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Biden aides pushed for early debate to show off Biden’s ‘strength,’ expose Trump’s ‘weakness,’ book says
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Senior advisors to then-President Joe Biden reportedly urged him to hold a debate against President Donald Trump as early as possible in an attempt to highlight Biden’s «leadership» and Trump’s «weakness,» according to a new book.
The book, «2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America,» is set for release Tuesday and claims that Biden’s team dismissed concerns about his age during the 2024 election cycle.
The book, authored by Josh Dawsey of the Wall Street Journal, Tyler Pager of the New York Times and Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post, says Biden senior advisors wrote up a memo advocating an initial spring debate, followed by a potential second one in early September after Labor Day.
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Then-President Joe Biden and now-President Donald Trump participate in the CNN Presidential Debate on June 27, 2024, in Atlanta. ( Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
This strategy would allow Biden to take on Trump before early voting in battleground states kicked off, set the terms of the debate most advantageous for Biden and highlight Biden’s «leadership» in contrast to Trump’s, according to a memo on the matter.
«By holding the first debate in the spring, YOU will be able to reach the widest audience possible, before we are deep in the summer months with the conventions, Olympics and family vacations taking precedence,» Biden’s senior advisors reportedly wrote in an April 15, 2024, memo, published by Politico Playbook. «In addition, the earlier YOU are able to debate the better, so that the American people can see YOU standing next to Trump and showing the strength of YOUR leadership, compared to Trump’s weakness and chaos.»
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President Joe Biden participates in the presidential debate in Atlanta on June 27, 2024. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Even so, the book reports that some Biden aides were hesitant about an early debate, with some even advocating that Biden shouldn’t debate Trump at all. Specifically, the book cites a Biden donor who pressed the White House in May 2024 to find a reason to pull Biden from the debates, after the donor reported being «alarmed» by Biden’s behavior at a Chicago fundraiser.
Meanwhile, the Trump White House said the debate backfired on Biden, and instead, shed light on Biden’s own weaknesses.
«The only highlight from the debate was Joe Biden’s inability (to) form a complete sentence,» White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in a Monday statement to Fox News Digital. «American voters got a firsthand look at Biden’s weakness, his campaign in chaos, and what it looks like when real leader is missing from the White House.»
«Unfortunately for the Democrats, no adviser or so-called ‘strategic’ move could save their incompetent candidates and terrible policies from President Trump’s historic, landslide victory,» Rogers said.
A spokesperson for Biden did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
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The debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden prompted the incumbent president to exit the election a month later. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Biden and Trump ultimately did face off in a debate on June 27, 2024 – an event that prompted Biden to exit the election in July 2024 and led to Vice President Kamala Harris to take on Trump in November 2024.
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«2024» is one of several books that have been released in 2025 detailing Biden’s mental deterioration while in office and how Trump won the election. Another example is the book «Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,» released May 20.
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Former Pink Floyd member Roger Waters faces possible prosecution after supporting banned Palestine Action
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Former Pink Floyd songwriter Roger Waters could face prosecution after declaring his support for Palestine Action, a terrorist organization that has been banned by Parliament in the U.K.
Waters posted a video to X on Saturday, in which the Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame inductee praised Palestine Action as a «great organization,» while also giving kudos to Bob Vylan, who led the Glastonbury Festival crowd in a chant, shouting, «Death, death to the IDF.»
Waters said in his video that he was in his studio and was working on a piece of brown cardboard with a Sharpie.
He then switched the camera from his face to the cardboard.
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Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters praised the group, Palestine Action, which the U.K. Parliament has labeled a terrorist organization. (Getty Images)
«This says, ‘Roger Waters supports Palestine Action, 5th of July 2025. Parliament has been corrupted by agents of a genocidal foreign power. Stand up and be counted. It’s Now,’» Waters read. «This is the moment. I am Spartacus.»
«This is Independence Day, July 5th, 2025,» he continued. «I declare my independence from the government of the U.K., who’ve just designated Palestine Action a terrorist, proscribed terrorist organization.»
Waters said he supports Palestine Action, calling it a «great organization,» and noting that they are «nonviolent» and «absolutely not terrorists in any way.»
«They’re a nonviolent protest organization protesting the presence in the U.K. of Elbit Systems, who are an Israeli arms manufacturing organization,» he said. «All right. So, that’s that. I support Palestine Action, and I always will because that is the right thing to do.»
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Bob Vylan performing on the West Holts stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset. Picture date: Saturday, June 28, 2025. (Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images)
He then turned his attention to others who support Palestine, like Bob Vylan, a punk-rap duo who led anti-Israel chants at the Glastonbury Festival late last month.
«We must support our brothers and sisters in Palestine and support them no matter what,» Waters said. «So good on you, what was your name? Vylan. Good on you, Vylan, and the rest of you who are standing up to be counted. I love you.»
Reuters reported that last week, the U.K. government moved to ban Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws after its activists broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged two planes in protest of what the organization called Britain’s support for Israel.
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London, UK, Dec 9, 2023, pro-Palestinian protesters hold a banner and chant at at anti-Israel protest. (Getty Images)
After a parliamentary vote, the government proscribed the group as a terrorist organization, and the ban went into effect at midnight.
Under U.K. law, offenses include things like inviting support, expressing approval or displaying symbols of a banned group, and violations are punishable by up to 14 years behind bars and/or a fine.
There are currently 81 groups listed under anti-terrorism laws in Britain, including al-Qaeda, ISIS and Hamas.
Parliament’s Minister of State, Sir David Hanson, said after the amendment’s approval that Palestine Action released an «undercover manual» that encourages its members to create small groups and provides guidance about how to conduct activity against private companies and government buildings.
Hanson also said the manual explains how to operate covertly and evade arrest.
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The Houses of Parliament in London, UK. (Chris J. Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
«The Government have assessed that Palestine Action promotes and encourages terrorism. This includes glorification of its attacks involving serious property damage on social media,» Hanson said. «I have to say that we would not tolerate this activity from organisations if they were motivated by Islamist or extreme right-wing ideologies, and therefore I cannot tolerate it from Palestine Action.»
«By implementing this measure, we will remove Palestine Action’s veil of legitimacy, tackle its financial support and degrade its efforts to recruit and radicalise people into committing terrorist activity in its name,» he added.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism, which, according to the group’s site, is a «volunteer-led charity dedicated to exposing and countering antisemitism through education and zero-tolerance enforcement of law,» shared Waters’ video on X shortly after it was posted by the former Pink Floyd member.
The group said it reviewed the post, adding that anyone who expresses support for it, contrary to the Terrorism Act 2000, is committing a criminal offense.
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They also said they stand ready to privately prosecute offenders when authorities fail to act.
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism told Fox News Digital, «The suggestion that the Jewish state wields excessive political influence is a breach of the International Definition of Antisemitism.»
«Roger Waters has a long history of promoting dangerous conspiratorial tropes,» the spokesperson said. «His declaration of support for Palestine Action, now a banned organisation, is his most legally provocative move yet. We expect the police to take action, and if they do not then we will.»
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Uno por uno, los 16 suicidios y muertes misteriosas de funcionarios y opositores rusos desde el comienzo de la guerra con Ucrania
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Socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s SAT score revealed: report
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After it was reported that democratic socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani identified as «Asian» and «Black/African American» in his application to Columbia University, his SAT scores were revealed to be below the median score for students admitted into the school, according to a new report.
Independent journalist Christopher Rufo reported on Monday that, according to Mamdani’s full Columbia application, he scored 2140 out of 2400 on the SAT, which is below the median score of students admitted to the university in 2009.
A 2009 statement by the university said that students admitted into the Class of 2013 scored between 2110 and 2300 on the SAT, which would have placed Mamdani within the range but below the median.
Mamdani has said he identifies as «an American who was born in Africa,» and stated that checking multiple boxes was an effort to reflect his «complex background,» not to gain an advantage in the competitive admissions process.
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A New York Times report from Thursday discovered that NYC Mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani identified as Black/African American on his application to the prestigious Columbia University in 2009. (Getty Images)
But at the time, Columbia, like many elite universities, used race-conscious admissions, a system the Supreme Court struck down in 2023.
Mamdani, who is the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, identified as «Black or African American» on his 2009 Columbia University application even though he now says he does not consider himself Black, The New York Times reported Thursday.
According to The Times, the internal data came from a leaked database of past Columbia applications which was part of a recent hack targeting the Ivy League school.
Mamdani, then a high school senior, also checked «Asian» and reportedly wrote in «Ugandan» in the space for additional background. He was ultimately not accepted to Columbia even though his father is a professor at the elite school.
NYC MAYORAL FRONTRUNNER ZOHRAN MAMDANI’S PROFESSOR FATHER CLAIMED HITLER INSPIRED BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Democrat mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during a rally at the Hotel & Gaming Trades Council headquarters in New York, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
«Even though these boxes are constraining,» Mamdani said, «I wanted my college application to reflect who I was.»
Mamdani told The Times that aside from those college forms, he doesn’t recall ever identifying as Black or African American.
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New York City mayor Eric Adams and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (Left: Photo by Andrea Renault/Star Max/GC Image, Right: Photo by Alex Kent/Getty Images)
His parents are both of Indian descent. His father, Columbia professor Mahmood Mamdani, has lived in East Africa for generations, but Mamdani said there had been no intermarriage in the family with native African groups.
Mamdani has leaned into his South Asian and Muslim identity on the campaign trail. During a June speech at Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, he also stressed his African roots: «I was born in Kampala, Uganda… I was given my middle name, Kwame, by my father, who named me after the first Prime Minister of Ghana.»
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Mamdani has proposed a list of policy changes to radically alter New York City more in line with his democratic socialist vision. He is running to unseat incumbent New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who was elected as a Democrat but is now running for re-election as an independent.
Former New York Democratic Mayor Andrew Cuomo is also running for mayor as an independent.
Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani and Columbia University for comment but did not receive a response prior to publication.
Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.
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