WASHINGTON — Yesterday, President Joe Biden opened his highly anticipated news conference with a forceful defense of his foreign and domestic policies and batted away questions about his ability to serve another four years, even as he flubbed a reference to former President Donald Trump in one of his first answers.

Now Biden and his team are continuing on their relentless sprint to persuade lawmakers, donors and voters that he is still up for the job with a trip to Michigan, part of the trio of ”blue wall” states that his campaign now says is the clearest path to victory in November. Over a dozen members of Congress have called for him to bow out of the campaign.

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Biden goes after Trump at rally, briefly interrupted by pro-Palestinian protester

Some of the loudest crowd reactions during President Joe Biden’s speech in Detroit came when he mentioned his opponent, former President Donald Trump.

Biden said the media have been ”hammering” him since their recent debate while Trump has ”gotten a free pass.”

”Donald, no more free passes,” Biden said. ”Today, we’re going to shine a spotlight on Donald Trump.”

At times the crowd chanted in reference to Trump: ”Lock him up!”

Biden’s speech was interrupted by a lone pro-Palestinian protester, who was escorted out by security and continued to chant, ”Free, free Palestine.”

Biden resumed speaking after the brief disruption, saying that he understands ”her passion.”

”This war must end,” Biden said.

At rally, Biden addresses candidacy questions and says he is staying in the race

President Joe Biden acknowledged speculation about his candidacy during a rally in Detroit but insisted that he is running.

”I’m not going to change that,” he told a raucous crowd in a high school gym.

”You made me the nominee,” Biden said, referring to the millions of Democrats who backed him in the primaries. ”You the voters. You decided. No one else. And I’m not going anywhere.”

He added that he is ”the only Democrat or Republican that has beaten Donald Trump ever, and I’m going to beat him again.”

As he took the stage Friday evening, the president was greeted with a deafening cheer and chants of ”Don’t you quit!”

He was introduced by Cindy Rudolph, a pastor, who called him ”a transformative leader.”

”We want to give him four more years,” Rudolph said, prompting the crowd to chant, ”Four more years!”

In his remarks, Biden also proclaimed that ”Motown is Joetown” and vowed to win Michigan again in the 2024 election.

The 3 leading candidates for Trump running mate will not be at Saturday rally

The three men at the top of Trump’s short list to be his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, are not scheduled to be at the former president’s Pennsylvania rally tomorrow, according to two people familiar with the event’s schedule who were not authorized to speak publicly.

That makes it unlikely Trump plans to announce his vice presidential pick at his last event before the convention. Trump could make the announcement at the RNC when it kicks off Monday or post on social media, like he did in 2016 when announcing he chose Mike Pence. Politico first reported that the three top contenders would not be at Saturday’s event.

The Democratic Party crisis after Biden’s debate spirals with no clear ending

For more than two weeks, the Democratic Party has been mired in crisis. And there is no sign yet that the threat to Joe Biden’s reelection is nearing a conclusion.

The president has dug in even as a growing chorus of Democratic officials, donors and strategists calls for him to step aside.

Donors and high-profile endorsers are repudiating Biden, morale inside and outside the campaign is weak and some top Democrats are pondering whether to make a move against the president.

One of Biden’s allies privately described a cycle of alternating hope and despair in the style of the movie ”Groundhog Day.”

Meanwhile Republicans are celebrating the chaos heading into their convention, which starts Monday.

Pelosi and other Democratic leaders try to guide their party through Biden uproar

The uproar over President Joe Biden’s ability to win reelection is leaving Democrats at a standstill, at odds over whether to stick with Biden or press on with trying to persuade him to end his reelection bid.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Jim Clyburn, a veteran leader of the Congressional Black Caucus, are playing oversize roles. They are generational allies of the president but also trusted voices who can bring frank concerns to Biden.

That is giving space to the current congressional leadership — House Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer — to navigate the party’s political future.

At Biden’s Detroit rally, political allies warm up the crowd

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes said in remarks before President Joe Biden’s appearance that ”lately there’s been a lot of noise about this election,” but ”he has always had our back and Michigan will always have his,” she said.

Academy Award-winning actress Octavia Spencer said the Biden administration will protect women’s reproductive rights and urged people to ”reject Donald Trump once and for all.”

And Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan recalled that when times were tough in the city, ”Joe Biden showed up for us.”

”But if you’ve been watching the news the last week, it seems like it’s Joe Biden versus everybody,” Duggan said. ”I want you when he comes out here to let him know, Detroiters never forget. He has been there for us. We’re going to be there for him.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson framed the vote as a fight for democracy and fair elections, saying, ”In 2020 in Michigan, we fought back successfully against an unprecedented effort to overturn the accurate election results.” She did not mention the president in her remarks.

Late-night comics have long been relentless in skewering Trump. Now it’s Biden’s turn

Since Donald Trump’s emergence on the political scene, late-night comics have made him a relentless target. But after President Joe Biden’s poor showing in the debate with Trump two weeks ago, the comics have retrained their guns.

Stephen Colbert of CBS’ ”Late Show” joked this week that ”I think that Biden debates as well as Abraham Lincoln — if you dug him up right now.”

He had company: Jon Stewart, Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon have all found comedy fodder in Biden’s stumbling performance and in Democrats’ internal debate over whether the president should drop his campaign for a second term.

It shows that comedy — not political favoritism — ultimately rules their world, television expert Robert Thompson says.

Sen. Susan Collins says she will write in Nikki Haley on her ballot in November

Collins, a longtime moderate Republican senator from Maine, didn’t vote for Donald Trump for president in 2016 or 2020.

And the third time will not be the charm, because she said Friday that she intends to write in the former South Carolina governor, who is not on the ballot.

”I publicly endorsed Nikki Haley, and I wanted her to win. She’s still my favorite candidate, and I think she could do a great job. She’s my choice, and that’s how I’m going to express it,” Collins told WMTW-TV.

In 2016, Collins said she wrote in then-House Speaker Paul Ryan for president over Trump.

Collins is the only New England Republican in Congress and the only Republican holding statewide office in Maine, where Trump has twice won an electoral vote.

Michigan Democratic official won’t weigh in on Biden as nominee

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, one of the more prominent Democratic leaders appearing with President Joe Biden in Detroit on Friday, would not give an opinion when asked whether she believes he should still be the party’s presidential nominee.

”I’m just focused on making sure people know what’s at stake this year. And know how to exercise their vote,” Benson said.

Benson has seen her profile rise as a target of violence following the 2020 election and as a national advocate for secure elections.

She said that she ”feels good” about the state’s preparedness ahead of this year’s vote due to several new laws. But she said officials are contending with ”a more sophisticated, coordinated effort to try to delegitimize democracy than we have in the past.”

Biden supporters back president ahead of rally in Detroit

Carole Chi, 72, said she came with a group of enthusiastic friends ”to cheer him on and tell him to stay in there.” In her view, Trump should be the one to leave the race. She called him a ”crook.”

”He speaks like an old man, sure. Who cares?” Chi said of Biden. ”He knows what he is doing.”

Donna Harper, 71, said she was disappointed by Biden’s debate performance but encouraged by his NATO press conference Thursday.

”Let him just be Joe,” Harper said. ”And I saw more of that last night.”

Frat bros. War heroes. Trump’s former golf caddy.

The Republican National and Trump’s campaign released a list of ”everyday Americans” who will be speaking at next week’s Republican National Convention.

Among the names:

A group of students and fraternity brothers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who were captured on video protecting an American flag during campus protests

Family members of people who were killed by repeat offenders, people living in the country illegally and from fentanyl-laced pills

Men and women who say they are struggling to make ends meet due to high inflation

John Nieporte, the head Golf Pro at Trump International, who worked his way up from being Trump’s former golf caddy, and Carrie Ruiz, the Golf General Manager at Trump National Doral.

Rep. Mike Levin told Biden to drop out during Hispanic Caucus call, before releasing public statement

Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif. told President Biden on a virtual call with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Friday that he should step down as the Democratic nominee, according to three sources familiar with the call. It marks the first time that one of Biden’s growing internal detractors confronted the president with their opposition to his reelection campaign.

Biden had joined the call around noon to acknowledge the concerns that many Democrats in Congress had raised about his capabilities to serve a second term and to reaffirm that not only can he finish the campaign, but that he intends to win in November, according to one of the people, who like others, were granted anonymity to discuss a private call.

Another person told AP that the call began on a positive note, with Biden soliciting feedback from members on how to appeal to the Hispanic vote and what campaign events to join. The call allowed for a few questions of the president, which is when Levin raised his hand to launch what was described as a soliloquy on what he’d heard from his Southern California district, with voters telling him that the president should not be on top of the party’s ticket for 2024.

Levin, according to two of the people, then encouraged the president to listen to those constituents and step down.

Biden responded in kind, according to one person, saying that he understands the threat Democrats face against GOP candidate Trump but that he had a plan to win. The president wanted to answer more member questions after that but the call was abruptly ended by the organizers.

California Democrat says Biden should drop out after Hispanic Caucus call

The steady drip of defections from Biden’s camp has continued today as vulnerable Democratic Rep. Mike Levin of California called on him to let someone else take over at the top of the ticket.

Levin put out the statement shortly after Biden joined a call with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

The representative from a competitive district in Southern California said he’s heard from hundreds of constituents and supporters since Biden’s faltering debate performance.

He called the president an ”outstanding leader,” but said he’s no longer sure he can prevail against the ”incalculable threat” posed by Trump.

”It is time to move forward. With a new leader. Together,” he said in a statement.

Trump calls picking his VP ‘a highly sophisticated version of ‘The Apprentice”

Trump is comparing his vice presidential search to the reality TV show he helmed years ago.

”It’s like a highly sophisticated version of ‘The Apprentice,”’ Trump said on the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show amid intense speculation over his pick.

The presumptive GOP nominee once again made clear his preference to unveil his pick at the Republican National Convention, which kicks off Monday in Milwaukee.

Trump said he’d ”love to do it during the convention” or ”just slightly before the convention, like Monday.”

He also said he’s down to a handful of ”really, really good candidates.”

”I may be leaning one way and that changing sometimes — you know all of a sudden you see something that you like or you don’t like and you lean a little bit differently … but we have a very good bench.”

Biden meets with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus

President Biden spoke viritually with with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, according to a Democratic aide, granted anonymity to discuss the private call.

The group’s chair, Rep. Nanette Barragán, D-Calif., put out a statement of support for Biden after his debate, but many of her members have yet to do the same and some, including Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., have publicly stated that Biden should step down.

The president has faced criticisms from Hispanic members and outside groups in response to a series of immigration decisions he’s made over the last several years and the group is a crucial voting bloc for the Democratic Party.

Biden in 2020: ‘I view myself as a bridge, not as anything else’

President Joe Biden today will return to the same Detroit high school where as a candidate in 2020, he vowed to be a bridge to the next generation of leaders.

”I view myself as a bridge, not as anything else,” Biden said in March 2020 while flanked by Kamala Harris and other party leaders at Renaissance High School. ”There’s an entire generation of leaders you saw stand behind me. They are the future of this country.”

Four years later, many in his party are now pleading for him to fulfill that very promise and step aside.

At his event on Friday, President Biden aims to boost enthusiasm for his campaign and solidify support from Michigan’s prominent Democratic leaders.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries met privately with President Biden

Jeffries of New York said in a letter to colleagues Friday that he met with the president Thursday evening and ”directly expressed the full breadth of insight, heartfelt perspectives and conclusions about the path forward that the Caucus has shared in our recent time together.”

This comes as more than a dozen Democrats in the House have called on Biden to step aside, while others want the president to stay in the race. Jeffries said Democrats have had an ”extensive discussion” about the country’s future. And the conversations have been, as he said earlier in the week, ”candid, clear-eyed and comprehensive.”

Two White House officials confirmed the meeting but declined further comment.

Melania Trump to attend RNC

Former first lady Melania Trump will attend the Republican National Convention. That’s according to two people familiar with her plans who spoke on the condition of anonymity before full details were released.

It will be a rare public appearance in Milwaukee for a woman who has been largely absent from the campaign trail as her husband runs to return to the White House.

It remains unclear whether she will deliver a speech or have any formal role in the proceedings.

The news was first reported by CNN.

GOP group behind Project 2025 floats conspiracy theory that Biden will use ‘force’ to keep power

A conservative think tank that is planning for a complete overhaul of the federal government in the event of a Republican presidential win is suggesting that President Joe Biden might try to hold the White House ”by force” if he loses the November election.

The Heritage Foundation’s warning — which goes against Biden’s own public statements — appeared in a report released Thursday that the group said resulted from a role-playing exercise gaming out potential scenarios before and after the 2024 election.