Biden tells supporters 'I promise I'm okay' and jokes about his age in Michigan campaign stop

From Rob Crilly, Chief U.S. Political Correspodent in Northville, Michigan

President Joe Biden assured his supporters he was still fit to serve during a campaign stop in Michigan with his political future in the balance.

'I promise you, I'm okay,' he told fans at the Garage Grill & Fuel Bar in Northville in the swing state that will be vital in the 2024 general election.

'We have real opportunities, and so we've got to finish the job,' the 81-year-old added, echoing the defiant comments from his NATO press conference on Thursday night.

Biden spoke without notes and was joined by Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell, a staunch supporter who praised him for being by her side when her husband John died.

The president repeated the story that the Charlottesville Unite The Right rally in 2017 was the reason he decided to run again.

'There's a lot at stake', he added, and said the nation was at an 'inflection point'.

He made jokes about his age but didn't discuss his disastrous debate performance or questions about whether he should run again.

'That’s why I’m running to finish this job. There’s more to do. I know I’m only 41. … I promise you I’m okay.'

'This is an important one, ' he said referring to the election.

'For the longest time, I was too young because I was the second youngest man ever elected to the United States Senate and now I’m too old.'

'With age comes a little wisdom… the alternative is not much of an alternative,' he said in a slight at Donald Trump.

Donald Trump said picking his running mate is like a 'highly-sophisticated' version of his former reality show The Apprentice.

The former president gave details of his selection process to The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show, ahead of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee next week.

'I’d love to do it during the convention, which would be you know, or just slightly before the convention, like Monday,' Trump said in reference to when he will name his choice.

'Love to do it on Tuesday or Wednesday, actually, but for a lot of complex reasons that you people understand, pretty much don’t do that'.

The Donald then said he was evaluating up to five people who were on the GOP's 'very good bench'.

He admitted that his ultimate decision would be based on 'instinct', as he kept everyone guessing.

The shortlist has been narrowing over recent months as the convention in Milwaukee has neared.

Republican Senators J.D. Vance, Marco Rubio are among the contenders.

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum is also a favorite.

Joe Biden's verbal abilities have 'unraveled' so sharply that one of America's top linguists has likened the president's current speech to P

idgin English.

Biden committed two major flubs in Washington Thursday alone – accidentally calling Volodymyr Zelensky 'President Putin' and referring to Kamala Harris during his high-wire press conference as 'Vice President Trump.'

And these quick slips (Biden corrected the first one but not the second) are forming part of a worrying and fast-declining problem, it has been claimed.

Actress Octavia Spencer is rallying the crowd ahead of President Biden's remarks at a campaign event in Detroit.

'Well Michigan, this year the stakes are higher than they've ever been,' the Oscar winner said. 'But I know you're ready to stand up and save our democracy again.'

Spencer called Biden a 'determined, compassionate leader' with a 'bold, positive vision for the future' and slammed Donald Trump and Republicans, claiming they want to 'rip away' rights.

She called on Biden supporters to organize and mobilize.

'Let's win again in November,' she said.

President Joe Biden's latest effort to soothe panicked House Democrats Friday fell flat after he showed up late to a zoom meeting, skeptics couldn't ask questions, and one zoom attendee promptly came out against him.

The calamity came as Biden met with members of a progressive BOLD PAC associated with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, as he leads on key constituencies even as dozens of members of his own party call for him to go.

The zoom session came hours after Biden's press conference where he calmed some Democrats by fielding questions at length with his future on the line, but also botched Kamala Harris' name by calling her 'Vice President Trump.'

More than 24 million Americans tuned in to watch President Joe Biden's pivotal press conference at the NATO summit last night.

Nielsen revealed that a huge audience tuned in across multiple networks to watch him fight for his political survival.

Over 19 million viewers were were aged 55 or older, 3.58 million were between 34 and 54 and just over one million were under the age of 34.

By comparison, 51 million watched the CNN debate, and Biden's car crash performance.

In a letter publicized Friday, 24 former Democrat lawmakers are urging President Joe Biden to step aside and allow an 'open convention' in August.

'The President’s integrity and vision are intact,' they write in the letter first obtained by Politico.

'However, the energy and stamina the President needs for a campaign and a next term are diminished. This problem has been gnawing at the country for months and came to a head in and after the June 27 debate.'

This leads us to a regretful conclusion. President Biden would best serve the nation he loves by releasing the convention delegates who are pledged to nominate him for a second term. His decision to do so would mean an open convention in August. We ask him to make that decision.

It's signed by former Reps. Peter DeFazio of Oregon, Jim Moran of Virginia, Jim McDermott of Washington, Phil Sharp of Indiana and John LaFalce of New York.

Former Sen. Tim Wirth of Colorado also joined.

By Sarah Ewall-Wice, Senior U.S. Political Reporter in Detroit

A small but very loud group of protesters gathered outside the campaign event where President Biden will speak this evening in Detroit ahead of his arrival.

There were about a dozen protesters waving Palestinian flags and carrying pro-Palestine signs as they chanted.

The group accused Biden of 'committing genocide' for his policy in Gaza.

Michigan had one of the largest 'uncommitted' protest votes during the primary season due to the president's support and aide for Israel in its war against Hamas.

Separately, a lone man was also carrying a sign across the way calling on 81-year-old Biden to 'pass the torch' as he faces mounting pressure to step aside.

Pressure is mounting on President Joe Biden among voters and his own party to stand down or prove he is mentally fit enough to beat Donald Trump.

The 81-year-old has repeatedly refused to take a gold-standard cognition test that looks for signs of dementia or Parkinson's, which many doctors suspect he has.

Biden has said he doesn't need to take the exam, claiming 'every day I have that test' -  implying the job of president itself is a test of his mental acuity.

By contrast, Donald Trump has bragged about 'acing' the test twice, gloating that he scored a perfect 30 out of 30 on both occasions.

So, how would you do? We've included instructions on how to do the test yourself at home at the bottom of this article. DailyMail.com has also spoken to the creator of the so-called MoCA test on his thoughts about Biden, which you can read here.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said Friday that she will not be voting for ex-President Donald Trump in November.

Instead, she will write in former presidential candidate Nikki Haley.

Haley has backed Trump since stepping down from the race, saying he's better than the alternative - another four years of Joe Biden.

Collins never disclosed whether she voted for Trump in 2020 and has criticized him.

In March, she said that she would not be voting for him in the upcoming election.

A New York judge tossed out a Rudy Giuliani’s bankruptcy case Friday, in a ruling that brings two Georgia election workers position to try to claw back at least some of the $148 million awarded to them in a defamation lawsuit.

The former New York mayor Donald Trump lawyer was ordered to pay the election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, after falsely accusing them of beign part of a vote-stealing scheme.

He filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection shortly thereafter, a move that froze their efforts to obtain the financial judgement. Giuliani is fighting to avoid being disbarred in Washington, lost a lucrative New York radio gig, and put his New York apartment on the market for nearly $6 million.

Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane barred Giuliani from seeking bankruptcy again for a year, giving Freeman and Moss a window to try to claim money that hasn’t already gone to legal fees and expenses. Giuliani can still appeal the judgement, although he is now exposed to other civil lawsuits, while battling criminal charges in Georgia and Arizona.

The rebellion against Joe Biden's presidential candidacy is growing and now Bill and Hillary Clinton are joining the behind-the-scenes plotting with Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi.

Well-connected aides for Obama and the Clintons are commissioning polls and lobbying Democratic donors to hold onto their dollars in an effort to pressure Biden out of the competition.

But the president's allies are fighting back, joining their boss in digging in their heels about staying in the competition. Biden, his White House and his re-election team have said repeatedly he is in the race to stay.

The coup , however, is born out of concern that Biden, after his disastrous debate performance, can't beat Donald Trump in November. But it has it roots in the decades-long simmering resentments between Obama, the Clintons and Biden.

They have long, interconnected ties among one another - they've shared staffers, passed legislation and campaigned for one another but they're also longtime competitors who take turns getting annoyed at the attention and credit the other receives.

As Biden digs in his heels and the whispers against him grow, the interparty fighting shows no signs of stopping with plots and twists coming in at machiavellian levels.

It's a question of how long it can continue before the whole thing implodes.

'Something's got to give, because we're in hell right now,' said Democratic strategist Jim Manley, a well-connected former staffer who knows all the players in this modern Shakespearean drama.

Donald Trump has offered President Joe Biden a deal if he agrees to take a cognitive test, with concerns about his mental health sparking calls for him to drop out.

The 77-year-old presumptive Republican nominee told the 81-year-old president he would go with him if he went for the neurological screening.

He said they would do it 'as a team' and it would be for the 'good of the country'.

He wrote on Truth Social: 'Joe should immediately take a Cognitive Test, and I will go with him, and take one also. For the first time we’ll be a team, and do it for the good of the Country….And from now on, all Presidential candidates should be mandated to take a Cognitive Test and Aptitude Test, regardless of their age!!!'

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., revealed that he'd missed votes this week due to an emergency medical procedure.

'This week, I underwent a minor emergency medical procedure which involved hospitalization. While I’m recovering well, the procedure unfortunately required me to miss some Senate floor votes. I’m grateful to be back in action today, but wanted to share the reason for my brief absence,' he wrote on X.

The presidential election forecast model FiveThirtyEight has shifted the presidential race slightly in favor of President Biden as he slowly recovers from his debate performance.

The polling shows Biden favoered to win 51 percent to Donald Trump's 49 percent.

The Electoral College according to its modeling has Biden receiving 271 votes and Trump taking 267 votes, giving Biden just one more vote than necessary for victory.

The forecast shows Biden keeping a hold on the battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania while Trump flips Nevada, Arizona and Georgia, states he lost in 2020.

House Homeland Security Chair Mark Green subpoenaed Department of Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas for information related to 'terrorists threats at the southern border.'

In late June DHS identified 400 migrants who had been smuggled into the U.S. by ISIS-affiliated human smuggling network from Central Asia. Some 150 have been arrested by ICE.

Donald Trump used a brutal meme to mock rival President Joe Biden introducing Volodymr Zelensky as ‘President Putin’ before his NATO press conference.

The former president posted an image of a Wheel of Fortune board with the letters Z,L,N,S,Y.

Below is a mocked-up photo of Biden as a contestant shouting his guess: ‘Putin’.

'Democrats have known Biden is unfit to be president, and if they had any integrity, they'd invoke the 25th Amendment already,' Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., wrote on X.

'We're talking about the security of the American people here—so why does Biden still have the nuclear codes?'

A few of Biden's biggest donors reportedly have expressed concerns about Biden's fitness and will withhold $90 million in donations pledged to super PAC Future Forward.

According to the New York Times, the donations will not be transferred over if Biden remains at the top of the Democrats' 2024 ticket.

Top donors are also viewing 81-year-old Biden as 'frail' and old, according to the Washington Post.

At recent fundraisers, the president lost his train of thought and spoke 'too quietly' according to the reports.

That has set off a series of dramatic next steps by the most influential Democratic donors...including potentially freezing the money to get their desired candidate up top of the ticket.

Minnesota Democrat Sen. Amy Klobuchar announced she is now cancer-free after a regular screening revealed a lump that she's since had removed.

The senator recovered from breast cancer in 2021.

President Joe Biden ends his fightback week by flying to Detroit, Michigan, in an effort to shore up key support amid a growing wave of calls for him to end his reelection campaign.

He arrives after hobnobbing with world leaders at the NATO summit in Washington and speaking at a press conference on Thursday evening, where he mixed foreign policy with flubs for an hour.

He insisted that he plans to remain in the race despite a disastrous debate performance that raised questions about the 81-year-old's fitness for office.

Since then he has been on a non-stop effort to reassure lawmakers and donors that he can still do the job.

But a string of interviews, visits to key states and a rare single-handed press conference have done little to stem calls for him to step aside.

Melania Trump is preparing to make a major appearance on the campaign trail alongside husband Donald Trump after months of staying away from presidential race.

The former first lady will attend the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee next week, DailyMail.com has learned, but it remains unclear if she will address the crowd.

Other Trump family members will be in appearance next week. Don Jr. is speaking on Wednesday night. Eric Trump is expected to attend as his wife Lara works for the party.

Ivanka Trump will be there on Thursday when Donald Trump formally accepts the presidential nomination. But she will be there in a personal capacity and will not speak to the delegates.

It is unclear if Barron Trump will attend.

By Emily Goodin, senior U.S. political reporter

Jill Biden wil lead the U.S. delegation to the Olympic Games in Paris, the White House announced.

She will travel to Paris for the Opening Ceremony on July 26, 2024.

And second gentleman Doug Emhoff will lead the delegation to the closing ceremony on August 11, 2024.

The White House corrected President Joe Biden’s gaffe where he called Kamala Harris ‘Vice President Trump’ in its official transcript of the press conference on Tuesday night.

West Wing aides crossed out Trump and put Harris to fix the blunder made by the 81-year-old while he was taking questions from the press.

The botched response was a disastrous start for Biden who is fighting for his political future. He took the stage at the NATO summit on Wednesday to try and quash calls for him to drop out of the race.

Just hours before he introduced Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky as ‘President Putin’.

A fourth House Democrat - Rep. Brittany Pettersen, D-Colo., has called on President Biden to 'pass the torch' since his NATO news conference Thursday evening.

She said she 'loves' Joe Biden but 'my son and my constituents can't suffer the consequences of inaction at this moment.'

'Please pass the torch to one of our many capable Democratic leaders,' she added, suggesting the new Democratic nominee did not need to be Vice President Kamala Harris.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries met with President Biden last night following his press conference.

He confirmed the meeting in a letter to his House colleagues Friday morning, saying he expressed to Biden the 'full breadth' of views on his reelection campaign.

That is a major development as now 16 House Democrats - and one senator - have urged Biden to step aside publicly due to concerns about his mental and physical fitness.

Details of their meeting could shed light on what is happening behind the scenes.

One of Jeffries' top leaders - Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., who serves as the top Democrat on the Intel Committee - came out last night saying Biden should pass the torch.

He did not disclose whether he discussed the decision to come out against Biden with Jeffries ahead of time.

President Joe Biden admitted on Thursday night he was open to stepping aside on the Democratic ticket if the new pick could beat Donald Trump and said delegates could do 'whatever they want' at the party's convention next month.

The 81-year-old opened the door to being replaced, but insisted he had 'overwhelming support' from his party and the polls show he is winning.

Thousands of delegates from across the country are gearing up to head to Chicago next month for the Democratic National Convention.

And despite the Biden campaign being roiled by fallout over President Joe Biden's stumbling debate performance and growing concerns over his fitness, delegates are hunkering down and preparing to vote for Biden as their nominee as planned.

'Gold Bar' Bob Mendendez's bribery trial is set to come to a close soon, with the jury beginning deliberations.

Menendez has been accused of participating in a years-long foreign corruption scheme that earned him gold bars, cash and a new car.

The long-time lawmaker sat for over eight weeks in a New York federal courtroom as witnesses and prosecutors revealed the scintillating details of his alleged plan to reward multiple New Jersey businessmen with favors in exchange for payment, prosecutors alleged.

Menendez allegedly used his high-profile position as the former Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman to help one man negotiate a contract with Egyptian officials.

And he used his influence as the New Jersey's senior senator to quash a state investigation into another accomplice's state insurance fraud case, prosecutors said.

Joe Biden's senior officials struggled to keep their composure when the president mistook Donald Trump for Kamala Harris last night - as dozens of Democratic lawmakers prepared to turn against him.

The major blunder came near the top of Biden's 'make-or-break' press conference and shortly after the commander-in-chief introduced Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky at the end of the NATO summit as 'President Putin.'

Indeed, Biden's cabinet may have hoped that after the epic gaffe in front of a worldwide audience the worst was over.

But about two hours later, the cameras were trained on Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan as the president made arguably his worst flub of the night.

A sitting House Democrat became the first to suggest President Joe Biden should resign from office in a stunning statement.

Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., said ahead of Biden's highly-anticipated press conference Thursday that she has 'doubt' about his 'health and fitness to do the job' following his disastrous debate two weeks ago.

Perez also said she has concerns about whether he is actually the 'one making important decisions about our country, rather than unelected advisors.

'Americans deserve to feel their president is fit enough to do the job,' she continued in a statement to local channel KGW8.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former President Barack Obama held emergency talks on what to do about Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket - and did not come to a consensus.

Neither is sure what to do - but they agree it has become much harder for Democrats to win in November since Biden's disastrous debate performance, according to CNN.

Democrats are 'begging' either Obama or Pelosi to help quell the infighting. The pair of political powerhouses have Biden's ear, moreso than Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer or House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

1. Sen. Peter Welch, Vermont
2. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, Texas
3. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, Arizona
4. Rep. Seth Moulton, Massachusetts
5. Rep. Mike Quigley, Illinois
6. Rep. Angie Craig, Minnesota
7. Rep. Adam Smith, Washington
8. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, New Jersey
9. Rep. Pat Ryan, New York
10. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Oregon
11. Rep. Hillary Scholten, Michigan
12. Rep. Brad Schneider, Illinois
13. Rep. Greg Stanton, Arizona
14. Rep. Ed Case, Hawaii
15. Rep. Jim Himes, Connecticut
16. Rep. Scott Peters, California
17. Rep. Eric Sorensen, Illinois

This is what a 'big boy' press conference looks like: Two teleprompt screens, a list of vetted journalists and press aides with microphones, ready to silence tricky questions.

The White House had leaned into the term, first used by a reporter, to signify that President Joe Biden would offer a no-holds-barred demonstration of his ability to parry tough questions.

Yet even with the guard rails of screens, fussing aides and an opening statement, Biden struggled at times with a raspy throat, botched lines and meandering answers.

He was asked whether Kamala Harris could beat Donald Trump if she was top of the ticket, and answered in excruciating fashion.

'Look, I wouldn't have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president if I didn't think she was not qualified to be vice president,' he said, triggering a Republican meme avalanche, with mashups of Harris and Trump appearing rapidly online.

President Joe Biden's disastrous debate has done little to impact where he stands in the race with Donald Trump despite a mountain of calls for him to drop out, a new poll suggests.

The PBS News/NPR/Marist poll released Friday shows 50 percent of Americans would vote for Biden if the election was held today, while 48 percent would back Trump.

However, a majority believe Trump will win the election in November, and more than half of registered voters don't want either candidate on their party's ticket.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans say Biden does not have the mental fitness to serve as president, while about half question Trump’s acuity.

Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn has blamed Joe Biden's stutter for his excruciating gaffes and insists he has one of the 'best minds I have ever been around'.

The South Carolina lawmaker rushed to the 81-year-old's defense after he introduced Volodymyr Zelenskyy as 'President Putin' and called Kamala Harris 'Vice President Trump'.

He told NBC's Today show

Well, those of us who are real close watchers of Joe Biden, we do know that he sometimes will mangle words and phrases. But all of that is almost natural for people who grew up stuttering, and they do focus a little more. When you focus a little more, you tend to lose the flow.

The host then asked if what he has seen from the president in the last three weeks is just a 'function of him stuttering'.

He doesn't stutter now. He is still working to overcome the stuttering of his childhood. I have been around that condition for a long time, and I know exactly how it operates. But he has one of the best minds that I have ever been around. And the people who have been around him will tell you that. 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.

Clyburn then said it was up to Biden to decide on staying in the race and said Democrat critics who are demanding he drop out should focus on his administration's 'record'.

Clyburn then admitted that Biden is not the same person from he was two years ago.