Biden vs. The World

He may have already lost the backing of Democrats on Capitol Hill and in the donor class. But in the face of Joe Biden’s go-for-broke, damn-the-torpedoes embrace of sheer defiance—along with denial, delusion, and desperation—as a strategy for survival, will being abandoned by his own party be enough to make him quit the race?

Jill and Hunter Biden have increasingly asserted themselves in the campaign, taking on active roles as gatekeepers and counselors to the president. Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

John Heilemann

July 8, 2024

As Joe Biden’s post-debate, post-Stephanopoulos existential campaign crisis grew even deeper and more imperiling this weekend, I got on the horn with Puck’s co-founder and editor-in-chief, Jon Kelly, to exchange notes on the Democratic donor revolt, the brewing rebellion in the House and Senate, the escalating anger at Bidenworld, and where all this might end. Herewith…

The Defiance Defense

Jon Kelly: John, suffice it to say that no one among the Democratic political class or national news media has taken any time off during this long holiday weekend. The post-debate freak-out has certainly not abated, and Biden’s future has become the all-consuming story of this moment. The pressure campaign on him to drop out of the race has multiplied during the past week: Donors, House members, and Senators are fuming in private and threatening to go public with their discontent. Meanwhile, a burgeoning Kamala Harris boomlet is afoot.