Today is Friday, July 5, 2024. Tonight was an ABC News high-stakes postdate interview with President Joe Biden with ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos and in this interview, the 81-year-old president came out swinging. But as I’m still hearing the news swirling around me, this interview still was not good enough, and even more consequential, it didn’t quell voters’ concerns about Biden and his capacity to continue being the nominee for president in November. In this 22-minute interview with ABC News, Biden downplayed his dismal debate performance, saying he was “sick” and “feeling terrible” before the debate. A live update on my smartphone from CNN by Shania Shelton, Elise Hammond, Kaanita Lyer, and Piper HudspethBackburn entitled “Biden brushes off poor debate performance as he vows to stay in race” examines what went down in this significant interview.

I’ve watched the interview and was amazed over how hard hitting Stephanopoulos was with regard to prickling the sitting president with his poor ratings in the polls and how age could hobble him in carrying out the duties of the presidency for the next four years.

What emerged during this cringeworthy interview was Biden’s defiance in the wake of poor polling numbers and voters’ concerns about his ability to perform favorably after January 2025. One highlight of the interview was when Biden was asked during the interview whether he would step down if he became convinced he could not beat the Orange Turd, Biden retorted he would only do so “if the Lord Almighty comes down” and tells him to.

News anchor Stephanopoulos didn’t skip a beat in answering the president’s reply, responding, “I agree that the Lord Almighty is not going to come down. But if you are told reliably from your allies, and your friends and supporters in the Democratic Party, in the House, in the Senate that they’re concerned you’re going to lose the House and the Senate if you stay in, what will you do?” Biden declined to respond to the question. “It’s not going to happen,” he added.

In responding to Stephanopoulos’ grilling about how members within the Democratic congressional leadership have urged him to leave the race, Biden said, they have told him, instead, to “stay in the race.” Biden added, “I’ve spoken to all of them in detail, including Jim Clyburn. Every one of them. They all said I should stay in the race. Stay in the race.” Biden answered when asked hypothetically what he would say if Senator Schumer, Rep. [Hakeem] Jeffries, or Rep. Pelosi came to him with concerns.

Continuing in this vein of defiance, Biden emphatically dismissed any suggestion that he’s not the most qualified candidate to beat former insurrectionist Donald Duck in November, slamming both his critics and polling.

Pressed on his low approval rating and whether it would be tougher to win four years later, Biden said, “Not when you’re running against a pathological liar. Not when he hasn’t been challenged in the way he’s about to be challenged.”

At one point, Stephanopoulos pounced on Biden’s physical condition, asking him if he were more frail. And Biden responded, “No.”

I’m not pleased or disappointed with this interview, I must say. I had wished that Biden could have slammed Drumpf’s anti-American and anti-Constitutional record during the interview, but that had more to do with the interviewer’s line of questioning than with Biden’s responses. I also wished that Biden could have excoriated Dump on overturning the reproductive rights of women two years ago. This he didn’t do! Upon reflection, this comparison between his record and that of his opponent’s was not made during the interview. I wished that this could have been done at some point in order to convey how different he is compared to Drumpf.

A more intriguing story in MAGA world concerns the pathological liar known as Donald Dump who distanced himself from the vile Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 which is a Christian Nationalism and fascistic blueprint for the overthrow of this country by far-right religious radicals, and this is headed by disgusting Kevin Roberts who recently promised a “second American Revolution,” saying, it would “remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.” What the fuck! This guy is actively promoting a civil war, it seems here, and now the ugly republican nominee for president realizes how unpopular this “project” truly is with the American people, so he now came out on his stupid Truth Social saying that he doesn’t know what it is. Yeah, and he never fucked Stormy Daniels while his wife was having a baby way back when. Do you believe this sick pathological liar? If this horrible project were ever realized, it would mean a national abortion ban, attacks on IFV, the overturning of gay marriage (if this ever happened, I would be out on the streets), a mass deportation program ripped out of a dystopian novel, and much more. No wonder this piece of shit is in panic mode over the exposure of this theocratic, authoritarian blueprint for a transformed America under a Republican president. We must defeat this wanna-be “dick”-tator even if Biden were still in the race and he were in a coma, God forbid!

As for me, I will not be writing my blog tomorrow or Sunday, depending on what time I get home from Easton, Pennsylvania, in order to participate in a Zoom baby shower hosted by our Easton friends’ family. These are the people we usually attend the Christmas holiday with. “Jeff” was a student in Elliot’s science class in middle school many, many years ago. He is now 61 years old. It is his wife’s cousin who is having a baby. The Zoom meeting is being held in the proud parents’ house in Wind Gap, Pennsylvania. So we’re driving to Easton to spend tomorrow with Jeff and “Sandy” and then driving to the Zoom meeting on Sunday before 12:30. The meeting is scheduled for 2.

I’ll say, then, have a good weekend.

Stay safe and be well.

Here’s Atticus resting on a table I bought in Sullivan County in May right before Memorial Day.