Giddy House Republicans spend week lying low as Democrats implode over Biden: ‘Stay out of it’
Congress’ first week back in session since President Biden’s disastrous debate performance brought with it a mountain of media scrutiny for his fellow Democrats – much to the relief of House Republicans who have grown used to being mobbed by reporters for much of this term. “We have really passed the baton of overthrowing political norms to the Democrats who are now running toward the greatest overthrow I’ve ever seen,” one House GOP aide told Fox News Digital. Party leaders hoped members would lie low this week to avoid making news as Democrats wrestled with demanding their own presidential nominee off the ballot less than six months away from the election, according to a House Republican granted anonymity to discuss it. Meanwhile, a second House GOP aide cautioned, “All Republicans need to do is keep our heads down and stay out of it.” BIDEN CAMPAIGN SCHEDULE REVEALS PRESIDENT’S PLANS AMID CALLS TO EXIT 2024 RACE The 118th Congress has been marked by intense infighting within the House GOP that’s dominated headlines over the last 18 months. Republican rebels ousted their own party’s House speaker for the first time in history, and factions of GOP lawmakers have used their slim majority to hold up House floor proceedings in order to extract concessions from leaders. However, this past week, Republican lawmakers were largely ignored as reporters chased Democrats through the Capitol. “I’ve gotta say, hasn’t been this much fun to be a House Republican since…well..yesterday. Monday was pretty cool too,” Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., posted on X on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., posted a photo of herself grinning alongside House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Ind., and wrote, “Leaving the Speaker’s office, and for one of the first times in three and a half years, there were no press waiting to ask questions…. I wonder why?” OBAMA SILENT OVER REPORTS HE’S WORKING ‘BEHIND THE SCENES’ TO FORCE BIDEN OUT OF THE 2024 RACE Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., told Fox News Digital of this week’s difference in attention, “It’s highly unusual to walk out of a House conference meeting and find zero reporters asking questions.” Almost as if right on cue, Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., quipped jokingly from nearby, “Are we finally getting back to the press asking Republicans about their presidential candidate?” Hours later, Himes became part of the now 18 House Democrats calling for Biden to step aside. Meanwhile, others on the right are insisting that House Republicans should double-down on their own messaging while chaos ensues on the left. “Republicans are focused on the Republican platform and our own campaigns…and we’re letting the Democrats sort through their best strategy for Joe Biden,” a second House GOP lawmaker granted anonymity told Fox News Digital. GROWING LIST OF OBAMA ALLIES, FORMER ADVISERS LOOK TO SINK BIDEN RE-ELECTION BID House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., urged Republicans to continue hammering President Biden on policy, suggesting Democrats’ political strife is best left to themselves. “We need to be talking about the answers we have to all the great challenges that have been created by the policies of the Biden administration,” he told Fox News Digital. “Our candidates have been very well in going out and presenting those answers in a very credible way. We feel very good about what we’re doing.” A senior House GOP aide told Fox News Digital, “What happened this week required minimal effort on our part.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Dems have needed no help imploding on their own. It’s genuinely shocking to see how ill-equipped their members have been at handling slightly uncomfortable hallway questions,” the aide said. However, not everyone on the right appreciates the silence. “I actually like you guys. That’s why I’m a sucker, I enjoy talking to you all,” the first House GOP lawmaker who spoke with Fox News Digital said with a smile.
Maharashtra MLC Elections: BJP, allies win 9 out of 11 seats; Congress gets 1
The BJP has fielded five candidates, its allies Shiv Sena and the NCP two each. The BJP candidates are Pankaja Munde, Yogesh Tilekar, Parinay Phuke, Amit Gorkhe, and Sadabhau Khot.
Rep. James Clyburn claims Biden is slowing physically but ‘mentally’ fit and ‘one of the best minds’ he’s met
Another Democratic lawmaker has weighed in on President Biden’s mental fortitude and whether he is capable of holding office for a second term. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., admitted to NBC in a Friday interview that Biden is not the same person as he was four years ago, but asserted that he is still “mentally” fit with one of the “best minds” he’s ever worked with. “You’re traveling with him next week, you’ve spent more time with the president than just about anybody else in the House, is this the same Joe Biden that we saw two years ago?” interviewer Craig Melvin asked Clyburn, who had endorsed Biden in the 2020 presidential race. DEFIANT BIDEN SAYS HE’S ‘DETERMINED ON RUNNING,’ AS NEW POLL AFTER PRESSER SHOWS SLIGHT LEAD OVER TRUMP “Well, look, I grew up in…” Clyburn started to say before he was asked again, “Is it the same Joe Biden?” “No,” Clyburn said emphatically, adding that, “I’m not the same Jim Clyburn that I was four years ago.” Clyburn later said he doesn’t think Biden, physically, is the same as he was during the last presidential election cycle. TOP DEMOCRAT ON THE HOUSE INTEL COMMITTEE RESPONDS TO BIDEN’S PRESS CONFERENCE “Mentally, I do think so,” Clyburn declared. “He is still grasping what this country is all about.” “He has one of the best minds that I have ever been around. The people who’ve been around him will tell you that, and so I would hope that we will focus on the substance of this man, rather than these sometimes, misspoken words and phrases, and how he has run this country.” Biden faced a wave of mockery online Thursday after he introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin” ahead of his press conference. PELOSI IS WORKING TO UNDERMINE BIDEN’S ATTEMPT TO END DISCUSSION OF HIS CANDIDACY: REPORT During the conference, Biden also referred to his Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, as his vice-president. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Biden was peppered 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. The president dismissed the notion he’s “slowing down” and insisted he was “determined on running” in this year’s election. Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman and Brooke Singman contributed to this report. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
India’s retail inflation accelerates to 5.08% in June, triggered by food prices
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based retail inflation was 4.8 per cent in May 2024 and 4.87 per cent in June 2023 (previous low).
Biden says he’d drop out if polls showed ‘no way’ to win after declaring only ‘Lord Almighty’ can make him
President Biden is now declaring he would leave the 2024 race for the White House if polls showed there was “no way” he could win, after only a week ago saying it would take the “Lord Almighty” for him to drop out. The 81-year-old president is facing mounting calls to step aside from members of his own party amid concerns he does not have the physical or mental strength to beat former President Trump nor carry out another four-year term. Biden took questions from reporters in an hourlong press conference Thursday night as he sought to allay those concerns. The event came on the heels of Washington, D.C.’s NATO summit, though the media’s questions largely focused on Biden’s re-election. One reporter asked the president whether he would reconsider staying in the race if his own team presented data showing Vice President Kamala Harris doing better against Trump than himself. DEMS RUSH TO DEFEND BIDEN AMID HIGH STAKES PRESS CONFERENCE: ‘VERY STRONG PERFORMANCE’ “No,” Biden said. “Unless they came back and said, there’s no way you can win. Me.” The president added in his trademark whisper, “There’s no one saying that. No poll says that.” Nearly a week ago last Friday, however, he told ABC News host George Stephanopoulos that his political fate was up to deities rather than data. Per the network’s unedited transcript of the interview, Biden said, when asked whether he would drop out if he was convinced by allies that he could not beat Trump, “It depends on- on if the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that, I might do that.” TOP DEMOCRAT ON HOUSE INTEL COMMITTEE CALLS ON BIDEN TO SUSPEND CAMPAIGN AFTER NATO PRESS CONFERENCE When pressed again, he insisted, “Look. I mean, if the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get outta the race,’ I’d get outta the race. The Lord Almighty’s not comin’ down.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Biden campaign for comment. A new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll released Friday morning shows Biden two points ahead of Trump in a head-to-head rematch, though Trump is one percentage point above Biden when factoring in third-party options. Both results fell within the survey’s 3.1% margin of error. BIDEN’S HIGH-STAKES SOLO PRESS CONFERENCE SLAMMED FROM THE RIGHT AS ‘ANOTHER DISASTER’ Several of Biden’s supporters lauded his press conference performance Thursday night, arguing he showed a commanding and clear sense of foreign policy experience. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., told CNN’s Anderson Cooper, “I think he convinced a lot of people he should stay in the race.” For others, however, it was too late. Three more House Democrats called on Biden to step aside after the press conference, including Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., the top Democrat on the House permanent select committee on Intelligence. As of Friday morning, there are 20 Congressional Democrats who have publicly called on Biden to drop out.
‘Yet another headline-grabbing…’: Congress on centre declaring June 25 as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’
The BJP-led Central government on Friday declared that June 25 will be observed as the ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’.
Biden, Harris defy critics by launching full offensive aimed at tying Trump to Project 2025
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are defying critics calling for the president to step away from the 2024 presidential race by launching a full offensive aimed at tying former President Trump to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 platform. The effort comes amid Trump’s attempt to distance himself from Project 2025, a highly scrutinized initiative that’s been portrayed as a blueprint for a future Republican administration to restructure many parts of the U.S. government. Trump has described elements of the plan as “ridiculous” and “abysmal.” It also comes as Biden faces increased calls from many in his own party to bow out of the race following a disappointing showing in the first presidential debate last month. BIDEN CAMPAIGN SCHEDULE REVEALS PRESIDENT’S PLANS AMID CALLS TO EXIT 2024 RACE “Donald Trump’s Project 2025 team is stacked with the same extremists who helped him rip away women’s freedoms, round up and deport Latinos, and undermine our democracy in his first term,” Biden campaign spokeswoman Sarafina Chitika told Fox News Digital. “If Trump wins this election, his Project 2025 allies will work around the clock to make sure he can go even further to ban abortion nationwide, gut Social Security and Medicare, and rule as a ‘dictator on day one.’ Donald Trump and Project 2025 are one and the same — and voters are going to make sure they both lose this November.” Although it’s not officially associated with Trump’s campaign, Chitika’s use of the term “Trump’s Project 2025 team” is a reference to the individuals who created the initiative in 2023 largely having previously held roles within the former president’s administration, including Paul Dans, who directed the project and served as Trump’s White House Liaison to the Office of Personnel Management. OBAMA SILENT OVER REPORTS HE’S WORKING ‘BEHIND THE SCENES’ TO FORCE BIDEN OUT OF THE 2024 RACE Dans’ associates constructing the initiative, Spencer Chretien and Troup Hemenway, served respectively as a special assistant to Trump and in the Presidential Personnel Office. In fact, 81% of individuals who worked on the initiative held formal roles within the Trump administration, and some current aides have also assisted with the project. Biden and Harris’ rhetoric on the campaign trail in recent weeks has sought to shift focus to the project, not just as a likely distraction from the pressure facing Biden, but also because they see it as a winning message to moderate swing state voters who could very well decide the election. “Trump’s advisers have created a 900-page blueprint — called ‘Project 2025’ — detailing everything else they plan to do in a second term, including a plan to cut Social Security, repeal our $35 cap on insulin, eliminate the Department of Education and end programs like Head Start,” Harris said at a campaign stop in Nevada on Tuesday. GROWING LIST OF OBAMA ALLIES, FORMER ADVISERS LOOK TO SINK BIDEN RE-ELECTION BID “Donald Trump wants to turn our democracy into a dictatorship, and the Supreme Court basically just declared he can get away with it,” she later added, referencing the Supreme Court’s ruling last week that a president has substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts committed while in office. Trump disavowed Project 2025 in a post on Truth Social last week, saying he didn’t know who was behind the initiative that offers recommendations on how a future Republican president can begin to enact conservative changes upon entering office, including overhauling the Justice Department and the FBI, as well as tackling issues like abortion and immigration. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “I know nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it,” Trump wrote. “I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.” Trump’s campaign took aim at the attempts to tie him to Project 2025 on Thursday, telling Fox News Digital, “Agenda 47 and President Trump’s RNC Platform are the only policies endorsed by President Trump for a second term. “Team Biden and the DNC are LYING and fear-mongering because they have NOTHING else to offer the American people. Remember this is the same group that lied to Americans and hid Joe Biden’s cognitive decline all these years.” Fox News’ Kyle Morris, Andrew Mark Miller and Cameron Cawthorne contributed to this report. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Centre declares June 25 as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’ in remembrance of 1975 Emergency
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the day would serve as a reminder of the significant sacrifices endured by those who faced the severe hardships of the 1975 Emergency, highlighting their immense contributions.
Jacqueline Fernandez speaks about benefits of a meatless diet at the Vegan India Conference in Mumbai
The 3rd edition of the Vegan India Conference, presented by Vegan First – India’s largest plant-based community and AAMATI was held in Mumbai on the 6-7 July at The Holiday Inn.
Pelosi is working to undermine Biden’s attempt to end discussion of his candidacy: report
Former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., publicly supports President Biden as he faces calls to withdraw from the 2024 presidential election. But in private, she is reportedly encouraging lawmakers to continue to put pressure on Biden to reconsider his decision to run for re-election, according to reports. A number of House Democrats told The Hill that Pelosi is advising members in their conference against rallying to Biden before there is a broader discussion over whether he is the best candidate to defeat former President Trump. While she has not called on Biden to step aside, Pelosi is reportedly telling vulnerable lawmakers in swing districts to do so if they think that will help them win re-election. “I did have a conversation with her, she is very concerned,” one House Democratic lawmaker told The Hill. “It’s not like she’s like, ‘We’re sticking with this guy.’” Lawmakers quoted in the report were granted anonymity to speak frankly about sensitive discussions in their conference. PELOSI SNAPS AT REPORTER ASKING IF SHE WANTS BIDEN TO DROP OUT OF THE RACE: ‘AM I SPEAKING ENGLISH TO YOU?’ “I’ve had my own conversations with her,” a second Democrat reportedly said. “It’s just an obvious concern. The stakes are so high. We can’t afford to do anything but have our best possible opportunity to win,” the lawmaker said, relaying Pelosi’s message to the conference, according to The Hill. Pelosi is a longtime Biden ally. She led House Democrats for the entirety of Biden’s two terms as vice president and served as House speaker for the first two years of his presidency, ushering major pieces of Biden’s agenda through Congress, including the American Rescue Plan and bipartisan infrastructure law. Even so, she likes to win. And Pelosi has repeatedly said that Trump represents an existential threat to democracy who must be defeated in November, a feat Democrats are not certain Biden can accomplish. MEDIA FIGURES SHOCKED AT BIDEN’S ‘BAD’ DEBATE PERFORMANCE: ‘TOTAL AND COMPLETE DISASTER’ The report said that Pelosi’s work behind-the-scenes is a response to how the Biden campaign and White House reacted to criticisms of the president’s disastrous debate performance on June 27—denying that there’s a problem with Biden’s age or mental acuity and stubbornly insisting that Democrats have no alternative to the status quo. Biden maintained that position during a roughly hour-long news conference on Thursday, where he took multiple questions from reporters to allay concerns that he is too old and too mentally deficient to carry Democrats through the election and keep the White House. “I’m determined on running,” Biden declared. “Am I getting the job done? Can you name me somebody who’s got more major pieces of legislation passed in 3½ years? I created 2,000 jobs just last week,” the president said. “So, if I slow down, I can’t get the job done, that’s a sign that I shouldn’t be doing it. But there’s no indication of that yet. None.” PROMINENT DEMS CAST DOUBT ON BIDEN’S CLAIM HE’S STAYING IN RACE The president on Monday sent a letter to congressional Democrats asserting that criticisms of his candidacy “only helps Trump and hurts us.” But his attempts to strong-arm Democratic lawmakers have not stifled dissent. On the contrary, they appear to have emboldened those who believe Biden is not taking his critics seriously. “Pelosi speaks for the sense that, if you’re going to circle the wagons, you need a lot more wagons in the circle,” a third Democratic lawmaker told The Hill. “You have to have a real conversation with people to decide it all together. And you can’t present people with a judgment.” Pelosi’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The White House and the Biden campaign also did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital inquiries. Pelosi spokesman Ian Krager told The Hill: “Speaker Pelosi fully supports whatever President Biden decides to do. We must turn our attention to why this race is so important: Donald Trump would be a disaster for our country and our democracy.” DEMS RUSH TO DEFEND BIDEN AMID HIGH-STAKES PRESS CONFERENCE: ‘VERY STRONG PERFORMANCE’ On Wednesday, Pelosi insinuated that there is still a decision to be made on whether Biden will seek re-election, despite the president already stating on several occasions that he is staying in the race. “It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run. We are all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short,” Pelosi told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Wednesday. “He’s beloved, he’s respected, and people want him to make that decision.” Asked about Biden already making it clear he intends to run, Pelosi again suggested that there is a still a decision to be made. “I want him to do whatever he decides to do, and that’s the way it is. Whatever he decides, we go with,” Pelosi said. Regardless of whatever private discussions that may be happening, Pelosi publicly contradicted the president and opened the door for other Democrats to do the same. At least 17 Democratic lawmakers have now openly called on Biden to step aside from the nomination. The discussion is far from over, and Biden’s future is uncertain. Fox News Digital’s Aubry Spady and Emma Colton contributed to this report. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.