America has lived this week to the rhythm of a senseless soap opera, which is, for the moment, reshuffling the cards of the duel between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
Thursday, June 27, 9:00 p.m. The American president and his Republican predecessor have a date on CNN for their first debate of the campaign. Donald Trump must reassure voters about his criminal conviction and his recent diatribes, Joe Biden about his state of health.
The 81-year-old Democratic president retreated for six days with advisers to work on this confrontation. But on stage, he appears confused, minces his words, gets tangled up. Donald Trump strings together lies, full of aplomb.
Former US President Donald Trump during the debate with Joe Biden on CNN in Atlanta, Georgia on June 27, 2024 / ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP/Archives
Tens of millions of Americans watched in amazement as the two men exchanged views.
Barely had the debate ended when a torrent of messages from anonymous and panicked Democrats spread through the press. They urged the president, whom they found too old, to step down to avoid a shipwreck facing the Republicans in November.
“Delivering us to Trump”
At a rally in North Carolina, Joe Biden concedes the next day that he does not “debate not as good as before”. But, he reassures, “I can do the job”.
US President Joe Biden during a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, June 28, 2024 / Mandel NGAN / AFP
Not enough to convince the wealthy donors of the Democratic Party, who have started to doubt: what if the president is not able to lead the country for the next four years?
Through tweets, some of them are demanding concrete proof of the leader’s vivacity, which the White House has been constantly reporting.
Entrenched in Camp David, the country residence of American presidents, the Biden clan is closing ranks, hoping that the storm will pass.
A first dam gave way on Tuesday.
Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, former Speaker of the House of Representatives and still very influential within her party, believes that it is ” legitimate “ to question Joe Biden’s health.
U.S. President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden depart Marine One to board Air Force One at Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, New York, on June 29, 2024 / Mandel NGAN / AFP
In the process, a first elected Democrat, Texan Lloyd Doggett, called on the president to give up running for a second term, urging him not to “deliver us to Trump in 2024”.
A second parliamentarian followed suit 24 hours later, while a handful of others expressed, for the first time publicly, strong reservations about the captain’s age.
Bombarded with questions from reporters, the White House spokeswoman tried on Tuesday, then Wednesday, to put out the fire, referring in turn to ” a cold “ et ” jet lag “ following trips to justify his boss’s poor performance.
Joe Biden n’envisage ” absolutely not “ to withdraw her candidacy, she nevertheless brushes it aside.
« Popcorn »
The storm is such that the legal saga of Donald Trump and the speculations about the possibility that the Republican will go to prison have been completely relegated to the background.
Anti-Trump signs during a protest in front of the US Supreme Court on July 1, 2024 in Washington / Drew ANGERER / AFP
For seven days, Washington has been buzzing with rumors about the Democratic Party’s major maneuvers.
On social media, at social gatherings, everyone has their own theory about who, between Vice President Kamala Harris or this or that prominent governor, could, if necessary, replace the president at short notice.
With its murderous press releases, Donald Trump’s campaign team is delighting in “The total collapse of the Democratic Party”.
She also toasts to the Supreme Court, which on Monday handed Donald Trump a victory on a question of presidential immunity, one of the immediate consequences of which was to delay his sentencing in New York by several months.
Former US President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Chesapeake, Virginia on June 28, 2024 / Jim WATSON / AFP
“If I were on Donald Trump’s campaign team, I’d be watching the Democrats’ soap opera while eating popcorn, thinking ‘This is great! I don’t have to defend my boss who is indicted for paying a porn star’.”comments Peter Loge, a political scientist at George Washington University, to AFP.
Donald Trump, who was expected to announce the name of his vice-presidential candidate at any minute, has only shared a few posts on social media, remaining unusually silent.
