Republican lawmakers are going all in with their attacks against President Joe Biden, seizing on his vulnerabilities and hoping to weaken him further as a candidate as Democrats openly consider whether to replace him at the top of the ticket. 

House Republicans are preparing to attack Biden from all sides over the coming weeks, hoping to deal some fatal blows as the president must first focus on convincing his own party he can remain their nominee. The efforts come as a growing number of Democratic lawmakers have called on Biden to step aside, something the president has remained adamant he will not do. 

Those calls could threaten to weaken Biden even further, one Democratic lawmaker warned on Monday, arguing the party could risk losing the White House if lawmakers continue to question Biden’s viability publicly ahead of the election. 

“Regardless of where one stands on the question of President Biden’s political future, the intra-party mixed messaging strikes me as deeply self-destructive,” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) said in a statement. “The drip, drip, drip of public statements of no confidence only serve to weaken a President who has been weakened not only by the debate but also by the debate about the debate. Weakening a weakened nominee seems like a losing strategy for a presidential election.”

Here are three ways House Republicans are going on offense against Biden’s candidacy on Capitol Hill: 

GOP calls on Harris to remove Biden via 25th Amendment

Shortly after Biden’s debate performance in which he stumbled over his talking points and repeatedly lost his train of thoughts, Republicans sounded the alarm that not only should Biden drop out of the 2024 race but he also should be removed immediately. 

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) quickly filed a resolution the day after the debate that would compel Vice President Kamala Harris to convene the president’s Cabinet and activate Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to declare Biden “incapable of executing the duties of his office.” In doing so, Harris would then succeed Biden as acting president. 

Meanwhile, it appears Roy has support from House GOP leaders, with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who told reporters that Biden’s Cabinet should begin having conversations about the president’s ability to carry out the remainder of his term. 

Harris has emerged as the most likely replacement for Biden should he be removed from the ticket, throwing her into the crossfire of GOP attacks. 

Roy has also made the argument Harris should be impeached, claiming the vice president lied about Biden’s mental capacity to carry out his presidential duties — violating her “unique constitutional obligation” to invoke the 25th Amendment. 

It’s not yet clear when Roy would call for a vote on his resolution, but the Texas Republican said he plans to speak with the House parliamentarian on steps to expedite the process.

Oversight demands testimony from Biden’s doctor

House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) announced on Sunday he would be seeking testimony from Biden’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, regarding the president’s “declining mental state.” 

The request comes in response to conflicting information from the Biden White House about how recently the president was evaluated. The White House had been unclear about what checkups Biden may have had after his disastrous debate performance last month only heightened concerns over his age and acuity, but on Thursday confirmed that Biden had a check up after the debate.

Comer cited a report from O’Connor in February that Biden “remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency” and that it was not “recommended that [President] Biden take a cognitive test.”

“The Oversight Committee is concerned your medical assessments have been influenced by your private business endeavors with the Biden family,” Comer wrote in a letter to O’Connor, requesting information about the physician’s alleged involvement in a defunct healthcare company tied to the president’s brother.

“Given your connections with the Biden family, the Committee also seeks to understand if you are in a position to provide accurate and independent reviews of the President’s fitness to serve,” Comer said.

The House Oversight Committee’s request also follows reports that the White House visitor logs showed Parkinson’s disease expert Dr. Kevin Cannard of the Walter Reed Medical Center met with O’Connor and two others at the White House residence clinic on Jan. 17, and appeared in visitor logs numerous times.

White House spokesman Ian Sams downplayed Comer’s request: “Here they go again, pushing their crazy, discredited conspiracy theories in order to score another hit on [Fox News’s Maria] Bartiromo. If extreme House Republicans want to take a look at a White House physician, here’s an idea for where to start.”

O’Connor has until July 14 to respond to Congress.

Intelligence Committee raises questions about Hunter Biden’s presence in meetings

The House Intelligence Committee is seeking information from the Biden administration after it was reported that Biden‘s son Hunter “was in the room” as his father was preparing to deliver a prime-time address responding to the Supreme Court‘s opinion on presidential immunity.

Now committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) is demanding answers from the White House‘s chief of staff on what if any classified information was discussed in those meetings. 

“According to news reporting, the President’s son’s sudden presence at official meetings has caused confusion for some White House staff, prompting a reaction of ‘What the hell is happening?’” Turner wrote.

The White House defended Hunter Biden’s presence, arguing the president’s family was in town for the July Fourth holiday. 

“Hunter came back with him and walked with him into that meeting, that prep, that speech prep, and you know, and he ended up spending time with his dad and his family that night,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters last week. “That is basically what happened.”

“What I can say is that he came back with his dad from Camp David,” she said. “He walked him into the speech prep. He was in the room.”

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Hunter Biden’s presence has raised concerns among House Republicans, who are currently investigating the president’s son and other family members over foreign business dealings. Republicans have especially targeted Hunter Biden due to the fact he used to sit on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian company. 

Hunter Biden was also recently found guilty of all three charges he was facing related to a 2018 gun purchase.

Naomi Lim contributed to this report.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) defended President Joe Biden’s ability to carry out a second term, warning voters in the key swing state of Michigan “not to be fatalistic” about his campaign amid questions about his age and mental acuity.

During a campaign stop on Thursday, Newsom reiterated his support for Biden as the party’s nominee and sought to ease voter concerns that the president is not the strongest candidate to take on former President Donald Trump in November. The comments come even as Newsom himself has been floated as a contender to replace Biden at the top of the ticket, something the California governor has denied having interest in.

“What I need to convince you of is not to be fatalistic, not to fall prey to all this negativity,” Newsom told the group of Democrats. “I believe in this man. I believe in his character. I believe that he has been one of the most transformative presidents in our collective lifetime.”

Newsom’s visit comes at a crucial time as Democrats view Michigan as one of the most crucial battleground states to win in 2024. Trump carried the state in 2016 before Biden won it in 2020 — making it one of the handful of swing states likely to determine the outcome of the election in November.

The vote of confidence also comes as several Democrats and party donors have openly considered replacing Biden at the top of the ticket.

One group of donors and strategists is pooling resources into a new political action committee to help fund an alternative candidate should Biden withdraw from the presidential race, according to a new report from the New York Times. Meanwhile, at least three Democratic lawmakers have publicly called on Biden to withdraw from the race, increasing pressure on the president as he seeks to convince voters he can handle a second term.

Concerns about Biden’s age have been present throughout his term but were especially exacerbated after the first presidential debate. The president had a worse-than-expected performance last week, making multiple verbal slip-ups and repeatedly losing his train of thought.

His performance has prompted some major donors to consider pouring their resources into down-ballot races rather than the White House, according to reports. Others have even gone so far as to threaten to withhold funds from the Democratic Party altogether unless Biden steps down.

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Gideon Stein, a donor with deep connections to the Democratic Party, said his family would withhold roughly $3.5 million in planned donations to nonprofit and political organizations involved in the presidential race unless Biden withdrew, according to the New York Times. Abigail Disney, the heiress of the Disney family fortune, also said Biden’s campaign and committees supporting the president “will not receive another dime from me until they bite the bullet and replace Biden at the top of the ticket,” the outlet reported.

However, Biden has insisted he will not be dropping out, arguing his performance was due to his busy travel schedule and intense preparation for the debate. The White House has also denied reports that the president is having conversations about whether to withdraw from the race.

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was indicted on charges of money laundering and connections to undeclared diamonds he accepted from Saudi Arabia while in office, according to the Associated Press.

The indictment comes after the Federal Police accused Bolsonaro last year of attempting to smuggle in diamond jewelry worth $3 million as well as selling two luxury watches, the outlet reported. Bolsonaro received nearly $70,000 from selling the watches, which were gifts from the Saudi Arabian government in 2019.

Under Brazilian law, citizens arriving by plane from abroad must declare goods worth more than $1,000 and pay a tax equal to 50% of their value for any amount above that.

The investigation found that one of Bolsonaro’s top aides, Mauro Cid, sold a Rolex watch and a Patek Philippe watch to a U.S. store in June 2022 for a total of $68,000, according to the outlet.

The jewelry would have been exempt from the tax had it been a gift from Saudi Arabia to the country of Brazil, but Bolsonaro would be barred from keeping it for himself. Instead, it would have been added to the presidential collection.

Bolsonaro and his lawyers have denied any wrongdoing.

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The indictment is just one of several criminal investigations into the former president, who was also charged with allegedly ordering an aide to alter public health records to falsify his COVID-19 vaccination certificate as well as his involvement. Bolsonaro is also under investigation for inciting a riot in Brazil’s capital in January 2023 in an effort to block his successor from taking power.

Brazil’s Supreme Court has not yet received the police report with the indictment, according to the Associated Press. Once it does, the country’s prosecutor general will determine whether to file charges and force Bolsonaro to stand trial.

President Joe Biden is set to address military members, veterans, caregivers, and their families Thursday evening. His remarks come one week after his debate against former President Donald Trump, which has prompted several Democrats to question whether he should withdraw from the race.

The speech marks a crucial moment for Biden as he continues to try to convince voters he can carry out a second term if reelected in November. A handful of Democratic lawmakers have openly called on Biden to withdraw from the race, with others suggesting Vice President Kamala Harris should replace him at the top of the ticket.

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The event is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m.

Four people reportedly suffered shark bites Thursday in the waters off South Padre Island, Texas, with officials believing there may only be one shark behind the attacks.

The South Padre Island Police Department received a call around 11 a.m. local time with reports of a man suffering a “severe” shark bite to the leg, according to ABC News. First responders from the South Padre Island police and fire departments treated him at the scene before transporting him to a nearby hospital.

Details about his condition are not yet clear.

Another video shows a woman being pulled to shore while bleeding from her leg while other beachgoers apply a tourniquet to the wound. The video then zooms out to show a shark swimming in the water.

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The shark has since returned to the open waters and there is no plan to contain it at this time, according to a local ABC News affiliate.

The Washington Examiner contacted spokespeople for the South Padre Island Police Department and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for more information.

Former President Donald Trump wished a happy holiday to his 2024 opponent, President Joe Biden, denouncing the Democratic incumbent as “highly incapable” and accusing him of weaponizing the U.S. justice system against him.

Trump blasted Biden’s debate performance, during which the president “choked like a dog” before trying to “pretend it was ‘International Travel,’” the former president wrote in a post on Truth Social.

“When that gig was up, he blamed it on a ‘cold,’” Trump wrote. “Therefore, why would anyone say he’s cognitively challenged?”

Trump then criticized Vice President Kamala Harris, who the former president referred to as “Laffin’ Kamala Harris” and his “potentially new Democrat Challenger.”

That comes in response to some Democratic lawmakers calling on Biden to withdraw from the presidential race, with Harris emerging as one of the most likely contenders to replace the president at the top of the ticket.

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Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) became the first sitting House Democrat to call on Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race on Tuesday and was quickly followed by Reps. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) and Seth Moulton (D-MA). Former Rep. Tim Ryan also came out on Tuesday to call on Harris to step up as the party’s 2024 nominee, calling Biden’s debate performance “deeply troubling” and evidence the party must move forward.

The White House has remained confident in Biden’s abilities to serve a second term, brushing off suggestions that the president should step down or withdraw from the race. In a campaign speech after the debate, Biden acknowledged that although he is no longer a “young man,” he can hold a second term.

Keir Starmer is projected to win the race to become the United Kingdom’s prime minister in what is looking to be a landslide victory for the Labour Party, bringing an end to the 14-year reign of the Conservative Party.

Exit polls conducted by the BBC indicated the Labour Party was projected to win roughly 410 of the 650 seats in the British House of Commons, marking one of the most staggering defeats for the Conservative Party in its 200-year history.

The victory is a major turnaround for the Labour Party, which experienced its worst election defeat just a few years ago. In 2019, the Conservative Party won a record 365 seats in the House of Commons, marking the largest majority since 1987.

Since then, Starmer has led the Labour Party to capitalize on the failings of the last three Conservative prime ministers, pulling his party to the political center and elevating it to its historic victory Thursday.

Starmer was first elected to Parliament in 2015 before becoming the Labour Party’s leader in 2020. After that, he made drastic changes to the party, such as proposing to nationalize the U.K.’s energy companies and establishing support for the country’s military.

The election is the first since the U.K. left the European Union in early 2020 and since the coronavirus pandemic. Conservatives boosted their majority in the last election, which was done as a snap election after a lack of progress on a withdrawal agreement from the EU.

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The election results have yet to be certified, although the exit polls have accurately predicted the winner of the U.K. elections for the last five general elections.

The polls are conducted by surveying thousands of people at more than 130 voting sites across the country. Voters are asked to complete replica ballot papers, and Britain’s top three major broadcasters — the BBC, ITV, and Sky — pay for the survey and publish the findings once polling stations close.

President Joe Biden told a group of governors that he should get more sleep and work fewer hours to avoid fatigue while carrying out his official duties and running for reelection, according to reports.

Biden told a gathering of Democratic governors Wednesday that he should scale back his schedule, including cutting off any events that occur after 8 p.m., sources told the New York Times. The comments come as Biden faces questions from within his own party about withdrawing from the presidential race after his debate performance last week, during which he had multiple verbal slip-ups and repeatedly lost his train of thought.

However, Biden told governors in the meeting that he would not be dropping out, arguing that his worse-than-expected performance was due to his busy travel schedule and intense preparation for the debate, according to the outlet. The president said he told his staff members that he needs to get more sleep and lamented not listening to them about his schedule, a person who attended the meeting told the New York Times.

At one point in the meeting, Gov. Josh Green (D-HI) asked Biden questions about his health, prompting the president to respond that he was fine.

“It’s just my brain,” he said, according to the outlet.

The response left some governors unsure of what he meant, although several in the room received it as a joke, the outlet reported.

The comments come after Biden cited his recent foreign trips as a reason for his poor debate performance, claiming he was fatigued and experiencing jet lag. Biden told supporters at a fundraising event earlier this week he “wasn’t very smart” for traveling ahead of the debate and that he “almost fell asleep on stage.”

“It’s not an excuse but an explanation,” Biden said, apologizing for his poor performance while maintaining he has the stamina needed to challenge former President Donald Trump.

The meeting came after Biden reportedly told close allies that he may need to consider dropping out of the race if he cannot salvage his campaign, the New York Times reported earlier this week. The White House has denied that the president is having conversations about whether to withdraw from the race.

Biden also began his meeting with governors to argue he would not be dropping out, which some told the outlet felt as if the president was avoiding any debate on the topic.

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Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) became the first sitting House Democrat to call on Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race on Tuesday and was quickly followed by Reps. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) and Seth Moulton (D-MA). Former Rep. Tim Ryan also came out on Tuesday to call on Harris to step up as the party’s 2024 nominee, calling Biden’s debate performance “deeply troubling” and evidence that the party must move forward.

The White House has remained confident in Biden’s abilities to serve a second term, brushing off suggestions that the president should step down or back out of the race. In a campaign speech after the debate, Biden acknowledged that although he is no longer a “young man,” he can hold a second term.

President Joe Biden is set to address military members and their families during a barbecue on Thursday afternoon in what will be his fifth public appearance since his debate last week, which prompted several within his own party to question whether he should withdraw from the race.

The event is scheduled to begin at 5:15 p.m. with an address from the president, who will be speaking with service members, veterans, and their families.

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The speech marks a crucial moment for Biden as he continues to try to convince voters he can carry out a second term if reelected in November. A handful of Democratic lawmakers have openly called on Biden to withdraw from the race, with others suggesting Vice President Kamala Harris should replace him at the top of the ticket.

The Washington Post editorial board published a story fantasizing about a day in which President Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race and called for a convention to find his replacement — even giving the Democratic incumbent the words to say in a concession speech.

The piece, titled “What if Biden spoke these words?,” writes a speech for Biden to drop out of the 2024 race as the president faces questions from several within his own party to withdraw from consideration. Those calls come in response to the president’s debate performance against Donald Trump as Biden repeatedly lost his train of thought and failed to challenge the former president in the way Democrats had hoped.

“A large part of me still wants to stay in the fight,” the theoretical speech posed. “But, at this moment, the nation needs something I cannot provide: a leader with the energy to run a vigorous campaign and then to work for America, at all hours, for the next four years.”

The speech walked through Biden’s decadeslong service in U.S. politics, acknowledging that his “season of service is nearing its close.” The speech cited George Washington’s decision to step down from office “though the Constitution at the time did not require it,” noting the first president understood when his time of service came to a close. 

In the speech, the outlet suggested Biden would call for a new process to find his replacement, which would include debates for candidates to make their case ahead of the party’s nominating convention in August. In the theoretical speech, Vice President Kamala Harris has offered herself as a willing participant, reflecting many in the party who have looked to the current No. 2 as a logical replacement should Biden withdraw from the race. 

“Between now and November, I will do all I can to support the next Democratic nominee — and to encourage Americans to rediscover the optimism and energetic spirit that built this nation,” the artificial speech said.

The editorial comes after Biden’s worse-than-expected performance in the first presidential debate last week, prompting some Democrats to openly admit they expect to lose the White House in November. 

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) became the first sitting House Democrat to call on Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race on Tuesday and was quickly followed by Reps. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Seth Moulton (D-MA). Former Rep. Tim Ryan also came out on Tuesday to call on Harris to step up as the party’s 2024 nominee, calling Biden’s debate performance “deeply troubling” and evidence the party must move forward. 

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The White House has remained confident in Biden’s abilities to serve a second term, brushing off suggestions that the president should step down or back out of the race. In a campaign speech after the debate, Biden acknowledged that although he is no longer a “young man,” he can hold a second term. 

The White House has also denied any reports that Biden is considering dropping out of the race.