By WENDELL HUSEBØ
President Donald Trump appears to be riding a wave into the November election following his acclaimed debate performance, demands for President Joe Biden to drop out of the race, and a string of Supreme Court rulings.
Trump, who sustained a barrage of legal and political challenges since leaving office, appeared to have one of the best weeks of the 2024 campaign cycle with just five months left before voters head to the polls.
“President Trump dominated the debate with his strength, preparedness, and vision to Make America Great Again,” Anna Kelly, RNC spokesperson, exclusively told Breitbart News.
“From locking down the Republican nomination faster than anyone in history to now, the enthusiasm behind President Trump is stronger than ever,” she continued, “and it’s no wonder why voters across the political spectrum are preparing to send him back to the White House this fall.”
Trump’s Debate Performance
Critics widely praised Trump’s Thursday night debate performance as disciplined, prepared, crisp, and clear-minded. Trump continually hit Biden on his open border policies, migrant crime, increased costs, and foreign policy failures. Sixty-seven percent said Trump won the debate, a CNN flash poll of debate watchers found Thursday night.
“Mr. Trump’s most forceful attacks surrounded immigration, an issue that animated his successful 2016 campaign and that he has tried to put at the center of his bid to return to the White House,” the New York Times reported:
Mr. Trump went directly after Mr. Biden’s personal character, calling him “weak” and little respected by global leaders who were “laughing” at him.
…
Mr. Trump accused his successor of “ridiculous, insane and very stupid policies” that fostered a crime wave, pointing to high-profile killings that involved immigrants.
One of Trump’s most memorable and perhaps devastating attacks on Biden came serendipitously. When debate host Jake Tapper asked Trump to reply to Biden’s mumbling comments about the open border, Trump replied, “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said, either”:
VIRGINIA VOTER:
President Trump was "CALM, COOL, COLLECTED."
Crooked Joe: "With as much time as he had? A week off? C'mon now. That's ridiculous." pic.twitter.com/7ZOaNEN2XP
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) June 28, 2024
Calls for Biden to Drop Out of Race
Biden and his shaky performance appeared to round out the week as the biggest story, a point the Biden campaign likely feared. The election should be about Trump, not a referendum on Biden and his policies, Democrat political experts suggested before the debate.
Biden, 81, did little to redirect the spotlight onto Trump. He appeared unable to articulate his thoughts, mumbled, and sounded raspy. Even during his prepared closing statement, Biden did not deliver without error, drawing huge criticisms from the media.
Biden’s performance made New York Times columnist Tom Friedman “weep,” he wrote Friday.
“The voice, open-mouthed look, and visual contrast between President Biden and former President Trump all have Democrats I’m talking to nearly beside themselves watching this debate,” CNN’s Kasie Hunt said.
“Joe Biden Is a Good Man and a Good President. He Must Bow Out of the Race,” a Times opinion title by Thomas Friedman read:
WAPO: “Biden struggles in testy debate” pic.twitter.com/jApUiZkn7o
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 28, 2024
Supreme Court Rulings
After Trump’s appointment several justices to the Court, it handed down several rulings this week that either impacted or appeared to reflect positively on the former president.
First, the Court overruled the Chevron Doctrine, a 1984 decision that required courts to defer to unelected bureaucrats’ interpretations of federal statutes. It was a blow to the administrative state that Trump vowed to drain. Two of the Supreme Court justices he appointed, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, ruled against the doctrine that underpinned 70 Supreme Court decisions and roughly 17,000 in the lower courts, according to the Times.
Second, the Court ruled federal prosecutors may not use a federal obstruction statute to prosecute January 6 protesters. The ruling could impact 249 cases involving individuals already sentenced in the incident, CNN reported, along with the DOJ’s January 6 case in Washington, DC, against Trump, the Times reported.
Third, the Court upheld a ban on the homeless sleeping on public property maintained at taxpayer expense. If elected, Trump promised to clean up Democrat-controlled cities rife with crime, drugs, illegal migrants, and homelessness. In California, for example, about 171,000 people are homeless, the Times reported.
“Washington(D.C.) has become a dirty, crime ridden death trap, that must be taken over and properly run by the Federal Government,” Trump posted in 2023, sharing a Breitbart News article. “It is, and will be, part of my Election Platform”.