The Daily Signal - Democrats Angry Over Biden Debate Deflection, Judge Rules to Keep Pro-Life Father Out of Prison, America's Meat Consumption | July 3

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Biden campaign is reassuring its own staff that Biden still has a fighting chance to win the election. I'm Virginia Allen, and this is the Daily Signal Top News for Wednesday, July 3rd. It's been six days since President Joe Biden's debate performance that has been described as a train wreck. While Americans are wondering if Biden is going to stay in the race, Biden has given no indication that he plans to drop out. Politico reports that the Joe Biden campaign sent an all-staff memo. this morning indicating that the race between Trump and Biden is still very close. The memo reportedly includes polling from battleground states with numbers from before and after the debate. And those polls show that Biden dropped about half a percentage point in some of those key swing states.

Starting point is 00:00:59 Meanwhile, Axios reports that some Democrat lawmakers are growing angry over Biden's unwillingness to admit just how bad his performance was last Thursday. One House Democrat told Axios, everybody now thinks he could cost us the majority, he being Biden. A Democrat operative told Axios that strangely, we are getting to the point where it may not have been the debate that did him in, but the aftermath of how they handled it. Reuters spoke with a House Democrat aide who said that there are 25 House Democrats who are preparing to call for Biden to step aside if he seems shaky in the coming day. days. Texas Democrat representative Lloyd Dodget has already called for Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race. If the election were held today, a new CNN poll shows that Trump would win with six points leading Biden 49 percent to Biden's 43 percent. But NBC News reports that Democrat leaders and donors are still waiting for new polling to see how Biden is faring among voters

Starting point is 00:02:07 before a united effort is made to call for Biden to step aside. Biden will be sitting down with ABC News on Friday for a TV interview with George Stephanopoulos. That interview will air on Sunday. This will be Biden's first TV interview since the debate, so Republicans and Democrats are likely going to be watching that very closely on Sunday. If Biden does drop out, then the question is, who would be on the ticket? The Hill reports that a new Reuters Ipsos poll indicates that Michelle Obama is the only candidate with a sound chance of defeating Trump. But the former First Lady has repeatedly said that she has no interest in running for president right now.

Starting point is 00:02:50 A pro-life father received some very welcome news this week. He is not going to prison. Mary Margaret Ollahan has been reporting on this for the Daily Signal. and she reports that a Tennessee judge on Tuesday ruled that pro-life activist and father of 11, Paul Vaughn, will not serve time in prison for trying to stop abortions from taking place at a Tennessee abortion clinic. Vaughn faced charges after being part of an attempted blockade of an abortion clinic in 2021 in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. The FBI arrested Vaughn in October of 2022 and charged him with conspiracy against rights secured by the FACE Act and committing face act violations.

Starting point is 00:03:34 The FACE Act stands for the freedom of access to clinic entrances Act and is meant to protect both abortion clinics and pro-life pregnancy centers, but the law has almost exclusively been used against pro-life activists. The DOJ had sought to put Vaughn in prison for a year, but the judge instead gave Vaughn merely three years of supervised release. You can read the full story in today's show notes. Congressman Bob Good of Virginia is calling for a recount in his primary. Good is a firm conservative and currently serves as chairman of the House Freedom Caucus.

Starting point is 00:04:12 But he was defeated in his primary on June 18th against Trump-backed Republican state senator John McGuire. Good endorsed Ron DeSantis in the GOP presidential primary, which is maybe why Trump chose to endorse Good's opponent. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy also endorsed McGuire, as did the centrist Republican Main Street Partnership. But McGuire reportedly only won by 375 votes out of 63,000 ballots that were cast. Because McGuire's victory is less than 1%, Good has the right to call for a recount. Good has specifically called for a revote in Lynchburg, Virginia, citing reports of irregularities in voting there. Whether good or McGuire win, they will face off against Democrat candidate Gloria Tinsley-Witt in November. Well, for some lighter news today, McDonald says it's done with plant-based meats and salads.

Starting point is 00:05:12 The home of the hamburger had tested a plant-based Mcplant burger at some U.S. locations in 2022. The fast food giant also took salads off its menu during the COVID-19 pandemic. And questions regarding whether those salads, and plant-based burgers would return have now been answered. McDonald's USA President Joe Erlinger recently told the Wall Street Journal's Global Food Forum that the vegetarian options were gone for good. The McDonald's president said the McPlant Burger as well as salads will be off the menu nationwide permanently.

Starting point is 00:05:48 Erlinger said, I don't think the U.S. consumer is coming to McDonald's looking for the McPlant or other plant-based proteins. Americans eat an average of 50 billion burgers a year. That's according to USA Today. And that love for meat is especially felt on July 4th. Americans consume 150 million hot dogs on Independence Day. And USA Today estimates that about 375 million burgers are eaten on that day. So enjoy cooking up some burgers and hot dogs this Independence Day. And also, hey, maybe catch some fire. Fireworks Wallet Hub reports that about $2.7 billion was spent on fireworks in the U.S. on July 4th last year. So we hope you have a chance to catch some of those very expensive but beautiful fireworks. We hope you all have a wonderful July 4th.

Starting point is 00:06:42 We don't have any daily signal shows tomorrow in honor of the holiday. And we also don't have top news on Friday. But if you cannot live a couple days without daily signal content, then check out the problematic women podcast. We do have a show coming out on July 4th. And we will have a Daily Signal interview edition on Friday morning. The Daily Signal's Mary Margaret O'lahan is sitting down with Angel Studios CEO Neil Harmon to discuss the need for conservatives to enter the space of the arts and entertainment. You don't want to miss that conversation. Have a wonderful July 4th. We'll see you back here for top news on Monday. But again, don't forget to catch problematic women on July 4th.

Starting point is 00:07:25 and Mary Margaret O'Lahan's conversation with Angel Studios CEO, Neil Harmon, on Friday. The Daily Signal podcast is made possible because of listeners like you. Executive producers are Rob Bluey and Katrina Trinko. Hosts are Virginia Allen, Brian Gottstein, Tyler O'Neill, Mary Margaret O'Lohan, and Elizabeth Troutman.

Starting point is 00:07:47 Sound designed by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, John Pop, and Joseph Fonspikovsky. To learn more or support our work, please visit DailySignal.com. Thank you.

The Daily Signal - Democrats Angry Over Biden Debate Deflection, Judge Rules to Keep Pro-Life Father Out of Prison, America's Meat Consumption | July 3

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