a computer system glitch knocked a computer system used by doctors offline. the outage was caused by a faulty security update that was deployed to around 8.5 million windows devices . jeremy hunt has windows devices. jeremy hunt has apologised for failures in the uk's pandemic preparations, highlighted by the covid inquiry. in its first report, the inquiry found the former government had failed the public due to what it called significant flaws in preparing for a pandemic. the former chancellor and health secretary acknowledged that he'd been a part of what he described as groupthink, where there was over preparation for a flu pandemic, whilst other types were not considered . police have named considered. police have named the victim of a daylight shooting in south london. 20 year old jessie lloyd smith was shot in the peckham area shortly before 5:00 on the 10th of july. police said mr lloyd smith's family are being supported by specially trained officers as investigation continues . and a

investigation continues. and a hate crime investigation is underway after three pride flags were vandalised outside forest gate railway station in east london. the met police is appealing for information after the pavement paintings were covered with spray paint in the early hours of friday morning. it follows previous incidents in june which the force believes are linked. officers have trawled cctv made to house house enquiries and conducted forensic investigations, but so far no arrests have been made . and arrests have been made. and those are the latest gb news headlines. for now i'm tatiana sanchez. more from me in an hour for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com forward slash alerts . forward slash alerts. >> huge political news coming in from america. president joe biden has withdrawn from the election race. this is free speech nation . welcome to free

speech nation. welcome to free speech nation. welcome to free speech nation. welcome to free speech nation. with me andrew doyle. i've got wonderful comedian guests this evening. cressida wetton and steve n allen. and of course, we have a beautiful studio audience. so let's get a question from peter. where's peter .7 hi. where's peter? hi. >> hi, how are you this evening? how are you? this evening? >> i am okay, and no one. >> are you surprised about the news? >> am i surprised? well, it depends what news you're referring to. >> well, the question is, who are they going to wheel out to replace crooked joe? >> okay, well, wow. well, i think peter has pretty much laid his cards on the table there, what do you think, peter? i mean, i'm i'm just assuming because i have this telepathic ability that you're not a fan of joe biden? not particularly. no. no. so. so what do you think will happen in this situation, >> there's the obvious choices , >> there's the obvious choices, certain person from california ? certain person from california? yes. a certain ex—president's wife , another certain ex wife, another certain ex president's wife . president's wife. >> right. so i should just clarify that because peter is speaking in riddles, but there

have been rumours sort of flying around the internet all week about hillary clinton, sort of re—emerging as the great saviour of the democrats and similarly, for a while now, people have been suggesting, well, what if michelle obama swooped in and just took control? i mean , just took control? i mean, certainly what we've seen with joe biden for a long time now is pressure from within the democratic party for him to step down. all of this stems of course, from that disastrous debate that he appeared on with with president trump. and it also stems from the fact that for a long time now, the media in america have been trying to cover up the fact that biden has some sort of cognitive decline. it's absolutely clear this became very, very apparent when the debate was televised. up to that point, we even had leading democrats suggesting that images and footage of joe biden stumbling over words or having trouble even perambulating that all of these were deep fakes , all of these were deep fakes, these things were not real. but then, of course, when a live debate happens, it's very difficult to make that claim. now we have a situation where joe biden has withdrawn. a lot of democrats will be saying not before time. even his great

ally, george clooney, had been saying that he should step down, which, of course, inspired some people to suggest that george clooney himself should run, which isn't that out of the ordinary, given that we've had ronald reagan as a as a president in the past, but nevertheless. so here's the situation where we're in now. this does raise all sorts of questions in terms of who will, take the lead, who is going to run against donald trump on a very strong ticket that trump, vance ticket, of course, in the wake of a failed assassination attempt and polling, which has repeatedly shown that trump is in the lead and is in fact in a stronger position than he was in either of the two previous elections that he run. so this stuff is fascinating, crescent, i'm going to come to you on this, peter obviously has a view, that joe biden wasn't fit . peter obviously has a view, that joe biden wasn't fit. i think most people it's not controversial to say that joe biden is not controversial. >> no, i think we're all grateful that he stepped down and he didn't fall down. i think that's a positive. well it was going to happen. couldn't resist it, couldn't resist it. i

couldn't resist it. i think the only person who's really unhappy is probably jill. i think she's probably gutted. >> so a lot of people have been suggesting that jill is the one who's really been in in charge for quite some time, which seems a bit mean to me, but the whole thing was getting to the point where i felt it was quite mean, insofar as i don't think that someone like joe biden should have been in that position in the first place. i don't think people should have been putting him in that position, i understand that he wanted to remain in that post, but it wasn't right. it's a bit like when your elderly relative says, no, i can keep driving. i, you know, i don't need my license taken away. and it's the kind thing to do is say no because otherwise you're going to run over some children. >> exactly, exactly. i think he should have been gone a while ago. we know just recently he's been pushed because donors were starting to say, we're not going to give you $90 million if you don't step down, which is quite a threat. and as you say, george clooney's just come out and said, look, it's time to go. >> yeah. so, steve, you're a man of the left. yeah. that doesn't necessarily mean you support the democrats, because they're not necessarily all that left wing,

really, are they? but what do you make of this situation? should have gone before. >> i mean, it was obvious the writing was on the wall. i mean, it's difficult to read the writing. the cataracts probably is the problem that slowed him down on that one. but no, it's going to be a lot of jokes like this aren't many for now. you can get away with them. it's a bit amazing, isn't it? no one's going to say too soon on this, because the whole thing is too not soon. this should have happened before because then all the arguments we're about to have about, oh, who could it be? who will swoop in? which former president's wife will make this happen, would have happened by now. they're they're running out of time drastically. they should have been. and gone already. >> so who do you think will take over? >> well, here we start with, i mean, i there's no way it'll be hillary clinton. no let's find someone who, of all the population of the of all of america, who else has lost an election to donald trump? let's get her to do it again. >> well, on the other hand, can you imagine i mean, for sheer entertainment value, the idea of a trump clinton rerun is kind of it's so dramatic, the better drama would be michelle obama. >> come on, that's the fight. that'd be like the political version of wrestling. oh, it'd be so good. he's got form in that as well before. so yeah, i'd sit and watch that with popcorn. >> yeah. i mean there are other potential candidates, surely. i mean, should we be talking about gavin newsom?

>> yeah, don't know. mean, >> yeah, i don't know. i mean, there it's not as if there seems to be it's not as if california seems to be having a great time of it. yes. he's got some profile but also passed some profile but also passed some bills that's caused some problems. there's all the talk about they've got the same problem with shoplifting. if you're shoplifting a certain amount then that seems to be, you know, not even followed up. that's not what you need to be the strong force to fight trump. >> i mean, that's the insane policy, isn't it, that you can you can shoplift up to a thousand dollars and the police won't they won't bother you. yeah. which is great. it makes the, you know, living a lot eafienl the, you know, living a lot easier. i didn't realise it had gone up to 1000. >> oh, yeah. fantastic. i'm going to relocate. >> yeah, yeah, you could just go into supermarket. just. just. chuck a load of stuff in your trolley. as long as it's under the 1000 threshold. fantastic. yeah, it's a great system. >> that's the society. >> that's the society. >> i have one of those self scans to work out that it's less than a thousand. >> yeah, i think so. it's a bit like supermarket sweep. do you remember that show. yeah yeah. >> dale winton he could run. yeah. >> well no he's not with us anymore. >> he wasn't born in america, which i believe is one of their key rules. >> he's got quite a tan though. he had anyway. >> now, cressida, let's get back onto this . so actually, no, onto this. so actually, no, let's gauge the audience, because they'll be quite interesting to know what people thinking. does anyone here have

any sense of who might take over from joe biden? anyone want to suggest anything? probably back to anybody. someone says, peter, what do you think i would like to go on the one true democrat who's now running as an independent, certain rfk . independent, certain rfk. >> okay, that's almost gave a name. that's the closest thing you've done. my first is in robert, but never commit myself so well. >> that's interesting. although we saw this week there was some leaked footage, of course, of trump contacting robert kennedy, which kennedy was very upset about, and said, it's a shame that that leaked. but you're suggesting that he is actually closer to a sort of democrat mindset than a republican? >> well, the previous democrat mindset, yes. right. >> so you think that but he can't run as a democrat, surely? no well, maybe. no, i think that's unlikely . that's unlikely. >> i mean he won't. >> no, no no he won't. >> again a guaranteed way to lose the election is let's pick the person who at the moment is only famous for brain worms and get him to run. that's it doesn't help your cause, does it? >> he's a kennedy. >> he's a kennedy. >> but let's just think about there's this issue of the

assassination attempt on trump, which i think no one can deny has pretty much sealed his victory . right? it doesn't victory. right? it doesn't matter who they produce at this point, but the fact that that thankfully the bullet missed and it was a matter of an inch, the fact that that has happened and his response to it, which was so iconic, i don't think i think if you are on the left or the right or wherever you are, you can't deny the impact of that image of him standing with a bloodied face, his fist raised , shouting face, his fist raised, shouting fight, fight, fight! and the photograph that was captured brilliantly by that photographer , brilliantly by that photographer, which immediately you see that and you think that's an iconic historical photograph that will always be used right? so is it even possible at this point? of course, joe biden should have stepped aside because he wasn't in a position to run to and win. but is there anyone i mean, is thatis but is there anyone i mean, is that is that something that the democrats really have to resign themselves to a bit like in this country, the conservatives sort of accepting that they're going to lose the next one. so we've got to kind of kind of get our ducksin got to kind of kind of get our ducks in a row.

>> yes, go back to the clubhouse, have an orange juice, think again. i think this is i think again. i think this is i think they've lost it, haven't they. >> okay. well interesting. well look joining me now i've got spokesperson for republican overseas uk jennifer ewing. so let's jennifer can you hear me and how are you i'm very well thank you. so jennifer do you want to just give us your reaction on this first? >> sure. i'm not surprised . i'm >> sure. i'm not surprised. i'm one of the people that's been calling for this for probably about a year. anyone that's been paying about a year. anyone that's been paying attention to the, you know, the cognitive decline in the president could have seen that despite what's been kept from us. i think as the public or indeed, you know, his own party maybe, yeah. it was just very obvious there was no way he was going to make it until november. so he finally has stepped down, and, yeah, it's, it's not a great thing for the democrats because he probably should have done this quite some time ago, so they could have had their ducks in a row and, you

know, had a proper primary and, and had a, had real contest. so it puts his own party in a very bad position. >> yes. can i ask you, jennifer, though? i mean, one name that hasn't been mentioned so far is kamala harris. and of course, she is supremely unpopular, even within democratic circles. she's widely perceived to be someone who was hired on the basis of her ethnicity and sex, which is pretty much what joe biden admitted was saying that he would definitely have a woman of colour as his vp. so there's a kind of degree of mistrust that she's kind of even a diversity hire, her popularity, her lack of popularity on both the left and the right suggests that there's absolutely no way. i mean, am i wrong to say this? there's absolutely no way that kamala harris could beat trump. so what are they going to do about that? >> yeah, well, no, i do not believe kamala harris could beat trump at all. and you're right. she was a she was a diversity hire. and joe biden himself said i will you know i want to pick a woman of colour. i will you know i want to pick a woman of colour . so and if woman of colour. so and if you'll recall, she ran herself,

in 2020 and didn't even make it. to through her own state of california. so she dropped out quite early. she's not indeed a good candidate. she was an even, not even very good. vice president. so they're in a pretty tricky situation. the fact that he has dropped out before the, the democratic national convention also means that they can't hand over the hundreds of millions of dollars that they've raised, to her as the vice president, which they would have been able to do had he accepted the nomination at the convention. and then and then stepped out. so this means i think what they'll do is they'll have i mean, i hope what they'll have i mean, i hope what they'll do for the democrat voters and for the country at large is have a, an open sort of six week, primary and do lots of speeches and, and pick somebody.

but this is crazy. it's very unprecedented. and, yeah, i mean, i didn't think he would end up being the candidate, but, you know, to, resign on a sunday evening is, still surprising. >> can you tell me whose fault is this? who is to blame for the fact that joe biden didn't step down before? are we talking that this is influence from joe biden, which is obviously the speculation of a lot of right wing media in america? or is there something else going on here? >> i think it's a combination of a few things, i think. don't forget, joe biden himself had run for president several times before and had lost. so he finally is able to, you know, become president. he he's not going to step down easily. and yes, you're right. i mean , there yes, you're right. i mean, there is very strong influence from his wife, jill biden, and indeed his wife, jill biden, and indeed his son, hunter biden , who, of his son, hunter biden, who, of course, he's been telling us for the last several years he has no professional business relationship with his son. and now it turns out his son is one of his biggest advisors. so a lot of pressure from his family

for him to stay in which, you know, on a human level is quite sad, isn't it? i mean, you would think when you're older and he's clearly in, you know, the deep stages of cognitive decline, you would you would hope that your, youn would you would hope that your, your, your wife, your kids, you know, your brothers and sisters would be the ones to sort of guide you into the next stage of your life. but they did not. and it was incredibly selfish. on top of that, we've got an entire, and i do not include gb news in this , by the way, news in this, by the way, because you guys have reported honestly, but you know, a lot of the mainstream media has been complicit in hiding this from the american people and indeed the, you know, the rest of the world. and it wasn't until the debate a few weeks ago when the jig debate a few weeks ago when the jig was clearly up and they could no longer hide it, that the scrambling started to take place and everybody was trying to, you know, salvage their own reputation, whether this was other democrat politicians who realised, you know, if you're a

senator or congressman and you're on the ballot this year, you're on the ballot this year, you know , having joe biden at you know, having joe biden at the top of the ticket was not helping you , but the media also helping you, but the media also very, very complicit in this. so there's a lot of blame to go around. there's a lot of culpability to go around. but i hope that, you know, on a on a personal level, i really do hope that he gets the care he needs and, you know, is not humiliated and, you know, is not humiliated and degraded on the public stage the way he has been for, you know, the last. well, definitely last few weeks. but i'd even say, you know, last year or so. >> yeah, i'm absolutely certain that a lot of the people who were ridiculing biden for his various gaffes, for him literally tripping up on a number of occasions that they wouldn't have done so if it wasn't the case that the democrats were denying that it was happening. in other words , was happening. in other words, it wasn't a sort of personal attack on a on a man who clearly needed help. it was more an attack on a party that was refusing to accept the reality and was actively , it seems,

and was actively, it seems, trying to deceive the public. what do you make of that ? what do you make of that? >> yeah. no, that's exactly right. and, you know, i hope that there is some investigation that there is some investigation that goes on to this because don't forget, you know, he hasn't stepped down as president, right? he's just stepped down as the candidate . stepped down as the candidate. so i think we also need to take a look at if he's not up to being the candidate, what is he doing running the country? and anybody who's heard him speak or watched him move , there is no watched him move, there is no way he's been running the country , which means somebody country, which means somebody else is. or a group of people are . and these are not people are. and these are not people that we elected. we elect a president, we don't elect a cabal. president, we don't elect a cabal . and i think there's a lot cabal. and i think there's a lot of questions that need answering . of questions that need answering. >> okay. well, i'd just like to read a brief excerpt from the statement that joe biden has issued. he says it has been the greatest honour of my life to serve as your president. and while it has been my intention to seek re—election, i believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely

on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term. i will speak to the nafion my term. i will speak to the nation later this week in more detail about my decision. jennifer ewing, can i get your reaction to joe biden's statement ? statement? >> well, i think if you're not fit enough to be the candidate, you're not fit enough to be the president. so, i have a problem with that from a national security , you know, standpoint. security, you know, standpoint. and, you know, this is just a, you know, there's slow walking this whole thing into what we've all seen, not all of us, but many of us, which is he is not fit to be the president of the united states. and, and actually in the free world, right? yeah. he's an important man. >> okay. jennifer ewing, i really appreciate you coming on to the show and sharing your thoughts with us. thank you ever so much. and just to recap, president joe biden has pulled out of the 2024 us presidential race. he posted on x a short while ago, saying it has been the greatest honour of my life to serve as your president, but it is in the best interests of

the party and the country. olivia utley has more. >> look, when i originally ran you may remember it. i said i was going to be a transitional candidate , and i thought that candidate, and i thought that i'd be able to move from this to passit i'd be able to move from this to pass it on to someone else. but i didn't anticipate things getting so, so , so divided and getting so, so, so divided and quite frankly, i think the only thing age brings a little bit of wisdom. >> when joe biden first became president back in 2020, nobody, not even he thought he would stand for a second term. he had been a well—liked vice president to barack obama, but at 78, the received wisdom was that he was simply too old to stick around for eight more years. >> i know it may not look like it, but i've been around a while. >> when he won the democratic nomination for the 2024 election, back in march of this yean election, back in march of this year, there were some raised eyebrows , but by and large, eyebrows, but by and large, democrats kept their counsel. >> don't mess with them in america unless you want to get the benefit. >> that is, until the campaign

beganin >> that is, until the campaign began in earnest. before long, it became clear to many that joe biden's mental faculties had severely declined since he first ran for president, >> mr president, thank you. >> mr president, thank you. >> he had always been gaffe prone, but now the blunders were coming thick and fast. >> america is a nation that can be defined in a single word . i be defined in a single word. i was in the foot . excuse me? the was in the foot. excuse me? the foothills of the himalayas with xi jinping. percentage of women who registered to vote and cast a ballot is consistently higher than the percentage of the men who do so. end of quote. repeat the line phones 4u again and again. >> he misspoke on the campaign trail, with mistakes ranging from the embarrassing i wouldn't have picked vice president trump to be vice president. >> did i think she was not qualified to be president? so let's start there to the diplomatically disastrous. and now i want to hand it over to the president of ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination. ladies and

gentlemen, president putin, there is some movement and i don't want to i don't want to. maybe choose my words . there's maybe choose my words. there's some movement. there's been a response from the. there's been a response. >> questions started to be raised around the world. >> they were implying that president biden is senile. is he closer to home? >> the trump team rubbed their hands together with glee. >> let's do another debate this week so that sleepy joe biden can prove to everyone all over the world that he has what it takes to be president. >> but biden, who by this point would only take advice from a very small circle of close associates , was defiant. associates, was defiant. >> i'm staying in the race. yeah.i >> i'm staying in the race. yeah. i mean, if the lord almighty came down and said,

joe, get out of the race, i'd get out of the race. the lord almighty, he's not coming down one by one. >> however, the senior democrats around biden, from barack obama to nancy pelosi, privately told the president that the game was up and eventually he and his team accepted that the moment had come to pull out of the race. kamala harris will now take his place as the only democrat able to access the millions of dollars of donations raised under the biden—harris ticket. will she have what it takes to defeat the electoral storm that is donald trump ? we storm that is donald trump? we will find out soon enough . will find out soon enough. olivia utley . gb news. olivia utley. gb news. >> and next on free speech nation. more on this incredible news from america. joe has pulled out of the presidential race. see you shortly

welcome back to free speech nafion welcome back to free speech nation with me. >> andrew doyle. obviously,

there is big news tonight with joe biden withdrawing from the us presidential race. and we're going to talk some more about it. so let's check out his statement. so joe biden has said it has been the greatest honour of my life to serve as your president. and while it has been my intention to seek re—election, i believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of the term, i will speak to the nafion the term, i will speak to the nation later this week in more detail about my decision. now, steve, i want to ask you about this , because this particular this, because this particular presidential race has had so many ups and downs. it's been so dramatic, it couldn't possibly be scripted, could it? i mean, what do you make of what's been going on? >> oh, yeah. if you tried to write this, there was no, no, it wouldn't get past anyone, would it? they'd be like, this is not even believable. now it's reached that stage and it should have happened before. it's more about every. each side thinks that their ends justify their means and they don't. it never works that way. but you've got the you've got the democrats who are thinking, you know what, we'll keep a lid on this because the best way to beat trump, which they see as the most important thing, is to keep

biden in place. but somehow they've painted themselves into a corner. they've weakened their own hand. >> but is it the case that they must have realised? i mean, looking at the trump vance ticket now, jd vance is a highly intellectual individual. he's very, very smart. the concept of him debating kamala harris is just frightening because i don't think she would she would stand a chance. >> but they also must have known an actual debate between trump and biden was going to show the wheels coming off. yes. and that actually happened. and, you know, as you say, there's no way to deep fake that one. so and if you clearly it's true if you edit down all the bloopers, like the blooper reel that we played needs to be hosted by denis norden next time i talk to him, of course you can make you can make anyone look bad. but the point is, the narrative. yes it's an unassailable narrative. now that's where you've got to get rid of him. you could have pumped him full of drugs and made him make sense. would have made him make sense. would have made a difference. >> well, do you think that they made a mistake holding this televised debate so soon? it was unusual for a start. i mean , it unusual for a start. i mean, it would normally take place much closer to the election itself . closer to the election itself. what was their thinking there? >> i think when joe biden was offered what they called an

early debate, he thought done by half four and in bed by five. >> how mean , how mean? >> how mean, how mean? >> how mean, how mean? >> no, i think this will end up being the best thing to make this the closest to a fair election it could be, because imagine if they hadn't have done the debate, then it would have been too late. the congress would have happened. then all the next thing you know, we would have been officially the actual candidate. >> now, steve, you do joke, but there were leaks from within the white house that joe biden actually does have an early night every night. there's a certain time after which his aides say you can't approach him to get anything done . that's the to get anything done. that's the sort of and that's leaked from coming within the don't know why you think i'm joking. >> no, no, you weren't joking. >> no, no, you weren't joking. >> exactly. okay, well, well, let's go on to our next guest. now. which is, sarah elliott is down the line now. thanks ever so much forjoining me, sarah, i want to ask you about this situation. firstly, let's just get your reaction on, on this news that joe biden has withdrawn from the race. >> well, i think it's a long time coming. and actually, i'm relieved for him as an individual because i feel like his family was propping him up

for something he wasn't to prepared do anymore, so i'm i'm relieved on that front, and i'm, i'm also kind of shocked it's taken this long after the debate performance, but here we are. and just a week after an assassination attempt. so, you know, two weeks in politics is a long time. and there's a lot to absorb right now. lots of change going on, and really. absorb right now. lots of change going on, and really . we're this going on, and really. we're this is unprecedented. completely unprecedented in american history. so we don't know really what's going to happen next. >> can i ask you why you think it did take so long forjoe it did take so long for joe biden to step down? i mean, was it the case that they felt it was at this point, just safer to, to sort of style it out until the election and see if they could get away with it? >> i think there is a piece of that. yes. i think it was. they felt that joe biden was the only one who could beat donald trump, but also his family, were very protective of him. he historically in the democratic

party, he was never truly taken seriously. he did try to run for president in 1988, but because of plagiarism and making stories up about his biography prevented him from getting the nomination, and so he felt like he had made it. he had done it, he had achieved the top job, and he wanted to keep it. it was his, and his family wanted to preserve his legacy and wanted to see him win a second term. some people are saying it's possibly to protect hunter biden and the charges and the convictions that have come against him . so it is, and, and against him. so it is, and, and some say the biden family business peddling, access for money, which is slowly coming out now in a republican congress. so there are a lot of different theories as to why, but mostly it's about respect. and like joe biden was like , no, and like joe biden was like, no, this is i won the presidency and i'm going to go for a second term. but clearly he's not up to the job. and now he has endorsed

kamala harris. >> sarah, you make a very interesting point there that it seems in so much of these debates regarding the us presidency that ego and individual status seems to come into play. i mean, when hillary clinton was running, a lot of people felt that she felt entitled to it, almost a kind of dynastic, right to seize the presidency. and here you're talking about why joe biden might have wanted to stay on for his own sake, for his own family's sake. do you think there is a larger problem here in america in terms of people running for office that really they're not seeing themselves as servants of the people, but seeing what it is they can get out of the political system. >> i mean, i think that that there have been many examples of that over time, and you could argue that maybe this is the time now for term limits. argue that maybe this is the time now for term limits . people time now for term limits. people didn't used to live as long as they do now, or as well as long, so maybe this is something the us congress should consider doing. and restricting the length of, you know, age of a

president or age of a congressman or a senator. yes, however, you know , usually, you however, you know, usually, you know, people around you or the media, for instance, the american media has been covering up for joe american media has been covering up forjoe biden's physical up for joe biden's physical failings in public, for months now , years now. and what about now, years now. and what about their job now, years now. and what about theirjob and their role in a democracy to really be investigative reporters and calling out the truth and speaking truth to power? i mean, that could have also pushed this along, too. i mean, the fact that he stumbled so poorly and badly at the debate really made the media look look bad. and so they revolted immediately after that and also started going after the biden's inner circle. and like, why are you hiding this from us? why weren't you giving us more information? well you know, the media has a job to do as well. so i think there's kind of blame to pass around to several different sections here, sectors here. but i mean , at the

sectors here. but i mean, at the end of the day, we are now looking at possibly having an open convention, a brokered convention, or a contested convention, or a contested convention for these delegates . convention for these delegates. and, and at at the end of the day, the democrat voters are the ones who kind of lose out on this. and the american people, you mentioned that the media has been complicit in the way that this has all gone. >> and the example of hunter biden, i think, is really instructive. you know, we saw this from even social media companies who were not allowing people to share the revelations about hunter biden's laptop. even preventing people from sharing it in private messages when it came to twitter, for instance, and i know that joe biden has actually ruled out the possibility of pardoning, hunter. so that wasn't something that he was going to do. but do you think that the issue with hunter biden has actually had some kind of impact on this debate ? debate? >> i mean, yes, i think it's just it's more negative news, it's more headlines. it's more ways that his political opponents can punch at him and show favouritism and nepotism .

show favouritism and nepotism. and it yeah, it's a story you don't want to have hanging around your neck, especially when you're calling out the other guy for his personal life. >> yes. well, that's the sarah elliott, the spokesperson for republican overseas uk . sarah, republican overseas uk. sarah, i'd appreciate if you don't go anywhere because i think we might want to come back to you for more reactions. thank you very much indeed. but next up on free speech. nations are going to be more on this incredible news from america. joe biden has pulled out of the presidential race. please don't go anywhere

welcome back to free speech nation. now we're going to talk some more about this big news from the states. joe biden has pulled out of the presidential race. let's quickly remind ourselves of his statement . he ourselves of his statement. he said it has been the greatest honour of my life to serve as your president. and while it has been my intention to seek re—election, i believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand

down to and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term. i will speak to the nafion my term. i will speak to the nation later this week in more detail about my decision. so we're here at free speech nation with the studio audience. i'd like to get some thoughts from the studio audience here. mark, you have the mic. what is it you think about about all this? >> i think the problem is that he should have been persuaded by the people who have persuaded him recently to go before a primary season. he should have said much earlier on, okay, i'm a one term president . said much earlier on, okay, i'm a one term president. he did say, didn't he? there was a transition or something. at some point when he was going to run a second term. >> i mean, this was something he said very early on. >> and the problem with this now is, of course, you know , it's is, of course, you know, it's a car crash. but if he'd gone, then , there would have been time then, there would have been time for name recognition because america is a is very politics is very local in america. yes. for gavin newsom or a gretchen whitmer or however she's pronounced to step in now is unthinkable . they won't win. unthinkable. they won't win. yes, it takes too long for name

recognition in america to get around unless you're going to replace him with an obama or a clinton or a kennedy. yes. someone whose name does something. yes, they've lost . something. yes, they've lost. >> although at this point it might be fair to say that whoever steps in, they're going to lose. so it wouldn't matter if they have name recognition. i think they should have stuck with him at this point. but just to push back on that mark, i mean, isn't it the case? i mean, you say that biden should have stood down earlier. he himself had said that he was a one term president, but he he performed so well at the midterms that i think that created a situation where he had no real choice but to continue. >> but did he was that not a bad abortion ? abortion? >> well, okay, it's an interesting point. let's go to steve. what do you think about that? >> no, interesting. but clearly at the time , pre—primary, they at the time, pre—primary, they thought the best way to win. again, i come back to my issue that it's all about the ends, just to find the means in everyone's mind. they think, what's the best way to win? the best way to stop trump winning next time? they must have done some focus grouping and thought by keeping biden as the candidate. as long as we keep him indoors will be the best way to do it. if it weren't for the light that got shone upon this,

we still would be in that situation now. so they they thought that was the way to put the money on. >> you know, this is that's a very interesting point that steve raises because throughout this it's all been about, you know, who is not trump. i mean, that was effectively how biden won the last campaign by hiding himself away and letting trump get on with it. there's a difference now. there is a shift, isn't there? cressida because now, people have been more open about their support for trump. you've had endorsements from elon musk. you've had even mark zuckerberg describing his, the way that he stood up after the assassination attempt as being the most badass thing he's ever seen. people are being more happy to be supportive of trump. and so it changed the whole thing. >> absolutely. you've got something to hide behind, even if you're a democrat. if you're a lefty, you can still say, well, you have to give him his dues. that day was amazing. you have to be impressed by that. and as you said, it's a very iconic picture. >> it really is okay, we're going to go to another audience member, laura. >> yeah, i just think, bearing in mind that we can all see joe's got a few issues and that is why he's not standing again.

how is he even going to run the country? and actually be the leader of the free world until november? >> yeah, so it might be the case that he clarifies a few of these things in the address that he says he's going to give later in the week. he has endorsed kamala harris. does that mean that she will effectively be the de facto president from now? is he i mean, is that going to be the case? we don't have clarity on that at the moment, no, but the wording of the statement that he put on twitter is saying he doesn't say that i'm too frail to do that, to run for the office. >> i'm too incapacitated. he's simply saying it's for the better of the nation to step down again , meaning he thinks down again, meaning he thinks him stepping down gives the democrats the best chance of winning. so in his point of view, he's not saying anything about his abilities. he'll plough on. and there's the american comedian bill maher keeps saying that biden was a good president, but a terrible person to run for the presidency . person to run for the presidency. >> right? well, laura, but that's the case, isn't it, that he has not made the admission. in other words, the conclusion that we've all reached, which is that we've all reached, which is that he is stepping down because

he is not fit to run, isn't the conclusion that he's actually made in his statement? as steve says, he's just saying he's stepping down. he's not saying i'm stepping down because too i'm stepping down because too i'm frail. >> but then that points to a complete lack of self—awareness. why would you even want someone like that to run the country anyway? >> but there is an issue with that point of view, though. you would then trap everyone who's only going to be a one term president to having to run for a second term, because you create a situation where you say, well, if you're not going to run for the next term, you shouldn't carry on the job now. so you can't have a system that works like that. >> okay, well, we've got to go to another break. but next on free speech nation, we're going to be continuing with this incredible news from america. biden has pulled out of

welcome back to free speech nafion welcome back to free speech nation with me. andrew doyle. just to recap, president joe biden has pulled out of the 2024 us presidential race. biden .

us presidential race. biden. posted on x a short while ago, saying it has been the greatest honour of my life to serve as your president, but it is in the best interest of the party and the country. olivia utley has more. >> look, when i originally ran, you may remember it. i said i was going to be a transitional candidate , and i thought that candidate, and i thought that i'd be able to move from this to passit i'd be able to move from this to pass it on to someone else. but i didn't anticipate things getting so, so , so divided and getting so, so, so divided and quite frankly, i think the only thing age brings a little bit of wisdom. >> when joe biden first became president back in 2020, nobody, not even he thought he would stand for a second term. he had been a well—liked vice president to barack obama, but at 78, the received wisdom was that he was simply too to old stick around for eight more years. >> i know it may not look like it, but i've been around while. >> when he won the democratic nomination for the 2024 election back in march of this year, there were some raised eyebrows, but by and large, democrats kept their counsel. >> don't mess with them. in america unless you want to get

the benefit. >> that is , until the campaign >> that is, until the campaign beganin >> that is, until the campaign began in earnest. before long, it became clear to many that joe biden's mental faculties had severely declined since he first ran for president, >> mr president, thank you. >> mr president, thank you. >> he had always been gaffe prone, but now the blunders were coming thick and fast. >> america is a nation that can be defined in a single word . i be defined in a single word. i was in the foot. foot? excuse me? the foothills of the himalayas with xi jinping. percentage of women who registered to vote and cast a ballot is consistently higher than the percentage of the men who do so. end of quote. repeat the line phones 4u again and again. >> he misspoke on the campaign trail, with mistakes ranging from the embarrassing i wouldn't have picked vice president trump to be vice president. >> did i think she was not qualified to be president? so let's start there. >> to the diplomatically disastrous. >> and now i want to hand it over to the president of ukraine, who has as much courage

as he has determination . ladies as he has determination. ladies and gentlemen, president putin, there is some movement. and i don't want to i don't want to . don't want to i don't want to. maybe choose my words . there's maybe choose my words. there's some movement. there's been a response from the. there's been a response. >> questions started to be raised around the world. >> they were implying that president biden is senile. is he closer to home? >> the trump team rubbed their hands together with glee. >> let's do another debate this week so that sleepy joe biden can prove to everyone all over the world that he has what it takes to be president. >> but biden, who by this point would only take advice from a very small circle of close associates , was defiant. associates, was defiant. >> i'm staying in the race.

yeah.i >> i'm staying in the race. yeah. i mean, if the lord almighty came down and said, joe, get out of the race, i'd get out of the race. the lord almighty, he's not coming down one by one. >> however, the senior democrats around biden from barack obama to nancy pelosi, privately told the president that the game was up and eventually he and his team accepted that the moment had come to pull out of the race. kamala harris will now take his place as the only democrat able to access the millions of dollars of donations raised under the biden—harris ticket. will she have what it takes to defeat the electoral storm that is donald trump . we storm that is donald trump. we will find out soon enough. olivia utley gb news. >> and joining me now is spokesperson for republicans overseas uk, sarah elliott. sarah, welcome back to the show. i want to ask you about kamala harris. now, joe biden has endorsed kamala harris. what do you make of that? >> well, it makes a lot of sense. just as olivia utley pointed out, the money can go to

her. they don't have to return it to donors. she can use it on her ticket . and also it would be her ticket. and also it would be very difficult for the democratic party to leapfrog a african american woman on the ticket for someone else. so she is his vice president. she has been with him the last four years, so it definitely does make sense. and my sources are telling me that her possible running mate is arizona senator mark kelly, who is a former astronaut, and his wife is a former us. congresswoman who very tragically, was shot, on a campaign stop so that could definitely mix things up and make it way more interesting to add a swing state to the ticket . add a swing state to the ticket. >> but don't don't the democrats have to reckon with the problem that kamala harris is not particularly popular even among democrat voters? i mean, she had to pull out of her primary very early on because of that lack of popularity. is that something that they can really overcome?

>> they're going to try and i think they're going to use the woman vote, abortion as the issue , reproductive rights, they issue, reproductive rights, they are going to say , this is the are going to say, this is the time now to break that glass ceiling. we didn't do it in 2016, but this is our shot to beat who donald trump is a convicted sex offender. now, so they're going to pull out all those feminism arguments for electing kamala harris. >> well, now that hasn't worked particularly well in the past . i particularly well in the past. i mean, when hillary clinton was running, she very much tried to appeal to various identity groups. you know, she was saying to the latinos, i will be best if you vote for me. she was saying to women, you should vote for me because i'm another woman, etc. and the problem with that kind of identity politics is it's not very unifying. and clearly back in 2016, that was not an effective strategy. what makes the democrats think it would be now .

would be now. >> because women, especially suburban educated women, is the weakest spot for president trump, so for donald trump to, to run against someone who epitomises the demographic he seems to that he just can't get, does make sense on some level, perhaps. but you're absolutely right. the democratic coalition and fraying, over the past eight years, trump has been able to chip away at hispanics, at blacks , at, at the women vote. blacks, at, at the women vote. i mean , the uneducated female vote mean, the uneducated female vote is very heavily in favour of donald trump. so he's also chipped away at the unions, he had the president of the teamsters union speak at a republican national convention. i got to tell you, that is unprecedented as well. so he is really going for a broad more of a class based approach, and, you know, ignoring the elites to some degree , but saying, listen, some degree, but saying, listen, i'm here for the working man and women of middle america, and kamala harris has a problem with

those demographics, but she's very good with women, this is also another reason why joe biden didn't step down earlier. because kamala harris was not a very popular alternative to him, so it will be a fascinating but very divisive election campaign going forward. but they're going to have to switch gears, you know, trump right now is leading in all the swing states almost beyond the margin of error. in all the swing states almost beyond the margin of error . but beyond the margin of error. but those polls mean nothing. now because it's a new person at the head of the ticket . head of the ticket. >> well, sarah elliott, thanks for that. do stick around, that's all we got time for at the moment. but please come back. we're going to be continuing our coverage of joe biden's withdrawal from the us presidential race. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on gb news >> hello. here's your latest

weather update from the met office. for gb news, we'll see a mixed bag of weather across the uk during the week ahead. all of us seeing some rain at times, but when the sun pops through it should feel pleasantly warm. we've seen a ridge of high pressure keeping a lot of fine weather through the day on sunday, but low pressure starting to move back in from the west. that's starting to feed. outbreaks of rain in across northern ireland, and that will continue to push in across northern ireland as we head into the overnight period, reaching parts of southern scotland and northern england dunng scotland and northern england during the early hours, with some showery bursts. also working in across parts of wales and the south—west of england . and the south—west of england. the south—east should hold on to some clear spells and we'll also see some clear weather towards the north of the uk. and here we'll see quite chilly temperatures too. we could well see temperatures dip into low single figures in 1 or 2 spots, but elsewhere it stays pretty mild with temperatures in the low to mid teens. so the new working week gets to off a sunny start, albeit quite chilly across the north of scotland. temperatures soon are starting to climb though. in that july sunshine , whereas towards the sunshine, whereas towards the south of scotland, across northern ireland and parts of .

northern ireland and parts of. northern ireland and parts of. northern england, a cloudy picture. some outbreaks of rain at times still quite heavy in nature, that rain at times two. some showery bursts still across parts of wales and the west of england, starting to push into central southern england and the midlands, whereas the south—east of england should start . the day of england should start. the day on a quite a sunny note. as we go through the day. outbreaks of rain across northern ireland, northern england and southern scotland give way to brightening skies, but with scattered heavy showers in the afternoon, 1 or 2 of those turning quite thundery. the rain across southern parts of the uk will start to clear away towards the east, with plenty of sunshine across wales central, southern england into the afternoon and some sunshine. two towards the far north and northwest of the uk. temperatures peaking at 24 or 25 celsius towards the south—east. so pretty warm even though it is july. as for tuesday, we'll see further showery rain moving in from the west across england and wales, a scattering of showers towards the north and northwest at least to start with, because at least to start with, because a ridge of high pressure will move in from the west and the weather will start to quieten down as we go through the day that holds an improvement during

the part of the week. all of us seeing some sunshine at times, temperatures

>> there's plenty more still to come on. free speech nation, this week we're going to get more reaction to the news that president joe biden has withdrawn from the election race. but let's get a news update first from tatiana sanchez. >> andrew, thank you and good evening. the top stories is now, as you've been hearing that breaking news in the last hour or so, president joe biden has announced he is standing down from the us presidential race, saying it's in the interest of his party and the country. it comes four months before americans go to the polls, upending the race for the white house. he posted a statement on x this evening saying it has

been the greatest honour of my life to serve as president. it follows weeks of intense pressure from fellow democrats after a faltering debate, performance against republican donald trump at the end of june , donald trump at the end of june, he's backed his vice president, kamala harris, to take his place as the democratic party's nominee . joe as the democratic party's nominee .joe biden as the democratic party's nominee . joe biden will continue nominee. joe biden will continue as president for the remainder of his term . meanwhile former us of his term. meanwhile former us president donald trump, who is standing for the republican party, has responded to the news, writing on his truth social platform. he said joe biden was not fit to run for president and is certainly not fit to serve and never was. he also said we will suffer greatly because of his presidency, but we will remedy the damage. he has done very quickly here in the uk. home secretary james cleverly thanked joe biden for being a great friend to the uk. ireland's deputy premier has reacted to the decision as well with, quote, sadness and admiration . meanwhile, in other

admiration. meanwhile, in other news, rachel reeves has suggested that pay rises could be on the way for public sector workers. independent review bodies are reportedly set to recommend pay rises of 5.5% for teachers and nhs staff, but schools and hospitals are unlikely to be able to meet the above inflation boost with their existing budgets . the chancellor existing budgets. the chancellor says a final decision will be made soon, and insists the sums in her budget will add up. made soon, and insists the sums in her budget will add up . and in her budget will add up. and normal levels of gp services surgeries will take some time to come back. that's after friday's global it outage. the british medical association warns gps need time to catch up on lost work over the weekend, after the tech glitch knocked a computer system used by doctors offline. the outage was caused by a faulty security update that was deployed to around 8.5 million windows devices . and those are windows devices. and those are the latest gb news headlines.

for now, i'm tatiana sanchez. more from me in an hour for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com forward slash alerts . slash alerts. >> welcome back to free speech nafion >> welcome back to free speech nation with me, andrew doyle. we're going to talk some more about this big news from the states. joe biden has pulled out of the presidential race. let's remind ourselves of his statement. joe biden said it's been the greatest honour of my life to serve as your president and while it has been my intention to seek re—election, i believe it is in the best interests of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my dufies to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president. to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president . for the duties as president. for the remainder of my term. i will speak to the nation later this week in more detail about my decision. so joining me now is gerry gunster, washington lobbyist and strategist. hi, jerry. thanks for joining lobbyist and strategist. hi, jerry. thanks forjoining us tonight. did this announcement come today ? did this come today? did this announcement come as a surprise

to you, gerry ? to you, gerry? >> no, not at all, i think that there were a lot of whispers going on. maybe as early as thursday or friday, that not only was he stepping down, but they had, in fact, already written the statement that he was going to release. and all of the people that i had been around and, was told that it would be done by the end of the weekend, which it is. >> and, significantly, of course, he's endorsed, kamala harris . do course, he's endorsed, kamala harris. do you think that this is the right move? is there any other option really , at this other option really, at this point for the democrats? >> i don't think there is another option because you have to think about the situation that they have right now. he the election right now, clearly is trump's to lose . and any trump's to lose. and any candidate a gavin newsom or somebody that is looking for long term political aspirations, frankly does not want this job. so the natural option is go to

the vice president of the united states. she deserves it. she is biden's pick for vice president, and it just seems to be the easiest thing for them to do right now. and that's something that that, that i think we're going to see is, is that she's going to see is, is that she's going to see is, is that she's going to get endorsed. there could be a nasty fight at the, convention in about 2 or 3 weeks, but we'll see. >> now i'm not one for making political predictions because i know that's a fool's errand , but know that's a fool's errand, but i'm going to stick my neck out here and say, i don't think kamala harris can possibly beat donald trump. is it possible that the democrats are thinking, okay, we're not going to win this time, so let's just get our ducksin this time, so let's just get our ducks in a row and prepare to take him on in 2028. >> yeah. look, i think it's actually more about the house and the senate right now because what is happening right now is that the voters are starting to look at this ticket, democratic voters, and they're saying, i have no reason to come out to

vote. i have no reason to come out to vote because president joe biden is not going to win. so i don't know what term you all use in the united kingdom, but in the united states, that's called down ballot congressional seats, which all of them right now are up for grabs. and about one third of the senate all of them will be on the ballot in november. so you have to think through, what do we do to re—energize this group? because i suspect that all of the opinion research has showed that the democratic voter was not ready to get up in the morning and cast their vote. they were going to stay home, and now they've got to figure out a way. so the truth is, this is about self—preservation for members of the united states congress and the united states congress and the united states senate. that's all that that is. >> do you think that this might be an opportunity ? it's a new be an opportunity? it's a new phase now with joe biden stepping down and there's been a lot of talk in the media about the way in which rhetoric has been overblown. joe biden's campaign for a long time now appears to have hinged on the

nofion appears to have hinged on the notion that trump is a threat to democracy, which has, of course, been. democracy, which has, of course, been . echoed by certain elements been. echoed by certain elements of the media who are calling him literally hitler, or using words like neo nazi and fascist very, very casually and inaccurately, of course. is it possible, now that what we might move into a new phase where people are dialling down that kind of rhetoric and we might get to the point where people are once again engaging in serious adult political debate . political debate. >> boy, i can only hope so, because as a voter, i'm actually live in washington, dc. i'm originally from a big swing state of pennsylvania, and i am hoping that one way or the other, this turns down the volume a lot. i also believe if you look at trump's speech and you look at trump's speech and you look at the way he's conducted himself since this assassination attempt, there has been, i think, a slightly different tone coming out of the news outlets, but make no mistake about it, this is what's in front of them, right now. and give it 2 or 3 weeks and they're going to start turning the heat

right back up, and they're going to start slinging arrows at each other very, very quickly . i other very, very quickly. i think we're in, i guess what you would call a slight honeymoon, since we since the president's assassination. but that honeymoon is not going to last very long. >> and to what extent do you think that the american public are of the view that the democrats, and particularly biden, bear some responsibility for raising the temperature to a degree where someone thinks that the best way to deal with this situation is to resort to violence, he famously said that trump needs to be put in the bull's eye. do you think that has contributed to this situation? i'm not blaming him. i'm asking you whether you think he's raised the temperature. >> oh, i think he has raised the temperature. i don't think there's any doubt about it. and this is a man who was elected, who said he was going to bring the temperature down and frankly, it just hasn't happened. >> very interesting . okay. gerry >> very interesting. okay. gerry gunster, thanks so much for joining me more than welcome . joining me more than welcome. we're going to move on now to our gb news us correspondent stephen edgington. are you there ,

stephen edgington. are you there, stephen? hi, stephen. thank you. thanks for joining stephen? hi, stephen. thank you. thanks forjoining me. can i firstly gauge your initial reaction to the news? >> well, i think that many people aren't particularly surprised by this. and i don't think i was either after seeing that debate performance, i think that debate performance, i think that it was very difficult for biden to continue, running in this race. and we saw a series of leading democrat voices calling for joe to go of leading democrat voices calling forjoe to go behind the calling for joe to go behind the scenes. there were lots of reports in liberal media organisations in america that barack obama and others were urging biden to drop out. barack obama and others were urging biden to drop out . so urging biden to drop out. so i don't think that we're particularly surprised by this. maybe what is surprising is that biden has endorsed kamala so quickly. they seem to be some tension between those two, those two individuals. but it seems that kamala, looks like she's going to be the next democratic nominee. but of course, that tension has gone back a long time. >> ever since kamala harris implied that joe biden was a racist. of course , if we go back

racist. of course, if we go back long enough. but of course, he doesn't really have a choice at this point. you know, they need to be able to move the funding over to the new candidate. this is the only way, really, to do it. and the likelihood is that maybe kamala harris knows that she's going to lose. maybe the democrats know that there isn't really a hope at this point, but they can at least sort of treat this as damage limitation. i suppose. >> i think that for the democrats, they face a very difficult situation. kamala harris doesn't poll very well. she's seen as inauthentic and a bit awkward in her speech. sometimes and they've really got to find someone who they think can defeat trump. they really don't like trump. so anyone who can defeat him surely has to be, their best option . is kamala, their best option. is kamala, that person i don't know. at the same time, she is the vice president. and as you say, it's quite difficult in terms of the financial regulations surrounding the us presidential race as to whether she can or another candidate can use the money that biden has raised for his campaign. so. and the other,

you know, crucial factor in this all is that, kamala harris is an ethnic minority woman . i think ethnic minority woman. i think that was part of the reason that she was chosen to be the vice presidential candidate in the first place, and the democrats, you know, they're obsessed with these kind of identity issues. if they are seen to be replacing who they, you know, who they see as a black woman with maybe gavin newsom, a white man, there could be issues . so gavin newsom, a white man, there could be issues. so i think that kamala harris, you know, she's got a very , very good shot at got a very, very good shot at becoming the democratic nominee, particularly after this endorsement from biden. >> but those identity issues haven't actually played particularly well for the democrats. i mean, biden was selected as the non—woke candidate, of course, that lasted all but ten minutes, because i think one of his first executive orders was about, helping biological males to end up in women's sports . so is it up in women's sports. so is it the case that maybe at this point, the democrats shouldn't be going down this identity politics route again, didn't work out for hillary clinton either ? might mightn't they take either? might mightn't they take the opportunity to sort of reflect and maybe change their strategy? >> certainly.

>> certainly. >> i think that the republicans are, you know, making this point very loudly, that the person who should be the presidential candidate shouldn't be picked on the basis of their race or genden the basis of their race or gender, but should be picked on whether they're the best person for the job. and it doesn't seem in kamala's case, kamala's case, that this has happened. i think that, you know, she's never actually been elected. what you have to remember is she was never she didn't do very well in the primaries in 2020. and she's never really been in a major elected position. so it does seem at odd to many republicans that this is the person that they've chosen, to be or likely chosen to be their next candidate. you know, looking to other candidates, you've got michelle obama as well, potentially. she polls very well against donald trump, and gavin newsom, the governor in california. now he's a white man. so maybe, that kind of huns man. so maybe, that kind of hurts his prospects. >> can i ask you about what do you think of the introduction of jd vance into this equation? you know, he's now been chosen as the vp pick for donald trump. it's an interesting choice.

perhaps not the most strategic choice. if trump was thinking of wooing the swing states. really, it's a choice that consolidates his appeal to working class voters, i suppose. but in addition to that, doesn't the introduction of jd vance into this debate as some kind of intellectual heft to what has been seen as really a kind of populist movement ? populist movement? >> jd vance wrote a famous memoir, hillbilly elegy, which was turned into a netflix movie, as you say. he's seen as a more intellectual figure in the maga world. trump chose as his last, vice presidential candidate, mike pence, who was basically a christian, kind of nationalist, someone who trump or evangelical, someone who trump sort of chose to try and sort of select or try and aid his support with the evangelical christians. this time around. i think he has that support, you know, already guaranteed . so he know, already guaranteed. so he decided to go with jd vance. and it's also interesting, some people are speculating that he chose jd vance because he's seen as a very kind of, authentic

maga supporter, someone who's very, very conservative, very right wing on many of these issues. and, you know, if the democrats want to try and remove, president trump, we saw that he was very, very close to being assassinated. just a week ago, i think there'd be very, very terrified or scared of jd vance becoming the president after that. so i think that, you know, there's a lot of interesting strategic decisions going on here. and as you say, vance has a strong connection with more working class voters across america in the rust belt and so on, >> stephen edgington, thanks very much for joining >> stephen edgington, thanks very much forjoining us. really appreciate that. and joining me now, i have laurie laird , who's now, i have laurie laird, who's a us political journalist. laurie, welcome to the show. can you hear me? >> okay. good evening. good evening. >> hi, laurie. thanks for joining us at such last minute notice. i want to ask first gauge your reaction to this. were you anticipating that joe biden would drop out ? biden would drop out? >> this is the weirdest question because i really was anticipating it. and i did think

something would happen before the end of the weekend. and yet i'm still running around thinking that this is an absolute shocker. so i can't reconcile these two things in my head. much like the democrats have been over the past couple of weeks, reconciling the fact that joe biden couldn't stay in the race yet . you know, him the race yet. you know, him hanging on and hanging on. and i think the manner of joe biden stepping down does not do the democrats any favours whatsoever. the party looks like it just can't get it together at a time when it really needs to. >> but what choice did they have?i >> but what choice did they have? i mean, would it be the case that it would have been a better strategy to just hold on, to have biden cling in to the bitter end, even though a victory was was not really possible at this point . possible at this point. >> look, at this point, you know , >> look, at this point, you know, we're into, you know, counterfactuals now, what they should have done is made it very, very clear in january of 2021 that biden was a one term president, only kamala harris and other democratic , democratic

and other democratic, democratic cabinet members, there's some talent there. people like jennifer granholm, the energy secretary, pete buttigieg , the secretary, pete buttigieg, the transport secretary. these people should have been given a lot more visibility , you know, lot more visibility, you know, in that whole scenario where we have a very old president who's going to go one term, but kamala harris arguably should have been the most important vice president in history, given biden's age. and yet we all kind of forgot what she looked like until recently. we forgot what the sound of her voice was like. she was absent until very recently, and this was a really bad strategy from the white house >> now, joe biden had said that he was a one term president. he gave every indication that he wasn't going to run a second time until his overwhelming success in the midterms, which strikes me as being the reason why he felt he had to cling on, and in recent days, would it be unfair to say that the reason he was clinging on is because he knew, or at least the people who are advising him knew the kamala

harris was not in a position to take on trump . take on trump. >> i think that may be part of it. but i also think that that biden truly believed almost his own hype. i think he truly believed that he was uniquely in a place to defeat donald trump. and he has said, i was i'm the only person who has defeated donald trump. and i think that that that belief sort of grabbed some, you know, gained momentum. and i think it was almost hubris, this belief that , okay, hubris, this belief that, okay, yet again, we're looking at a very tight race. and i because i defeated him in 2020, i am uniquely poised to do it again. now, you know, one of the things that i think is fascinating is how shielded joe biden has been . how shielded joe biden has been. we're we're now seeing that there is a coterie of democrats who very much knew that biden was failing and failing quite quickly. george clooney, you know, the man who helped raise 30 million for biden's re—election campaign and came out three weeks later and said

biden's failing. you think what? you know, why did you not let us know about that three weeks ago? you know, so a lot of people knew that perhaps biden wasn't up to the job yet kept this a secret. and i think that is something that will reverberate with the democrats for time to come . it looks like they are come. it looks like they are being very secretive and not very open about how the party elders or the party candidates are selected. >> that's very interesting. i mean, is it the case that the pressure just became too much once there were major vocal figures on the democrat side? and of course, let's be fair, the white house has been pretty porous recently in terms of leaks coming from various staffers and people who've said that joe biden can only work up to a certain time in the evening because he needs his rest. i mean, this kind of stuff, it reaches a point where the dam is going to bust right? >> yeah. >> yeah. >> and there are two good points that you have brought up here. but one is that leakiness, because this was not a particularly leaky white house up until this point , and it

up until this point, and it really began to feel like finally, people got frustrated and put these these , these, and put these these, these, these concepts into the, into these concepts into the, into the public domain, like the man needs to take a nap during the day. you know, these things were kept very secret until very recently. so i think that's the reason for the sudden leaks. but i think the other thing is not just people in the democratic party or leaders in the democratic party that were concerned, and they're not only concerned, and they're not only concerned about the presidency, they're also concerned about races for both the house and the senate, which could which could the house could stay republican. the senate could go from democrats to republican, which would give the republicans a real hold, you know, in washington, dc. but they're also worrying about money and a lot of . big worrying about money and a lot of. big donors have worrying about money and a lot of . big donors have started to of. big donors have started to say, you know, wait a second. we're not going to throw good money after bad if biden is going to stay in the race, because we don't believe that he can win, we don't believe he's up to the presidency. and i think the withdrawal of money or

the threat of withdrawal of money is probably what swung things. >> isn't that interesting, that money talks ultimately when it comes to these things. but also i just want to pick up on something else. you said, laurie, and you mentioned the word hubris, which i think is very, very interesting. a lot of people have been looking at joe biden's campaign, which is hinged so much on this idea that trump is a threat to democracy. if you allow trump back in, you're effectively allowing a dictator back in. there was a front cover of the new republic magazine a couple of weeks ago that showed a composite image of donald trump and adolf hitler, this kind of rhetoric, a lot of people have criticised and said that this has been degrading us politics. and at the same time, joe biden is perceived as being being complicit with the attempt to . being complicit with the attempt to. have being complicit with the attempt to . have his political opponent to. have his political opponent prosecuted and even incarcerated. is it hubris, or is it outright hypocrisy ? is it outright hypocrisy? >> well, let's . separate these things. >> hubris is one thing, and i stand by that. joe biden, i think, has been incredibly

hubristic in staying in this race. i mean, did he not see the playbacks of that debate? i mean, you know, it really it is an egotistical thing to remain there. but as for joe an egotistical thing to remain there. but as forjoe biden almost inciting things, i think we can draw the line there. look, joe tunnel, trump said he intends to be a dictator on day one. trump himself said that. so, and we do have the events of january 6th look, a lot of americans, a significant minority of americans , seem to minority of americans, seem to forget that january 6th happened. it did. donald trump's democratic credentials are not exactly great. and i think there's a false equivalence. and putting trump and biden together on this particular one. but one of the things that, you know, when the democrats try and go personal, look, the democrats, biden has gone after trump's, you know, sort of, love of authoritarians . and donald trump authoritarians. and donald trump himself has said that he's gone

after that and he's gone after women's reproductive rights , women's reproductive rights, because these are really the only two areas where the democrats are polling very well. the us economy is in pretty good shape. the administration isn't getting any credit for that whatsoever. they can't campaign on that, even if they deserve a degree of credit for that, can't campaign on a campaign on the border. very weak issue. it doesn't lead a whole lot to campaign on. so that's one reason i think biden has gone at trump personally. the problem is, is no one does this better than donald trump. no one does. the politics of the personal better than donald trump's. and the democrats are particularly bad at that. so if you try, the democrats try and take on donald trump at his own game. they're not going to win. it's not going to work. this is what donald trump does better than anyone. >> lorillard, that's very interesting. thanks ever so much for joining us tonight. and next forjoining us tonight. and next on free speech nation. we're going to be continuing our coverage of this news from

america. joe biden has out of the presidential race. see you shortly

welcome back to free speech nafion welcome back to free speech nation with me , andrew doyle. nation with me, andrew doyle. we're going to be talking to more about this news from the united states. joe biden has pulled out of the presidential race. let's remind ourselves of his statement. he said it has been the greatest honour of my life to serve as your president. and while it has been my intention to seek re—election, i believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my dufies to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president. for the remainder of my term, i will speak to the nation later this week in more detail about my decision. okay, so joining me now is hank sheinkopf, democratic political strategist. hank thanks very much for joining us. what is the reaction from democrats to this news? >> most of them aren't shocked. they expected it to happen . they expected it to happen. there's nothing new here for some of us. well, you know, it is kind of a shock, especially

the timing of it. >> and you personally, how do you feel about this? did you anticipate that this was inevitable? i mean, a lot of people, a lot of analysts have said it had to happen sooner or later , later, >> the fact that it's happening later is what's shocking. not that it was happening. it should have happened a while back. it would have been easier for democrats who have tremendous numbers of problems anyway. >> okay, well, let's move forward. as a political strategist yourself , do you have strategist yourself, do you have anyidea strategist yourself, do you have any idea what would be the best tactics for the party to take at this moment, given that they are behind in the polls, given that kamala harris isn't a particularly popular candidate and doesn't poll particularly well ? and given that donald well? and given that donald trump is a is riding high at the moment, what is the best approach here? >> best approach is to step back and take a breath for a second and take a breath for a second and look at what the options are. everybody's running . i are. everybody's running. i think that if i were in charge, i'd say campaign is very nice. give me $1 billion, i'll run an independent committee and what i will do is i will go after women in the suburbs on the on the

women, on the women's reproductive rights issues . reproductive rights issues. number one. number two. and i would pray every day that donald trump does exactly what he did this afternoon in response to the biden withdrawal by engaging in vitriol and saying things frankly that are just not reality based, that are vicious and nasty , and let him let him and nasty, and let him let him set his own seats for destruction. >> it's very interesting that you mentioned that , because a you mentioned that, because a lot of people have pointed out that at the republican national conference, donald trump seemed to be moderating his language, speaking more of unity. and of course, this follows this failed assassination attempt, which led to joe biden saying we had to de—escalate the language that is used here. but from what you're saying, you're suggesting that a lot of democrats will be thinking and hoping that trump just returns to form and returns to that that old mudslinging style of politics. is it trump? >> that's exactly what he's done today. i mean, there's no question about it. >> so you believe that this is basically trump's election to lose at this point ? lose at this point? >> that's yeah, i would say

that. and unequivocally, you know, the after a violent set of violence or a serious something like an assassination or assassination attempt, generally in america, things tend to calm down. that's not the case. now, what trump has going for him is a deeply factionalised democrat party that's going through a generational shift, as well as an ideological shift. and they're losing the white blue collar working class in this country. and only donald trump can help them get that back through his behaviour. >> do you think that critics are right to suggest that a lot of leading democrats and factions of the media have been complicit in concealing to an extent, the problems that joe biden faced in terms of his, cognitive decline or at least what has been perceived as cognitive decline. >> it is likely that some people engagedin >> it is likely that some people engaged in that, but the bulk of them did not. i mean, there's one reporter that's been captured, but the idea that somehow the press conspired because they don't like donald trump to hide joe biden. you know, it's hard to hide someone

who stumbles and who mumbles and who stumbles and who mumbles and who can't get words out properly. and they just haven't been able to do that. and they've been talking about his physical condition for a while. so it's not long before the debate. so it's kind of a canard. and not accurate. >> okay. well, hank sheinkopf, thanks very much for joining me on the show with me. now i've got colin reed, who is a republican strategist. colin, are you there . are you there. >> i am loud and clear. how are you? >> i'm very well, thank you. i've just spoken to hank sheinkopf, who is a democrat political strategist. he was suggesting that the best thing for, for the democrats now is to hope that trump returns to form, starts mud slinging as he as is his usual way, and that he can lose the election that way. do you think that's that's likely. >> well, one thing i do agree with hank in what he said is the race is donald trump's to lose. now, we saw that from his the recent events. look, there's a little more than 100 days left in this campaign. every single day since that june 27th debate

that sealed joe biden's fate has been a losing one forjoe biden. and we spent the last three weeks, three plus weeks now discussing, other than the former president trump getting shot, we've spent nothing other discussing, other than the former president trump getting shot, we've spent nothing other than discussing and relitigating than discussing and relitigating whether or not the commander in whether or not the commander in chief was up for the job, not chief was up for the job, not only the job that he holds now, only the job that he holds now, the one that he was trying to the one that he was trying to hold for another four years. the hold for another four years. the american people clearly thought no. and, today's news was just a matter of time. the only question, i think, is why it took so long, and it brings to mind the old saying, that which cannot be sustained won't . and cannot be sustained won't. and it's clear joe biden's candidacy couldn't and wouldn't. and now today was the inevitable result. >> to what extent do you think that the failed assassination attempt on trump was the catalyst to this eventual announcement? i mean, some would say that in a way , it took say that in a way, it took attention off, joe biden and the problems that he faced. what do you make of that? >> yeah, it was a it was a circuit breaker of sorts. it certainly broke the conversation. but look, joe biden was behind before the june debate. he fell further behind after the june debate. the

republicans had an extremely successful convention. in between all that was the unprecedented event of a former president surviving an assassination attempt. all of those were bad news. all of those were bad news. all of those were bad news. all of those were compounding on joe biden's head. all of those would have been political death knells for a talented candidate like candidate, let alone an 81 year old guy who , charitably old guy who, charitably speaking, was past his prime. so it was all trending in the wrong direction. and now there's going to be two questions i'd keep an eye on. one. why is joe biden fit to serve as commander in chief for the next five months, if he's too to old run, if he's too old to go through another four years, why should he stay in office for the next five months? it's not as though the world's challenges are going to take a break and wait for the next american president to be sworn in, so i would expect republicans to make that case. and two, the fact that joe biden is stepping aside now, ignoring the will of 15 million or so democratic primary voters who voted for him over the last few months, all at the behest of a few elites in washington, dc, it's highly undemocratic and hugely ironic for a party who

spent the last four years prattling about threats to democracy. so look, just because this happened right now does not mean these questions are going to come to an end. and again, every day that is spent talking about this or any other issue is not an issue today spent litigating donald trump's vulnerabilities, of which there are many, and of which the democrats need to start talking about if they want to have a prayer. in november, colin reed , prayer. in november, colin reed, thanks ever so much for joining me. >> thank you . and, next on free >> thank you. and, next on free speech nation, we're going to be continuing with this news from joe biden has pulled out the presidential race. please don't go

welcome back to free speech nafion welcome back to free speech nation with me. andrew doyle. we're going to be talking some more about this news from the united states. joe biden pulling out of the presidential race. charlie peters is here. perhaps you could give us an update on what's happened now. well, in the last few moments, we've seen a source speaking to reuters saying that as of last night, the biden team and the president

himself was telling his campaign that he had no plans to drop out the source. >> speaking on condition of anonymity, also went on to tell the news agency that the decision came as a significant shock to senior members of his staff and it was made about 145 eastern standard time earlier this afternoon. in fact, his campaign manager on msnbc this morning said that the discussion around biden potentially dropping out was a fake narrative being drawn to gin up calls for him to step down. he had no plans to do so , but four had no plans to do so, but four hours later, he then did so. so it's pushing this idea now, which is increasingly coming out from analysts, that this decision was made very recently, as late as possibly this morning, that biden, possibly with some pressure from his close circle , know that he's close circle, know that he's kind of bunkered down in recent days in particular going back to delaware to recover from a cough, reportedly recovering from the coronavirus disease. while he's been doing that, potentially this this decision,

this change coming just in the last 12 hours or so. >> okay. thank you. charlie peters, with me now in the studio, is the deputy editor of spiked online. fraser myers fraser. what do you make of all this? well, it's extraordinary. >> it's amazing how long he's managed to dig in for. i mean, let's cast our minds back. it's been about a month since he did that debate with president trump, where we saw him essentially crumble, you know, wither before our eyes. i mean, it was a very it was a very tragic spectacle, actually. >> know as joe biden said, he answered all the questions. >> i think boris trump said, you know, i'm not even sure what he knows. what he said when he was answering those questions. we had, you know, so we had that debate. then not long later, we had that nato summit, you know, that was supposed to be the make or break moment for him. and then he confused volodymyr zelenskyy with vladimir putin. he later went on to confuse kamala harris and donald trump. so they've been on once or twice. he's been able to do a rally. he's been able to read from the autocue and appear compos mentis. but but the rest

of the time he hasn't. so i think we're, you know, the reaction from democrats at the moment, if you if you look online, if you look on the sort of us liberal media is to say, you know, joe has done the right thing, he cares about the nation. you know, he this is ultimately a selfless act. but let's be clear, you know, his position has been untenable for over a month now or for at least a month now. and he has waited until the very last moment. >> well, then, what do you make of the breaking news that charlie peters just outlined, that it's possible that this is a decision that has been made as as just a few hours ago and that many within the circles of the democratic party are actually shocked by this. >> yeah, i think that's entirely plausible. if you looked at all of the messaging that was coming out, it seemed as if joe biden really was going to dig in, that he was in for the long haul, that he was, you know, ignoring the advice because let's not forget, you know, he seemed to he carried on even after he was told by president obama, by nancy pelosi to step down. you might have thought that if he, you know, if he pushed aside that advice, then who else who else more powerful could have could have told him no.

absolutely. >> okay, well, fraser myers stay with us because i might come back to you. but joining me now is michael malice, who's an american author and podcaster. michael, thanks ever so much for joining us on the show. can i get your reaction to this? are you surprised that joe biden has dropped out? >> i'm surprised a little bit that he's lasted this long. i'm frankly giddy because for those of us like you, andrew, who enjoy political comedy, we're going to have an enormously happy next couple of months. this is just going to be a glorious time for us. >> but a lot of the rumours were that he couldn't step down because he didn't want to leave kamala harris at the helm, because she cannot win, because she is too unpopular, even amongst democrat voters. do you think there's anything to that, and do you think there's anything that the democrats can actually do at this point to stand a chance in the election? >> well, maybe have another rally for trump like they did in pennsylvania, but do it right this time . i mean, that would be this time. i mean, that would be their biggest shot, she is so unpopular and unlike even within democratic circles that she didn't even make the primaries in 2020, she crashed and burned completely. she's never been successful at anything. and the

thing that people in the uk need to appreciate about kamala harris, i'll put it in terms you guys can understand . it's as if guys can understand. it's as if the democrats are trying to annoy diane abbott as the head of the party. and yes, in many ways, much of the abuse is racist and unacceptable and cross the line. but at the end of the day, this is still a simpleton who you wouldn't want to have making change for you at tesco. so she laughs constantly at nothing like someone who has some kind of mental problem. like right there, she's just cracking herself up, she is completely talks and word salad. things that make no sense. and every here's the big key with politics. everyone who's worked for her runs away screaming from that office and then leaks to the press about what a nightmare she is to work for, as opposed to someone like hillary clinton, who everyone is extremely loyal to. so this is going to be a great few months. not to mention the fact , andrew, just like in, the fact, andrew, just like in, you know , when boris johnson you know, when boris johnson stepped down and the tories had their election to replace him, there were six candidates. you had the debates . there were six candidates. you had the debates. liz there were six candidates. you had the debates . liz truss won had the debates. liz truss won out. she gets the new pm has

her, from my perspective, moderate plan. she gets driven out of office and they're like screw this. we're going to put in rishi. we saw how that worked out for the tories, including liz truss recently, losing her own seat. the idea they're just going to replace biden with someone who's never run in a single primary and have it end well for them, is bonkers. but it's interesting. >> i mean, you obviously don't think that kamala harris is an effective candidate, to put it mildly, but a lot of her supporters say that she has done very well. she has faced a racist abuse, as you yourself have pointed out. and also, she will appeal to the women, to the female vote and that's something that the democrats really need to do at this point. >> that's completely correct. so the female suburban vote will absolutely turn against her for several reasons. she supported the rioters in 2020. she donated to that defence fund, where people were being arrested for burning down cities. number one and number two, there was a case called jussie smollett, which some of your viewers might be familiar with. some guy was an actor, was walking around in chicago in freezing weather, claimed he was attacked and almost lynched . chicago being a

almost lynched. chicago being a very leftist city here in the states , it was later turned out states, it was later turned out to be a complete hoax. he almost went to jail . or i think he went went to jail. or i think he went to jail briefly and she supported him. so when it comes to suburban issues like crime and dei and things like that, she's on the hard left. like diane and suburban women who are a big deciding vote in our elections are going to turn against her overwhelmingly again. she did not win with any single group when she ran for president in 2020. she's radioactive . radioactive. >> okay, i just want to bring in charlie peters on that point. what do you make of that, charlie? >> well, there's been lots of commentary about whether or not kamala harris will appeal to a broader base in the united states, whether or not she will actually be the democratic nominee ahead of this convention next month. many of the people who would be challenging her are coming out and saying that they will support her on this point. on whether or not she appeals to a wide enough base in the united states. other analysts pointing out in the last hour that trump's pick for his vp , jd trump's pick for his vp, jd vance, might now look somewhat

foolish because he's picked a sort of all trumpian ticket there. jd vance appeals to natural trump supporters. whereas now, with kamala harris as the presidential nominee for the democrat side , they could the democrat side, they could appeal to someone who might challenge someone who's keener on trump politics. trump economic calls but doesn't buy into the full picture. >> michael, can i ask you about that? and in terms of jd vance, do you now think that jd vance, as charlie has indicated, there might not have been the best pick given the new circumstances? >> no. i completely disagree because we don't have to speculate. there have been polls run for months now about if it was kamala harris versus trump or biden versus trump, and i think an 80% of the polls, she was already behind biden. now the more this woman talks, the more people get to know her, the less they like her. we saw this in 2020 when she ran for president. so in many cases, the vice presidential candidate is irrelevant. but i cannot wait. if you thought the debate between biden and trump was a disaster for biden, wait until you have this doddering idiot

facing him and the fact that he's learned to discipline himself and bite his tongue when there's opportunities for him to be kind of aggressive. and in previous times, people regard him as kind of buffoonish. it's just an epic opportunity for the republican party. >> okay, michael, thanks for your thoughts. really appreciate it. thanks for joining your thoughts. really appreciate it. thanks forjoining me. we now have a statement from keir starmer, the prime minister. he's just said i respect president biden's decision and i look forward to us working together during the remainder of his presidency. i know that as he has done throughout his remarkable career, president biden will have made his decision based on what he believes is in the best interests of the american people. well, next on free speech nation. more on this news story from america. joe biden has out of the presidential race. you very shortly

welcome back to free speech nafion welcome back to free speech nation with me. andrew doyle. so we're going to talk some more

about this big news from the states. joe biden has pulled out of the presidential race, and we've got some news now, an update from charlie peters. >> well, nancy pelosi, the former house speaker, a very senior democrat, has said in a post just in the last few moments that joe biden is a patriotic american who has always put our country first. she's also echoed comments made by other democrats, now describing him as one of the most consequential presidents in american history and nancy pelosi's statement comes after a week where she's been reported to be engaged in very serious scheming to actually get rid of joe.joe scheming to actually get rid of joe. joe biden as the presidential nominee for the democratic party . she's democratic party. she's understood to be plotting with barack obama last week in an unofficial get biden out democrats campaign group. but now she's made this statement just in the last few moments, praising his decision and praising his decision and praising him as a man, a patriotic american who always puts the country first. >> well, i suppose it's one of those things. it's like with obituaries, everyone's going to say something nice now, even if they wanted it to happen.

>> yeah, exactly. i mean, let's let's not forget he has effectively been forced out, right? that's why he's that's why this news has come so suddenly, you know. and yet pelosi, one of the people scheming to get rid of him and now we're talking about him as this great elder statesman who's done the right thing for the for the country . the country. >> i mean, her wording is quite interesting. and one of the most consequential presidents that could go either way. maybe not the consequences. we all wanted. exactly. >> i mean, i mean, i think she probably thinks good, but i'm trump would say the opposite. trump would say the opposite. trump would say consequential is in bad. you know, people talk about the border crisis in america. inflation goods are 20% higher than they were when biden took office. yes. you know, he's absolutely in terms of it's funny, he was elected as a moderate, but was absolutely a woke maniac in office, you know, pushing the most sort of crazed sort of trans agenda, green agenda as well has been, you know , disastrous. know, disastrous. >> but that's just going to persist if you've got kamala harris on the ticket. >> well, absolutely. it doesn't look like they'll probably double down on many of those things. and kamala harris , you things. and kamala harris, you know, let's not forget, she was chosen for her identity. joe

biden said that he was going to pick a black woman running mate. and then that left him with the choice of kamala harris , who was choice of kamala harris, who was extremely unpopular with voters. she did terribly in the 2020 primaries. and you know, in a way, actually, this shows why identity politics doesn't work. black voters didn't like her. they preferred joe biden by quite a significant margin. and she's it's funny, michael malice earlier was talking about, kamala donating to, you know, the funds of some of the rioters in the black lives matter movement. she's almost gone , movement. she's almost gone, taken both sides on these kinds of things. so she's hated by everyone. she's hated by liberals because she was a tough prosecutor. she sent many, many, you know, black people to prison. and she's, you know, even accused of having a racial bias there on that. and then a few years later, she takes the position where she's sort of almost like pro riot and people should be able to get away with rioting. i mean, she's just, you know, politically idiotic, toxic to everyone. so it's not going to everyone. so it's not going to go well if she's the candidate. >> i think you've gone even further than michael, but she does have a supporters. and, you

know, i was speaking to a commentator earlier who was saying she's important because she will shore up the female vote. >> well, she i mean, i think trump, has the potential to or the republicans especially, you know, they have the potential to put off female voters. i don't think the democrats are necessarily going to attract them. yes. >> okay. can i just ask as well, fraser, is it about time that american politics sort of , american politics sort of, became a more adult affair? you know, because we've had all we've had, haven't we, joe biden claiming that trump is a threat to democracy, while democrats have been urging or been weaponizing the legal system against that opponent? i mean, that kind of thing, it just can't go on. >> oh, it's absolutely extraordinary. you know, you've seen the sort of death of civilised debate, you know, and you have on on the other side, you have on on the other side, you have on on the other side, you have trump and january 6th. so you know, politics rather than being a debate about, you know , what values and what's know, what values and what's best for the country, it becomes almost like a kind of takes the tone of a war, almost a war of all against all where if you're in, you want to go after your opponents through the through the legal system. you want to have them silenced. right. >> well, let's bring in charlie

peters. are there any updates? yeah >>i yeah >> ihave yeah >> i have another statement to bnng >> i have another statement to bring you, this time from barack obama, who's repeating that line about joe biden being one of the most consequential presidents in america's history. he goes on to say, we will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead. but i have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges. he's not named kamala harris. he's not named kamala harris. he's not named kamala harris. he's not promoted what the coronation that president joe biden wants . there's further biden wants. there's further problems for this. kamala harris coronation, because gavin newsom's team, he's the governor of california , widely touted to of california, widely touted to be a successor to joe biden. his team are pushing around a polling memo which suggests that he would have a greater chance of success over trump than kamala harris. so a bit of trouble in the democratic side at the moment. in the few hours after joe biden made that shock announcement. >> very interesting that they're all using this euphemism of the most consequential president. i imagine that's going to get

quite a lot because, you know, you could say, yeah, what's happened on biden's watch? >> we've had the war in ukraine. that's a pretty consequential thing. not a good thing. biden supporters would say that he's bringing industry back to the united states with his inflation reduction act. his detractors would say that the economy is in a terrible state and people felt better off under trump. so, yeah , better off under trump. so, yeah, consequential. read it how you like. i mean, it's interesting, gavin newsom being touted sorry, sorry phrase. >> i'm afraid we're out of time. but thank you very much for joining us tonight. and thanks to everyone who's been on the show , including my panel, show, including my panel, cressida wetton and stephen allen and charlie peters here in the studio. and to all of my guests, thanks very much for joining us for free speech nation. see you next week. >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb news. >> hello! here's your latest weather update from the met office for gb news. we'll see a mixed bag of weather across the

uk during the week ahead, all of us seeing some rain at times, but when the sun pops through it should feel pleasantly warm. we've seen a ridge of high pressure keeping a lot of fine weather through the day on sunday, but low pressure starting to move back in from the west. that started to feed outbreaks of rain in across northern ireland, and that will continue to push in across northern ireland as we head into the overnight period, reaching parts of southern scotland and northern england during the early hours, with some showery bursts. also working in across parts of wales and the southwest of england, the south—east should hold on to some clear spells, and will also see some clear weather towards the north of the uk. and here we'll see quite chilly temperatures too. we could well see temperatures dip into low single figures in 1 or 2 spots, but elsewhere it stays pretty mild with temperatures in the low to mid teens. temperatures in the low to mid teens . so the new working week teens. so the new working week gets off to a sunny start, albeit quite chilly across the north of scotland. temperatures soon are starting to climb though in that july sunshine, whereas towards the south of scotland across northern ireland and parts of northern england, a cloudy picture, some outbreaks of rain, at times still quite heavy in nature, that rain at times two some showery bursts still across parts of wales and the west of england, starting to

push into central southern england and the midlands, whereas the south—east of england should start the day on a quite sunny note. as we go through the day, outbreaks of rain across northern ireland, northern england and southern scotland give way to brightening skies, but with scattered heavy showers in the afternoon , 1 or showers in the afternoon, 1 or 2 of those turning quite thundery. the rain across southern parts of the uk will start to clear away towards the east, with plenty of sunshine across wales, central southern england into the afternoon and some sunshine too. towards the far north and northwest of the uk, temperatures peaking at 24 or 25 celsius towards the south—east, so pretty warm even though it is july. as for tuesday, we'll see further showery rain moving in from the west across england and wales. a scattering of showers towards the north and northwest, at least to start with because a ridge of high pressure will move in from the west and the weather will start to quieten down as we go through the day that holds an improvement during the middle part of the week, all of us seeing some sunshine at times, temperatures responding to that sunshine too , but further rain sunshine too, but further rain arrives later. >> looks like things are heating up boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb

>> good evening. the top stories from the gb newsroom. president joe biden has announced he's standing down from the us presidential race, saying it's in the interest of his party and the country. it comes four months before americans go to the polls , upending the race for the polls, upending the race for the polls, upending the race for the white house. he posted a statement on x this evening saying it's been the greatest honour of my life to serve as president. it follows weeks of intense pressure from fellow democrats after a faltering debate performance against republican donald trump at the end of june. biden will continue as president for the remainder of his term. he's backed his vice president, kamala harris, to take his place as the

democratic party's nominee. she