Biden defends his 2024 campaign as some Democrats raise concerns: Highlights

The White House tonight released a letter by Biden’s personal physician, Kevin O’Connor, explaining multiple visits to the White House by a Parkinson's expert.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to reveal any information during today's briefing about the nature of the visits by neurologist Kevin Cannard, who was named in the letter.

O’Connor confirmed that Cannard was the neurological specialist who has examined Biden for each of his annual physicals in office. He also confirmed, as Jean-Pierre said repeatedly said today, that Biden has not seen a neurologist outside his annual physicals. His last physical was in February, and O’Connor reiterated his assessment that he was not showing signs of any neurological disorder, including Parkinson’s, during that examination.

In a statement tonight, the top two members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus voiced their support for the top of Democratic ticket.

"We stand with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris," said Rep. Nanette Barragán, D-Calif., the chair, and Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., the deputy chair.

"President Biden and his Administration have worked closely with House Democrats to make historic investments to positively impact communities across the country, including Latinos, such as investments to combat climate change, lower healthcare costs, expand access to healthcare for our veterans, and create jobs with the Infrastructure bill," they said. "Most recently, President Biden announced an executive action that was a top CHC priority, to protect the noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens to keep families together."

The praise follows similar support from members of the Congressional Black Caucus as several senior House Democrats call for Biden to step aside in the presidential race.

A number of Democratic senators said today that they continue to back Biden, even as some of their colleagues in the chamber have expressed concerns about his candidacy.

Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, chair of the campaign arm for Senate Democrats, told NBC News, "I support him and I feel good about him in our Senate races."

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York told NBC News she also continues "to have confidence in President Biden and his ability to beat Donald Trump this November."

During a virtual meeting tonight, Biden spoke with members of the Congressional Black Caucus — a group that has fiercely defended him amid calls by some House Democrats to step aside in the 2024 race.

Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., a CBC member, said in a statement that Biden "showed his unwavering dedication to our nation’s future and that he is in this fight."

"Today’s call reaffirmed my support for Biden and Harris. Undermining Biden only weakens our resolve to defeat Donald Trump in November," she added.

Biden spoke for about 20 minutes in a conversation that was heavy on lifting up Black Americans and growing wealth, a Democratic aide said. Everyone on the call who spoke praised him, the aide said.

Accusing conservative Supreme Court justices of placing “a crown on Donald Trump’s head” that allows him to commit crimes with impunity, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said today that he’s considering a legislative response to last week’s court ruling.

“We Democrats will not let the Supreme Court’s decision stand unaddressed. The Constitution makes plain that Congress has the authority to check the judiciary through appropriate legislation. I will work with my colleagues on legislation classifying Trump’s election subversion acts as unofficial acts not subject to immunity,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor.

Schumer spoke as the Senate returned from recess, a week after the Supreme Court handed Trump a big win in a 6-3 ruling along ideological lines saying presidents have legal immunity from prosecution for “official acts” carried out on the job but not unofficial acts. The terms are subject to interpretation, and Schumer is seeking to define Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results as being outside the scope of his presidential duties.

Read the full story here.

Biden is “winning back a lot of trust” with his public appearances since his stumble on the debate stage, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said today.

“He has four months — which is an eternity in today’s politics — to convince the American people that it is better to have a president that has an off night as opposed to a president who has an off personality,” Green told NBC News.

Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, a member of Democratic leadership and president pro tempore of the Senate, called on Biden to “demonstrate he can campaign strong enough to beat Donald Trump” in a new statement tonight.

Murray stopped short of calling on Biden to drop out but said he “must seriously consider the best way to preserve his incredible legacy and secure it for the future.”

“We need to see a much more forceful and energetic candidate on the campaign trail in the very near future in order for him to convince voters he is up to the job,” she added.

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., said in a TV interview and a statement that the Democratic Party needs a new nominee.

“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, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said on CNN.

Smith, who is one of nine House Democrats calling for Biden to drop his re-election bid, said Biden’s health issues distracted from his record, adding that a campaign strategy of telling lawmakers to be quiet and fall in line “simply isn’t working right now.”

Biden is slamming “elites” who have called for him step aside. He says he still has the support of voters. As he fights for his political future, Biden hopes the support of Black voters and union workers will propel him to another victory. NBC News’ Hallie Jackson reports.

The Democratic National Committee will roll out 57 buses that will be driven around Milwaukee during the Republican National Convention in the city next week.

The buses are set to feature slogans aimed at promoting Biden’s re-election campaign and casting Trump as a threat to Americans’ livelihoods.

“Ahead of the Republican National Convention, Democrats are making sure that Wisconsinites and all Americans understand that if Trump wins, America loses,” DNC communications director Rosemary Boeglin said in a statement. “This year, the survival of our democracy is on the ballot, along with protections for fundamental freedoms, health care, affordable prescription drugs, and good-paying jobs.”

Arizona GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake released a digital ad today that highlighted Biden's debate performance and linked her likely Democratic opponent, Rep. Ruben Gallego, to the president.

The ad starts out with Vice President Kamala Harris saying, “I hope you were able to tune into Joe’s debate,” before it cuts to Biden struggling on the debate stage in Atlanta.

The 30-second digital spot also features a mash-up of political commentators saying "that was painful” and “he is very old and was lost frequently.”

The NAACP announced today that Biden will be the key speaker at its convention in Las Vegas next week.

"The rights of Black Americans are under rampant attack," Derrick Johnson, CEO and president of the NAACP, said in a statement.

"There is no better time than now for our presidential candidates to reassure our community that our voices are heard and our concerns are a priority."

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said tonight that he supports Biden's re-election bid.

“I made clear publicly the day after the debate that I support President Joe Biden and the Democratic ticket. My position has not changed,” Jeffries told reporters on Capitol Hill.

Jeffries’ comments come a day after he convened a call with several House Democrats, some of whom said Biden should step aside.

Biden was trailing Trump — albeit within the margin of error — in many national and battleground polls before Biden’s debate debacle.

Now Biden is trailing by 1 to 2 points more in some surveys, but the movement is still within the margin of error, and few of the results reflect a radically altered race — though in our polarized and tightly divided politics, the campaign could very well hinge on such margins.

That’s the polling takeaway 11 days after Biden’s disastrous debate performance, as a handful of Democrats have called for him to exit the race and a defiant Biden insists he’s remaining in the campaign. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

Read the full story here.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said that she spoke with Biden over the weekend and that she supports his continuing his re-election bid.

"He made clear then, and he has made clear since, that he is in this race," Ocasio-Cortez told NBC News.

"The matter is closed. Joe Biden is our nominee. He is not leaving this race. He is in this race, and I support him. Now what I think is critically important right now, is that we focus on what it takes to win in November."

The Biden campaign launched an ad today that zeroes in on the overturning of Roe v. Wade during Trump’s presidency.

The ad, titled “Her Own,” alludes to Trump’s appointment of three conservative justices to the Supreme Court, which later overturned the landmark ruling that guaranteed a constitutional right to an abortion.

The spot features a sound bite of Trump on the debate stage last month touting his appointments to the high court who “happened to vote in favor of killing” Roe, which he described as a “great thing.”

Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., said today that Biden needs to keep showing that his poor debate performance "was just a bad night" and that he can clearly defeat Trump in November.

“I love Joe Biden. He’s the most accomplished President of my lifetime and he’s a genuinely wonderful human being. However, what I care most about is the preservation of our democracy," Heinrich, who is up for re-election in November, said in a statement.

"President Biden needs to continue to demonstrate that his debate performance was just a bad night, and that he has a clear path to defeating Donald Trump. Our democracy hangs in the balance."

Closing arguments began this afternoon in the federal corruption trial of Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., after nearly two months of testimony. Closing arguments could last through most of tomorrow. If convicted, Menendez could face decades in prison. NBC News correspondent Rehema Ellis reports.

Biden’s shaky debate performance has turned more attention in the Democratic Party to races further down the ballot, with donors, candidates and strategists looking for ways to shore up a congressional firewall against the chance of another Trump presidency.

One major liberal fundraising group said it has seen a big uptick in donor interest in its down-ballot efforts. Battleground candidates are largely keeping their heads down amid intraparty handwringing about whether Biden should stay in the race. And Democratic strategists involved in House and Senate races note that their candidates have long been running far ahead of Biden in public and private polling as he has struggled to consolidate the party’s base, including Black voters and young voters.

The big concern now is that those voters, unenthusiastic about their choices at the top of the ticket and perhaps newly concerned about Biden after the debate, decide not to show up in November, depriving other Democrats of their votes.

Read the full story here.

Black voters have been key to Biden’s coalition. In the 2020 Democratic primaries, Black voters in South Carolina resuscitated his campaign and put him on the path to the presidency.

In addition to choosing the first Black female vice president, he also nominated the first Black woman to be a Supreme Court justice. And now, keeping the support of Black lawmakers may be key to the president’s political future once again.

Read the full story here.

At the urging of Trump and his allies, the national Republican Party is set to abandon a decadeslong push for a federal abortion ban and soften the stance on same-sex marriage in its platform, according to changes made in its draft policy platform that passed this morning ahead of next week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

The GOP’s new draft party platform, which still must get approval from the full Republican National Committee, came after significant effort from Trump’s campaign, which made a quiet push to keep people seen as too socially conservative off the platform committee, concerned that they would make a vocal push for things like a federal abortion ban, which has consistently been unpopular in public polling.

“The reality of the situation is this platform reflects modern-day realities,” said a platform committee member who spoke anonymously to detail private deliberations. “This is a position that leaves it up to the states, which is the position of the Republican Party.”

Read the full story here.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, a vulnerable Democrat locked in a tough race in Ohio, said today that he has talked to people in his state with "legitimate questions about whether the president should continue his campaign."

The remarks came during an event in Youngstown and were confirmed to NBC News by Brown's campaign. The senator, who is seeking a fourth term, has avoided directly saying whether Biden should drop out of the race.

"I’m not going to judge people in my party, what they’re saying or what Republicans are saying. I’m not a pundit," Brown said today. "I’ve talked to people across Ohio. They have legitimate questions about whether the president should continue his campaign, and I’ll keep listening to people."

Brown faces Republican businessman Bernie Moreno in the fall in a race that is key to Democrats' hopes of maintaining their majority in the Senate. Trump twice won Ohio by an 8-point margin.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters this afternoon that he still backs Biden.

“As I’ve said before, I’m for Joe," the New York Democrat told reporters as he arrived to the Capitol this afternoon.

Biden and Schumer spoke today on the phone, according to three sources familiar with the conversation. Schumer previously said he supported Biden and believed the president was fit to serve when asked by reporters about Biden's fitness to serve last week.

Biden will meet with the Congressional Black Caucus tonight, two sources familiar with the matter tell NBC News.

It’s unclear whether the meeting will be in person, virtual, by phone or a hybrid.

CBC Chair Steven Horsford and other members of the influential group are rallying behind Biden and giving his embattled candidacy a lifeline, as some other Democrats call on him to drop out.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was asked at the daily White House briefing today whether the NSC ever withheld information from the president late at night out of concern he might not be able to process it.

"No," Kirby said.

This comes after Biden reportedly suggested to Democratic governors last week that he might limit evening events after 8 p.m. so he can get more sleep.

Biden joined a video call with key campaign donors and fundraisers Monday afternoon, reiterating his commitment to stay in the race and insisting he is the best candidate to beat Trump, according to three people familiar with the discussion.

The president told donors he is “not going anywhere,” but some who participated told NBC News they wished his personal and direct message to this group of supporters had come a week ago instead of now.

Biden did take several questions, the sources said, including one from a donor who asked what he plans to do to prepare for a future debate with Trump. He said he would strive to be more in “attack” mode than he was on the stage in Atlanta, two of the people said.

He stressed a need to “move forward,” one of the sources said, and suggested he didn’t want to discuss his poor debate performance anymore.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore kicked off the meeting and said he is firmly behind the president, citing Biden’s “true character.”

Biden campaign co-chair Jennifer O’Malley Dillon spoke near the end of the discussion by offering a preview of the president’s upcoming engagements at the NATO summit in Washington and travel to Michigan and Texas.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker's super PAC, Think Big America, is launching billboards across Milwaukee as Republicans arrive in the city ahead of the Republican National Convention next week.

The ads blame the GOP for restricting abortion, with one billboard telling onlookers, "MAGA extremists are in town this week to nominate a president who wants a national abortion ban. Stop them. Vote."

Another blasts "MAGA extremists" for "the end of reproductive rights as we know them."

Pritzker, a Democrat, has been a major supporter of Biden's re-election campaign and has boosted efforts to place abortion rights measures on the ballot in states across the country this year. He was also a major proponent of the Democratic National Committee's plan to host the party's convention in Chicago next month.

Montana Sen. Jon Tester, who is facing a tough re-election fight in November, voiced concern about Biden's candidacy, telling NBC News in a statement that the president “has got to prove to the American people -- including me -- that he’s up to the job for another four years.”

He added, "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."

The statement was his first comment on the issue since last month's debate.

Tester's race is critical for Senate Democrats, who are fighting to keep their razor-thin majority. Tester is set to face off against Republican Tim Sheehy in a general election race that polls show is close.

White House spokesman Andrew Bates says that Biden’s physical examinations have “found no sign of Parkinson’s, and he is not being treated for it.” 

This came after NBC News confirmed reporting from the New York Post that said a Parkinson’s expert from Walter Reed visited the White House at least eight times in an eight-month period, according to public visitor logs. One of those included a January meeting with President Biden’s personal physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor. The nature of and reason for these meetings is unknown at this time. 

"As each report has stated, that examination has found no sign of Parkinson’s, and he is not being treated for it," Bates said. "We do not provide the dates on which the President is seen by the range of specialists who participate in his physical, nor their names. But there have been no neurologist visits besides the one for his physical per year, three in total.”

The White House also confirmed that Walter Reed specialists regularly visit the White House “to treat the thousands of military personnel who work on the grounds.” 

The Parkinson’s expert is Dr. Kevin Cannard, a neurologist who has published at least one paper recently on Parkinson’s. NBC News has reached out to him for comment.

The Trump campaign made its first official announcement about programming for the "Make America Great Once Again" Convention which takes place in Milwaukee next week.

In a campaign email sent out to supporters this morning, the Trump team laid out daily themes including "Make America Wealthy Once Again" and "Make America Strong Once Again."

Rep. Lloyd Doggett, of Texas, on July 2 became the first congressional Democrat to call on the president to withdraw, but more have followed since then, including ranking members of House committees. Still, other lawmakers have defended the president, including members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Read the full story here.

Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., voiced his support for Biden, saying that the president remains the "best messenger" to deliver messages to the American people.

During an interview on MSNBC’s “José Díaz-Balart Reports,” Meeks — the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee — said that Democrats are "on the same page" when it comes to ensuring that Trump can't be re-elected.

First lady Jill Biden reaffirmed the president’s commitment to staying in the presidential race.

“Joe has made it clear he is all in,” she said, drawing chants of “four more years” during a campaign rally in Wilmington, North Carolina.

“That’s the decision he’s made. And just as he has always supported my career, I am all in, too,” she continued.

Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., said in a statement posted to his account on X, that the discussions within the Democratic Party are "deeply self-destructive."

"Weakening a weakened nominee seems like a losing strategy for a presidential election," he said.

He added, "The piling-on is not so much solving a problem as much as it is creating and compounding one."

NBC News has learned that House Republicans have postponed a hearing scheduled Friday with Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and his senior adviser Matthew Colangelo, according to a source familiar. A new hearing date will be determined later.

This move comes after Trump’s July 11 sentencing in the New York hush money trial was postponed. Bragg had agreed to testify after the case was fully completed, and with the delay in sentencing that is no longer the case.

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, said yesterday that Trump has not spoken to him about joining his campaign as his vice presidential pick.

“Have you gotten the call from Donald Trump? Has he asked you to be his running mate?” moderator Kristen Welker asked Vance in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”

Vance, who is on Trump’s shortlist of potential running mates, said he has “not gotten the call” but would alert the media if that happens.

Read the full story here.

Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, released a statement today showing his support for Biden as the presidential nominee. His statement is an indication that support for Biden is holding among a key power center within the Democratic Party, even as others call on him to step aside from the 2024 race.

Trump will call into "Hannity" on Fox News for an interview tonight, his campaign confirmed to NBC News.

The call will be taped sometime today and will focus on the June presidential debate, as well as news of the day.

The Biden campaign is doing outreach to congressional offices amid calls from some Democrats for the president to step aside after his debate performance last month, according to a copy of a memo obtained by NBC News.

The memo largely highlights events the president participated in last weekend in Michigan and Pennsylvania, new polling that the campaign touts as Biden having a stronger performance over Trump in several key swing states, and recent remarks on news programs from some congressional Democrats who continue to express their support for the president.

Biden said in a phone interview this morning that he's frustrated by "the elites in the party" who want him to withdraw as the nominee.

"Run against me. Go ahead. Announce for president. Challenge me at the convention," Biden told MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

Biden said he's been on the road and all over the country since the debate to "make sure my instinct was right about the party still wanting me to be the nominee."

In a new letter to congressional Democrats, Biden emphatically vowed to stay in the race amid demands from some Democrats to step aside in the aftermath of his poor debate performance last month.

Biden stressed that Democratic voters paved the way for him to be the presidential nominee for the party, arguing that it would be undemocratic to bow out of the race at this point.

“I feel a deep obligation to the faith and the trust the voters of the Democratic Party have placed in me to run this year,” Biden wrote in the letter to congressional Democrats. “It was their decision to make. Not the press, not the pundits, not the big donors, not any selected group of individuals, no matter how well-intentioned.”

“The voters — and the voters alone — decide the nominee of the Democratic Party,” he added. “How can we stand for democracy in our nation if we ignore our own party.”

Biden heads into the NATO summit he’s hosting in Washington this week with two distinct challenges, neither of them easy.

On the international stage, he wants to make a case for preserving global alliances in an era when many populist and nationalist leaders are looking inward, his advisers say.

But the tougher task will be on the domestic front, where he’ll need to plow through three days of meetings, speeches and dinners — capped by a news conference Thursday — with the vigor and focus that were noticeably absent during his debate with former President Donald Trump.

Read the full story here.

Rep. Joyce Beatty, former chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said in an interview with MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that she is "100% with the president."

“We are standing up with the Biden-Harris team because they have delivered for protecting our freedom and our democracy," the Ohio Democrat said, referring to the group of CBC members who joined Harris at an event this weekend.

Two sources told NBC News yesterday that the Congressional Black Caucus is largely behind the president, with "little cracks" in the influential group.

Reps. Maxine Waters and Barbara Lee, both California Democrats, “forcefully” defended Biden on a call with fellow Democrats yesterday, according to two sources familiar with their comments.

Biden is expected to call more Democratic lawmakers this week after touching base with 20 last week to reassure Democrats that their concerns are being heard by him, according to a campaign official. Among those he spoke to last week were some of his closest allies: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, and Reps. Nancy Pelosi of California and James E. Clyburn of South Carolina.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., will no longer meet with a group of Democrats today to discuss Biden's political situation, according to a source directly familiar with discussions.

Warner previously had conversations with Democratic colleagues about meeting privately upon their return to the Capitol. NBC News had reported that Warner was organizing Democrats to meet this week to discuss Biden's prospects.

But after news of Warner's discussions were reported, the meeting was not formally set. Ultimately, Warner and others decided it was best to wait until tomorrow, during the regularly scheduled closed-door Democratic lunch, to discuss Biden's 2024 prospects.

Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to several states this week for campaign events.

Harris will be in Las Vegas tomorrow for two campaign events.

On Wednesday, she will deliver a keynote speech at the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.’s 71st Boulé in Dallas. (Harris was a member of the historically Black sorority when she attended Howard University.)

She will also travel to a campaign event in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Thursday.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said yesterday that Vice President Kamala Harris could “overwhelmingly” win against Trump but that Biden must decide whether he will remain in the race as the Democratic Party’s nominee amid backlash over his disastrous debate performance.

Asked about polling that found Harris outperforming Trump if she replaced Biden, Schiff said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that he thought she would be a “phenomenal president.”

Over the next two weeks, Biden will travel to a handful of states to promote his agenda as fallout continues among Democrats over his poor performance during last month's debate with Trump.

The president will stop by an AFL-CIO union meeting in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday and hold a campaign event in Detroit on Friday, according to the campaign.

Next week, Biden will commemorate the anniversary of the Civil Rights Act in Austin, Texas. Then he will travel to Las Vegas to deliver remarks at the NAACP Convention and the UnidosUS Annual Conference, according to the White House.

First lady Jill Biden will deliver remarks at three campaign events today across three states in the South.

Her first event takes place in North Carolina. She will then travel to an event in Florida, followed by an event in Georgia.

The Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee yesterday requested that Biden’s physician appear for a transcribed interview about the president’s medical evaluation.

Chairman James Comer of Kentucky said in a letter to Dr. Kevin O’Connor that he also sought to tie O’Connor to a series of inquiries he has made about Biden’s relatives’ businesses. Comer, a prominent critic of the president’s, for months has helped lead efforts for the Republican-led impeachment inquiry into Biden that has fizzled into nothing. Republicans did not provide evidence that Biden was engaged in any criminal actions, despite repeated claims otherwise.

In the letter, Comer pointed to Biden’s response to ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos’ question Friday about whether he would be willing to take a cognitive test.

Read the full story here.

Four additional Democrats in Congress told their lawmaker colleagues during a phone call yesterday that they believe Biden should step aside to allow someone else to be the party’s nominee for president, according to multiple people on the call and familiar with the discussion.

The House Democrats who said Biden should drop out of the race were Adam Smith of Washington, Jerry Nadler of New York, Mark Takano of California and Joe Morelle of New York.

All four lawmakers hold top positions on key committees and bring the number of Democrats in Congress who have called for Biden to reconsider his bid for president to nearly a dozen.

Read the full story here.