President Joe Biden has booked his first television interview since his disastrous debate with former President Trump last week, which prompted many in his party to wonder whether he should be the Democratic nominee.

On Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET, ABC will carry portions of George Stephanopoulos’ interview with Biden on “World News Tonight with David Muir.” The extended interview will appear Sunday on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”

Biden Has Scheduled His First Interview After His Shaky Debate Performance

During last week’s CNN debate, Biden struggled to finish sentences and frequently appeared bewildered while Trump spewed forth falsehoods, raising serious concerns about Biden’s age and capacity to serve a second term.

The interview is a significant coup for ABC News and a watershed moment for Biden following his halting debate performance. Although Biden has made multiple public appearances since the debate, he has read prepared statements at each venue.

This will be his first unscripted appearance since the debate. Several White House supporters have publicly and privately urged Biden to quickly hold a live interview or news conference to allay concerns about the president’s understanding.

ABC did not immediately reply to a request for comment on whether it intends to publish the entire unedited interview version. Due to time limits, networks typically trim down programming interviews.

Biden Has Scheduled His First Interview After His Shaky Debate Performance

Biden’s last significant interview was with David Muir in Normandy last month. He earlier spoke with CNN’s Erin Burnett on May 8 and Time magazine’s Massimo Calabresi on May 28.

According to CNN, the interview with ABC will be his fourth major televised interview in 2024. Biden has conducted fewer interviews than his prior predecessors.

SOURCE – (CNN)

On the last day of voting before Sunday’s first round of parliamentary elections, France’s conservative National Rally (RN)grew its lead, in an opinion poll that put it close to a majority.

Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party has been ahead in the polls since President Emmanuel Macron called an unexpected election this month. The election has caused France to be uncertain and has scared its European neighbors and the financial markets.

Les Echos newspaper released a new Opinion Way poll on Friday that showed the National Rally could get as much as 37% of the vote. This is two percentage points more than the poll’s previous score from last week.

The expected vote total for Macron’s moderate Together party was 20%, which is two points less than the previous report. The left-wing group New Popular Front had the same 28% of the vote as before.

In a different poll put together by Elabe, BFM TV found that the RN and its allies could get between 260 and 295 seats in the new parliament. This would put them over the 289-seat threshold needed for an absolute majority, which would give them a clear mandate to rule.

It’s hard to make accurate seat projections because the outcome rests on how 577 constituencies across France vote. Also, after Sunday’s first round, candidates who are against the RN may work together to pull their names from the race in order to beat far-right candidates in the second round on July 7.

To win in the first round, a candidate needs to get an absolute majority of the votes cast as well as votes from at least 25% of the eligible voters in the district. It’s hard to do this, and most districts have to go to a second round of voting. The winner in the second round is the person who got the most votes.

The idea of either an RN-led government or a split parliament has scared the financial markets. On Friday, the risk premium on French government bonds rose to its highest level since the euro zone crisis in 2012.

If the National Rally won the election outright, they would have to “cohabit” with Macron for the rest of his term, until 2027. This would be the first time that a French president had to share power with a party that is not part of the major political party.

National Rally’s Anti – EU Views

The RN has toned down some of its anti-EU views and promised to be responsible with money, but it’s still not clear how it will pay for its election promises or what its strong doubts about the EU will mean for its future unity.

Racism is at the heart of the party’s “French first” policies, even though Le Pen is trying to clean up the party she received from her racist father, Jean-Marie.

In the last TV debate on Thursday, Macron’s Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said that his RN opponent Jordan Bardella was still letting racist speech happen in his far-right camp. Bardella denied the allegation.

The party has done well because people are angry at Macron. Macron’s choice to run for president in 2017 as the leader of a new, broad-based centrist movement changed French politics and was meant to stop the rise of radical parties.

People say that he made changes that were good for business, but many French voters think that he didn’t care about their worries about the rising cost of living and worsening public services.

Le Pen hinted at the kinds of fights that living together might cause on Friday when she said that an RN prime minister would block Macron’s choice for the French official at the European Commission in Brussels.

She told Europe 1 radio, “The prime minister, not the president, is the one who gets to choose the French commissioner.” A foreign source said Thursday that Macron backed Thierry Breton for a new term. Breton is a former businessman who now oversees the internal markets at the Commission.

Source: Reuters

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During a presidential Debate, one contender enjoyed a significant advantage over the other.

Donald Trump, a Republican, has been convicted of 34 felony counts and faces further serious charges in three other indictments.

As president, Trump selected three of the justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade and restrict abortion access in the United regions, sparking outrage even in conservative-leaning regions. And his ambitious second-term ambitions include threats of retaliation against political opponents from both major parties.

The main concern for President Joe Biden is whether he can effectively challenge Trump. Perhaps nothing is more important than the energy and strength that the Democratic incumbent exudes on stage.

Can Joe Biden perform?

Both individuals have obvious faults that provide their opponents with enormous opportunities and risks. They will face a massive national audience, many of whom will be watching their 2020 rematch for the first time and will not witness another discussion until September, accentuating each success or error.
Joe Biden and Trump will face off for 90 minutes on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET in an Atlanta CNN studio.

Joe Biden’s very low standard for success was set, at least in part, by Trump and his Republican allies, who have constantly criticized the Democratic president for seeming mistakes related to his age for years.

Trump’s allies have questioned Biden’s ability to stay awake and stand up for 90 minutes, despite Trump’s own gaffes during rallies. During the Republican primary, Trump mistook former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley for former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

He defended himself on Saturday. He told an audience on Saturday that liberals had misinterpreted what he described as a moment of “pure genius.”

Democrats are hoping that Biden would bring the same zeal he showed in his State of the Union address earlier this year. However, a live television debate with an opponent who enjoys verbal combat is very different from delivering a planned address before Congress.

Biden’s team understands that a disastrous night in front of the nation is not an option.

Navigating the criminal records

Having already secured his base, Trump has an opportunity to persuade persuadable swing voters and moderates who powered Biden’s triumph four years ago but now express reservations about both candidates.

To win over the so-called “double haters,” Trump can’t merely rely on the red meat talking points, personal insults, and conspiracy theories that usually dominate his public appearances.

Instead of talking about revenge or lying about the American electoral system, he’ll need to present a hopeful vision for the future and a clear contrast to Biden on typical kitchen-table concerns like health care and education.

He was harshly criticized for his antics at the first 2020 debate with Biden, badgering and interrupting the Democratic nominee. In their second debate, they discussed their opposing views on governance.

Can he stay disciplined on Thursday night? Some supporters remain hopeful. History may suggest differently.

Trump’s extensive legal history presents opportunities and risks for both candidates on stage.

In recent days, Joe Biden’s team has shown an increasing readiness to draw on Trump’s criminal background. Aside from a few remarks, Biden has mainly distanced himself from Trump’s prosecutions in order to avoid appearing to engage with politics.

Trump, who has been saying without evidence for years that Biden is responsible for his prosecution, will not make it simple for the president to follow suit.

According to recent research, almost 50% of adults in the United States support Trump’s conviction in New York. And even if people don’t find the specific convictions troubling, Trump’s attempt to conceal an alleged affair with a porn actress isn’t exactly bumper sticker worthy.

Meanwhile, Biden is mindful that Trump may target his son Hunter, as the then-president did at a debate four years ago. Hunter Biden was recently convicted on three felony offenses, including purchasing a gun while supposedly addicted to drugs. Trump has also questioned Hunter Biden’s international business dealings when his father was vice president.

As is typically the case, the moderators and ground rules will most likely influence the outcome of the debate. And the ground rules for this debate, the first of two planned gatherings, are peculiar.

It’s worth emphasizing that the candidates are depending on a set of mutually agreed-upon norms and conditions rather than the customary structure established by the Commission on Presidential Debates.

Joe Biden and Trump will debate in a CNN studio in Atlanta

Biden and Trump will debate in a CNN studio in Atlanta, with no audience. There will be no opening statement. Each candidate’s microphone will be silenced except when it is his turn to speak. No props or pre-written notes will be permitted on stage. Candidates will only be given a pen, a pad of paper, and a bottle of water.

A coin flip determined that Trump would make the last closing statement.

The event will be moderated by CNN’s Dana Bash and Jake Tapper, two well-known anchors who have not been afraid to call out Trump’s lies and conspiracy theories.

While Bash and Tapper have provided critical coverage of Joe Biden at times, Joe Biden’s campaign is undoubtedly hoping that they will take an active role in rejecting Trump’s probable falsehoods in real time. While Biden’s microphone will be muted while Trump speaks, the moderators’ microphones will not.