The Guardian

Joe Biden tests positive for Covid and has mild symptoms, White House confirms – live

By Fran Lawther (now); Maanvi Singh Chris Stein Maya Yang and Léonie Chao-Fong (earlier),

10 hours ago

https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0MdGhP_0uUG7yn700 — Joe Biden boards Air Force One as he departs Las Vegas, Nevada, following a positive Covid test. Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

12.41am BST

JD Vance to give first speech as Trump's running mate

JD Vance is the main attraction at the convention tonight. The Ohio senator is scheduled to give his first speech as Trump’s vice-presidential pick.

He is due on stage at about 9.30pm CT. We’ll have his speech and all the latest news from the convention in our standalone blog here:

12.39am BST

Away from Joe Biden’s Covid news, the Republican national convention speeches have gotten under way.

One of the first speakers was rightwing Florida representative Matt Gaetz .

Alice Herman , who is at the convention in Milwaukee, writes:

Gaetz took to the stage at the Republican national convention on Wednesday with a brief but charged-up speech that took aim at Democrats and, in particular, at Kamala Harris .

“Appointing Kamala Harris to oversee the border is like appointing Bernie Madoff to oversee your retirement plan,” said Gaetz, to jeers and applause.

With some Democrats urging Joe Biden to step down amid concerns about the president’s health and cognition following a devastating debate in early July, the possibility of Kamala Harris at the top of the Democrats’ 2024 presidential ticket seems top-of-mind for Republican speakers at the convention.

Updated at 12.51am BST

12.18am BST

ABC’s Jonathan Karl is reporting that Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, told Joe Biden that it would be best if the president bowed out.

The Guardian has not independently verified this report.

Updated at 12.36am BST

12.15am BST

As Biden boarded Air Force One, on his way back to Delaware following a positive Covid-19 test, he told reporters travelling with him: “I feel good.”

He was not wearing a mask as he boarded.

The president last tested positive for Covid-19 two years ago. But cases of the virus are now surging, and health officials have reported spikes in emergency room visits and hospitalizations due to Covid.

Updated at 12.36am BST

12.07am BST

Donald Trump and his campaign see his running mate, JD Vance, as a way to expand Trump’s voter base , according to sources familiar with the matter, intending to lean into the senator’s previous criticisms of Trump to convince voters who dislike both 2024 candidates to back the former president.

In the years before Vance ran for the US Senate, he repeatedly criticized Trump and his presidency in interviews where he made clear he never liked the former president and considered him “cultural heroin” and in private conversations where he suggested Trump was “America’s Hitler”.

But the criticisms, which once angered Trump, are now being seen by the Trump campaign as a unique asset that could resonate with voters who could be in a similar position: people who have previously found Trump unsavory but might prefer him to Biden, the sources said.

The Trump campaign has suggested that they want Vance to lean in to the fact that he was previously a so-called “Never Trumper”, with the hope that it could give independent and uncommitted voters a path towards supporting the former president in November.

Updated at 12.10am BST

11.49pm BST

The Biden/Harris campaign earlier released a statement chastising their rivals for backing away from a vice-presidential debate, linking it to Vance’s resurfaced comments endorsing an abortion ban.

“Donald Trump is the one whose campaign said he would debate ‘anytime, anyplace; and who picked JD Vance specifically for his debating skills,” the campaign said in a statement. “Now suddenly right after a damning new leak showing his support for a nationwide abortion ban, Vance is backing off a debate against Vice President Harris, who has spent the last two years prosecuting the case on behalf of reproductive freedom.”

The Trump campaign, meanwhile, has said they are hesitant to schedule the debate due to uncertainty over who will be the Democratic nominee for vice-president.

Updated at 12.08am BST

11.29pm BST

Joe Biden is headed back to Delaware.

11.27pm BST

Meanwhile at the Republican national convention, Paul Manafort , Trump’s 2016 campaign chair, has been spotted on the floor.

Manafort was pardoned after being found guilty of several financial crimes in 2018, following an investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller and his team.

Manafort, 69, was convicted on Tuesday of five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failure to report a foreign bank account.

Trump had signalled that he wanted to bring Manafort back in the fold for his latest campaign, but it is unclear whether he has been officially enlisted and, if so, in what capacity.

Updated at 11.32pm BST

11.17pm BST

White House says Biden has tested positive for Covid but has mild symptoms

The White House confirmed Joe Biden has been tested positive for Covid.

According to the press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, the president is “vaccinated and boosted” and has mild symptoms.

“The White House will provide regular updates on the President’s status as he continues to carry out the full duties of the office while in isolation,” she said in a statement to the press.

The president’s doctor said that Biden “presented this afternoon with upper respiratory symptoms, to include rhinorhea (runny nose) and non-productive cough, with general malaise.

He “felt okay for his first event of the day, but given that he was not feeling better, point of care testing for Covid-19 was conducted, and the results were positive”,” in a statement shared with media. “His symptoms remain mild, his respiratory rate is normal at 16, his temperature is normal at 97.8 and his pulse oximetry is normal at 97%. The President has received his first dose of Paxlovid. He will be self-isolating at his home in Rehoboth.”

Updated at 11.42pm BST

11.14pm BST

“He needs to take the precautions that have been recommended,” Murguía said. “He obviously didn’t want to put anybody at risk. He said to tell my folks that we’re not going to get rid of him that quickly – we’re going to hear from him in the future directly.”

Biden was scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the conference, before 1,500 Latino leaders, advocates and allies.

11.06pm BST

Joe Biden tests positive for Covid

Joe Biden has cancelled a speaking engagement at the UnidosUS annual conference because he has tested positive for Covid, according to the organization’s president and CEO Janet Murguía.

“We appreciate very much his wanting to have been here,” she announced from the podium where he was expected to speak shortly.

Updated at 11.10pm BST

10.58pm BST

Peter Navarro, a former Donald Trump White House advis er who was just released from prison, has been spotted in Milwaukee:

The Associated Press reports that Navarro was released today from the prison where he was serving a four-month sentence after being convicted of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the January 6 committee. He is expected to address the Republican national convention tonight.

Updated at 11.08pm BST

10.33pm BST

Biden campaign resumes advertising after Trump assassination attempt

The president’s re-election campaign has ended the pause on advertising it imposed following the Saturday assassination attempt against Donald Trump , a Biden-Harris campaign official told the Guardian’s US politics live blog.

The first new ad features abortion-rights activist Hadley Duvall , and in addition to attacking Trump singles out JD Vance , Trump’s newly announced running mate. See it here:

Updated at 10.59pm BST

10.14pm BST

Special counsel appeals dismissal of Trump's classified documents case

Jack Smith , the justice department special counsel, has filed an appeal of judge Aileen Cannon ’s ruling earlier this week dismissing Donald Trump ’s indictment on charges of illegally possessing classified documents.

Here’s the latest on this long-running legal saga:

Updated at 10.18pm BST

9.54pm BST

Trump campaign declines to schedule vice-presidential debate, citing uncertainty over Democratic ticket

The Trump campaign has announced that it will not yet schedule a debate between JD Vance and Kamala Harris , citing uncertainty over who will be the Democratic nominee for vice-president.

The decision is a reference to continued tension among Democrats over whether Joe Biden should seek re-election, after his poor showing at his first debate with Donald Trump . The president insists he has no plans to step aside, but if he did, the new nominee would have to find their own running mate.

“We don’t know who the Democrat nominee for vice-president is going to be, so we can’t lock in a date before their convention. To do so would be unfair to Gavin Newsom, JB Pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer, or whoever Kamala Harris picks as her running mate,” Trump campaign senior adviser Brian Hughes said in a statement.

The Biden-Harris campaign had previously proposed three possible dates for the vice-presidential debate, all before the beginning of the Democratic convention on 19 August, where the party will formalize the presidential ticket.

Updated at 10.20pm BST

9.36pm BST

Trump campaign moved to tone down convention rhetoric – report

Donald Trump ’s campaign has encouraged speakers at the Republican national convention to stay away from extreme rhetoric, and in some cases directly edited their speeches, NBC News reports .

At the convention thus far, there have been few to no mentions of topics liked the January 6 insurrection, or Trump’s baseless claims that he lost the 2020 election unfairly. That’s a deliberate strategy his campaign shifted to following the assassination attempt on Saturday, as it now looks to project an image of unity.

Here’s more on that, from NBC:

Trump said that he had rewritten his own speech accepting the Republican presidential nomination ahead of Thursday night after surviving an assassination attempt. The Trump campaign has said that now he intends to home in on the theme of unifying America.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga, said Wednesday before delivering his convention address, ‘Frankly, they sent the same message to those of us giving speeches.’
‘We always planned to be a reflection of our party’s unity and remind the American people of the difference between President Trump’s success and Crooked Joe Biden’s failure,’ Brian Hughes, a senior Trump campaign adviser, said in a statement. ‘The convention messages from everyday Americans and policymakers have met that goal. This convention is one of the greatest ever held and will launch us forward to victory in November.’
While convention speakers this week have served up plenty of red meat to the thousands of delegates in attendance, particularly on the issues of immigration and crime, they have steered away from some of the party’s more divisive topics and talk of seeking retribution.
Through the convention’s first two nights, speakers have not mentioned the following issues: unfounded claims of stolen elections; the Jan 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol; investigating Trump’s political opponents, including Biden; and investigating the prosecutors who have sought indictments against him, like Special Counsel Jack Smith, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg or Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
A video where Trump mentions the unsubstantiated threat of Democrats ‘cheating’ in the upcoming election was played during the first two nights of the convention.
Asked if the toned-down theme would continue through the week, Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., said, ‘I do.’
‘I mean, it starts with Trump,’ he continued. ‘Hopefully, JD [Vance] picks that up. And others. Trump said he didn’t want people to change their speeches, but I think that they will.’

Updated at 10.23pm BST

9.17pm BST

Anyone attending the Republican national convention could be forgiven for thinking they have stepped into a mirror world where Donald Trump is a saint, not a twice-impeached former president convicted of 34 felonies.

On Wednesday, Brenna Bird , the attorney general of Iowa, was asked why she travelled to New York to support the former US president during his hush-money trial.

“I was glad to go out to New York to support him during that trial because I’m a prosecutor and I have prosecuted many criminal defendants, but I’ve never seen anything like that,” Bird told international reporters at a Foreign Press Centers briefing.

“It’s a travesty. It’s not how the legal process is supposed to work. As a prosecutor, I’ve never taken someone’s politics into account when deciding whether to charge a crime. That is just wrong and, if it’s allowed to happen, it breaks down the rule of law and the constitutional order.”

Bird added: “I went there specifically as a prosecutor to support President Trump because what was happening was an injustice and I wanted to be there and stand up for what was right and support President Trump. I think we saw his character during that trial. He doesn’t give up and he keeps on moving forward and that’s exactly what our country needs right now.”

In May, Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records alleging he was involved in a scheme that sought to cover up extramarital affairs in advance of the 2016 presidential election. The New York state prosecution had no connection to Biden and there was no evidence of jury bias against Trump.

Updated at 10.25pm BST

9.01pm BST

Interim summary

Here’s where the day stands:

Joe Biden said he would consider dropping out of the presidential race if a “medical condition” emerged, the New York Times reports, citing an excerpt released from Biden’s interview with Ed Gordon of BET News. According to the Times, Biden was asked if there was any reason that would make him reconsider staying in the presidential race. In response, Biden said: “If I had some medical condition that emerged, if somebody, if doctors came to me and said, you got this problem and that problem.”
John Hinckley, the man who shot and wounded president Ronald Reagan in 1981, has released his own statement following Donald Trump’s assassination attempt on Saturday. In a tweet on Wednesday, Hinckley, who was released in 2022 after spending 41 years under federal oversight, wrote: “Violence is not the way to go. Give peace a chance.”
Kamala Harris has accepted a third possible date to hold a CBS-hosted vice-presidential debate against Trump’s newly announced running mate, Ohio senator JD Vance . The Biden-Harris campaign said it was open to a showdown with Vance on Monday, 12 August, as well. Harris had previously agreed to participate in the debate on either Tuesday, 23 July, or Tuesday, 13 August.
The high-profile California Democrat Adam Schiff has called on Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race. Schiff, in a statement to the Los Angeles Times, said that Biden “has been one of the most consequential presidents in our nation’s history, and his lifetime of service as a Senator, a vice president, and now as president has made our country better” adding: “But our nation is at a crossroads.”
Joe Biden lashed out at a “tense” meeting with dozens of House Democrats who bluntly questioned his viability as their party’s presidential nominee, according to reports. During the Saturday Zoom call, Colorado representative Jason Crow told Biden that voters are concerned about his vigor and strength, and noted the importance of national security in the November election, the reports say.
Lloyd Doggett, the Texas representative who became the first House Democrat to publicly call on Joe Biden to step aside, has doubled down and urged the president to withdraw from the ticket in the face of “the reality of steadily, worsening poll numbers ”. “My call for President Biden to step aside remains even more urgent,” Doggett said in a statement on Wednesday.
During the Democratic press conference in Milwaukee, the Minnesota governor, Tim Walz, was pressed on the party’s plans to nominate Joe Biden via a roll call vote in the coming days. Walz, who co-chairs the Democratic national convention’s rules committee, confirmed that delegates would not begin voting before 1 August, and the governor’s spokesperson confirmed that the process should wrap up by 7 August.
Donald Trump does not have stitches but has a “nice flesh wound ”, his son Eric Trump said following his father’s assassination attempt. In an interview with CBS, Eric said: “You know, he was millimeters away from having his life expunged ... I’m sure the ear doesn’t feel well.”
Nearly two-thirds of Democrats want Joe Biden to withdraw his re-election bid, a new AP-NORC poll has found. According to the poll, which was mostly conducted before Donald Trump’s assassination attempt on Saturday, 65% of Democrats say that Biden should withdraw. Overall, seven in 10 American adults say that Biden should drop out of the race.
The Democratic National Committee said that its virtual roll call to officially nominate Joe Biden as its party’s presidential nominee will happen in August, CBS reports . In a letter obtained and reported by CBS on Wednesday, the chairs of the Democratic national convention’s rules committee, Leah Daughtry and Tim Walz, wrote: “We have confirmed with the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic National Convention that no virtual voting will begin before August 1 … .”

Updated at 10.33pm BST

8.55pm BST

Biden hasn't done enough to ease age concerns - former top Obama adviser

David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to President Barack Obama, warns that Joe Biden has not done enough to relieve voters’ concern about his age since last month’s hapless debate performance.

“I’ve felt for a long time, and I’ve said for a long time, it’s not in any way a commentary on his record, which I think will be honoured more by history than it is by voters right now,” Axelrod told the Guardian in Milwaukee on Wednesday.

“But it’s a very hard case to make that anyone should be elected president in the United States at the age of 82, not for political reasons but for actuarial reasons. This is the hardest job on the planet. It takes a lot out of you. It’s a legitimate concern that people have and that concern has been intensified by what happened at the debate. I don’t think anything that’s happened has relieved that concern.”

Axelrod, chief strategist for the 2008 and 2012 Obama presidential campaigns, was speaking after an event organised by the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and the Cook Political Report on the sidelines of the Republican national convention.

Asked whether he thinks Biden can survive, Axelrod replied: “That’s entirely in his hands and that’s been the case. This whole race has been in his hands, his decision to run and now his decision to stay.

“There’s a lot to think about because I know he’s laid out the stakes in this election. The question he has to answer is, what are the odds of his winning? Would the odds be better with another candidate? I’m sure there’s a lot of discussion about that.”

Updated at 10.18pm BST

8.35pm BST

Following Rudy Giuliani’s fall at the Republican national convention in Milwaukee on Tuesday, the 80-year-old disbarred lawyer’s spokesperson Ted Goodman released the following statement on Wednesday:

Mayor Rudy Giuliani appreciates everyone’s concern after tripping over a dip in the walkway on the convention floor of the convention.
The mayor and I were both filming footage for his social media and livestream programs on the floor of the convention, when he turned to set some equipment on a chair and tripped over a dip between the walkway and chairs.
Those falsely suggesting anything else are misleading the public for their own agendas.

Updated at 10.35pm BST

8.08pm BST

The rift among Democrats is deepening over Joe Biden’s presidential candidacy despite party leaders saying Biden is the nominee .

Joan E Greve and Martin Pengelly report for the Guardian:

Demands for Joe Biden to step aside as the Democrats’ presidential pick to face Donald Trump have slowed since the Republican survived an assassination attempt last weekend, to the extent that on Wednesday one “prominent strategist” was moved to say of the rebellion: “It’s over.”

The strategist spoke anonymously to the Hill – and before the influential California congressman Adam Schiff said publicly that Biden should quit.

Nonetheless, in Milwaukee, at a press conference during the Republican national convention , Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor and a party grandee, said Biden would be confirmed as the Democratic nominee by virtual vote between 1 and 7 August, before the Chicago convention.

For the full story, click here:

Updated at 10.35pm BST

7.44pm BST

Joe Biden’s campaign team released a new ad on Wednesday featuring Hadley Duvall, a 22-year-old abortion-rights activist from Owensboro, Kentucky.

In the ad, Duvall, who was in an emotional ad last year during governor Andy Beshear’s re-election campaign, describes her experience of being impregnated by her stepfather, who raped her when she was 12 years old.

She said:

I’m from Kentucky where, because of Donald Trump, an extreme abortion ban is now in place, with no exceptions for rape or incest. During the overturn [of Roe v Wade], I went back to the time I was 12 years old and I was holding my first pregnancy test in my hand …
Trump brags about overturning Roe v Wade. He is ‘proudly responsible’ for each and every abortion ban across the country. And he calls them a ‘beautiful thing to watch.’ What is so beautiful about telling a 12-year-old girl that she must have the baby of her stepfather who raped her? The stakes of this election could not be higher for our choices.

Updated at 10.36pm BST

7.19pm BST

Man who tried to assassinate Reagan says 'violence is not the way to go' after Trump assassination attempt

John Hinckley, the man who shot and wounded president Ronald Reagan in 1981, has released his own statement following Donald Trump’s assassination attempt on Saturday.

In a tweet on Wednesday, Hinckley, who was released in 2022 after spending 41 years under federal oversight, wrote:

“Violence is not the way to go. Give peace a chance.”

7.05pm BST

Kamala Harris has accepted a third possible date to hold a CBS-hosted vice-presidential debate against Trump’s newly-announced running mate, Ohio senator JD Vance.

The Biden-Harris campaign said it was open to a showdown with Vance on Monday, 12 August, as well. Harris had previously agreed to participate in the debate on either Tuesday, 23 July, or Tuesday, 13 August.

“Now that the Trump campaign has selected a running mate, we encourage them to agree to a debate between vice-president Harris and senator Vance,” a campaign official said.

Updated at 10.37pm BST

6.52pm BST

Here is video of Joe Biden saying he would consider dropping out of the presidential race if a “medical condition” emerges:

Biden goes on to say that he would consider the option if “doctors came and said: ‘You’ve got this problem and that problem.’”

He adds that he “made a serious mistake in the whole debate” with Donald Trump which prompted a wave of scrutiny from the Democratic party over his mental competency as president.

Updated at 8.19pm BST

6.39pm BST

Biden says he'd consider withdrawing if 'medical condition' emerges – report

Joe Biden said he would consider dropping out of the presidential race if a “medical condition” emerged, the New York Times reports, citing an excerpt released from Biden’s interview with Ed Gordon of BET News.

According to the Times, Biden was asked if there was any reason that would make him reconsider staying in the presidential race.

In response, Biden said:

If I had some medical condition that emerged, if somebody, if doctors came to me and said, you got this problem and that problem.

Earlier this month, Biden said during an interview with ABC host George Stephanopoulos that he would only drop out of the race if the “Lord Almighty” told him to do so.

Biden’s comments come amid increasing calls from Democrats for him to withdraw his re-election bid over concerns of his age and mental competency, particularly after his poor debate performance against Donald Trump.

Updated at 10.38pm BST

6.16pm BST

California representative Adam Schiff is the most prominent Democrat to publicly call on Joe Biden to drop out of the race.

Over the weekend, Schiff told donors that Biden remaining on top of the ticket for November would cost the party the presidency and probably the House and Senate, too, the New York Times reported .

“I think if he is our nominee, I think we lose,” Schiff told donors in East Hampton, New York, last Saturday, the paper said, citing “a person with access to a transcription of a recording of the event”.

And we may very, very well lose the Senate and lose our chance to take back the House.

Updated at 10.38pm BST

6.08pm BST

Adam Schiff calls on Biden to drop out

The high-profile California Democrat Adam Schiff has called on Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race.

Schiff, in a statement to the Los Angeles Times, said that Biden “has been one of the most consequential presidents in our nation’s history, and his lifetime of service as a Senator, a Vice President, and now as President has made our country better”.

“But our nation is at a crossroads,” he added.

A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the President can defeat Donald Trump in November.

Schiff said the “choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone”, but that he believes it is time for Biden “to pass the torch” and “secure his legacy of leadership” by allowing another Democrat to beat Donald Trump .

He added that he would fully support whoever ends up at the top of the Democratic ticket – including if it remains Biden. “I will do everything I can to help them succeed,” Schiff said.

There is only one singular goal: defeating Donald Trump. The stakes are just too high.

Updated at 6.59pm BST

6.01pm BST

Joe Biden faced withering criticism over his recent claim that he had done “more for the Palestinian community than anybody”, as Israel continues to strike Gaza with some of the fiercest bombardments in months.

The comments were made in an interview with Complex’s Chris “Speedy” Morman that was recorded last week in Detroit and published on Monday. While defending his administration’s response to the conflict in Gaza , Biden said:

By the way, I’m the guy that did more for the Palestinian community than anybody. I’m the guy that opened up all the assets. I’m the guy that made sure that I got the Egyptians to open the border to let goods through, medicine and food.

More than 38,000 Palestinians , the majority of them civilians, have been killed since the war began 10 months ago, according to Gaza’s health ministry. About 1,200 Israelis were killed in Hamas’s cross-border assault on 7 October.

Updated at 7.00pm BST

5.49pm BST

House Democrats are scrapping a letter raising “serious concerns” about a plan to fast-track Joe Biden ’s virtual roll call nomination after the Democratic National Committee announced the vote would not take place until August.

The letter to the DNC, which had not been sent, called a proposal to fast-track Biden’s nomination a “terrible idea” that would effectively end the internal debate over whether Biden should remain the party’s nominee.

“We’re glad to see that the pressure has worked and the DNC will not rush this virtual process through in July,” a spokesperson for Congressman Jared Huffman, a California Democrat, told the Guardian. “We won’t be sending the letter at this time.”

During a press conference in Milwaukee on Wednesday morning, Minnesota governor Tim Walz, who heads the rules committee with Leah Daughtry , said delegates would not begin voting before 1 August, and the governor’s spokesperson later confirmed that the process should wrap up by 7 August.

“We need to get these things done. We need to get the roll call done,” Walz said. “But it won’t happen before the first of August.”

Nearly 20 congressional Democrats have publicly called on Biden to resign, though the debate had stalled in the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt on Trump. These House Democrats are suggesting a wider discussion should take place, even if the president insists he’s not going anywhere.

According to a copy of the now-scrapped letter, obtained by the Guardian, a contingent of House Democrats was prepared to accuse the DNC of preparing to press ahead with a vote that could “deeply undermine the morale and unity of Democrats.”

Updated at 6.11pm BST

5.43pm BST

Joe Biden lashed out at a “tense” meeting with dozens of House Democrats who bluntly questioned his viability as their party’s presidential nominee, according to reports.

During the Saturday Zoom call, Colorado congressman Jason Crow told Biden that voters are concerned about his vigor and strength, and noted the importance of national security in the November election, the reports say.

According to CNN, the president said to Crow, a former Army Ranger who served two tours in Afghanistan and one in Iraq, that he knew that he had a Bronze Star recipient, like his son Beau, but that “he didn’t rebuild Nato.”

At one point, Biden told Crow to “cut that crap out” and that if Crow wants to walk away from him, then he can walk away, according to the report. According to Puck News, Biden told Crow:

On national security, nobody has been a better president than I’ve been. Name me one. Name me one! So I don’t want to hear that crap!

Democrat lawmakers who were on the call told Puck that Biden was “rambling”, “dismissive of concerns” and “unable or unprepared to present a campaign strategy.” One told the outlet:

He’d start an answer then lose his train of thought, then would just say ‘whatever.’ He really couldn’t complete an answer. I lost a ton of respect for him.

5.31pm BST

Lloyd Doggett, the Texas congressman who became the first House Democrat to publicly call on Joe Biden to step aside, has doubled down and urged the president to withdraw from the ticket in the face of “the reality of steadily, worsening poll numbers”.

“My call for President Biden to step aside remains even more urgent,” Doggett said in a statement on Wednesday.

Our decision must consider the reality of steadily, worsening poll numbers, not just more wishful thinking. The risk of Trump tyranny is so great that we must put forward our strongest nominee.

He added:

Every day this decision is delayed, the focus is not on Trump’s lies, and a new Democratic nominee is offered less time to achieve victory. What we need is a fair, open democratic process to select a new nominee that can excite and engage more Americans.

5.26pm BST

Today’s theme at the Republican national convention will be “Make America Strong Once Again,” and many of the speeches are expected to focus on foreign policy.

“Each one of these has a theme, like last night was ‘bend the knee and grovel’ apparently,” Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, said at a Democratic press conference in Milwaukee. “And today is ‘celebrate Russia day,’ I guess.”

JD Vance will deliver his first speech since becoming Donald Trump ‘s running mate, and given the theme, his remarks may highlight his isolationist views on foreign policy.

Vance has been one of the most outspoken critics of US aid to Ukraine, and European diplomats fear his elevation could heighten the risk of a Russian victory in the war.

Read Andrew Roth’s full piece on Vance’s foreign policy views.

5.19pm BST

During the Democratic press conference in Milwaukee, Minnesota governor Tim Walz was pressed on the party’s plans to nominate Joe Biden via a roll call vote in the coming days.

Walz, who co-chairs the DNC Rules Committee, confirmed that delegates would not begin voting before 1 August, and the governor’s spokesperson confirmed that the process should wrap up by 7 August.

The news comes as 19 congressional Democrats have publicly called on Biden to drop out of the race following his disastrous debate performance last month.

The rules committee will meet on Friday to set out an agenda, Walz said, and he added that the meeting was never meant to kick off the virtual roll call vote.

Democrats have previously cited a ballot deadline of 7 August in Ohio as justification for the virtual roll call vote, but state legislators passed a bill to delay that deadline. Still, Walz argued that Democrats needed to confirm their nominee quickly to avoid potential legal challenges, as a number of states have August deadlines.

“We need to get these things done. We need to get the roll call done,” Walz said. “But it won’t happen before the first of August.”

Quentin Folks, Biden’s principal deputy campaign manager, appeared to grow frustrated with the questions, telling reporters, “The Republicans are lying to the American people about virtually every single issue that impacts their lives. And we’re caught up in process stores.”

5.06pm BST

Joe Biden campaign officials and Democratic lawmakers held a press conference in Milwaukee this morning to attack Republicans’ anti-abortion policies.

Quentin Folks, Biden’s principal deputy campaign manager, specifically called out Donald Trump ‘s running mate, JD Vance, over his views on abortion. Vance, who will speak at the Republican convention tonight, has indicated he does not support abortion even in cases of rape or incest.

“JD Vance is an anti-choice politician whose views on reproductive freedom and women’s rights would take us back decades,” Folks said.

The Democratic officials were joined by Amanda Zurawski, who nearly died because she could not obtain an abortion in Texas after it became clear her pregnancy was not viable.

“It was in that dark and lonely hospital room where I realized I was actually lucky. I lived. And I knew others might not be so lucky,” Zurawski said.

“What I went through was nothing short of barbaric, and it didn’t need to happen. But it did because of Donald Trump.”

4.52pm BST

Donald Trump has a 'nice flesh wound,' says Eric Trump

Donald Trump does not have stitches but has a “nice flesh wound,” his son Eric Trump said following his father’s assassination attempt.

In an interview with CBS, Eric said:

“You know, he was millimeters away from having his life expunged ... I’m sure the ear doesn’t feel well.”

Eric added that his father said that the injury felt like the “greatest earache he’s ever had,” and went on to say that his father’s hearing is fine and that he is in “great spirits.”

Trump has appeared at the RNC this week in Milwaukee with a white bandage taped over his ear amid a heavily intensified security team.

Updated at 4.56pm BST

4.24pm BST

Nearly two-thirds of Democrats want Biden to withdraw - poll

Nearly two-thirds of Democrats want Joe Biden to withdraw his re-election bid, a new AP-NORC poll has found.

According to the poll which was mostly conducted before Donald Trump’s assassination attempt on Saturday, 65% of Democrats say that Biden should withdraw.

Overall, 7 in 10 American adults say that Biden should drop out from the race.

57% of American adults say that Trump should withdraw from the race and allow the GOP to name a replacement. Meanwhile, 73% of Republicans say that Trump should remain in the race.

In stark contrast, only 35% of Democrats say that Biden should remain in the race.

Moreover, nearly half of Democrats are not very or not at all confident that Biden has the mental capability to serve as president, up from a third in a February poll. 27% of Democrats are extremely or very confident in his ability to be an effective president, down from 40% in the February poll.

Republicans have more confidence in Trump. 60% of Republicans are extremely or very confident that Trump has the mental capability to serve effectively as president.

3.58pm BST

DNC virtual roll call to nominate Biden scheduled for August - report

The Democratic National Committee said that its virtual roll call to officially nominate Joe Biden as its party’s presidential nominee will happen in August, CBS reports.

In a letter obtained and reported by CBS on Wednesday, the DNC rules committee chairs Leah Daughtry and Tim Walz wrote:

“We have confirmed with the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic National Convention that no virtual voting will begin before August 1…
None of this will be rushed. Unlike our nation’s other major political party, our rules are set in public meetings, anchored in the Party’s charter and its traditions. That will continue in the 2024 cycle, as it must with so much at stake.”

Daughtry and Walz added that they will propose a framework on Friday for “how best to proceed” and that they will follow up with a second meeting next week to “consider and adopt specific rules for that purpose.”

Reports of the virtual roll call date comes amid Democratic infighting over whether Biden should remain the party’s nominee or withdraw his re-election bid.

Concerns over Biden’s capability as president have swirled intensely following his poor debate performance and repeated public faux pas including accidentally calling Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy “President Putin” at last week’s Nato summit in Washington DC.

3.21pm BST

Efforts to replace Biden in 2024 race 'over', Democratic strategist says - report

The Hill is reporting that efforts to replace Joe Biden is “game over ”.

In a new report on Wednesday, the outlet quoted one Democratic strategist saying: “It’s over. There’s been no meaningful movement in a week.”

“There is little to no time left. People are focused elsewhere. It’s a collective action problem and we have no solution … Game over,” the strategist added.

Following Biden’s poor debate performance, Democrats have scrambled amid the political fallout to determine the trajectory of the party. In recent weeks, numerous sitting congressional members and celebrity donors including George Clooney have called on Biden to drop out from the race.

Yet, the president has remained defiant, repeatedly pushing back on criticisms of his age and mental competency.

Updated at 4.06pm BST

2.49pm BST

Ahead of Joe Biden’s address at UnidosUS today in Las Vegas, the White House unveiled new actions to expand opportunities across Latino communities.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the White House said some of the actions include:

To strengthen the federal government’s commitment to advancing opportunity, today, president Biden will sign an executive order establishing the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity through Hispanic-Serving Institutions …
On June 18th, the president announced a new process to help US citizens with noncitizen spouses and children who have been here for 10 years or more keep their families together … And today, the president is announcing that beginning on August 19, 2024, eligible spouses and children will be able to apply for this process to obtain legal status while remaining with their families…
The Department of Homeland Security’s US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is announcing the launch of a new initiative – ‘USCIS to You’ – to bring immigration-related assistance into local communities, including rural and underserved areas …”

Updated at 3.33pm BST

2.27pm BST

With JD Vance scheduled to take center stage tonight, here is the Guardian’s Sam Levine’s report from Milwaukee on the senator’s expected address and the RNC’s third day:

Vance will be introduced by Donald Trump Jr. The theme for Wednesday – “Make America Strong Once Again” – comes amid internal divisions on how to handle the war in Ukraine. Earlier this year, House speaker Mike Johnson only narrowly passed a bill to provide additional funding for Ukraine over the loud objection of some Republicans.

The day will also offer an opportunity for Republicans to attack Joe Biden over his handling of the US military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and the war between Israel and Gaza.

For the full story, click here:

2.20pm BST

Republican convention to focus on foreign policy as JD Vance prepares for speech

Good morning,

With the Republican national convention entering its third day, Trump’s vice-presidential pick, 39-year-old JD Vance, is set to deliver perhaps the most significant speech of his political career today.

The Ohio senator is expected to address the RNC this evening following the announcement of his selection as Donald Trump’s running mate on Monday.

Vance, a former critic of Trump who once called the former president “America’s Hitler” as well as a “total fraud”, is set to make his appearance tonight amid the RNC’s theme for today – “Make America Strong Once Again”. On Tuesday, Trump’s former opponents Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis both made appearances at the Milwaukee convention during which they heavily endorsed Trump.

Wednesday’s theme, an ode to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” tagline, is expected to largely revolve around US foreign policy, which Vance has been heavily critical of with regards to US military aid to Ukraine. Following the announcement of Trump’s vice-presidential pick, European experts have warned that Vance is a “terrible choice” for Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression.

Here are other developments in US politics:

Joe Biden is in Las Vegas, where he is expected to deliver remarks at UnidosUS, the largest annual gathering of Latino advocates and policymakers.
The White House is reaffirming its support for surgeries for trans minors following backlash over its comments that the surgeries “should be limited to adults”.
A former White House official has been accused of working as South Korea agent in exchange for luxury goods, according to an indictment filed in a Manhattan federal court.