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2024 election live updates: Bernie Sanders calls on Dems 'to stop the bickering'

Sanders expressed his support for Biden in a New York Times guest essay.

President Joe Biden is facing a critical point in his reelection bid as Democratic calls for him to exit the 2024 race continue to mount despite his efforts to shut them down.

A poor debate performance against Donald Trump reignited questions about Biden's age and fitness to carry out his campaign and serve another four years. Biden has defiantly insisted he is staying the course, telling lawmakers this week he is not going anywhere.

Biden held his first news conference since the debate Thursday evening -- taking multiple questions about his political future.


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Wisconsin radio station admits it edited Biden interview at request of campaign

The Wisconsin radio station that hosted Biden last week for an interview edited the conversation at the request of the campaign, cutting out two of Biden’s soundbites, the station said in a statement Thursday.

"On Monday, July 8th, it was reported to Civic Media management that immediately after the phone interview was recorded, the Biden campaign called and asked for two edits to the recording before it aired. Civic Media management immediately undertook an investigation and determined that the production team at the time viewed the edits as non-substantive and broadcast and published the interview with two short segments removed," Civic Media said.

Specifically a line from the interview "… and in addition to that, I have more Blacks in my administration than any other president, all other presidents combined, and in major positions, Cabinet positions," was removed.

A piece of dialogue referencing Donald Trump’s call for the death penalty for the Central Park Five, "I don’t know if they even call for their hanging or not, but he—but they said […] convicted of murder," was also removed.

The station acknowledged that the moves fell short of "journalistic interview standards," but the station said it stands by host Earl Ingram, who conducted the interview.

-ABC News' Olivia Rubin, Will McDuffie, Fritz Farrow and Gabriella Abdul-Hakim


Jeffries refuses to comment on Biden's candidacy, says House Democrats' conversations ongoing

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries remained tight-lipped on Biden’s candidacy as he continued to take the temperature of the House Democratic caucus.

"Throughout this week, as House Democrats, we have engaged in a process of talking to each other. Those conversations have been candid, comprehensive, and clear eyed and they continue until that process concluded," Jeffries said during a news conference Thursday.

"House Democrats, Senate Democrats and President Biden are unified on the affirmative agenda that we have for the American people," the New York congressman added.

Jeffries responded "no" when asked if Biden is a liability for vulnerable House Democrats.


More House Democrats signal doubt on Biden

New York Rep. Ritchie Torres posted a statement on X Thursday expressing more doubts about Biden's viability on the presidential ticket.

Torres, who represents the Bronx, said the president "simply had one bad debate performance reflects a continuing pattern of denial and self-delusion

"The notion that the President is going to be saved by this interview or that press conference misses the forest for trees," he said.

Ohio Rep. Greg Landsman said he is inching "close and closer" to calling on Biden to step aside in an interview Thursday on CNN.

"It's becoming increasingly likely that this is, this may be just too high of a hill for him to climb," he said.

Landsman said Biden's letter to congressional Democrats on Monday did not help.

"The question is about the future of the country," he added.

-ABC News' Lauren Peller


Biden campaign lays out path forward in new internal memo

The Biden campaign is laying out what it sees as its path forward to Joe Biden winning reelection in a new memo shared internally with campaign staff on Thursday by Jen O'Malley Dillon and Julie Chavez Rodriguez, a source familiar with the campaign told ABC News.

The memo, first reported by the AP, acknowledges anxieties but claims they still have "multiple pathways to 270 electoral votes."

The memo was revealed after Democrats had demanded Biden and his campaign show how it planned to win despite Biden's poor poll numbers.

The campaign said it will focus on winning the “blue wall” states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, and believes that the "sunbelt states are not out of reach."

The memo states the race remains a margin-of-error race in key battleground states, despite calls for Biden to step down citing internal data.

-ABC News' Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow and Will McDuffie