Biden has Covid

[Viviennemary]

Just heard this on the news. They are making a big thing of it. I bet he will use this as an excuse to step down. Bit too convenient IMHO. They are saying very problematic.

I think Michelle Obama is fabulous, but putting aside the fact that she doesn't want to be president and isn't particularly qualified to be president, floating the fantasy of her running is going to be vastly different from her actually running.

Have people forgotten all the shit she endured? The 30% of the country who are diehard Trump fans are going to re-up all the garbage - she's a man in drag (Mike), she's a black woman who doesn't know her place, she and Barack are child traffickers, she shows her upper arms inappropriately, she's a communist, she's a liberal elite and on and on and on. The media will start both-sidesing her endlessly. This will all have a trickle down effect until she's in much the same position as any other Democratic candidate.

Apart from the fact that Michelle Obama has repeatedly said she's not interested... Certain GOPers have insinuated that Barrack Obama has been operating Biden's strings for the last 4 years. Imagine how they would react to his wife becoming nominee.

It's a right mess.
I've read that Biden originally only wanted to serve one term with the party having time to groom his successor and it was only when Trump made it clear that he intended to be the GOP nominee, Biden felt he couldn't stand down

Yes, precisely. And I agree - that's exactly what happened with the second Biden run.

I think he's going to step down. I think the momentum for him to step down has tipped.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/18/biden-dnc-nomination

Totally agree. Even Obama has come out and told him to think again. Announcement within days I bet.

If it's going to happen, I hope it is soon. There is enough time possibly to regroup with the right presidential candidate. Uncertainty favours no one.

I hope they are getting well prepared behind the scenes so that when he steps down they have a smooth process and not yet more of a shambolic shit show.
But I'm not convinced, given what the last few weeks has been like.

I’m still not convinced he’s going to go, the public statements feel to me more like a final swing at the ball trying to bring conversations into the public domain so they can’t be said to have been complicit when he loses in Nov. It’s a shit show.

That's a shrewd take on it. I'm sure they'll be trying to cover all bases.
On balance though, I think he's going to be persuaded. I think Pelosi helps massively to tip it now she's saying she thinks he should go. Hard one for him to ignore.

I really hope that you’re right.

I don't think so. I think they mean it. The stakes are too high. It wouldn't be just the presidency, but likely congress too, which (not to be alarmist, although I feel pretty alarmed) would be the end of the system as we know it.

I think there’s a bit of both to be honest. These people will be thinking about their own political futures as much as about this single election. Yes this election is monumentally significant but it’s hard to get politicians to look past their own ambition.

@Igotjelly Exactly so. They will be trying to get him to capitulate, scrambling a way forward, and covering their own backs all at the same time.
But I think he'll go. I just wish he'd hurry up about it.

'X' seems to have shifted this evening and there are many more articles on there about him stepping down, and pretty soon. I wonder who they're going to replace him with?

Indeed, it seems pretty inevitable now I doesn’t it.

I think it's Obama that's shifted it, Sky News suggesting it's going to be this weekend... 👀

Agree with others - he’s 100% gonna go.

Does anyone know about the situation with donors who have been financially supporting the Biden/Harris ticket for the last while? I don't know enough about US politics to fully understand but I think their presidential campaign would have been financially supported by lots of Democrat doners for months and months now so I'm not sure if Biden can just pull out now and disappoint/annoy them after their financial commitment to him? Again, I don't know enough and would love if someone more knowledgeable could shed some light on it.

If he nominates Harris she will take his delegates and the campaign funds. It’s one of the reasons she’s the obvious choice.

I've read that Biden originally only wanted to serve one term with the party having time to groom his successor and it was only when Trump made it clear that he intended to be the GOP nominee, Biden felt he couldn't stand down

I don’t get why Trump standing would mean Biden felt he couldn’t stand down. Does he think he’s the only Democrat who can take on Trump?

Thank you! If he nominates someone else can they take the funds also or does it have to be Kamala Harris?

It has to be Kamala. They are not allowed to move the money to another candidate as the money was pledged to the Bidden Harris ticket. Currently standing at $100 million

It’s quite complicated due to campaign funding laws, this explains it a bit: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/91-million-question-what-happens-bidens-campaign-money-2024-07-18/

My understanding is that’s not strictly true and that there are workarounds, it’s just more complicated.

Thanks both. I believe Harris is polling even lower than Biden, so, really it has to be Biden for them to have any chance...