Biden’s Debate Performance Was Objectively Terrible—and Trump Is Still Trump
Where does that leave us?
Joe Biden Set All the Rules in the Debate—And Still Got Trounced by Donald Trump
The 81-year-old president stumbled, froze up, and fell for foolish back-and-forths, delivering a dismal showing that's caused some Democrats to reconsider his candidacy altogether.
2024 Election
Debate 2024: All the Highlights From the First Biden-Trump Showdown
The current and former president clashed on a host of policy issues, but Democrats are panicking over the president’s performance.
Jamaal Bowman's Loss Doesn’t Lend Itself to Easy Conclusions
The congressman was weighed down by a lot more than his Israel criticism. And while Cori Bush may suffer the same fate, that doesn't mean the whole Squad is going down.
Trump VP Hopefuls Prepare to Give His Debate Performance Rave Reviews
If they want the number two job, they’ll say he was incredible regardless of what happens.
Inside the Hive
Pod Save America’s Hosts Are Staying Positive About 2024. That Doesn’t Mean They Don’t Fear the Worst
Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor discuss the importance of civil engagement in a time of mass cynicism, and explain how Americans can keep finding the comedy in the country’s post-Trump tragedy.
A Mind-Boggling Number of Voters Who Could Decide the Election Think Donald Trump—Yes, That Donald Trump—Is Better for Democracy Than Biden
As in, the Donald Trump who incited an insurrection because he couldn’t admit he lost the last election.
Mike Johnson Shoots Down Trump’s Claim That Biden Will Be on Drugs During the Debate, but Warns the President Could “Be on Some Sort of Energy Drinks”
Red Bull? Monster? A direct IV of espresso? The sky’s the limit.
2024 Election
The Challenge for CNN’s Debate Moderators: Keeping Themselves Out of It
CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash have a herculean task ahead of them: making sure Donald Trump and Joe Biden stay on track—and get all the attention.
2024 Election
Smearing, Flexing, and Playing the Victim: Inside Trumpworld’s Pre-debate Messaging Blitz
The former president’s brain trust is flooding the zone with shit ahead of Thursday night’s showdown. “The Biden people didn’t want the debate to happen,” says Trump adviser Jason Miller. “That’s why Biden is freaking out.”
Mike Johnson Wants to Be MAGA’s “Get Out of Jail Free” Card
After reportedly promising to help overturn Donald Trump’s recent conviction, the House Speaker is now leading an effort to keep Steve Bannon out of prison, too.
From the Magazine
A Template for Palestine—For a Postwar, Two-State Future
For two decades, Palestinian, Israeli, and American urban planners and power brokers have been envisioning a revitalized West Bank and Gaza. The war and its incalculable tragedies have made their efforts all the more urgent.
Texas’s “Pro-Life” Abortion Law Has Literally Led to More Infant Deaths
The infant mortality rate went up in the state by nearly 13% the year after the Heartbeat Act went into effect.
Melania Trump Will Have a Long-Distance Relationship With the White House If Trump Wins Again, First Lady Experts Predict
“If he should win, that would be the worst-case scenario for her.”
Julian Assange, Glorified and Vilified Founder of WikiLeaks, to Be Set Free
Fourteen years after WikiLeaks published classified materials related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, touching off a winding legal saga that spanned three presidencies, the controversial whistleblower has entered plea deal.
2024 Election
“It’s Such a Schizophrenic Battlefield”: Bidenworld Is Looking at the Debate From All Angles
From the economy to democracy to abortion, the president has countless issues to juggle—not the least of which is his own age. “If right-wing Twitter goes crazy saying he’s hopped up on stimulants,” says one insider, “you’ll know we won.”
True Bromance
Putin Is Banking On a Trump Win for His New World Order
Donald Trump’s nickname in the Kremlin? The American Gorbachev. Officials believe his chaos will be the downfall of the US.
Trump Suggests Biden’s Debate Prep Includes Cocaine and Steroids
These things are necessary when you’ve been claiming for years that your opponent is an elderly man who can’t string “two sentences together.”
2024 Election
The GOP’s Abortion Albatross
Just as reproductive rights motivated voters in 2022 and 2023, new polling shows how Republicans’ crusade to control women’s bodies could propel Democrats in November.
2024 Election
How Biden Can Flip His Fortunes—or Flop!—in His First Debate With Trump
A veteran of numerous presidential debates offers a strategy for thumping Trump.