Closing summary
Democratic House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries announced that he had met with Joe Biden following his closely watched press conference yesterday, and conveyed “conclusions about the path forward” that he had heard from lawmakers. CNN later reported that Jeffries did not offer Biden his endorsement, though it was unclear if the president asked for it. Later in the day, Biden called in to a meeting with the Congressional Hispanic caucus, which reportedly did not go very well. Some lawmakers were not allowed to ask questions, while one who did told Biden he should step aside. Despite all that, his campaign says they remain on track, and that donations “exploded” during his press conference last night.
Here’s what else happened today:
James Clyburn, a House Democrat close to the president, reiterated his support for Biden, but noted that the party has until the start of their convention next month to make decisions about replacing him.
A new poll may undercut arguments that Biden has lost significant public support following his debate, after it found him in a statistical tie with Donald Trump.
Speaking of Trump, the former president wants congressional Republicans to insist on the passage of a law, opposed by the White House, to require people to present proof of citizenship when registering to vote, raising the possibility that a government spending fight could break out just weeks before the 5 November election.
The former president also said that he would take a cognitive test if Biden took one, and that all future presidential candidates should follow suit.
Melania Trump, who has generally been absent from the campaign trail, will reportedly make an appearance at the Republican national convention next week.
Updated
Biden campaign says donations 'exploded' during press conference last night
In a briefing to reporters as Joe Biden flies to Michigan for a campaign event in Detroit, Biden-Harris campaign communications director Michael Tyler said they had seen a surge in donations during the president’s press conference last night.
“Since last night, we’re seeing strong support across our coalition, but most importantly, we’re seeing it with our grassroots base. We have close to 40,000 donations last night alone. Donations exploded during the president’s press conference. In fact, we hit seven times our average during the press conference,” Tyler said.
He also said the campaign believes polls are in his favor.
“Polling continues to show the same race we’ve been seeing, right, one that is close and unaffected by the debate. President Biden has enduring strength with high propensity voters, while Donald Trump demonstrates a low ceiling, unable to expand his support,” Tyler said.
Biden yesterday told reporters he remained confident in his ability to win, and spoke at length about foreign policy topics, but made a few blunders in the closing hours of the Nato summit, including by accidentally introducing “president Putin”, when he meant Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Tyler downplayed those moments, saying, “Joe Biden has been making gaffes for 40 years. He made a couple last night. He’ll probably continue to do so. Our opponent is somebody who, every single day out on the stump, is calling for a bloodbath if he loses, is pledging to rule as a dictator on day one, and is pledging to ban abortion nationwide, across the country,.”
Here is a look back at press conference:
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