performance by President Biden against former President Donald Trump on June 27, journalists have rushed to report on what Americans have seen plainly for years: the President appears unwell,” Comer wrote.
Comer said that because Americans have been questioning Biden’s “ability to lead the country,” his committee has been investigating circumstances surrounding O’Connor’s February assessment of the president.
Comer noted that O’Connor determined in February that the president “is a healthy, active, robust 81-year-old-male, who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.”
Comer, though, pointed to reports that O’Connor did not recommend that Biden take a cognitive test.
“The Oversight Committee is concerned your medical assessments have been influenced by your private business endeavors with the Biden family,” Comer wrote.
This is an excerpt of an article by Fox News’ Brooke Singman
White House staffers plan out President Biden’s movements down to the most minute detail even for the simplest of events, providing the president with photos and instructions in large text about where he should go and what he should do, according to a new report from Axios.
In one instance, a pair of photos show the path from a back stage area toward a podium, and instructions read “WALK TO PODIUM” in a bold font.
“It surprised me that a seasoned political pro like the president would need detailed verbal and visual instructions on how to enter and exit a room,” one person who has staffed an event for Biden in the past 18 months told Axios.
“I staffed a simple fundraiser at a private residence, but they treated it like it was a NATO summit with his movements,” the person added.
The White House argued the planning was hardly out of the ordinary for US presidents, however.
“If individuals are not accustomed to seeing advance teams work, that would be a common reaction, whoever the principal is,” the White House told Axios in a statement.
The development comes as Democrats confidence in Biden’s fitness for office continues to crumble in the wake of his catastrophic debate performance against former President Trump.
A reckoning looms. Mark it on your calendar. It will begin Monday night on Capitol Hill.
Maybe punctuated by a meeting of the House Democratic Caucus
Tuesday morning. Augmented by the customary Senate Democratic Caucus luncheon Tuesday afternoon.
The reckoning will slip into Wednesday and perhaps Thursday.
We will learn where Democrats stand with President Biden during this reckoning. And we may even learn whether the president is staying in the race or standing down.
It is said that timing is everything. And Mr. Biden and congressional Democrats certainly couldn’t have had worse timing over the past week-plus.
President Biden and fellow Democrats had since 2021 or even 2022 to figure out whether the president was truly a “transitional figure” (as Biden characterized himself) or if it was time to go with someone else. Not after the party burned through the primaries. It shouldn’t have taken until the earliest presidential debate in American history to have a debate of another sort – even though the president’s team pushed for the date and the format of the recent forum on CNN.
That turned out to be poor timing.
The worst thing to happen to Democrats is that the House met last Friday, just hours after the political brownfields site which doubled as the debate stage in Atlanta. That meant that the Capitol Hill press corps spent all Friday morning chasing every House Democrat imaginable through the halls of Congress, peppering them with questions about Biden’s performance.
Never before were Democratic senators so glad the Senate was out that day. In fact, the Senate didn’t meet at all last week.
The worst thing politically for Biden was that the House and Senate were both out over the past week. Congressional Democrats were petrified after the president’s performance at the debate. But the fact that Democrats only had to endure tough questions from reporters at the Capitol for one day bought Biden time he didn’t have. Congress doesn’t return until Monday, and while apprehension about the president intensified, the recess muted those reservations and paused demands for Biden to possibly bow out.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Chad Pergram
Residents reportedly fed up with progressives running and ruining their city: ‘It’s chaos’
Oakland, California, is reportedly headed toward a change in the political climate as residents are fed up with mounting issues such as housing costs, homelessness, and crime.
“The opposition to progressives like [Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao] has been mounting, abetted by the budget crisis, frustration with crime and fallout from the FBI raid,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao (OUST) submitted its petition in June to have the mayor recalled. Officials in Alameda County confirmed they had met the threshold of 25,000 voter signatures, qualifying the measure for the November ballot.
Steven Tavares, a local politics writer for the East Bay Insiders newsletter, said that the progressive push since 2011 is dying down.
“It was basically carte blanche for progressives,” Tavares said about the Occupy movement that occurred in San Francisco in 2011. “But we’re now leaving that golden era.”
CALIFORNIA’S POPULATION EXPECTED TO DECLINE AS FLORIDA AND THE CAROLINAS’ SOAR IN 2024: SURVEY
Soon after the recall campaign to oust her from office qualified for the November ballot, the FBI raided her home. Subsequently, Thao’s attorney abruptly quit, and her chief spokesperson resigned soon after.
Fox News Digital previously reported that backers of the recall say public safety and economic vitality have worsened under the politically progressive mayor, and that she should not have fired Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong.
Thao has not yet been charged with any crime.
In an interview with the Chronicle, Oakland mayor-hopeful Loren Taylor wants to replace Thao as a more centrist appeal to voters. Taylor lost to Thao in a mayoral election in 2022. However, while the recall effort is underway, Taylor believes he is the answer.
“To say that this is the worst compilation of troubling challenging situations that I’ve seen is an understatement,” Taylor told the Chronicle. “A fiscal crisis, hundreds of millions of dollars, compounded with a public safety crisis that has folks fearful of moving around the city, and businesses leaving town, combined with homelessness crisis that continues to expand despite things getting better in neighboring cities… This storm of events is the opposite of what Oakland needs right now when we’re trying to rebound as a city, post-pandemic.”
After interviewing several community members, the Chronicle reported that many share dissatisfaction with the city’s current condition and want a change.
HOMELESS PEOPLE NEED MORE THAN A HOUSE. THEY NEED SOMETHING MONEY CAN’T BUY
“It’s chaos,” said J.J. Jenkins, a bartender at Smitty’s. “Every time I think the pendulum has swung, something like Juneteenth (shooting) happens. And I don’t think it’s done yet. It’s going to get worse before it gets better.”
Jenkins raised concern over the surge in violence in the city, having had to close his bar early on June 19 after a shooting.
“There is a day of reckoning coming this summer for the city,” West Oakland Pastor Dr. Ken Chambers told the Chronicle.
In addition to being a pastor, Chambers runs homeless services at his West Side Missionary Baptist church. The Chronicle reported further that Chambers added that crime, homelessness, human trafficking and prostitution struck the city of Oakland’s International Boulevard.
“I’ve been in Oakland 58 years. I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s a multitask, problematic, complicated situation.”
One resident, Ayodele Nzinga, said that Oakland’s problems point to a national issue as opposed to a failure of local governance.
“I’m not into the doom loop theory,” said Nzinga, a poet and founder of the Lower Bottom Playaz theater group.
“Oakland has its issues. As do other major cities here in the Bay Area. But this is not indicative of local weather — this is national.”
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Oakland has attempted to clear some homeless encampments throughout the city. City officials shut down over 500 homeless encampments in the past three years. Back in May, the city closed 537 homeless camps with approximately 1,500 remaining, according to a city report.
However, this crackdown has caused blowback from some residents.
Homeless advocates at the time complained about the treatment of the homeless population and how the city has yet to fix the problem.
Tennis star’s girlfriend causes courtside controversy with questionable remark
American tennis star Taylor Fritz stunned Germany’s Alexander Zverev on Monday with a five-set win at Wimbledon after being down two sets early in the match.
Zverev had the advantage after winning the second set 7-6 (4). Fritz, however, stormed back and won the final three sets, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-3.
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Celebrating the win, it was Fritz’s girlfriend, Morgan Riddle, who had the last word. Riddle appeared to mock Zverev when she posted on her Instagram Stories.
“When ur man wins 4 the girls,” she wrote referencing allegations that he assaulted a woman in 2020.
Riddle also wrote in another post, “cheer loud ladies.”
The posts appeared to have been deleted.
COCO GAUFF UPSET BY FELLOW AMERICAN EMMA NAVARRO IN STRAIGHT SETS AT WIMBLEDON
Zverev settled the domestic abuse case after reaching an out-of-court settlement with his former partner, who made the accusations. A German court ended the trial back in June. He agreed to pay fines of around $162,000 to the state and about $54,000 to charity.
Prosecutors said Zverev pushed the woman against a wall and choked her during an argument. Zverev maintained his innocence.
In the match against Fritz, Zverev appeared to take issue with the cheering coming from his opponent’s box in the fifth set. He said “they were a bit over the top.”
Zverev also acknowledged he was playing with a knee injury.
“I was playing on one leg,” Zverev said. “It was fairly obvious that I wasn’t 100% today, right? I wasn’t moving, really, the entire match. I wasn’t running for drop shots. If I was running for a drop shot, I was limping there more than running.”
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Fritz will now play Lorenzo Musetti in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
Target to stop accepting payment method that has been on the decline for years
Target Corp. is killing off the use of personal checks at its stores for good.
“Due to extremely low volumes, we’ll no longer accept personal checks starting July 15,” Target said in a statement to FOX Television stations. “We have taken several measures to notify guests in advance to aid an easy and efficient checkout experience.”
Target will still allow customers to write checks through its Target Circle Week sale, which is going on this week through Saturday.
After the retail giant stops accepting checks, it will still accept several other forms of payments, including cash, debit and credit cards, digital wallets, SNAP/EBT, and buy now, pay later options.
TARGET, DICK’S SPORTING GOODS FACING PUSHBACK FROM INVESTORS FOR ‘GOING WOKE’
Target Circle Card payments may still be made by personal check via mail.
Federal Reserve data shows the use of personal checks as a payment method has been on the decline for years. In 2023, checks accounted for only 3% of payments, down from 4% in the two previous years and 7% in 2020. Last year, the vast majority (62%) of payments were made using a credit or debit card, and 16% were made with cash.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TGT | TARGET CORP. | 148.72 | +3.07 | +2.11% |
Target Corp.
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USA Today noted that Target joins other major retailers in ending its acceptance of personal checks for payments at stores, including Aldi and Amazon-owned Whole Foods Markets.
Second person in just two weeks dies at National Park popular with tourists
A hiker died on Sunday while attempting to reach the south rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona, using a popular trail.
Grand Canyon National Park’s office of communications said in a press release that a 50-year-old man from San Angelo, Texas, died after hiking back to the rim after an overnight stay at Havasupai Gardens.
At about 2 p.m. on Sunday, the Grand Canyon Regional Communications Center received a report of an unresponsive hiker on the Bright Angel Trail, nearly 100 feet below the trailhead.
Bystanders performed CPR on the man as Xanterra Fire and Security and National Park Service (NPS) medical personnel responded from the top of the rim.
HIKER LOST FOR 10 DAYS FOUND ALIVE IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS
Attempts by bystanders and first responders to resuscitate the man were unsuccessful.
The matter is being investigated by the NPS in coordination with the Coconino County Medical Examiner.
TEXAS HIKER DIES ON TRAIL AT GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK; OFFICIALS WARN OF EXTREME HEAT
This is the second time in the last two weeks that a hiker from Texas has died in the national park.
On June 29, 69-year-old Scott Simms of Austin, Texas, was trying to reach Phantom Ranch via the South Kaibab Trail for an overnight stay when he was found semiconscious around 7 p.m.
COUPLE MISSING IN UTAH MAY HAVE BEEN SWEPT AWAY IN FLASH FLOOD WHILE EXPLORING TRAIL ON UTV
He later became unresponsive, and bystanders performed CPR until NPS paramedics arrived. All attempts to resuscitate Simms were unsuccessful.
Sims collapsed on the River Trail, about halfway between the Silver Bridge and Black Bridge near Phantom Ranch, according to the NPS. Temperatures on exposed parts of the trail can reach 120 degrees in the shade, the agency said.
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An NPS review of deaths in national parks between 2014 and 2019 found that hiking was the second-deadliest recreational activity behind driving, while drowning caused the second-highest number of unintentional deaths after motor vehicle crashes.
First lady lashes out at reporter asking questions about Biden dropping out of race
First lady Jill Biden scolded reporters for “screaming” at her Monday, as one tried to ask a question about her husband as she walked from a coffee shop to the car.
In a video shared by Washington Post senior video journalist JM Rieger, the first lady was confronted by a reporter who asked her about the growing number of Democrats calling for Biden to leave the race.
“Dr. Biden, do you have any message to House Democrats who are calling for your husband to drop out of the race? How are you feeling about the state of the race?” a female reporter could be heard shouting.
“Why are you screaming at me? You know me. Don’t scream at me, just let me talk,” Jill Biden responded.
WASHINGTON POST READERS URGE JILL BIDEN TO TELL JOE TO WITHDRAW FROM RACE
She then entered her vehicle without answering any questions.
Fox News Digital reached out to the first lady’s press secretary for a comment.
Biden made three campaign stops across North Carolina, Florida and Georgia to help campaign for her husband on Monday.
These multiple events are part of ongoing efforts by the Biden administration to push back on growing concerns from media pundits and Democratic colleagues that the president is no longer mentally capable of staying in the race since his first debate against Donald Trump back in June.
President Biden, along with his family, have insisted that he will stay in the race.
“As commander in chief, President Biden wakes up every morning ready to work for you. That’s what this election is all about. You. For all the talk out there about this race, Joe has made it clear that he’s all in,” Jill Biden said during her North Carolina event.
MEDIA REACT TO JILL BIDEN’S VOGUE APPEARANCE: ‘I THOUGHT THIS WAS SATIRE’
Biden has also begun receiving more media attention, particularly after reports have suggested that she is the “ultimate influence” over whether the president should remain in the race. She was also featured in a puff piece on the cover of the August issue of Vogue.
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Artifact belonging to America’s Founding Father turns up at thrift store
An artifact that originally belonged to President George Washington recently landed in the hands of a Virginia history enthusiast – and then a museum – all thanks to Goodwill.
The piece is currently on display in the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. Collector Richard “Dana” Moore stumbled across the artifact – which is a six-inch-long piece of linen fabric from Washington’s dining marquee, or tent – on Goodwill’s auction site.
The fabric was auctioned off with a note that read: “a piece of George Washingtons tent, from the history building at Jamestown exposition 1907 property of John Burns Dec 23rd 07.”
While most of Moore’s collection is made up of Civil War artifacts, he has also accumulated pieces from the American Revolution and the War of 1812 over the years through metal detecting. During an interview with Fox News Digital, the history buff said that he thought the piece “couldn’t be real” at first.
HISTORIANS UNCOVER 18TH-CENTURY BOTTLES WITH MYSTERIOUS LIQUID AT GEORGE WASHINGTON’S MT. VERNON
“But when I zoomed in, the fabric looked authentically old,” he explained. “The brief handwritten note referencing the Jamestown Exposition of 1907, which was attached with a rusty pin, added to the feeling of age.”
“My gut kept telling me this could be real.”
Feeling that the piece was special, Moore bought the fabric on the auction site for $1,300. Moore explained that after buying the piece, he felt overwhelmed about being responsible “for such an important artifact of history.”
He waited to tell his wife, Susan Bowen, about the purchase, which she was initially skeptical about.
DIVERS DISCOVER ‘HIDDEN TREASURES’ DURING EXPEDITION TO EERIE ANCIENT SHIPWRECK
“I assumed it couldn’t be real until over a year later when we watched an online presentation from the Museum of the American Revolution,” Bowen explained to Fox News Digital. “That’s what prompted us to reach out to them.”
Matthew Skic, a curator at the museum, told Fox News Digital that the fabric was cut as a souvenir while the marquee was on display in 1907. As the note confirms, the canopy made an appearance at the Jamestown Exposition of that year.
“At that time, Mary Custis Lee, Martha Washington’s great-great granddaughter and daughter of Robert E. Lee, owned Washington’s tents from the Revolutionary War,” he added. “She put the dining marquee on loan to the exposition.”
In 1778, Washington used two marquees while traveling alongside his troops – one for dining and another for his personal offices and sleeping quarters. The fabric that Moore found was part of Washington’s dining canopy. Skic certified the authenticity of the fabric after examining the piece.
ARCHAEOLOGISTS EXCAVATE HAUNTING ‘CITY OF THE DEAD’ PACKED WITH HUNDREDS OF TOMBS
“We took a close look at the weave of the fabric and the style and shape of the red wool edging with assistance from textile conservator Virginia Whelan,” he added. “These details match the dining marquee. We were able to determine that this fragment was cut away from the scalloped edge of the roof of the dining marquee.”
The expert noted that the fabric has darkened over the years “due to the accumulation of dirt and dust.”
“The red wool binding on the edge has faded a bit, but it retains most of its color,” he added. “The fragment’s edges are frayed from being cut away from the marquee.”
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Skic added that finding artifacts such as this is “very unusual, especially through a Goodwill Online auction!”
“Prior to the discovery of this fragment, nine fragments of Washington’s tents were known to exist, all in the collections of museums or other institutions,” he explained. “The Museum of the American Revolution, for example, owns three fragments of Washington’s tents. There may be more fragments out there!”
The fabric is currently on display at the Philadelphia museum, along with other fragments of Washington’s tents. Historians are still actively investigating the piece, and Skic said that the museum is researching who John Burns, the man who supposedly wrote the handwritten note, was.
Bowen said that seeing the artifact in the Museum of the American Revolution was “an honor.”
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“Seeing it as part of the exhibit was so exciting,” she said. “It’s been a very emotional day for both of us.”
Boy bitten by shark after landing on predator while diving into ocean at US beach
A 14-year-old boy was bitten in the leg by a shark during a lifeguard training camp in Florida on Monday morning, Volusia County Beach Safety (VCBS) officials confirmed to Fox News Digital.
Around 11:15 a.m. on Monday, officials said a 14-year-old boy was entering the water at Ponce Inlet, a beach area north of the jetty, when he was bitten on the right calf.
The boy was participating in the Junior Lifeguard Camp, officials with the VCBS said.
Witnesses stated as he was diving into the water, the boy landed on the shark and that’s when he was attacked.
SHARK ATTACKS 4 PEOPLE AT TEXAS BEACH ON FOURTH OF JULY: POLICE
According to witnesses, the shark was a 4 to 5 Black Tip, which is common to the beaches in the area.
Officials said the boy was treated on scene and was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening lacerations.
According to a report from the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack file, Florida — specifically Volusia County — is the shark capital of the world.
FLORIDA MAN ATTACKED BY SHARK ON BOATING TRIP
Not counting Monday’s attack, there have been 351 attacks in Volusia County alone since 1882.
After Florida, which had 16 total shark bites recorded, was Hawaii, which had eight unprovoked bites in 2023.
HAWAII TOURIST BITTEN BY SHARK WHILE SWIMMING, FOUND ‘BLEEDING PROFUSELY’
While the report shows that most shark attacks have happened in September since 1926, July, August and October are also among the most common months for attacks to happen in Florida.
At the beginning of June, miles of beaches in Walton County were closed down in Florida after two back-to-back shark attacks.
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Over the Fourth of July weekend, at least four people were injured in shark attacks on South Padre Island in Texas.