AFTER BIDEN: The Democratic party went into an immediate scramble to pull itself together after President Biden bowed to the acrimonious effort to get him to abandon his race for re-election.

  No sitting American president has dropped out of the race so late in an election year. The NY Times reported that, “On Sunday, some White House staff members were in shock. Others were crying. And others were relieved.”

    Biden shortly after his initial announcement endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him on the ticket. Major donors who had begun to hold their money re-opened their wallets and heavy hitters like former President Bill Clinton and wife Hillary echoed the endorsement of Harris. 

  The campaign collected $50 million in donations just yesterday and renamed itself “Harris for President,” giving her immediate access to nearly $100 million.

“I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party — and unite our nation — to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda.” Harris said in a statement. 

  Biden said in his announcement letter posted on Twitter/X that, “I believe it is in the best interests of the party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on my duties as president for the remainder of my term.” He said he would address the country later in the week.

  The President has been in isolation at his Delaware beach house getting over a case of Covid while being pressured by powerful Democrats to quit the race. Biden had been reported to be resistant and at times angry. But it was all downhill for him after his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump and some fumbling appearances since. Walking and talking like an elderly and failing man, Biden’s public appearances convinced his powerful allies and millions of Americans that at age 81 he is not up to a second term in office.

  Now there’s the question of whether the Democrats will unite around Harris in the weeks before their national convention or have an internal debate and commit group seppuku in the face of the advancing Trump political army.  Former President Barack Obama did not immediately endorse Harris and former speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she would prefer a “competitive” process if Biden were to pull out.

  The Democrats are in danger of internal destruction if they pass over Harris, the first female and first Black vice president. Harris said she would seek the nomination and that, “We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win.”

CLASS WARFARE: Donald Trump reacted to Biden’s withdrawal from the race with his usual class, posting on his Truth Social website that, “Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for president, and is certainly not fit to serve – and never was!” 

  Keep in mind that Joe Biden like a gentleman called Trump after he was wounded by a potential assassin. Yet Trump went on in his post to say that, “He (Biden) only attained the position of president by lies, fake news, and not leaving his basement.” 

  House Speaker Mike Johnson issued a statement calling on Biden to resign the presidency in addition to suspending his candidacy for re-election. “If Joe Biden is not fit to run for president, he is not fit to serve as president,” Johnson said. “He must resign the office immediately. November 5 cannot arrive soon enough.”

  Johnson also said the Republicans might bring legal action in some states to prevent Biden from dropping off the ballot. Johnson said it could be against the law in some states for the winner of a major party’s primary election to be replaced on the ticket by another candidate.

SAINT DONALD: After saying during his nomination acceptance speech that he would only speak once about his wounding in an attempted assassination, Donald Trump said Saturday during a rally in Ohio that he “took a bullet for democracy.”

  “They keep saying, ‘He’s a threat to democracy.’ I’m saying, ‘What the hell did I do for democracy?'” he said. “Last week, I took a bullet for democracy.”

  He is still campaigning on election rigging that never happened. “The radical left Democrats rigged the presidential election in 2020 and we are not going to allow them to rig the presidential election in 2024,” he said. “We’re not going to allow it.” The crowd roared with a chant of “U-S-A. U-S-A.”

THE WAR ROOM: Israel over the weekend conducted a major air attack against a port in Yemen in retaliation for a Houthi drone strike that killed one person in Tel Aviv. Israel said their strike will prevent the importation of weapons into the port.

  The raid on Saturday evening ignited huge fires at oil and gas storage tanks in Yemen’s port of Hodeidah on the Red Sea coast. Israel also hit an electrical station and loading cranes at the port.

THE SPIN RACK: Ahead of today’s hearing on the Donald Trump shooting, more legislators are calling on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign. — Delta Air Lines canceled more than 600 flights on today, still struggling after a global software outage grounded flights around the world. — Singer and rapper Sean Kingston, 34, and his mother Kisean, 61, have been indicted in Florida on federal charges of wire fraud. The two are accused of a scheme to defraud sellers out of high-end vehicles, jewelry, and other goods.

BELOW THE FOLD: The captain of Japan’s Olympic women’s gymnastics team has been sent home because she seems to have been caught smoking while in workout camp in Monaco. Shoko Miyata is 19 and the legal smoking age in Japan is 20. The team will compete with four women instead of five and in very Japanese style, the president of the Japan Gymnastics Association offered an apology. 

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