Is This the End for President Biden? More Democrats and the Press Call for Biden to Resign, with Charles C.W. Cooke and MBD | Ep. 829
Episode Stats
Length
1 hour and 36 minutes
Words per Minute
162.79669
Summary
The dam is starting to break against President Joe Biden, as more Democrats and media raise questions about his ability to continue to lead. For the first time, we are seeing indications that President Biden himself is seriously considering whether he can recover from that devastating debate performance.
Transcript
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Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show, live on Sirius XM Channel 111 every weekday at New East.
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Hey everyone, I'm Megyn Kelly. Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show.
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We are drinking from the fire hose of news today, all about President Biden.
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And we are nearing, I believe, the end for him.
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It is one day before our nation celebrates our independence.
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And in our 248 years, we have never experienced anything quite like what we are witnessing right now.
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The dam is starting to break against President Joe Biden.
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As more Democrats and media raise questions about his ability to continue to lead.
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For the first time, we are seeing indications, at least in the media,
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that President Biden himself is seriously considering whether he can recover from that devastating debate performance.
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The New York Times, moments ago, out with this headline, quote,
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Biden told Ally that he is weighing whether to continue in the race.
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After the article published, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said it was absolutely false,
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adding that if the New York Times had provided us with more than seven minutes to comment,
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But the New York Times claiming to have a source whom they describe as a Biden ally saying it's so.
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This is just the latest in the drip, drip, drip coming from publications like the Times and the Washington Post.
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In a significant development late last night, the Washington Post reporting that former President Obama
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has privately told allies that Mr. Biden's, quote,
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already tough path to reelection grew more challenging after his shaky debate performance, end quote,
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and that he's spoken directly to Mr. Biden to, quote, offer his support.
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James Carville saying Obama and Bill Clinton that their role here is more ceremonial.
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They will not lead this effort, at least not publicly.
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This may be the most important thing you hear today.
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Internal polling from Democrats that confirms some of their worst fears that Joe Biden is hemorrhaging support,
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especially in the battleground states in the wake of this debate.
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And what's more, previously non-competitive states are now in play.
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New Mexico, New Hampshire, Virginia, which could hand the White House back to former President Trump
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And as we mentioned at the top, there has been a special kind of betrayal of President Biden.
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I'm sure that's how he would see it from The New York Times, which has in the past been among the worst offenders in falsely propping up President Biden
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in response to any attack on his age or apparent infirmity.
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Less than two weeks ago, the Times published a piece on all the, quote, misleading videos from conservatives that, quote,
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twisted mundane moments to paint him in an unflattering light when it comes to his age issues.
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Get ready for some political whiplash because the great lady is now bashing the elderly president
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Reporting that he is increasingly confused or listless, forgetting names, mixing up facts, freezing,
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that he's shown a sharp decline just within the past few months,
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that he was given and required nap time during his debate prep, which only began each day at Camp David at 11 a.m.
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The White House says, well, he worked out and did other work prior to showing up at 11.
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Special afternoon nap time for the leader of the free world.
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And then there's this frightening assessment from a former U.S. official
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who helped prepare the president ahead of his recent G7 trip.
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If one could imagine putting Mr. Biden into the same room with President Putin of Russia,
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And the Times pointing out that a European official involved in all of this responded more clearly and flatly.
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No, we would be remiss if we did not mention this.
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Just two days ago, the Supreme Court issued its opinion on presidential immunity,
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noting that, quote, unlike anyone else, the president is a branch of government
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and the Constitution vests in him sweeping powers and duties.
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Apparently, Barack Obama's Homeland Security secretary, who is also a lawyer, may need a refresher on this.
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This isn't trying to reassure us about a second Biden term, about President Biden and the presidency.
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A presidency is more than just one man, one woman.
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I would take Joe Biden's worst day at age 86, so long as he has people around him like Avril Haynes,
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Samantha Power, Gina Raimondo, supporting him over Donald Trump any day.
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No, sir, the president is not more than one man.
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Most Americans don't even know the names of the people you just mentioned.
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They did not vote for them, and they would not be voting for them this November.
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The presidency is just one person, and the current person holding the office is in serious political trouble.
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Joining me now, two of our favorites for NR Day here at the MK Show, Charles C.W. Cook is a senior writer for National Review
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and host of the Charles C.W. Cook podcast, and Michael Brendan Doherty is also a senior writer for National Review.
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You can find all of their work by becoming an NR Plus subscriber.
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Charles MBD, welcome back to the show on what's turning out to be really a momentous day.
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The White House had done a decent job of battening down the hatches and trying to stop the crisis.
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It's failing, and the polling, I think, is at the heart of why it's failing.
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Charles, your take on the outline that I just presented to the news today?
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Well, I think that what you're seeing is one of the biggest media and party scandals in American history.
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It seems abundantly clear to me what has happened here.
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For months and years even, many people have said that Joe Biden was not up to the job,
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and certainly that he wouldn't be up to the job for another four years, until 2029, when he'd be 86.
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They were told that they were informed by cheap fakes,
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that they were driven by partisan animus, and so on and so forth.
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And that wasn't true, and most of the people who said that knew it wasn't true.
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Now, the media has pressed the other button on the switchboard,
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has gone completely in the opposite direction, and is now trying to force him out of the race.
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This is not being driven by love of country or a fear that the executive branch is being run by somebody who is not up to it.
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It is being driven by a preference for the survival and thriving of the Democratic Party.
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And so the same press and Democratic establishment that has been telling American voters,
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who never bought this, by the way, 86% of American voters think he's too old,
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that they should not trust their own eyes for years,
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is now insistent that they should trust their own eyes and that Biden has to go.
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So I think it's worth our looking at this very real problem,
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which is not just a problem of the media or of perception,
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I mean, these people have been playing with the presidency.
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They've been playing with the federal government.
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They've been playing with the health and safety of the United States.
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And what we're now seeing unfold is the product of that.
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There's a New York Post piece today about how Carl Bernstein,
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The guy who followed the lead to bring down Richard Nixon?
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The guy who doesn't seem too worried about where stories lead,
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I'd heard 15 to 20 times that the president was not up to it.
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You know, this is a scandal that has been caused by a long-term cover-up,
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by a press that is interested in one thing and one thing only,
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Dozens of Democratic lawmakers are considering signing a letter
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demanding that President Joe Biden withdraw from this race,
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as panic mounts that he will cost them not only the presidency,
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The dam broke yesterday on Democratic officials speaking out
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whether this was an episode or an actual condition
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but he would back VP Harris if Biden steps aside.
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It was, oh, they're going to have a meeting on Sunday
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and Jill Biden is going to be heavily influential.
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And that's who's giving him the advice to stay in.
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in the most disgraceful performance of a lifetime,
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Mika Brzezinski went on warning Joe first thing
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and gave a soliloquy about Joe Biden's character,
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lied of course he lied he's a politician but he
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Hunter Biden drug addled Hunter Biden though he said
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to be clean at the moment is going with the president to all
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of his meetings right now apparently as like a backup
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Biden and this is being defended by people like Mika Brzezinski is like no
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big deal but it is a big deal and there's a real question about
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whether this is appropriate and why he's there they're saying
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the White House is saying oh it's just because it's a holiday week
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what does that mean what is that it's like bring your kid to is it bring your
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son to work day at because it's almost July 4th but why is Hunter Biden
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Biden has been in some meetings with senior advisors
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so a couple of things I do I saw that reporting as I was coming out so a
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couple of things there look the president as you know is very close to
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his family this is a holiday week 4th of July he spent time with his family as
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you all know and reported at Camp David Hunter came back with him and walked
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with him into into into that meeting that prep that speech prep and you know
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and he ended up spending time with his dad and his family that night that is
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basically what happened it is a week where there's going to be more family
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members who are going to come to the to the White House I'm sure you'll see some
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of them on 4th of July many more are expected to be here
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the question though would be is he participating in meetings with senior
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advisors what I can say is that he came back with his dad from Camp David he
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walked him into the speech prep and he was in the room that I can tell you he
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was in the room I don't know about you MBD but if we're looking for shadow
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yeah one thing Hunter has over his father is that he's a little bit more liberal
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about gun ownership than uh most Democrats and drugs libertarians may like
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him I I will say this um you know um the press has moved on you know the Hunter
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Biden story as this kind of saga was in 2019 it was uh you know Hunter Biden is a
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troubled person but you know he has none of his business dealings have anything to
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do with the president you know the potential president of the United States
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Joe Biden there's no real connection here at all um the only the only connection is
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that Joe Joe Biden loves his son so much and now it's well Hunter Biden of course is
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just you know waltzing into meetings with cabinet officials or other high-level
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senior staff well why I mean the the obvious question is why is it because the
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circle has tightened so much the Biden family doesn't feel that they can trust
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the White House staff to be on their uh on Joe Biden's side in this anymore because
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of the leaks that have been happening I mean over the weekend right I mean the
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White House itself was putting out stories that looked like defenses but were
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really knifes in the back right they they put out a story oh well Joe Biden is you
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know reliably engaged between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and it's like okay on the surface that
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sounds like a defense but actually that's that's a knife in his back so someone in the
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White House said that to Alex Thompson of Axios and that hurt the president and then
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they put out more stories like that that's almost certainly why Hunter Biden is there
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is because he wants his his father to remain president uh and to have enough be elected to
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another term he probably wants a pardon he may want future pardons I have no idea um he may want
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you know business opportunities again and he feels that no one else is reliable to protect his father
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um so he's showing up and that itself is a scandal and the reporting on it again is a reflection of
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the media's pylon uh to get rid of Joe Biden right it does not make Joe Biden look good that he is
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relying on his son all right listen let's get to these polls because you know the real question is
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as we pointed out in as as even the White House reportedly said if he starts to if the polls start
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to go down even the president will see the truth um he understands that you know if they start
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hemorrhaging polling both at the White House level well at the White House level it's going to
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trickle down and they could lose the house they could lose the Senate and the White House to
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President Trump which is literally their worst nightmare well um reporter over at Puck News got a
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hold of some internal Democratic polls Peter Hamby did it's a confidential polling memo put together by
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Democratic data firm Open Labs uh their memos are very trusted in Democratic circles and typically
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passed around to a small group of clients and strategists so reports Hamby uh the memo circulating
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among anxious Democrats is confirming quote some of their worst fears Biden's diminished standing is now
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putting previously non-competitive states like New Hampshire Virginia and New Mexico in play for
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Donald Trump the electoral map based on Open Labs reporting would land as follows Biden with 205
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electoral votes Trump 333 333 that would be a landslide um showing that Biden has lost at least two points
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in every single battleground state um new CBS polling puts it at four points that Biden has lost to Trump
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in the wake of this debate four points in every single battleground state um
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Pennsylvania and Michigan Biden is now polling behind this is according to this poll Pennsylvania
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Michigan Biden behind by seven points he's losing Georgia by 10 losing Nevada by nine he's behind
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Trump in Virginia not by much 0.6 percent but behind Trump in Virginia he's behind Trump in New Mexico
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not by much but behind him in this reliably blue state by 0.5 in New Hampshire a state that Joe Biden
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won won in 2020 by seven and in which he had had a 10 point lead just a few months ago just in December
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Biden's now down by two New Hampshire a 12 point swing according to a St. Anselm College poll actually
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um he's down there 12 points now now Trump leading in New Hampshire in New Mexico which Biden won by 11
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points uh Joe Biden's now up only two points over Trump just in June before the debate he was up
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seven points as for the possible replacements on the Democratic ticket Kamala Harris Gretchen Whitmer
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Gavin Newsom Pete Buttigieg all of them pulled ahead of Joe Biden in every single battleground state
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Governor Whitmer of Michigan blows away Trump in her home state back in September uh Open Labs ran a
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similar survey and found that all of those Democrats were in the same position as Biden now they're ahead
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of him this this is what's going to do it this is it this is the thing the internal polling that says
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he can't do it he's hemorrhaging an MBD he's going to take others down with him yeah I mean all those
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so all those poll numbers right if you have to start rededicating resources out of Nevada and into New
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Mexico I mean you are robbing other Democrats down the ballot of resources they need to compete they need
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to get their name recognition out there their new new candidate for Congress in Virginia they need money
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from the the party in the state and if that state party is spending all of its efforts or donors are
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spending more efforts propping up Joe Biden trying to make you forget what you saw trying to make you
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forget what you think trying to make you forget what you fear at night about Joe Biden's condition
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that can that can be a rolling disaster for the whole party now listen the whole party doesn't mean
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you know Joe Joe Biden's condition is not transferable right to other candidates obviously
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right like so this isn't uh you know the scandal isn't necessarily going to implicate other Democrats
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who are just running their race in New Mexico Nevada or or Michigan but again it can take away resources
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from them and and they are desperate for them because this is you know 50 50 country this is a hotly
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divided election and if you demoralize one party the other party will turn out and beat it and that's
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what they're afraid is happening now and right now Donald Trump is playing this like you know like a
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Christian with three aces I mean he is not he can't lose he's just sitting there quietly and collecting
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everything that Democrats are throwing into the pot at him uh he doesn't have to do anything
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and in fact if he does uh interrupt it would probably weaken the effect um you know he handled
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it just right at the debate calling attention to it maybe twice gently uh but he didn't do anything
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to make himself look cruel insensitive no Trump's doing a remarkable job of holding his fire and just
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letting this be a scandal that of its own making not involving him um we're almost done here but I want
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to give you this Charles just posted New York Times Trump widens lead after Biden's debate debacle
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New York Times Siena poll finding Mr. Trump now leads Mr. Biden this is likely voters so we do pay
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attention 49 to 43 a six percentage point lead nationally Hillary Clinton had a 5.9 percentage
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point lead over Trump at this point in the race in 2016 so things could still happen but it's a swing
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it's a three point swing toward Trump from just a week earlier and it is the largest lead Trump has
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recorded in a Times Siena poll since 2015 he leads by even more when you expand it to registered voters
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49 to 41 and they pin it to doubts about Mr. Biden's age and acuity being widespread and now
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growing I'll give you the final word well that shows that the debate really hurt Joe Biden to
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state the obvious I think that Trump was winning the election anyway I'm less sure that was going
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to hold I actually will shock you so I think there is a fairly high chance Megan this all ends with the
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Democrats winning the White House but it's not going to be Joe Biden certainly if they replace him yeah
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exactly if they replace him I mean Republicans I think should be rooting for Joe Biden to stick it out
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but I don't think he can no question they should but if the polls that you just read both the national
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one and Siena and that leaked internal democratic document are correct then in a sense it's quite
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bad for Donald Trump because they're going to replace it I mean if there is any indication that
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what you've just read out is true they're going to replace it but then I will jump on that train
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wholeheartedly and say if that if that is the case in a week he has to go because he will lose and
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lose badly and Michael explain the resources issue I just think after that Republicans are a little
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overconfident about this it doesn't translate to other candidates and it could give the Democrats a
01:34:10.020
shot in the arm no that's exactly right and so I guess I'll do exit polling Rich Lowry style
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brings on the editors and I won't ask his actual question percentage chances of Joe Biden being the
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nominee but what do you think will happen MBD this time in 30 days will Joe Biden still be the
01:34:29.980
Republican or the Democratic nominee no he will not the question is whether it's where the Harris gets
01:34:40.480
the coronation or whether they decide to have as Ezra Klein speculated in New York Times a kind of
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dramatic convention fight that could be a spectacle and could in fact energize the party by showing it
01:34:56.500
has life and is willing to select someone that is more popular um yeah I I think they would I think
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they would come out of that hugely relieved remember more than 80 percent of Democrats think Joe Biden is
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too old the the feeling the the exhale feeling if they get a Gen X or onto the ticket is going to be
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massive and it's enormous and the media will do its part they can rely on the media they'll be so
01:35:28.540
excited they'll be so excited it normally does all right last last comment from you Charles what do you
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think well you said don't do percentages but I have to because I'm just completely torn on it I I'm 50 50 on
01:35:41.480
the question of whether he sticks it out I think that some of this is happening not all of it that
01:35:46.540
the consequences of that debate are real but the pressure that we're discussing is still a little
01:35:51.960
bit online it's still a little bit the preserve of people who talk about politics all day as we do
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it hasn't bled out yet and I'm still open-minded as to whether Biden can make it go away so I'm I'm 50 50
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guys thank you both so much what a day look forward to listening and reading more over at
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national review all the best thanks to all of you as well we may indeed be live tomorrow tune in to find
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out thanks for listening to the megan kelly show no bs no agenda and no fear
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thanks for listening and listening to the megan kelly show no Hoffa