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White House says Biden 'cares deeply' about troops after false debate claim that none have died on his watch

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White House says Biden 'cares deeply' about troops after false debate claim that none have died on his watch

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White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that President Biden’s debate-night blunder in which he claimed no U.S. troops had died under his watch was made because of how “deeply” he cares about service members.

“The president was making a comparison between how many service members have died under his leadership versus in previous years. That’s what the comparison that he was making,” Jean-Pierre said during Wednesday’s press briefing. “He was doing that because he cares so deeply, cares so deeply about them and their families and wants to keep troops safe.”

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The comments came in response to a question about Biden’s debate claim that he is the “only president this century” not to have troops die on his watch.

DEMOCRAT LAWMAKER DECLARES TRUMP ‘IS GOING TO WIN THE ELECTION’ AND US DEMOCRACY WILL SURVIVE 

President Biden looks down as he participates in the debate against former President Trump at CNN’s studios in Atlanta on June 27, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

“Truth is, I’m the only president this century that doesn’t have – this decade – any troops dying anywhere in the world like he did,” Biden said.

Critics were quick to point out that U.S. troops have died under Biden’s watch, including the 13 service members who were killed in a suicide bombing at Hamid Karzia International Airport during the U.S. mission to evacuate Afghanistan.

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More recently, three U.S. service members were killed in a January drone attack on a U.S. base in Jordan. 

Karine Jean-Pierre in yellow coat

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in the Brady Press Briefing Room on Jan. 3, 2024. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

TEXAS CONGRESSMAN BECOMES FIRST ELECTED DEMOCRAT TO CALL ON BIDEN TO WITHDRAW FROM ELECTION 

Jean-Pierre acknowledged both attacks during Wednesday’s press briefing, noting that Biden attended the dignified transfer of the service members’ remains in both cases.

Portraits of Daegan Page, Rylee McCollum, Nicole Gee and Kareem Nikoui

Four of the “Heroes of Kabul” who were killed in the August 2021 suicide bomber attack on the Kabul airport during the Afghanistan evacuation. (Courtesy of each family)

But Biden generated controversy during his attendance of the dignified transfer of the 13 service members killed in Afghanistan after appearing to check his watch as the ceremony unfolded.

Nevertheless, Jean-Pierre argued Wednesday that Biden “cares so deeply” about service members “and their families.”

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Biden checks watch at Dover AFB

President Biden looks at his watch as he and first lady Jill Biden attend the dignified transfer of the remains of fallen service members at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, Aug., 29, 2021. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

“Let’s not forget that for some time, he carried a card in his pocket about how many service members were wounded and killed in Iraq and in Afghanistan,” Jean-Pierre said. “That’s how much it was a reminder to him, you know, the times that we live in.”

 

The White House did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

Politics

House Republicans say they aren't sweating Kamala as possible Biden replacement

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House Republicans say they aren't sweating Kamala as possible Biden replacement

House Republicans are already sharpening their attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris as public discussions swell over whether she will replace President Biden at the top of Democrats’ 2024 ticket.

GOP lawmakers — in both safe red seats and swing districts being targeted by the left — dismissed Harris as a political threat to their chances in November, arguing she’s still tied to the same progressive Biden policies they believe are unpopular with voters.

Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., who served as longtime chair of the New York Republican Party before coming to Congress, told Fox News Digital, “Kamala Harris is just as responsible for this administration’s failures, but she’s more incompetent.”

“She will make no difference to the outcome. President Trump will be our 47th,” he said.

BIDEN TELLS WHITE HOUSE AUDIENCE HE’S ‘NOT GOING ANYWHERE’ DURING FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION 

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Republicans like Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., are brushing off Vice President Kamala Harris as a possible threat if she takes over for President Biden. (Getty Images)

A swing-seat Republican who asked not to be named told Fox News Digital they were skeptical Harris would do better on the debate stage than Biden. 

“I would say she’s the weakest part of the ticket right now, as bad as Biden is,” that GOP lawmaker said.

“Whether it’s Joe Biden or [Harris] at the top of the ticket, they’ll have to defend their abysmal, tax-and-spend record,” said Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla. “We’re already seeing significant Republican advantages across the board in swing states, especially increase in support from Hispanic voters.”

Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., a Trump ally from a deep red district, told Fox News Digital that Biden and Harris “both own the same disastrous policies.”

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It comes as conversations swirl around Harris as one of the most likely successors to Biden if he chooses to withdraw from the race ahead of his November rematch with former President Trump. 

WH AIDES, CAMPAIGN STAFF REPORTEDLY ‘MISERABLE’ AS PRESSURE BUILDS ON BIDEN TO DROP OUT

President Biden and Vice President Harris join hands

Vice President Harris would stand to inherit the Biden-Harris campaign’s massive war chest if President Biden withdraws from the race.  (Tierney L. Cross)

Biden and his campaign have insisted he will not bow out of the race, but his weak performance in last month’s presidential debate has left many on the left wondering if he’s the best positioned candidate to beat Trump. Multiple polls have shown Biden modestly trailing Trump since the debate aired.

Harris has maintained that she is standing by Biden on multiple occasions when asked about the speculation by reporters.

But if she were to take over, Harris would be the only Democratic candidate who could inherit the $240 million Biden-Harris campaign war chest.

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The House GOP campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), is also aiming its fire at Harris as well, in a telling sign that it sees her as the next top Democratic target.

A new advertisement released by the NRCC this week cast Harris as Biden’s “enabler-in-chief” and hits her for her role as Biden’s “border czar.” 

HOLLYWOOD MEGADONOR CALLS ON DEMS TO ‘STOP GIVING’ MONEY UNTIL BIDEN DROPS OUT

A spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) told Axios of the ad, “Republicans are fooling themselves if they think the American public will blame anyone besides Donald Trump and his feckless band of Republican extremists and phony moderates who killed a bipartisan border deal.”

trump and biden at debate

Questions about President Biden’s viability as a candidate grew after the debate with former President Trump. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

 

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A recent CNN/SSRS poll shows Harris performing slightly better than Biden in a matchup against Trump.

But when asked about her impact on the November races, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn. — a past NRCC chair — would not speak to the vice president specifically, though he was confident in the GOP’s chances to secure the White House.

“It doesn’t matter which incompetent failure Democrats have on the ballot in November — voters are ready to abandon the sinking ship that is the Biden-Harris administration,” Emmer said.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Biden campaign and to Harris’ office for comment.

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Your guide to Proposition 32: an $18 hourly minimum wage for all Californians

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Your guide to Proposition 32: an $18 hourly minimum wage for all Californians

The statewide minimum wage has not been changed in nearly a decade. Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law in 2016 to boost it to $15 an hour and to automatically adjust it for inflation.

While California’s minimum wage is among the highest in the country and more than twice as much as the federal requirement, many workers are still struggling with a skyrocketing cost of living. The current minimum wage pencils out to about $33,000 a year, and the average cost of living is about $53,082 a year, according to recent federal data.

The measure is led by Joe Sanberg, a wealthy Los Angeles investor and anti-poverty activist.

“This measure passing will mean three meals per day instead of two meals per day,” Sanberg said. “Or the ability to pay for important healthcare, rent or clothes. Every dollar matters.”

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Biden repeatedly dodges questions about whether he'd take neurological test: 'No one said I had to'

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Biden repeatedly dodges questions about whether he'd take neurological test: 'No one said I had to'

President Biden three times dodged questions about whether he’d take a neurological test in one of the more contentious moments of his first sit-down interview since a widely panned presidential debate performance last week.

“Have you had a full neurological and cognitive evaluation?” ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos asked Biden in an interview conducted Friday afternoon and aired in the evening.

“I get a full neurological test every day with me,” Biden replied. “I’ve had a full physical. … I’ve been to Walter Reed for my physicals.”

Stephanopoulos again pressed the president about taking a neurological test, and Biden again ducked. 

DEMS ‘COMING TO TERMS’ THAT BIDEN ‘NOT IN CONTROL’ FOLLOWING DISASTROUS DEBATE: FORMER WH DOC

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President Biden raised eyebrows when he expressed uncertainty whether he had watched his debate performance in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.  (Screenshot/ABC)

“Have you had the specific cognitive tests, and have you had a neurologist, a specialist, do an examination?” Stephanopoulos asked.

“No, no one said I had to. … They said I’m good,” Biden responded.

Stephanopoulos pressed Biden a third time on taking a cognitive or neurological test, and if the president would agree to take one, asking if Biden then would release the results of such a test to the public. The president, however, brushed off the question by saying he is tested every day in his role as president. 

BIDEN TAKES BLAME FOR ‘BAD NIGHT’ IN DEBATE AGAINST TRUMP: ‘MY FAULT, NO ONE ELSE’S FAULT’

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“Look, I have a cognitive test every single day,” Biden said. “Every day I have that test. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, but I’m running the world. Sounds like hyperbole, but we are the central nation in the world.

“And every single day — for example, today, before I come out here — I’m on the phone with the prime minister of … Well anyway, I shouldn’t get into detail, but with Netanyahu. I’m on the phone with the new prime minister of England. I’m working on what we’re doing with regard to in Europe, with regard to expansion to NATO and whether it’s going to stick. I’m taking on Putin. I mean, every day, there’s no day I go through there’s not those decisions I have to make every single day.” 

Three shots of Biden during the debate

President Biden’s debate performance “changed people’s calculations about how candid they would be” about his cognitive issues, according to Olivia Nuzzi. (Getty Images)

Biden’s ABC interview was his first extensive one-on-one since a disastrous debate against former President Trump, which escalated concern about the president’s mental acuity and age. A wave of Biden’s traditional Democratic allies and establishment media outlets, such as The New York Times, called on the president to exit the race.

PRESIDENT BIDEN FACES THE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL WEEKEND OF HIS POLITICAL CAREER

The debate performance included the president tripping over his words, losing his train of thought at times and delivering responses with a raspy voice. He fared poorly compared to former President Trump.

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Trump on debate stage

Former President Trump participates in the first presidential debate at CNN Studios in Atlanta June 27. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Biden and his administration and campaign have remained resolute that Biden will remain in the race despite the mounting calls for someone else, such as Vice President Kamala Harris, to step in and become the party’s nominee in November. 

BIDEN RAMPS UP SPENDING IN BID TO STEADY HIS FALTERING CAMPAIGN

Biden said during the interview he’s aware he performed poorly during the debate, telling Stephanopoulos it was a “bad episode.” 

“No indication of a serious condition. I was exhausted,” Biden said. “I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparing. It was a bad night.

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“The whole way I prepared — nobody’s fault. Mine. Nobody’s fault but mine,” Biden said. “I prepared what I usually would do sitting down, as I did coming back with foreign leaders or the National Security Council, for explicit detail.”

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