Former President Joe Biden did little to inspire confidence among more moderate members of his party as he stumbled and gaffed his way through a Zoom call just an hour before former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally. The “rambling” nature of the call included several occasions where he lost his train of thought and gave confusing, disjointed answers to questions, leading some participants to describe the call as “even worse than the debate” with Trump last month.
In talking to media outlet Puck, sources said that at least “50 people on that Zoom were ready to come out publicly against him” were it not for the attack against Trump. One call participant said, “The call was even worse than the debate. He was rambling; he’d start an answer then lose his train of thought, then would just say ‘whatever.’ I lost a ton of respect for him,” while another confirmed those details.
Another person on the call described the president as “rambling, dismissive of concerns, unable or unprepared to present a campaign strategy, and had a particularly troubling exchange with Jason Crow, saying to him, ‘Tell me something you’ve never done with your Bronze Star like my son.
Had the assassination attempt not occurred an hour later, I imagine 50 people on that Zoom were ready to come out publicly against him,” said another, according to Puck.
Mediaite added: The call took place at the end of a week that saw mounting pressure on the president from elected Democrats and the media to step down from the race over concerns about his mental fitness and age. The assassination attempt on GOP rival Trump and the Republican National Convention, which started Monday, has since thrown Biden out of the spotlight. If the call is anything to go by, however, Democrat concerns are not going away.
Trump’s White House physician has provided an important update following the near-miss assassination attempt against the former president at a rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday. Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson on Monday before the start of the Republican National Convention that Trump was suffering “no concussive effect” from the bullet that grazed his right ear.
Trump was formally nominated as the 2024 Republican presidential pick. The assailant, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, opened fire on former President Donald Trump using a .22 caliber AR-15-style rifle, according to the FBI. Crooks managed to graze Trump’s ear during the attack. The incident resulted in the death of one rally attendee and injuries to two others. Secret Service counter-snipers responded swiftly, fatally shooting Crooks shortly after he fired at Trump.
Trump was seen with a large bandage over his right ear when he appeared at the convention on Monday. Jackson said that he had examined the former president ahead of the event and that the bullet “just took the top of his ear off” when it sped past him. He was lucky,” Jackson said on “The Benny Show.” “I mean, it was far enough away from his head that there was no concussive effect from the bullet, and it just took the top of his ear off.
The former White House physician, who also served in that role under President Barack Obama, told the host that the wound was still “bleeding like crazy” when he examined Trump on Monday morning. But he said Trump “will be OK” and that the injury should “granulate” and “heal in,” a reference to the process whereby new connective tissue forming on the wound’s surface will take place while it heals.
Johnson asked Jackson if Trump would have “a bite out of his ear for the rest of his life,” but the doctor said that the wound “is not going to be that noticeable” in the long term. Jackson suggested in his conversation with Johnson that “divine intervention” may have played a part in preventing more severe injury to Trump during the assassination attempt. The former president himself has remarked that his life was saved because he turned his head at “the exact right time” to refer to a chart during his speech at the rally.
