Ryan Bridge: The press conference that could mark the end of Biden's political career

Early Edition with Ryan Bridge - A podcast by Newstalk ZB

Nancy Pelosi's just dropped the equivalent of a NATO bomb on her old buddy Joe Biden.  The former house speaker is well connected and respected in the Democrat party.  Appearing on cable TV, she had this to say when asked about Biden's critics attacking his mental capacity during the NATO summit:  "I want him to do whatever he decides to do."  "Let's just hold off, whatever you're thinking either tell somebody privately, but you don't have to put that out on the table until we see how we go this week."  She added that Biden should make a decision about whether to continue to bid for re-election.  So, what's the problem with that?  Well Biden's already said, "I'm running and going to win again!”  So now you have one the most influential people in the Democratic party saying he needs to make a decision about whether to run.  That decision should be made after NATO.  Despite the White House saying this is all over and move on, it's huge and it doesn't stop there.  Overnight, Michael Bennett is now the first democratic senator to publicly say Joe Biden can't win.  "Donald Trump is on track, I think, to win this election and maybe win it by a landslide."  In a political crisis there are headlines like gunfire, then there are bombs which cause massive, often irreversible, damage to a candidate.  They can change the direction of a war, a turning point.  Make no mistake, when this happens in politics it's always actually worse when it's friendly fire.  Remember, two days of NATO to go and one solo commander-in-chief press conference on Thursday to end this 75th anniversary NATO summit.  The only question now is whether it could also become the platform for the 82-year-old president to end his political career. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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