The news and the optics are not improving for Joe Biden.

While most people were busy with parades, food, and fireworks, the New York Intelligencer quietly dropped a story by reporter Olivia Nuzzi about just how everyone (and I do mean EVERYONE) around Joe Biden has entered into a silent and mutual conspiracy to not say The Thing™ out loud. The Thing™, in this case, is that Biden is non compos mentis.

In January, I began hearing similar stories from Democratic officials, activists, and donors. All people who supported the president and were working to help reelect him to a second term in office. Following encounters with the president, they had arrived at the same concern: Could he really do this for another four years? Could he even make it to Election Day?

When they discussed what they knew, what they had seen, what they had heard, they literally whispered. They were scared and horrified. But they were also burdened. They needed to talk about it (though not on the record). They needed to know that they were not alone and not crazy. Things were bad, and they knew things were bad, and they knew others must also know things were bad, and yet they would need to pretend, outwardly, that things were fine. The president was fine. The election would be fine. They would be fine. To admit otherwise would mean jeopardizing the future of the country and, well, nobody wanted to be responsible personally or socially for that. Their disclosures often followed innocent questions: Have you seen the president lately? How does he seem? Often, they would answer with only silence, their eyes widening cartoonishly, their heads shaking back and forth. Or with disapproving sounds. “Phhhhwwwaahhh.” “Uggghhhhhhhhh.” “Bbbwwhhheeuuw.” Or with a simple, “NOT good! NOT good!” Or with an accusatory question of their own: “Have you seen him?!”

Those who encountered the president in social settings sometimes left their interactions disturbed. Longtime friends of the Biden family, who spoke to me on the condition of anonymity, were shocked to find that the president did not remember their names. At a White House event last year, a guest recalled, with horror, realizing that the president would not be able to stay for the reception because, it was clear, he would not be able to make it through the reception. The guest wasn’t sure they could vote for Biden, since the guest was now open to an idea that they had previously dismissed as right-wing propaganda: The president may not really be the acting president after all.

The debate pulled the rug out from under all the people attempting to pretend that of course, the emperor was wearing clothes. Now that they have been caught, the leaks have begun and the cover is blown. Joe Biden is now on a shorter leash than ever, but the White House can’t hide him. To hide him would mean admitting that there is something terribly wrong with Grandpa Joe. So they had to bring him out for the annual Independence Day barbecue for the military on the White House’s South Lawn. He needed teleprompters for this, as you can clearly see.

And then Biden quickly demonstrated why he needs the teleprompters.

Biden says he's "not going anywhere," then starts rambling about traffic congestion, gets confused, and leaves pic.twitter.com/tRlpnAX2qj

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 4, 2024

Notice how the AP cut in the video from the above tweet into their clip video. Are we allowed to call that a “cheap fake” now? The entirety of the video from the tweet shows a confused Biden going off script, but the AP took just a few seconds from that one in an attempt to make Old Joe sound more lucid than he really was. The credibility of the media is well and truly shot, set on fire, and the ashes of the remains are getting everywhere.

Fuck all of you. Fuck every single one of you, Our media is what destroyed truth. Just look at this. Look at it. pic.twitter.com/m3JoieIbJ2

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) July 5, 2024

And now we are getting reports that big Democrat donors are thinking that their money shouldn’t be going to Team Biden-Harris right now.

Abigail Disney, the granddaughter to Roy O. Disney, who cofounded The Walt Disney Company, told CNBC on Thursday that she plans to withhold donations to the party she has funded for years until Biden drops out. The president has said he has no plans to withdraw from the race, despite calls for him to do so.

“I intend to stop any contributions to the party unless and until they replace Biden at the top of the ticket. This is realism, not disrespect. Biden is a good man and has served his country admirably, but the stakes are far too high,” Abigail Disney said in a lengthy statement to CNBC. “If Biden does not step down the Democrats will lose. Of that I am absolutely certain. The consequences for the loss will be genuinely dire.”

And she’s not the only one pausing gifts until Biden steps down. Gideon Stein, the president of the Moriah Fund, said he’s decided to pause planned donations of $3.5 million, earmarked for nonprofits and political organizations aligned with the presidential race.

“Joe Biden has been a very effective president, but unless he steps aside my family and I are pausing on more than $3 million in planned donations to nonprofits and political organizations aligned with the presidential race, with the exception of some down ballot work,” Stein said. “Virtually every major donor I’ve talked to believes that we need a new candidate in order to defeat Donald Trump.”

Karla Jurvetson, a philanthropist and major Democratic donor, hinted as recently as Tuesday in a private donor call that she agrees with the sentiment on pausing donations until Biden steps down and could end up making such move, according to a person familiar with her remarks. The person was granted anonymity in order to speak freely about a private conversation.

But wait, there’s more.

Damon Lindelof, a Hollywood producer who has donated more than $115,000 to Democrats this election cycle and who attended Mr. Biden’s fund-raiser in Hollywood last month, published an essay in Deadline urging what he called a “DEMbargo” of Mr. Biden and other Democratic candidates until or unless Mr. Biden stands down. Mr. Lindelof said in a text-message exchange, “No one is eager to donate to anyone until the proverbial dust settles.”

But of all the efforts by wealthy Democrats, perhaps none is as ambitious as the Next Generation PAC, which plans to create a holding account to support a successor to Mr. Biden atop the Democratic ticket. Multiple proposals to set aside some money for a Democratic candidate not named Joe Biden have gained steam among leaders on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley, according to four people familiar with the conversations.

The new PAC effort is spearheaded by Mike Novogratz, the cryptocurrency billionaire who backed Dean Phillips in the Democratic primary; his aides; and the Hollywood filmmaker Andrew Jarecki, according to three people briefed on the plan, with likely support from the Movement Voter Project. Next Generation PAC, which had not filed federal paperwork as of Thursday afternoon, has told donors it is seeking to raise between $50 million and $100 million but is not planning to officially start until some money is in.

This anybody-but-Biden group intends to hold on to the money until either Mr. Biden steps down as the nominee or the Democratic National Convention concludes, according to materials distributed to donors and reviewed by The New York Times. If Mr. Biden were to leave, the PAC would spend money on ads for the new nominee and against Mr. Trump. If Mr. Biden remains the nominee, the group says, it will spend the cash by helping other Democrats.

This news drew an indignant response from former Biden White House chief of staff Ron Klain, who was just recently blamed by the Biden family for overworking and overpreparing poor Grandpa Joe before the debate.

The reason the above is a screenshot is because Twitter/X decided to label it “sensitive content.” Hmmmm. Weird.

It doesn’t matter if Ron Klain’s panties are in a bunch over this. Of course donor money means something to a candidate. And of course having donor money not coming in is a big deal, because that means less ads, less ground game, and less funds to spread around. The momentum to send out the giant hook to yank Biden right off the stage is growing, and these donors are apparently fine with letting Kamala Harris be the candidate. Well, the donors might be fine with Kamala, but as for other Democrats…

Few of the governors have to run for reelection this year, but more than a handful of them are eager to seek the presidency in 2028. And there’s no path for any of them then if Vice President Kamala Harris by then is President Harris seeking reelection. Moreover, if she runs a credible, last-minute race and loses narrowly this year to former President Donald Trump, it still may be difficult to deny her the nomination in four years.

“Sink Kamala so she’s not the nominee in both ’24 and ’28,” as one House Democrat texted upon hearing of the governors rallying to Biden.

Well, that would explain why all the governors at the White House meeting came out and dutifully fell in line behind Joe Biden. If this election cycle is a loss, then the field is clear for any one of them in 2028.

A lot will hinge on the next interview that Joe Biden is going to do with George Stephanopoulos. Is the loyal Clintonite going to do his best to save the old man, or is he going to put the final nail in the coffin? The Daily Beast (definitely not a “right wing” outlet) is reporting that the Stephanopoulos interview may only be FIFTEEN MINUTES LONG. That is not going to convince donors to open their wallets once more for President Brandon.

Buckle up, everyone. We’re heading into a wild, wild weekend.

Featured image: original Victory Girls art by Darleen Click