Polling expert Nate Silver is calling for President Biden to step down following his Friday night ABC News interview. 

The 22-minute interview with George Stephanopoulos was intended to calm the president’s critics following his disastrous debate performance last month — but Silver claimed the back-and-forth made him look even worse.

“This is a pretty incoherent answer including a non-sequitur [complaining] about a New York Times poll, which he incorrectly claims had him down 10 points before the debate (it was actually 3 or 4 points, depending on which version you look at),” Silver said about a clip of Biden describing how he felt throughout the debate.

BIDEN REPEATEDLY DODGES QUESTIONS ABOUT WHETHER HE’D TAKE NEUROLOGICAL TEST: ‘NO ONE SAID I HAD TO’

Silver — who had written a morning column about Biden’s campaign earlier that Friday — claimed he had “wimped out” and deleted a line urging the president to begin transitioning the campaign to Vice President Kamala Harris.

But the pollster said that following the ABC interview, he believed it was time to begin preparations for a new candidate.

“I wimped out in today’s column and deleted a line saying he should formulate a plan to transition the presidency to Harris within 30-60 days, but I’m there now,” Silver said. “Something is clearly wrong here.”

BIDEN TAKES BLAME FOR ‘BAD NIGHT’ IN DEBATE AGAINST TRUMP: ‘MY FAULT, NO ONE ELSE’S FAULT’

“The most generous way to put it is that he doesn’t seem in command, and that’s an extremely hard sell when you’re Commander in Chief,” Silver concluded — adding that he believes “Democrats will apply incredible amounts of pressure” to make the president resign.

Biden claimed during his interview that his poor performance and concerning disposition was caused by a mix of fatigue and illness.

The president spent almost an entire week at Camp David in preparation for the debate following a long trip to Europe that included an event in France to honor the anniversary of D-Day.

Democratic allies continue to press Biden to step down from the 2024 presidential race, claiming he is suffering a mental decline that jeopardizes the election.

The Biden administration and lawmakers loyal to the president have rejected such claims, repeatedly telling critics that the president remains sharp and only suffered a one-time episode during the debate.

As calls for President Biden to be replaced in the 2024 race for the White House strengthen, some lawmakers and liberal pundits believe Vice President Kamala Harris has what it takes to challenge former President Donald Trump in November — despite the questionable positions she took during her own 2020 presidential campaign.

“The reality is if you’re even going to have a conversation about who’s next, if Kamala Harris, the sitting vice president, is not the first and last name out of your mouth, then tell me how you’re going to get Black voters to engage when you change the rules to accommodate somebody other than her,” political strategist Basil Smikle said during a recent appearance on “MSNBC Reports.”

The possibility of Harris replacing Biden, however, has led to questions about how successful she would be in a general election matchup against Trump, who Biden has suggested is “determined to destroy American democracy.”

During her 2020 presidential campaign, which launched in January 2019, Harris faced intense criticism and scrutiny for her record as a prosecutor and as attorney general of California.

GROWING NUMBER OF HOUSE DEMS LOOK TO KAMALA AS POSSIBLE BIDEN REPLACEMENT

Lara Bazelon, a University of San Francisco associate law professor, suggested at the time that efforts to paint Harris as a “progressive prosecutor” didn’t match her actions as district attorney of San Francisco and then California’s attorney general.

“Time after time, when progressives urged her to embrace criminal justice reforms as a district attorney and then the state’s attorney general, Ms. Harris opposed them or stayed silent,” Bazelon wrote for The New York Times amid Harris’ 2020 campaign launch.

“Most troubling, Ms. Harris fought tooth and nail to uphold wrongful convictions that had been secured through official misconduct that included evidence tampering, false testimony and the suppression of crucial information by prosecutors,” she added.

Bazelon also listed multiple instances at the time when the then-Democratic senator for the Golden State failed to embrace criminal justice reforms — either opposing them or declining to state an opinion.

Harris’ record as a prosecutor, which failed to resonate with many voters in her party, also took center stage at a Democratic presidential primary debate in July 2019.

During the debate, then-presidential candidate and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, took aim at Harris and said she was “deeply concerned” about her record.

“Senator Harris says she’s proud of her record as a prosecutor and that she’ll be a prosecutor president, but I’m deeply concerned about this record,” Gabbard, now an independent, said at the time. “There are too many examples to cite, but she put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana.”

HIP-HOP MAGAZINE CALLS KAMALA HARRIS’ ‘PANDERING’ ATTEMPT AT VOTER APPEAL ON BET AWARDS ‘UNFLINCHINGLY CORNY’

Gabbard added, “She blocked evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row until the courts forced her to do so. She kept people in prison beyond their sentences to use them as cheap labor for the state of California. And she fought to keep cash bail system in place that impacts poor people in the worst kind of way.”

Defending her record as attorney general, Harris said she was “proud of that work” and insisted at the time that she “did the work of significantly reforming the criminal justice system of a state of 40 million people, which became a national model for the work that needs to be done.”

Responding to Harris, Gabbard said: “The bottom line is, Senator Harris, when you were in a position to make a difference and an impact in these people’s lives, you did not.”

Should the hypothetical of Harris replacing Biden become a reality for Democrats, it is unclear how the positions she once held, some of which weren’t popular with members of her own party, will come into play in the election.

Harris raised eyebrows during her 2020 campaign when it came to her health care plan, which she told CNN’s Anderson Cooper would result in the removal of Americans from their private plans offered by employers.

Among the many other positions she took during her campaign, which ended in December 2019, Harris signaled her support for a ban on fracking and plastic straws. She also insisted she would “get rid of the filibuster to pass a Green New Deal” and that there would be a “carbon fee” if she were elected president.

BIDEN CAMPAIGN SAYS BIDEN’S FUNDRAISING CASH WOULD GO TO KAMALA HARRIS IF HE DROPS OUT AS TOP DONORS WAVER

During her campaign, Harris also pushed for a repeal of the tax cuts offered during Trump’s tenure in the White House and insisted “we’ve got to increase the corporate tax rate.”

Additionally, Harris said during her campaign that estate taxes “have to go up.”

Though many high-profile Democrats have been evasive since the president’s disastrous debate performance last week, a few House Democrats have voiced support for Harris stepping in to lead the party in the presidential contest.

“If our president decides this is not a pathway forward for him, we have to move very quickly. There’s not going to be time for a primary. That time is past,” Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., a member of the House’s progressive “Squad,” said during a recent radio interview. “The vice president is the obvious choice. She’s sitting right there.”

Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., similarly told “MSNBC Reports” recently: “I want this ticket to continue to be Biden-Harris. This party should not, in any way, do anything to work around Ms. Harris. We should do everything we can to bolster her, whether she’s in second place or at the top of the ticket.”

The potential move has also received support from former Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, who challenged Biden for the 2020 presidential nomination. Ryan’s recent op-ed for Newsweek was headlined, “Kamala Harris Should Be the Democratic Nominee for President in 2024.”

On Independence Day, Biden told a crowd of supporters that he has no plans to drop out of the election, despite continued struggles and gaffes during unscripted events.

Democrats will officially nominate a candidate for president and vice president at next month’s Democratic National Convention, which is slated to take place in Chicago from Aug. 19-22.

(The Center Square) – Illinois’ in-state average tuition over the last 15 years has jumped by 49%, leaving the state with the third-highest costs in the country and many students are either leaving home to seek further education or taking on more debt to make it happen in the Land of Lincoln.

A new Illinois Policy Institute survey finds average in-state costs at the state’s 12 public universities now stands at nearly $15,000, or more than $5,000 higher than the national average.  

“It would be one thing if Illinois had third best colleges in the country,” Illinois Policy Institute’s Dylan Sharkey told The Center Square. “But when you look at U.S. News and World Report and the criteria they use to assess the best state for college, Illinois doesn’t come in the top 10 for any of their criteria.”

Sharkey said a big driver of Illinois’ tuition costs are the state university pension plans. 

“For fiscal year 2024, pensions will consume about 43 cents for every dollar spent on higher ed,” he said. “So that suggests that in-state students are paying more and getting less in a sense.”

In the budget that started July 1, $2.6 billion will be for higher education, an increase of nearly $76 million compared to the previous fiscal year. Increased taxpayer spending of $24.6 million also goes to operating funds for public universities and $5.9 million more for community colleges.

Besides arguing that a lot of taxpayer money never makes its way back to the classroom, Sharkey fears the onslaught of students leaving is poised to continue.

“From a personal standpoint, I know tons of people who have gone to school in Tennessee and Alabama and Texas and they simply see no reason to move back after they’re there,” he said. 

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has acknowledged the state has experienced college-bound students leaving the state. In the new budget, he approved a $10 million increase in tax dollars for the Monetary Award Program which grants tuition funds to income-eligible Illinois students. 

With the whole issue of outmigration continuing to be a growing problem for the state, Sharkey said it’s well past time for lawmakers to start addressing the issue of runaway tuition costs that are only leading to more young people walking away from Illinois for good.

“We started looking into these numbers because we’re very interested in outmigration across all ages, but particularly with younger people,” he said. “Frankly, I don’t think lawmakers pay much attention to an issue like in-state tuition because it affects young people the most. In terms of political risk, lawmakers don’t lose much by having upset young folks because they’re not going to vote in retribution.”  

With Illinois also being home to the highest in-state tuition among the country’s 10 most populous states, the only states with higher costs are Vermont and New Hampshire.

This week’s White House Report Card finds President Joe Biden facing a growing chorus of panicky Democrats worried about their own political fate urging him to drop his reelection bid.

The sting of Biden’s poor debate performance last week with former President Donald Trump continued to linger but instead of rallying around their leader, Democrats and their liberal media allies are abandoning the 81-year-old chief executive.

In a Hail Mary interview with ABC News on Friday, former Clinton aide and anchor George Stephanopoulos asked several questions of Biden that had a similar theme: Leave now. While humiliating, Biden kept his smile on and pushed back, saying only God could force him out of the race.

He and his team poured out multiple excuses for his poor performance. He had a cold, he was jet-lagged, he was sleepy, he suffered from some unknown condition, he was over-prepared for the debate. None of it worked.

To readers of the Weekly Report Card and most conservative media, Biden’s mental decline is an old story. But the debate forced Democrats and the liberal media to admit that they’ve been hiding that fact from the public.

Top leaders, including Vice President Kamala Harris, and media partners, such as the Washington Post and the Associated Press, have led that cover-up and now have to answer for it. And, of course, they won’t. The Washington Post even congratulated itself for its new coverage of Biden’s failings.

Democratic pollster John Zogby graded Biden’s week an “F,” and suggested that “Plan B,” having Harris replace Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket, was being prepared. “It is harder and harder to see how he can stay,” said Zogby.

Conservative analyst Jed Babbin also graded the week an “F” and said that the president’s wish to end his day at 8 p.m. is unrealistic. “Anybody remember Hillary Rodham Clinton’s ad from 2008 in which former President Barack Obama was accused of not being prepared for a sudden wake-up call? Biden needs more sleep, so there’s no need to wake him up for a crisis. Until there is one,” he wrote.

John Zogby

Grade: F

There is a slow and steady drumbeat among donors, members of Congress, and leading liberal media to persuade President Joe Biden to end his campaign for reelection. Sen. Mark Warner [D-VA] is calling a meeting of fellow Democratic senators to do the same as a group. And House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries [D-NY] has called a Sunday meeting of his caucus to discuss the president’s campaign.

It appears that “Plan B” is already happening behind the scenes as the conversation is shifting to Vice President Kamala Harris as the inevitable nominee. While Biden is fighting to keep going, it is harder and harder to see how he can stay and how he can move behind the issue that has been dogging him for over two years.

I watched his interview with ABC News and, while he looked better and gave a spirited defense of his years of office, I don’t think there is anything I saw that will allay fears about his ability to wage an effective campaign.

Sadly, for him, 206,000 new jobs were created last month and breaking news suggests perhaps some progress in the Israel-Gaza peace process. But no one is talking about that.

Jed Babbin

Grade: F

This has been a fun week for some White House observers but not for President Joe Biden and his minions. The aftermath of his miserable debate performance is still resonating, and most of the Democrats — at least those who haven’t yet come out to say Biden should drop out of the race — seem panicky and unable to handle it.

First to some policy matters. Biden’s bans on liquid natural gas exports and use of non-compete agreements in employment contracts have both been thrown out by federal courts. They were abuses of power that Biden didn’t — at long last — get away with. There are a lot more.

Second, Biden threatened to abandon Israel if it retaliated strongly to Iran’s April attack, which launched more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel. Biden’s appeasement of Iran and his ridiculous pressures on Israel are a large part of his legacy.

The best part of the week has been the reactions by the Democrats and even the foreign media to the disastrous performance Biden gave at last week’s debate with former President Donald Trump.

Biden has lost the support of much of the most liberal press. The Washington Post, which has been in the bag for Biden even before he began his 2020 campaign, published an article with a speech Biden could give resigning from the race.

Probably the most severe criticism came from the liberal British outlet, the Economist, which published an editorial under a picture of an old person’s walker with the seal of the U.S. president hung precariously on it.  Part of that editorial said, “Representing America abroad, Mr. Biden will project decrepitude to the delight of China and Russia and the dismay of America’s allies.” And so he will.

Biden isn’t coping at all well with his debate crash-and-burn. He said that he won’t schedule any more events after 8 p.m. because he needs more sleep. Anybody remember Hillary Rodham Clinton’s “3 a.m. phone call” ad from 2008 in which former President Barack Obama was accused of not being prepared for a sudden wake-up call? Biden needs more sleep, so there’s no need to wake him up for a crisis. Until there is one.

Everyone who saw the debate knows that Biden isn’t capable of handling the toughest job in the world. Hell, he’s not even capable of functioning for five minutes in a row.

And finally the White House said that the future of the Democratic Party rests with Vice President Kamala Harris. That is tantamount to a political suicide note.

SEE THE LATEST POLITICAL NEWS AND BUZZ FROM WASHINGTON SECRETS

John Zogby is the founder of the Zogby Survey and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His podcast with son and managing partner and pollster Jeremy Zogby can be heard here. Their firm polls for independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Follow him on X @ZogbyStrategies.

Jed Babbin is a Washington Examiner contributor and former deputy undersecretary of defense in the administration of former President George H.W. Bush. Follow him on X @jedbabbin.