More Democrats urge Biden to drop out following NATO press conference

Gov. Chris Sununu for a couple of years has been one of former President Trump's most vocal GOP critics.

But New Hampshire's popular Republican governor says that his state "is very much in play for the former president," who next week officially becomes the GOP’s 2024 presidential nominee.

It's been nearly a quarter-century since a Republican carried swing state New Hampshire in a presidential election. You have to go back to then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush in 2000.

But in the wake of two recent polls that indicated a margin-of-error race in New Hampshire and following President Biden's extremely rough debate performance two weeks ago, Republicans are increasingly hopeful they can bring an end to the losing streak.

"It’s going to be a coin toss. It’s really at the end of the day going to be a 50-50 state," Sununu said in a national exclusive interview with Fox News Digital in his hometown in New Hampshire's Seacoast region.

Sununu predicted that Trump "is going to do very, very well in a swing state like New Hampshire."

Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

President Joe Biden still has time to turn his campaign around and evade being replaced as the nominee despite a damaging two weeks that followed the first presidential debate, Democrat strategists tell Fox News Digital.

Biden faces increased calls to step down as the Democratic nominee following his performance at the first presidential debate, however strategists with knowledge of presidential campaigns say irreversible damage has not been done to his re-election efforts.

"The president has been clear — he’s the elected nominee, and he is not budging from that position unless god himself intervenes," Democrat strategist Mark Penn told Fox News Digital when asked about the state of Biden's campaign.

"Right now, Donald Trump is clearly leading, but it’s nowhere near double digits, so the race remains within the ability of a few percent of switching voters to change the outcome and, as events like the debate show, there’s plenty of game-changing possibilities."

Penn added that "net-net Biden is now the underdog, but this race is far from over."

Jessica Tarlov, Fox News Contributor and Democrat political strategist, also said that Biden has more than enough time to turn his campaign around before November.

"Is there enough time? Of course. Four months is a lifetime in politics. The election is about Trump. Those that will support him and those that won’t. I’m not saying Biden has ground to make up, but Trump remains hugely unpopular and polarizing through all of the president’s troubles," Tarlov said.

Fox News' Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow wondered Thursday if President Biden’s team is giving him inaccurate polling information that's making him certain he is the Democratic Party’s best chance to defeat former President Trump.

During a panel on MSNBC’s "All In with Chris Hayes," network pundits Hayes, Maddow, Joy Reid and Nicolle Wallace discussed Biden's remarks at his NATO summit press conference, with each commentator weighing in on Biden’s continued confidence that he’s the one to beat Trump.

"It makes me worried that the president is being given information about his political standing that may not be based in reality," Maddow said.

Wallace gave a pointed response to the president’s stated commitment to staying in the race, saying that every incumbent president who had equal or worse poll numbers at this stage in the race has lost.

"Two things on the politics: there is no incumbent president with lower approval ratings who won. There are only three with lower ratings than he has right now, and they all lost. Donald Trump, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter," she said.

Wallace added that there is "right now, no poll that shows [Biden] winning."

Fox News' Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.

James Carville, a veteran Democratic campaign strategist, warned Friday that sticking with President Biden is exactly what former President Trump wants.

MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell noted that Carville seeks to have former presidents Obama and Clinton moderate town halls to discern who can replace Biden as the nominee. The host then asked, "Is that the recipe for chaos?"

"You know, it might be chaos. [But] I tell you, what we are doing right now, we’re doing exactly what Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago wants us to do," Carville said, referencing a report that the Trump campaign wants to face Biden.

"If the Democratic Party is hellbent on pleasing Donald Trump, then go ahead and [run Biden]. It’s just that simple," he said.

Carville then slammed "Washington-types" he says quibble with the details about his idea for town halls to find a new candidate, "Well, I don’t care, do something! Don’t just stand there!"

"The details are, we are on track to lose an election to a major criminal who is going to destroy the western alliance, the constitution and everything in between. So we ought to act like it," he argued.

Fox News' Alexander Hall contributed to this report.

Comedian Jon Stewart said Biden wouldn't qualify for a job as simple as a Home Depot cashier based on his debate performance last month on this week's episode of "The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart."

Stewart, along with guests, Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor of Pod Save America and CNN political commentator Bakari Sellers, analyzed the future of Biden's presidency and the party's response to previous crises.

"Bill Clinton on the eve of it all, it came out he had had an affair, I can't remember- Jennifer Flowers I think it was, and then it was the Paula Jones situation and then there was the Monica Lewinsky situation and Democrats did fall in line," Stewart said Thursday. "I mean people made- 'Oh, this is terrible and I'm disappointed with the president,' but ultimately the Democrats did fall in line."

Sellers noted that Republicans fell in line after former President Trump said he was resolved to stay in the race in 2016, adding that the party doesn't "fall in love," they "fall in line."

But, Stewart said the two instances are different because the problem is Biden's mental state and personal health.

"I think that you are soft selling the more fundamental aspect of people viewing somebody who, I'll be perfectly honest with you, I don't know of a job interview that you could have gone on and delivered the performance that was delivered by Joe Biden and gotten a job," he said. "I'm not talking about the presidency, I'm talking about, like, cashier at Home Depot, like a job that you would not think, ‘Okay, that is the hardest job in the entire world.’"

Fox News' Kendall Tietz contributed to this report.

A high-anticipated Thursday night news conference failed to provide produce the clarity many voters looking for as to President Biden’s ability to campaign and lead the country, a Washington Post op-ed said.

The newspaper editorial board said Biden "managed to discourse knowledgeably on the questions" but still managed to make some mistakes.

"And yet there were moments in which Mr. Biden veered toward the same kind of embarrassing mistakes he had made during the June 27 debate with former president Donald Trump, including a cringeworthy reference to Vice President Harris as 'Vice President Trump,'" the board said in a Friday opinion piece.

Biden also  mixed up the names of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Russian antagonist President Vladimir Putin and claimed that five other presidents had worse poll numbers than his in an election year, without mentioning that most lost their reelection bids.

"Mr. Biden’s mixed reviews prolong the Democratic Party’s predicament, as evidenced by disparate statements from elected officials after the news conference," the op-ed states. "Some declared that he should leave the race, while others said the time had come to close ranks behind him. With time running out before the Democratic National Convention opens Aug. 19, Mr. Biden and his inner circle of advisers seem to be playing for time."

"Indeed, based on his comments Thursday, Mr. Biden seems to be somewhat oblivious to the political furor surrounding him and in denial about his frailty, personally and politically," the piece continued.

President Biden enthusiastically pledged to stay in the presidential race amid cheers from supporters in Detroit on Friday.

His remarks stand in contrast to some Democrats who are calling for the 81-year-old to exit the race.

"Don't you quit" and "Four more years" came from the crowd during the campaign event.

Despite the pessimism that exist within the Democratic Party about Biden's candidacy, the odds of Biden dropping out remain slim, judging by his speech.

"Folks I'm the nominee. I'm the nominee," he said Friday. "In part because 14 million Democrats like you voted for me in the primaries. You made me the nominee. No one else."

So far, 19 Democrats have urged Biden to drop out, following his disastrous debate performance against former President Trump last month.

President Biden came out swinging against former President Donald Trump during his Detroit rally on Friday, while resisting calls for him to exit the presidential race.

Biden noted that he won Michigan in 2020 and pledged to win it again.

"I know him, Donald Trump is a loser," said Biden.

He the addressed the growing calls for him to exit the race amid concerns over his mental and physical capability.

"Folks I'm the nominee. I'm the nominee," he said. "In part because 14 million Democrats like you voted for me in the primaries. You made me the nominee. No one else."

President Biden was speaking to voters in Detroit on Friday in an effort to shore up support and make former President Trump "a loser again."

He started by referring Detroit's place in music history, saying "Motown is Joetown" before bashing Trump.

"Donald trump riding around in his golf cart filling out his scorecard before hitting the ball," he said to cheers from the crowd.

The crowd began chanting "We got Joe's back" and Lock him up," referring to Trump.

And I'm going to beat him again.

Criticism from ex-Obama staffers toward President Biden, including calls for him to exit the 2024 presidential race, serve as a stark reminder of the well-known tensions between the former White House duo that go back nearly two decades.

The often testy relationship between Biden and Obama reportedly began shortly after the latter's election to the Senate in 2004, when both men served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Obama, according to The New York Times, wasn't fond of Biden's often-long-winded speeches to the point where, on one occasion, he passed a note to a colleague reading, "Shoot. Me. Now."

The pair eventually found themselves facing off for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, where Biden, while announcing his campaign, controversially referred to Obama as "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."

The intense repercussions from the comment led to an apology from Biden, and Obama telling reporters, "I have no problem with Joe Biden." 

Biden eventually dropped out of the race after a dismal showing in the Iowa caucuses, but was subsequently picked by Obama to be his running mate. The two ultimately defeated Republican nominees John McCain and Sarah Palin.

The first few months of their administration reportedly saw frequent disagreements between the two, including a clash over Obama publicly diminishing Biden while speaking to reporters — which he later agreed with an upset Biden to avoid doing — and eye rolls from the former while the latter spoke during meetings.

Fox News Digital's Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.

The Biden campaign is taking a victory lap after his NATO press conference on Thursday, claiming the president not only met expectations but exceeded them.

A Biden campaign official told Fox News Digital that his performance was what voters were looking for, while praising the president's responses to questions on foreign policy, including the Russia-Ukraine War, China and other foreign affairs topics.

The performance proved that Biden can handle former President Trump, the campaign believes.

Biden, according to the campaign, articulately laid out the economic progress under his watch and discussed complex foreign policy issues in a way that Trump is unable to do.

He was also hit with questions from reporters who pressed him on whether he would step aside amid mounting pressure from members within his own party following his disastrous debate performance last month.

Fox News Digital's Andrew Mark Miller and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

President Biden's solo press conference Thursday evening at the NATO summit attracted an estimated 24.2 million people, according to Nielsen data.

The conference was available on eight television networks, including Fox News, all of which carried the press conference live from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. ET

It came after the NATO Summit in Washington and as questions about Biden mental and physical acuity continue to hound him.

The largest viewership was in the 55 and older demographic, where 19.2 million viewers watched live. Among adults 18-34, the number was just over 1 million, while 3.6 million adults ages 35 to 54 tuned in.

In comparison, Biden’s debate against former President Donald Trump in June drew over 51.3 million total viewers across all broadcast and cable networks.

U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Il., said he called on President Biden to make the "heroic choice" and exit the presidential race to "pass the baton to the next generation."

Speaking with "Your World" host Neil Cavuto on Friday, Schneider, said a new generation of leaders are ready to move the country forward.

"And in the Democratic Party, we have a lot of leaders ready to take the mantle and move us forward," he said. "I think the president has a chance to unite the party, unite the country."

Schneider is one of more than a dozen Democrats calling for Biden to quit his bid for a second term as question swirl over his mental and physical acuity.

"I was the first of the Illinois delegation four years ago to endorse Joe Biden," he said. "I thought he would be a great president, and he proved me right."

Schneider added that Biden press conference on Thursday didn't convince him to stand by the president.

"it's not about a single press conference or a debate or a campaign event. It's about where are we going and who's best positioned to lead us," he said. "The president's done a great job bringing us to where we are. I think he has a chance."

"But a capstone on his legacy, a legacy that he could be proud of and I believe will leave him as one of the greatest presidents in our nation's history," he added. "But it's time for the next generation to step up, and we have the leaders to decide."

President Biden continues to have support from Democratic delegates, despite a growing number of elected Democrats calling on him to step aside ahead of the 2024 election amid concern over his age and mental acuity.

Fox News Digital spoke to a handful of Democratic delegates who remain largely supportive of Biden and intend to cast their votes in support of him at the party's convention next month.

Some also dismissed talk of Vice President Kamala Harris as Biden's replacement, insisting that she and the president are an unbreakable team.

"I think he did an awesome job last night. I really do," said Joanne Chesley, a pledged Biden delegate from North Carolina. "His clarity and his spontaneity … just well-informed responses. I was super impressed."

S did say that she wished that Biden had realized that his age was going to be a potential issue in this election much earlier.

"I have gone from that kind of feeling, wishing that he had, you know, made that decision to say ‘no' [to] we've got a person who really, really cares about this country," she said. "Despite those occasional flirtations with him stepping aside, I, like I said, come back to looking at what's best for our country right now. We're in a very difficult time in our history."

Fox News Digital's Kyle Morris contributed to this report.

President Biden and former President Barack Obama speak often and have a close relationship, the White House said Friday.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about the Biden-Obama relationship Friday on Air Force One and whether the pair have talked since last month's presidential debate.

"So I can't speak to it any interaction of late, of recent in like the last couple of days, what I can say, look, obviously the this president was the vice president to the former president for eight years," Jean-Pierre said. "They have a respectful, very close relationship, and the president is, you know, very proud to have that relationship. So I can't speak to a conversation of late of recent. And I know,, they, they, they speak often."

Her remarks came after former President Trump said that Obama and Biden "hate each other" and that Obama prefers Vice President Kamala Harris.

"OBAMA NEVER RESPECTED BIDEN, THOUGHT HE WAS DUMB, AND A TOTAL LIGHTWEIGHT," Trump wrote in all caps on Truth Social. "WILL BE AN INTERESTING COUPLE OF WEEKS. OBAMA WANTS HIM OUT, WANTS V.P. HARRIS IN!"

A former Democratic lawmaker who led a failed effort to unseat President Jimmy Carter at the party's 1980 convention said he expects that President Biden will likely be ousted before next month’s DNC in Chicago.

Former Rep. Mike Barnes, D-Md., told the New York Post Biden could be out in a matter of days.

“I don’t think this is going to go to the Democratic convention in the current posture,” he told The Post in an interview Friday. “I think, I think, Biden will be out probably within the next days.”

The 1980 Democratic convention, held at New York's Madison Square Garden, saw Carter stave off a challenge from Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.

Biden has resisted calls to exit the presidential race following his debate performance heavily-criticized debate performance last month and has insisted that he will be the Democratic nominee.

“I think if he goes to the convention wanting the nomination, and all of his troops are working the delegates, he’ll be nominated,” Barnes said.

Delegates are expected to nominate Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in a virtual roll call sometime before the Aug. 7 deadline to make the Ohio ballot.

Barnes said that concerns about Biden’s age were well-founded.

“I’m 80 years old. I’m in pretty decent shape. I swam a mile yesterday. I played golf the day before, and I’m planning to go to the gym later today for an hour and a half.

“But it would be crazy for me to think about running for President of the United States and being president from now until January 20, 2029,” he added. “Yeah. I mean, this is, this is crazy.”

The Biden campaign received a jump in donations following the president's Thursday night press conference at a NATO Summit.

"Since last night, we're seeing strong support across our coalition. But most importantly, we're seeing with our grassroots base," Campaign Communications Director Michael Tyler said. "We have close to 40,000 donations last night alone. Donations exploded during the president's press conference. In fact, we had seven times, our average during the press conference."

Tyler didn't say how much in campaign contributions was received but the outpouring comes amid concerns that Biden fundraising pool is quickly drying up.

Major donors have decided to withhold contributions until Biden drops out of the race.

"This is a massive, massive problem," one Democratic official told Politico. "Right now, we should be scaling up, doubling and tripling our goals as we head into the fall. But we’re cratering."

The sources said grassroots fundraising is also being impacted by Biden's disastrous debate performance against former President Trump.

Fox News Digital's Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

First lady Jill Biden’s former press secretary blasted the White House communications team, saying they live in an "alternate universe" after a senior official praised President Biden's performance durign a Thursday NATO press conference.

"There are two different versions of reality in my party right now, Michael LaRosa, who served as first lady Jill Biden's press secretary, wrote on X in response to a post from Republican communicator Sarah Matthews criticizing the White House's Senior Deputy Press Secretary, Andrew Bates.

"The below is an alternate universe that MOST of us Dems are NOT actually living in," he wrote. "Being coherent in his FIRST ‘big boy press conference’ of 2024 is not exactly the bar most of us are looking for.... but clearly it's the bar for Biden set by his own staff ... and that is pretty ‘f---ing’ terrifying."

Matthews had criticized Bates for a post on X he made following Biden’s highly anticipated NATO press conference where the senior staffer said, "To answer the question on everyone’s minds: No, Joe Biden does not have a doctorate in foreign affairs. He’s just that f---ing good."

Fox News Digital's Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

Former President Trump on Friday urged President Biden to take a cognitive test to prove he's up to the task of being the commander-in-chief.

Trump also said he would accompany Biden and also take the test.

"For the first time we’ll be a team, and do it for the good of the Country," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "And from now on, all Presidential candidates should be mandated to take a Cognitive Test and Aptitude Test, regardless of their age!!!"

Biden is resisting calls from Democrats to exit his presidential run amid questions and concerns about his physical and mental acuity. Trump has been one of his loudest critics.