Election 2024 live updates: Biden faces pressure from growing list of donors and

Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., suggested this afternoon that Democrats’ prospects this November are worse than before, telling reporters that it “was an uphill race,” but “now closer to an up-mountain race.”

Asked if Biden needs to drop out, Welch said, “I think he’s really got to seriously consider with all the post-debate evidences, he can do as he’s always done, make the best decision for the American people.”

“I have to believe we’ll win in November, you’re hearing my aspirations,” Welch said when asked if Biden can win in November. “You know, it was an uphill race. It’s now closer to an up-mountain race.”

NBC News anchor Lester Holt will sit down with President Biden on Monday for an exclusive one-on-one interview in Austin, Texas.

The full interview will air in its entirety during a prime-time special that evening at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT. on NBC. The special will also stream at 9 p.m. ET on NBC News NOW.

Portions of the interview will air earlier in the day on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt at 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT, and coverage will be available on NBCNews.com. The full interview and unedited transcript will also be available following the primetime special on NBCNews.com.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said “yes” when asked if Biden can win in November.

Asked about Pelosi’s comments on MSNBC this morning, Jeffries said he had not spoken to the former speaker.

Asked if Biden’s decision is final to stay in the race, Jeffries said: “That’s a question that you have to ask President Biden. His decision has been well articulated in a variety of different ways throughout the last few weeks.”

He added, “We look forward to continuing to have candid, comprehensive and clear-eyed discussions with members of the House Democratic Caucus over the next day or so, while we are together, and then we’re gonna go out and we’re gonna win.” 

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas was one of nearly 200 Democratic mayors on a video call with Biden last night and joined Ana Cabrera to discuss what was talked about in the meeting amid concerns over Biden’s candidacy.

Rep. Pat Ryan, a moderate New York Democrat, today joined some of his other colleagues in calling on Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race.

“Trump is an existential threat to American democracy; it is our duty to put forward the strongest candidate against him. Joe Biden is a patriot but is no longer the best candidate to defeat Trump. For the good of our country, I am asking Joe Biden to step aside — to deliver on his promise to be a bridge to a new generation of leaders,” Ryan wrote in a post on X.

He first shared his stance in a phone interview with The New York Times.

Read the full story here.

Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz’s campaign says his political operation brought in big money from April through June as the Republican gears up for what could be a tight re-election.

A new press release from the Cruz camp adds his political operation closed the second fundraising quarter with $22.1 million in cash on hand. However, the campaign notes that these totals include money raised into “all entities,” committees that Cruz doesn’t have direct control over, but which will be supporting his bid.

His Democratic opponent, Rep. Colin Allred, hasn’t yet announced his second-quarter fundraising but has established himself as a strong fundraiser too.

Campaigns have to file their second-quarter fundraising reports to the FEC by later this month, so the numbers aren’t verifiable until then. But those reports will include a full picture of the Senate fundraising landscape.

Senate Democrats will hear from Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon and senior advisers Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti during a special caucus lunch tomorrow, according to a Senate Democratic leadership source. The meeting is slotted for 12:30 p.m. at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., on Wednesday introduced articles of impeachment against Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.

“The unchecked corruption crisis on the Supreme Court has now spiraled into a Constitutional crisis threatening American democracy writ large,” she wrote. She cited Thomas and Alito’s financial and personal entanglements as a “grave threat to American rule of law” and the “integrity of our democracy.”

She added that these instances are “one of the clearest cases for which the tool of impeachment was designed.”

AOC is expected to deliver remarks on the impeachment articles from the House floor at 6 p.m.

Biden spoke earlier today at the NATO summit being held in Washington, D.C., touting his administration’s support for the alliance and telling member nations that his administration has “already invested $30 billion in defense manufacturing to restart or expand production across 35 of our states.”

The effort is part of an alliancewide push to strengthen defense manufacturing, but Biden also framed the initiative as positive for the U.S. economy, saying it will lead to, “stronger supply chains, stronger economy, stronger military and a stronger nation.”

The president added: “Every NATO member is committed to doing their part to keep the alliance strong. We can and will defend every inch of NATO territory, and we’ll do it together.” 

Biden spoke for a few minutes at the AFL-CIO headquarters this morning and said that he was warned “not to take too much time with y’all today in terms of talking.”

He claimed that major economists have praised his administration’s economic plans and have said that Trump’s proposals are “going to bankrupt our country.”

Biden said there are a “whole range of things we’re going to get done in a second term” and he’s “never been more optimistic about America’s chances not because of me, but because of what we’re doing together.”

“We’re the fastest growing economy in the world, that’s a fact … food prices are still too high because of corporate greed … we need more housing …,” Biden said, calling on the union’s help to get more done.