Joe Biden’s career hangs in the balance – while Donald Trump is all smiles and signature clenched fists
Donald Trump is loving it.
He danced after making the announcement about the announcement, all smiles and signature clenched fists.
He has the look of a man who is back in the game – the rhetoric, too.
On stage in Ohio, Mr Trump labelled Nancy Pelosi – Speaker of the House of Representatives – an “animal”. Never mind common decency, or that her husband was recently attacked by an intruder with a hammer inside their home.
So inappropriate, so Trump, and his loyal audience lapped it up.
To them, bad patter isn’t an issue. They are just happy to have him back.
A solid Trump base provides a platform for his return. The support structure can only be enhanced by the many individuals, Trump-endorsed, expected to win office and authority at these midterm elections.
They assert the same unfounded claims of (2020) election fraud as Mr Trump himself – they wouldn’t have qualified for his endorsement otherwise. He is the kingmaker who wants to be king again, and they owe him.
It makes a Trump candidacy difficult for the Republican Party as a whole. Consider rival candidates for the top of the ticket in 2024. Potential contenders like Ron DeSantis, Mike Pence and Mike Pompeo would find it very difficult to engage in a contest with a strident and well-supported Trump leadership campaign.
His overwhelming presence and support could well dissuade rivals from standing and lead to a truncated party contest that was no contest at all.
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‘We’re going to take back the White House’
Mr Trump’s return would also be a difficulty for the wider Republican Party, many of whom were happy to tolerate him while he delivered power over but don’t relish his return.
There is a constituency within the party that was happy to hold its nose and clutch its pearls when he carried them into government and, yet, grew weary over time. Having seen the back of Trump, they see a handbrake turn back towards chaos in Republican ranks – it concerns them and threatens cohesion in the party.
Read more:
Trump vows to make ‘very big announcement’ next week
If a good night for the Republican Party would give Mr Trump’s comeback a push, it would give Joe Biden a pushback. He has said he’s confident of holding on to the Senate, which would preserve his clout as president and bolster the foundations of a run for the second term, if that is what he wants.
Biden regarded as liability – but he’s achieved
However, if he lost the Senate and the House of Representatives, Mr Biden would effectively be a lame-duck president, hamstrung by the numbers against him and threatened by impeachment and investigation into matters such as the Afghanistan withdrawal, his COVID policies, his relationship with his son Hunter’s business dealings, etc. Republicans have made it known they want to settle scores.
Mr Biden is regarded as something of a liability within the ranks of his own party. His popularity level stands at 40%, a historical low for a president at this stage in an election cycle.
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The US president declares ‘We are the United States of America!’ at a rally in Maryland
And yet, Mr Biden has achieved. With a wafer-thin majority, he’s been productive on policy, with results on climate change, healthcare and wiping away student debt. Sadly, for him, he has probably delivered too late for the population at large to feel the economic benefit and too late for people who voted him in on a promise of change and waited too long to see it transpire.
Should the Democrats have a bad night, it will be argued that a key campaigning weakness has been around the message. The warning about democracy being on the ballot may be difficult to argue with, but it doesn’t chime with voters’ priorities at a time when the economy is flagging. Surveys show that inflation, fuel costs, crime, and immigration are further up the list of concerns.
It would raise questions for Mr Biden about electoral strategy and, as such, suitability for a second presidential run.
However, that assumes Democratic defeat and, as Mr Biden said himself, he thinks Democrats will hold on to the Senate.
It’s a hope worth holding onto – his career depends on it.
Former US president Joe Biden has prostate cancer, his office has said.
The statement said Mr Biden, who left the White House in January, is reviewing options for treatment with his physicians.
It read: “Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms.
“On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterised by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone.
“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management.
“The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”
File pic: Reuters
According to Cancer Research UK, a Gleason score of 9 means the cancerous cells “look very abnormal” and the disease is “likely to grow quickly”.
A source familiar with Mr Biden and his family’s thinking has told Sky’s US partner network, NBC News, that the former president is considering “multiple treatment options” – including hormone treatment for the cancer.
They added he is at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, and that as of now, it is unclear where the former president will be treated.
Mr Biden, 82, was the oldest person to ever serve as president, with concerns about his health raised regularly during his campaign for re-election last year.
After a poor debate against Donald Trump in June, he withdrew from the 2024 election and endorsed his vice president Kamala Harris.
In February 2023, he had a skin lesion removed from his chest that was a basal cell carcinoma, a common form of skin cancer.
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A Mexican navy ship has hit the Brooklyn Bridge during a promotional tour in New York City.
The New York Fire Department said authorities were responding to injuries but had no details about how many people might have been hurt or whether they were on the vessel or on the bridge.
Sky’s US partner network NBC News reports that at least three people were seriously injured in the incident.
The Mexican navy said in a post on X that the Cuauhtemoc, an academy training vessel, was damaged in the accident, which has prevented it from continuing its voyage.
Eyewitness video of the collision posted online showed the mast of the ship, which was flying a large Mexican flag, scraping the underneath of the bridge.
Pic: AP
The vessel then drifted toward the edge of the river as onlookers scrambled away from shore.
The Mexican navy said the status of personnel and material was under review by naval and local authorities, which were providing assistance.
The Cuauhtemoc is about 297ft long and 40ft wide, according to the Mexican navy. It sailed for the first time in 1982.
Pic: AP
Each year, it sets out at the end of classes at the naval military school to finish cadets’ training.
It left the Mexican port of Acapulco, on the Pacific coast, on 6 April with 277 people onboard, the navy said at the time.
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One person has died in a bomb explosion near a reproductive health clinic in California, authorities have said.
The incident took place in Palm Springs, a city two hours east of Los Angeles, and is being investigated as a possible car explosion.
The city’s mayor Ron DeHarte said one person died in the blast, adding that the bomb was “either in or near” a vehicle. The deceased’s identity is not known, Palm Springs police said.
Dr Maher Abdallah, who runs the American Reproductive Centers clinic, told the Associated Press his facility was damaged but all staff were safe and accounted for.
The explosion damaged the office space where the practice conducts patient consultations, but the IVF lab and stored embryos were unharmed, he added.
“I really have no clue what happened,” he said. “Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients.”
Debris covers the ground after the explosion. Pic: ABC7 Los Angeles/AP
In a statement posted on Facebook the clinic said it was “heartbroken” to learn someone died in the explosion and added: “Our deepest condolences go out to the individuals and families affected.”
It continued: “Our mission has always been to help build families, and in times like these, we are reminded of just how fragile and precious life is.
“In the face of this tragedy, we remain committed to creating hope – because we believe that healing begins with community, compassion, and care.
The clinic will be fully operational on Monday, it added.
“This moment has shaken us – but it has not stopped us. We will continue to serve with strength, love, and the hope that brings new life into the world,” the statement concluded.
Pic: ABC7 Los Angeles/AP
The Palm Springs city government said in a post on Facebook that the explosion happened on North Indian Canyon Drive, near East Tachevah Drive, before 11am local time (6pm GMT).
A burned-out car can be seen in a parking lot behind the building in aerial footage.
The blast caved in the clinic’s roof and blew debris across four lanes of the road.
Another person said he was inside a cannabis dispensary nearby when he felt a massive explosion.
Nima Tabrizi said: “The building just shook, and we go outside and there’s massive cloud smoke.”
Investigators from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are travelling to the scene to help assess what happened.
California governor Gavin Newsom has been briefed on the explosion, his press office said.
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