Biden weighs presidential race exit as Trump prepares for big moment

Democrats at the highest levels are making a critical push for President Joe Biden to reconsider his election bid. (AP)
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Updated 19 July 2024
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Biden weighs presidential race exit as Trump prepares for big moment

  • Biden, 81, has faced increasing pressure from heavyweights in his party to cede his position at the top of the ticket
  • White House believes Pelosi behind effort to force him out

REHOBOTH BEACH, Delaware/MILWAUKEE: President Joe Biden was “soul searching” about dropping his Democratic reelection campaign, a source said, while Donald Trump prepared to accept the Republican presidential nomination in what aides said would be an unusually reflective speech.
The fortunes of the two candidates appeared to be on opposite trajectories on Thursday in the run-up to the Nov. 5 election.
Biden, 81, was isolating at his Delaware home after contracting COVID-19, while facing a growing revolt from Democrats who urged him to step aside to avert a landslide defeat. His doctor said he was experiencing mild symptoms.
Trump, 78, has basked all week in adulation at the Republican National convention in Milwaukee after surviving Saturday’s assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally.
Trump’s acceptance speech, scheduled for 10 p.m. Eastern Time (0200 GMT on Friday), offers him a chance to lay out his vision for a second White House term before a prime time national television audience.
Biden has faced increasing pressure from heavyweights in his party to cede his position at the top of the ticket after an erratic June 27 debate performance against Trump. Former House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi is among those who have told him he cannot win in November, according to a White House source familiar with the matter.
After weeks of insisting that he will remain in the race, Biden is now taking calls to step aside seriously and multiple Democratic officials think an exit is a matter of time, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Democratic leaders in the House and Senate — Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer — have told Biden directly that he will not only lose the White House but also endanger their effort to win back the House, according to reports in multiple news outlets.
Opinion polls show four of the seven most competitive states looking increasingly out of reach for Biden. The Trump campaign, meanwhile, said it believes it is now competitive in Democratic-leaning states including Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Virginia. “We’re expanding the map,” a senior campaign adviser speaking on condition of anonymity told reporters.
So far, only 20 out of 264 Democrats in Congress have publicly called on Biden to drop out following the debate while more have expressed their concerns privately. The debate raised questions about Biden’s ability to win and to carry on in a high-pressure job for another four years if he were to succeed.
Representative Adam Schiff, a senior House lawmaker running for a Senate seat in California, became the latest Democrat to call on Biden to bow out on Wednesday.
White House officials believe Schiff was backed by Pelosi, according to a White House source speaking on condition of anonymity. That could be an ominous sign for Biden, as the former House speaker is still one of the most influential Democrats in Washington. “Nancy is all over this. She doesn’t miss,” the source said.
Some lawmakers say Biden may now be more open to stepping aside.
“He’s done what’s best for America ... I think he’ll keep doing so,” Democratic US Senator John Hickenlooper told Reuters. “He’s working toward that.”
Hickenlooper declined to say whether he believed Biden should step aside as a candidate.
Former President Barack Obama has told others that Biden, who was Obama’s vice president, should rethink his candidacy, the Washington Post reported, citing anonymous sources.

Republican unity
Trump will cap the four-day Republican convention with his first public address since the assassination attempt.
Lara Trump, the nominee’s daughter-in-law who serves as Republican National Committee co-chair, said the assassination attempt had prompted him to revise his acceptance speech and emphasize unity.
“I don’t think you can go through what he went through on Saturday, really a near-death experience, and not come out on the other side impacted,” Lara Trump said.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who could vie for the Democratic nomination should Biden pull out, said Trump’s call for unity would have little credibility, given his persistent refusal to acknowledge his 2020 election defeat. “We’re too busy watching what you’re doing to hear what you’re saying,” she said at a campaign rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
So far, the convention has highlighted the Republican Party’s broad support for Trump, with former rivals including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley offering strong endorsements of his candidacy.
With most dissent quelled and his grip on the party never tighter, Trump will be in a much stronger position than in his 2017-2021 term to follow through on his agenda if he wins the election.
While those in attendance spoke of uniting the country, many former party stalwarts, including some critics of Trump, were notably absent. Among them were former President George W. Bush, former Representative Liz Cheney, Trump’s former vice president Mike Pence and former Senator Mitt Romney.


Polish centrist’s narrow presidential lead leaves pro-EU path in balance

Updated 19 May 2025
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Polish centrist’s narrow presidential lead leaves pro-EU path in balance

  • Centrist and liberal left parties score lower than expected
  • Far-right voters to play crucial role in second round

WARSAW: Polish liberals performed worse than expected in a presidential election on Sunday, an exit poll showed, as Rafal Trzaskowski from ruling centrists Civic Coalition (KO) scraped to victory setting up a close fight for Warsaw’s pro-European path.
Trzaskowski placed first with 30.8 percent of the vote, ahead of Karol Nawrocki, the candidate backed by the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, who had 29.1 percent, according to an Ipsos exit poll. The gap was much narrower than the 4-7 percentage points seen in opinion polls before the vote.
If confirmed, the result would mean that Trzaskowski and Nawrocki will go head-to-head in a runoff vote on June 1 to determine whether Poland sticks firmly on the pro-European track set by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk or moves closer to nationalist admirers of US President Donald Trump.
“We are going for victory. I said that it would be close and it is close,” Trzaskowski told supporters. “There is a lot, a lot, of work ahead of us and we need determination.”

Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, the presidential candidate of the Civic Coalition reacts to exit polls for the first round of Poland's presidential election, in Sandomierz, Poland, on May 18, 2025. (REUTERS)

Nawrocki also told supporters he was confident of victory in the second round and called on the far-right to get behind him and “save Poland.”
“We have to win these elections so that there is no monopoly of power of one political group, so that there is no monolithic power in Poland,” he said.
An Opinia24 poll for private broadcaster TVN published after the first round gave Trzaskowski 46 percent in the run-off and Nawrocki 44 percent, with 10 percent of voters either undecided or refusing to say.
Far-right candidates Slawomir Mentzen and Grzegorz Braun scored almost 22 percent combined, a historically high score.
Braun, who in 2023 used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles in the country’s parliament, an incident that caused international outrage, won 6.2 percent of the vote according to the exit poll.
Mentzen stopped short of immediately endorsing Nawrocki.
“Voters... are not sacks of potatoes, they are not thrown from one place to another,” he said. “Each of our voters is a conscious, intelligent person and will make their own decision.”
Stanley Bill, Professor of Polish Studies at the University of Cambridge, said the combined strong showing of nationalist and far-right parties meant the results were “a disappointment for the Trzaskowski camp and put wind in the sails of Nawrocki.”
“I would add to this that the results are a significant blow to Donald Tusk’s ruling coalition,” Bill added. “Candidates representing parties that won 53.7 percent of the vote in the 2023 parliamentary elections won only 44.9 percent of the vote this evening.”
Turnout was 66.8 percent according to the exit poll.
The vote in Poland took place on the same day as a presidential run-off vote in Romania, in which centrist Bucharest mayor, Nicusor Dan, appeared on course to defeat Euroskeptic hard-right lawmaker George Simion.

Karol Nawrocki, presidential candidate for the 2025 Polish presidential election supported by Poland's national conservative Law and Justice party, wave to supporters as first exit polls following the presidential elections are announced in Gdansk, Poland, on May 18, 2025. ( AP Photo)

Presidential veto
In Poland, the president has the power to veto laws. A Trzaskowski victory in the second round would enable Tusk’s government to implement an agenda that includes rolling back judicial reforms introduced by PiS that critics say undermined the independence of the courts.
However, if Nawrocki wins, the impasse that has existed since Tusk became prime minister in 2023 would be set to continue. Until now, PiS-ally President Andrzej Duda has stymied Tusk’s efforts.
If the exit poll is confirmed, the other candidates in the first round, including Mentzen from the far-right Confederation Party, Parliament Speaker Szymon Holownia of the center-right Poland 2050 and Magdalena Biejat from the Left, will be eliminated.
Two updated polls that take into account partial official results will be published later in the evening and early on Monday morning.

Role in Europe
Trzaskowski has pledged to cement Poland’s role as a major player at the heart of European policymaking and work with the government to roll back PiS’s judicial changes.
Nawrocki’s campaign was rocked by allegations, which he denies, that he deceived an elderly man into selling him a flat in return for a promise of care he did not provide. But Trump showed support by meeting Nawrocki in the White House.
Nawrocki casts the election as a chance to stop Tusk achieving unchecked power and push back against liberal values represented by Trzaskowski, who as Warsaw mayor was a patron of LGBT marches and took down Christian crosses from public buildings.
Unlike some other euroskeptics in central Europe, Nawrocki supports military aid to help Ukraine fend off Russia. However, he has tapped into anti-Ukrainian sentiment among some Poles weary of an influx of refugees from their neighbor.
He has said Polish citizens should get priority in public services and criticized Kyiv’s attitude to exhumations of the remains of Poles killed by Ukrainian nationalists during World War Two.


Starmer discusses Russian war against Ukraine with US, Italy, France and Germany

Updated 19 May 2025
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Starmer discusses Russian war against Ukraine with US, Italy, France and Germany

  • The talks followed intense diplomacy by the leaders that started with their May 10 trip to Kyiv when the major European powers threw their weight behind an unconditional 30-day Ukraine ceasefire

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday discussed Russia’s war against Ukraine with leaders of the US, Italy, France and Germany, a Downing Street spokesperson said.
Looking ahead to US President Donald Trump’s call with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Monday, the leaders discussed the need for an unconditional ceasefire in the war that Russia launched against its smaller neighbor more than three years ago.
They also discussed the use of sanctions if Russia fails to engage seriously in ceasefire and peace talks, the spokesperson added.
The talks followed intense diplomacy by the leaders that started with their May 10 trip to Kyiv when the major European powers threw their weight behind an unconditional 30-day Ukraine ceasefire.
“Tomorrow, President Putin must show he wants peace by accepting the 30-day unconditional ceasefire proposed by President Trump and backed by Ukraine and Europe,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on X after the Sunday call.
UK’s Foreign Minister David Lammy on Saturday accused Moscow of obfuscating after talks between Ukraine and Russia on a possible ceasefire ended in less than two hours and Trump said “nothing could happen” until he had met directly with Putin.
Russia — which is slowly but steadily advancing on the battlefield and is worried that Ukraine will use such a pause to regroup and re-arm — has said it needs to nail down the terms of a ceasefire before signing up to one.


Paris airport chaos to enter second day after air traffic breakdown

Updated 19 May 2025
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Paris airport chaos to enter second day after air traffic breakdown

  • The breakdown hit on Sunday and has affected thousands of passengers

ORLY, France: An air traffic control breakdown at Paris-Orly airport caused the cancelation and delay of hundreds of flights and the aviation authority said the chaos would extend into Monday.
The breakdown hit on Sunday and has affected thousands of passengers with some already sat in planes at the French capital’s second biggest airport when flights were canceled.
The control tower breakdown forced the cancelation of about 130 flights in and out of Orly Sunday, officials said.
It had not been resolved by late Sunday and the DGAC French civil aviation authority said it was “asking airlines to reduce their flight schedules by 15 percent” on Monday and warned that “delays are expected.”
“The situation is improving but still requires traffic regulation,” the DGAC said.
The authority blamed an air traffic control “malfunction.” An airport source said there had been a “radar failure.”
Flights to European and North Africa destinations and across France were among those hit. Long queues formed at terminals amid a frenzied rush to find alternative transport.
“We were in the aircraft, all seated and strapped in, ready to go, when they made us disembark and collect our bags ... then began the ordeal,” said Azgal Abichou, a 63-year-old business owner.
“The only option is a 300 euro flight — and there’s only one seat left, but there are two of us and we are not even sure it will take off,” said Romane Penault, a 22-year-old student. “So for now, we’re going home.”
Agnes Zilouri, 46, tried desperately to find a seat for her 86-year-old mother and six year old son in the terminal. The family should have taken a flight to Oujda in Morocco on Sunday evening to go to a funeral.
“The flight is canceled. Fortunately I am with my mother,” she said.
Last year Orly handled about 33 million passengers, approximately half the number of the main Paris Charles de Gaulle international airport.


Authorities say suspect in California fertility clinic bombing left behind ‘anti-pro-life’ writings

Updated 19 May 2025
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Authorities say suspect in California fertility clinic bombing left behind ‘anti-pro-life’ writings

  • US Attorney Bilal “Bill” Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in the area, called the writings “anti-pro-life”

A 25-year-old man the FBI believes was responsible for an explosion that ripped through a Southern California fertility clinic left behind “anti-pro-life” writings before carrying out an attack investigators are calling an act of terrorism, authorities said Sunday.
Guy Edward Bartkus of Twentynine Palms, California, was identified by the FBI as the suspect in the apparent car bomb detonation Saturday that damaged the clinic in the upscale city of Palm Springs in the desert east of Los Angeles.
Investigators believe Barktus died in the blast, which a senior FBI official called possibly the “largest bombing scene that we’ve had in Southern California.” A body was found near a charred vehicle outside the clinic.
Bartkus attempted to livestream the explosion and left behind writings that communicated “nihilistic ideations” that were still being examined to determine his state of mind, said Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office. US Attorney Bilal “Bill” Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in the area, called the writings “anti-pro-life.”
The Associated Press reported Saturday night that those writings professed a sentiment that the world should not be populated.
“This was a targeted attack against the IVF facility,” Davis said Sunday. “Make no mistake: we are treating this, as I said yesterday, as an intentional act of terrorism.”
The bombing injured four other people, though Davis said all embryos at the facility were saved.
“Good guys one, bad guys zero,” he said.
Authorities were executing a search warrant in Twentynine Palms, a city of 28,000 residents about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Palm Springs, as part of the investigation.
The suspect posted writings online and attempted to record the explosion, though authorities said the video failed to upload. An official who was not authorized to discuss details of the attack spoke on condition of anonymity to the AP.
The blast gutted the single-story American Reproductive Centers clinic, though a doctor said its staff members were safe.
“Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients,” Dr. Maher Abdallah, who leads the clinic, told the AP in a phone interview Saturday.


Former US President Biden diagnosed with ‘aggressive’ prostate cancer

Updated 19 May 2025
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Former US President Biden diagnosed with ‘aggressive’ prostate cancer

  • Biden, 82, was diagnosed on Friday after having experienced urinary symptoms

Former US President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer that has metastasized to the bone, his office said in a statement on Sunday.
Biden, 82, was diagnosed on Friday after having experienced urinary symptoms, and he and his family are reviewing treatment options with doctors, the statement said.
“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,” his office said.
Biden, who served as president from 2021 to 2025, abruptly ended his bid for reelection last July, weeks after a halting performance during a debate against Republican candidate Donald Trump prompted panic among his fellow Democrats. Vice President Kamala Harris took over as the party’s nominee but lost in November to Trump.
Biden’s physical health and mental acuity drew intense media scrutiny even before the debate. At the time of his election, Biden was the oldest person to win the presidency.
Trump, 78, broke that record when he defeated Harris last year.