Biden remains defiant as pressure mounts to withdraw from presidential race

Dr. Nicole Saphier made an appearance on "The Big Weekend Show" to discuss President Biden's cognitive state.

During the roundtable she went on to talk about the need for cognitive tests beginning at age of 65.

Saphier believes that annual exams are best to ensure your patients are in the best physical and mental fitness. Stating that early detection gives you a chance to intervene and possibly slow down the the progression of the decline.

"Unfortunately, Mr. President. That's why people are concerned because they're watching him every single day," said Saphier. "They're watching his physical stumbles, his verbal stumbles, the gaffes the, difficulty with memory recall. You know, coming up with certain things. And so you know, sometimes I forget things on air all the time. But I think people are growing concerned with him. Because it seems to be getting progressively worse."

Fox News host and former South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy took a moment on 'Sunday Night In America' to address President Biden's appearance on ABC in which Biden defended himself against what Gowdy says "may have been the worst debate performance ever."

Gowdy went on to say that Biden's interview had some improvements but that "the bar was a little bit low," and argued there were a lot of excuses.

"Harry Truman believed the buck stops here. Biden believes the buck may have given him a cold," said Gowdy.

Tom Malinowski, a former Democratic Rep. from New Jersey and Obama administration official, said Sunday that President Biden has another opportunity to save America from a potential second Trump term, this time by stepping down from the presidential race and “passing the torch.”

Malinowski, in an X post, said he was proud to have been the first New Jersey member of Congress to endorse Biden in 2020 and called him a “uniquely successful president.”

“Today, he can go down in history as the man who saved America from Trump twice – first by running four years ago, then by passing the torch,” Malinowski said.

Malinowski represented New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District between 2019 and 2023. Before that, Malinowski served in the Obama administration as the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. 

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., during an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday said Senate Republicans were most worried about the “national security implications” of President Biden’s mental health.

“Biden is not mentally and physically capable of being president,” Graham told Face the Nation’s Robert Costa. “70% of people believe the nation is on the wrong track.”

While most people were worried about Biden winning the election, Graham said he was more concerned about Biden being the commander-in-chief for the next four months.

The Republican Senator called for all presidential candidates to take a cognitive test – even President Trump.

“Given all the evidence in front of us, [President Biden] is not only in denial, this is a dangerous time for the American people to have somebody at the ship leading the ship of a state who seems to be compromised. So, at a minimum, take a competency exam,” Graham said.

As the fallout from President Biden’s disastrous debate performance lingered into a second week, President Biden in Harrisburg Sunday gave assurances that he’ll convince NATO he’s “up for the job” again.

The president made a series of campaign stops in Pennsylvania Sunday as pressure mounted behind the scenes for him to step down.

Before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington, a reporter asked: “Will you have to convince NATO you’re up for the job again?”

Biden, giving a thumbs up said: “I’m up for the job.”

Radio host fired for using Biden campaign’s pre-approved questionsThe radio host who interviewed President Biden after his disastrous debate performance the week prior has been fired for using questions pre-approved by Biden’s campaign team.

Biden spoke to Andrea Lawful-Sanders, host of “The Source” on WURD in Philadelphia, and Earl Ingram, who hosts “The Earl Ingram Show” on WMCS in Milwaukee.

CNN host Victor Blackwell said Saturday he listened to both interviews and said the questions were “essentially the same in both.”

Lawful-Sanders revealed during a discussion on CNN that the president’s team provided a list of questions before the interview.

On Sunday, WURD said the president's interview was arranged and negotiated independently by Lawful-Sanders “without knowledge, consultation or collaboration” with the station’s management.

“The interview featured pre-determined questions provided by the White House, which violates our practice of remaining an independent media outlet accountable to our listeners,” the station wrote. “As a result, Ms. Lawful-Sanders and WURD Radio have mutually agreed to part ways, effective immediately.” 

Democrats met behind closed doors Sunday as pressure mounted on President Biden to drop out of the race.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., held a virtual meeting with ranking Democrats on House panels Sunday afternoon.

Fox News learned that multiple Democrats on House committees expressed concerns about the viability of Biden continuing to run for re-election against former President Trump.

Fox is told the consensus among most Democrats on the call who suggested Biden should abandon the race was that the party should focus on Vice President Kamala Harris as a potential successor.

This is an excerpt of a report by Fox News Digital's Greg Wehner and Chad Pergram. Click here to read the full story.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said Sunday that while President Biden had a "terrible" debate against former President Trump, he recently spoke to Biden and continues to support him in his quest for re-election.

Sanders – who at 82 is older than Biden – said people should look beyond age, despite increasing concerns from both parties over the president's mental fitness.

"Biden is old," Sanders told host Robert Costa of the 81-year-old president. "He's not as articulate as he once was. I wish he could jump up the steps on Air Force One. He can't. What we have got to focus on is policy, whose policies have and will benefit the vast majority of the people in this country."

The senator said he believes the American people want a president with the "guts to take on corporate America." Someone who will expand Medicare, raise and extend the life of Social Security benefits, and talk about a "permanent child tax credit to cut childhood poverty in America by 50%." 

This is an excerpt of a story from Fox News Digital's Pilar Arias. Click here to read the full report.

Democratic Reps. Jerry Nadler of New York, Mark Takano of California, and Adam Smith of Washington held a private leadership call this afternoon during which they agreed that President Biden should step down as the Democratic nominee, per reporting from Punchbowl News.

The lawmakers reportedly agreed that Vice President Kamala Harris should be the nominee.

An initial X post from Punchbowl News’ John Bresnahan said Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., concurred with his colleagues that Biden should step down. A follow-up post, citing a Beyer aide, clarified that Beyer “is with Biden but would support Harris [if] president stepped aside.”

Beyer later issued a statement reiterating his support of the president.

"I support the Biden-Harris ticket, and look forward to helping defeat Donald Trump in November," Beyer said. "I was proud to host an event this week in Northern Virginia with the President, and will continue doing all I can to support the Biden-Harris campaign in Virginia and across the country.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on Sunday said President Biden and Democrats had a clear path to victory if they “address the needs of the working class.”

The Independent Senator released a statement imploring Democrats and President Biden to continue a progressive agenda. But the statement notably left out any mention of Biden’s age, questions of which have been front and center in the campaign following the president’s disastrous debate performance on June 27.

Sanders said Biden and Democrats must “take on the greed of corporate America and massive income and wealth inequality; raise the minimum wage to a living wage; expand Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing; lower childhood poverty by making the child tax credit permanent; make the very rich pay their fair share into Social Security so we can expand benefits and extend its solvency; cancel medical debt; and build the low income and affordable housing we desperately need.”

In short, Sanders said, the Democrats’ agenda must benefit “working families and not just wealthy campaign contributors.”

The American people want change, Sanders said, framing the choice between “change that benefits working families” or “the change of Trump’s reactionary and xenophobic policies.”

“The choice is clear. Let’s do it,” Sanders said.

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. 

This is an excerpt of an exclusive by Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman. Click here to read the full report.

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.

This is an excerpt of a report from Fox News' Chad Pergram. Click here to read the full story.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg appeared to dodge questions about President Biden's mental fitness to lead NATO on a tumultuous world stage, telling Fox News on Sunday he refuses to become a part of domestic U.S. debate.

"What I can say is that I just had, a couple of weeks ago, a good and productive meeting with President Biden in the Oval Office, and that we, this week, will make important decisions at the NATO summit in Washington on deterrence, defense, on Ukraine, and also to work more closely with our Asia-Pacific partners to address the threats and challenges posed by China," he told Fox News' Joey Jones.

He continued: "Of course, all these decisions that will take place this week would not have been possible without U.S. leadership, so I look forward to an important summit in Washington this week."

His appearance on "Fox & Friends Weekend" came as world leaders are slated to meet in Washington, D.C., for the 75th NATO anniversary summit.

It also comes just over a week after President Biden's mental acuity was thrust into media conversations following his performance while debating former President Donald Trump.

Jones, who pressed Stoltenberg on the issue, emphasized U.S. national security concerns and international interests such as those in Ukraine. He then asked Stoltenberg if he had personally witnessed any evidence of cognitive decline from the president.

This is an excerpt of an article by Fox News' Taylor Penley

President Biden was mocked online after yet another high profile gaffe on Friday, declaring he would beat Trump "again in 2020."

After his widely panned performance in last week’s presidential debate, Biden campaigned in the key battleground state of Wisconsin, where he doubled down on his commitment to remain in the race.

"You probably heard that I had a little debate last week. Can't say it is my best performance, but ever since then, there's been a lot of speculation, 'What's Joe going to do? Is he going to stay in the race? Is he going to drop out, what's he going to do?' Well, here's my answer," Biden said. "I am running and gonna win again!"

While Biden praised the Wisconsin audience for having helped him win the election in 2020, he said there are some who are trying to push him out of the race. 

"Let me say this as clearly as I can, I am staying in the race. I’ll beat Donald Trump, I will beat him again in 2020," he said.

After a long pause, he added, "Oh, and by the way, we’re gonna do it again in 2024!"

But social media caught on very quickly to his verbal gaffe, and the footage of it went viral on X.

Former Trump campaign operative Steve Cortes wrote, "Joe Biden has no clue what year it is."

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Alexander Hall

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu weighed in on former President Trump’s ongoing efforts to flip his state red during an appearance on ‘Fox & Friends Weekend.

Sununu argued President Biden's campaign is "flailing" after the president's catastrophic performance in his debate against Trump.

The governor argued Trump has an advantage in New Hampshire because he can campaign on the fly, making appearances as coffee shops and other impromptu meetings. Sununu argued Biden can't do the same because he is afraid of being asked questions and often looks "foolish" during unscripted events.

"Trump only lost here by a couple thousand votes back in 2016, so it's very much in play here for 2024," Sununu said.

President Biden dodged questions about taking a neurological test and dismissed concerns about his age and ability to serve a second term during his first post-debate interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos on Friday, which was meant to re-assure Americans concerned about his candidacy. 

The president’s comments failed to calm the storm over his debate performance. Biden at one point suggested he was doing the "goodest job" he could, according to the ABC News transcript. He also seemed somewhat unsure if he’d watched his own performance, saying, "I don't think I did, no." Biden stated that "if the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get outta the race,’ I'd get outta the race." 

Stephanopoulos asked the president bluntly how he would feel in January if Donald Trump ended up winning the election and his warnings about Trump and democracy came to pass. Biden replied: "I’ll feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the goodest job as I know I can do, that’s what this is about…. I think the United States and the world is at an inflection point when the things that happen in the next several years are going to determine what the next six, seven decades are going to be like." 

ABC has changed the transcript after the fact and the campaign disputes that Biden said "goodest." The revised version in the ABC News transcript now reads, "I'll feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the good as job as I know I can do, that's what this is about." 

Following a rocky debate performance, Biden has faced several calls to drop out of the race from members of the media and some Democrats. 

This is an excerpt of an article by Fox News' Hanna Panreck

Another local radio host who interviewed President Biden in the days following the presidential debate admitted that he received the questions beforehand.

In statements given to ABC News, Wisconsin radio station host Earl Ingram confirmed that he was given five questions to ask Biden during their recent chat and wasn’t able to get through all of them before the interview ended.

"Yes, I was given some questions for Biden," Ingram told the outlet on Saturday.

Ingram, who is the host of "The Earl Ingram Show" on WMCS in Milwaukee, was the second local radio host this weekend to admit they received a list of questions to use for interviewing Biden.

Andrea Lawful-Sanders, who hosts "The Source" on WURD in Philadelphia, told CNN anchor Victor Blackwell on Saturday that the questions for her interview with Biden "were sent to me for approval."

"I approved them," Lawful-Sanders told Blackwell, who detailed the questions, stating they were about Biden's accomplishments, debate performance, progress in both Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, what's at stake in the election, and what he would say to voters who are considering not voting in the presidential election.

This is an excerpt of an article by Fox News' Gabriel Hays

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., declined to say whether he believes President Biden should drop out of the presidential race, but argued Biden's debate performance "rightfully raised questions" about his fitness for office.

Schiff made the statement during a Sunday morning appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press." He urged Biden to listen to his closest and most trusted advisors, but said the choice of withdrawing is ultimately up to the president alone.

"The performance on the debate stage I think rightfully raised questions among the American people about whether the president has the vigor to defeat Donald Trump," Schiff said. "This is an existential risk. Given Joe Biden's incredible record. Given Donald Trump's terrible record, he should be mopping the floor with Donald Trump."

"It should not be even close, and there's only one reason it is close, and that is the president's age. What I would advise the president is seek out the opinions of people you trust. He's obviously talked to his family about this, and that's important, but he should seek out people with some distance and objectivity. He should seek out pollsters who are not his own pollsters," he added.

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., argued that Vice President Kamala Harris has a "constitutional duty" to remove President Biden from office if he is no longer capable of fulfilling his duties.

Donalds made the comment during a Sunday appearance on Fox News.

“I do not believe that Joe Biden has the capabilities of serving out the rest of his term let alone running for president," Donalds said.

When asked about the 25th amendment and potential removal of Biden, Donalds said he personally would vote in favor of the movie. He clarified that the decision lies with Harris and the cabinet, however.

“That responsibility lies with the vice president, Kamala Hariss, and with the cabinet. What we are seeing is that they have decided to cover up for Joe Biden to protect their radical agenda as opposed to doing what’s in the best interest of the American people.”