Woodward reports in his new book that Biden donors began expressing concern about Biden’s mental fitness in June of 2023.
At a Los Gatos event: Biden was “frightening awful” and like your 87-year-old senile grandfather.”
“He could not wait to sit down and only took 2 pre-arranged questions.”
In NYC: he struggled to find the word veteran. The crowd was unsettled, Woodward writes.
At a Chevy Chase fundraiser in June 2023, Bill Reichblum tells Woodward of Biden: “He never completed a sentence….He told the same story three times in exactly the same way and it meandered so much…Frankly, my impression was there were times…it was as though we didn’t exist. He was just rambling and talking as to what came into his head.”
Hallie Jackson asked Harris yesterday: "Can you say that you were honest with the American people about what you saw in those moments with President Biden, as you were with him again and again repeatedly in that time?"
Harris: "Of course. Joe Biden is an extremely accomplished, experienced and capable in every way that anyone would want if they're president."
Jackson: "You never saw anything like what happened at the debate night behind closed doors with him?"
Harris: "It was a bad debate. People have bad debates.”
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After Slotkin retreats from EV’s in a new ad this week, Harris told people in Michigan yesterday: "Contrary to what my opponent is suggesting, I will never tell you what kind of car you have to drive.”
Some more context in this piece.
In 2019, Harris backed a plan requiring all automakers to only make EV’s and hydrogen cars by 2035.
New: In an Aug. 28 letter obtained by Axios, the WH News Photographers Association said Harris' team was engaging in an "unprecedented reduction in access.”
The VP’s team didn’t respond until last night after we asked about the letter
Jessica Koscielniak, the president of the WHNPA, wrote to Harris' top aides last month protesting that "the four independent news photographer seats have been downgraded to one."
She proposed either adding a "chaser plane" for additional media or the WHCA reorganizing who gets a seat.
In their response last night, the VP’s office said they explored adding more seats on Air Force Two and a chase plane and "learned both suggestions are not viable given available resources, including personnel and aircraft."
The full VP response below:
Veteran WH news photographer Doug Mills, speaking in his personal capacity, told Axios that "the current situation puts the still photographers at a distinct disadvantage on every trip."
He added: "It's essential to us for people to understand the importance of having a full photographer pool. Every photographer sees each event differently. "
As Senator, Harris co-sponsored the Zero-Emissions Act in 2019, which would require by 2040 that 100% of new passenger vehicle sales in the U.S. release no greenhouse gases (only EV’s and hydrogen cars fit that criteria).
During her 2020 campaign, she advocated for an “accelerated model” of the bill and proposed requiring "50% of all new passenger vehicles sold are zero-emission by 2030, and 100% are zero-emission by 2035."
This was what Harris proposed on her 2020 website.
"we will ensure that 50 percent of all new passenger vehicles sold are zero-emission by 2030, and 100 percent are zero-emission by 2035. This will require a new and improved “cash for clunkers” program with incentives for cars to be replaced with zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) manufactured in America" web.archive.org/web/2019120323…
New: The good vibes Harris's campaign are masking tensions among competing factions, as Harris loyalists and Obama alumni are grafted onto Biden's campaign.
“The entanglement of these different entities has led to many people feeling a real lack of role clarity," one person involved in the campaign told Axios.
The result is a large and at times unwieldy team, with internal worries about cohesiveness when inevitable stumbles arise, 6 people involved in the campaign tell Axios.
Biden's campaign was insular, with a few long-serving aides making big decisions.
The Harris campaign has become a diffuse "Frankenstein" team with multiple power centers of ppl close to Harris, some on the Biden team, and the new Obama folks.
From July 21 (Biden drops out) through Labor Day, both camps are set to spend over $300 million on TV & digital ads racing to define Harris, per
@AdImpact_Pol.
Here's a 🧵 of the ads:
First up, FF PAC w/ "As America turns the page, Kamala is ready."
next one, pro-Trump MAGA Inc. w/ "Radical Kamala"
Most Trump team ads hit similar themes trying to label Harris as: "dangerous," "weak," "failed," "radical," "dangerously liberal."
Harris campaign with their own bio ad that is heavy on prosecutor and AG days.
Another theme: the Trump ads have a lot of clips from Harris' 2020 WH campaign and the Harris ads have a lot of clips from her AG and DA days.