A major donor calls on Biden to resign. Trump is celebrated at the nominating convention. All information in the news blog.
0.45 am: US presidential candidate Donald Trump says he spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the phone and announced that he would end the war in Ukraine if he returned to the White House. “I am grateful to President Zelensky for reaching out to me because as your next President of the United States, I will bring peace to the world and end the war that has cost so many lives and destroyed countless innocent families,” Trump said on Friday (local time) on his online network Truth Social.
11:01 p.m.: Michael Moritz, a billionaire Silicon Valley venture capitalist and one of the Democrats’ top donors, is calling on President Biden to resign. “Sadly, President Biden has a choice: vanity or virtue,” Moritz said in an email to the New York Times on Friday. “He can either condemn the country to dark and cruel times or listen to the voice of Father Time. Time is running out.” Moritz was probably alluding to the fact that he expects Biden to lose and that a Trump victory would mean dark times for the United States. The firm has so far spent $7.8 million on Biden and anti-Trump campaigns.
10.35pm: In an article for the Boston Globe, Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton called for Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential campaign. He hopes that Biden, like George Washington, will be celebrated not only as the head of the armed forces, but also as someone who knew when to step down. “I recently saw him in a small group in Normandy on the 80th anniversary of D-Day. For the first time, he didn’t seem to recognize me,” Moulton wrote. “Of course, that can happen with age, but as I watched the disastrous debate a few weeks ago, I had to admit that what I saw in Normandy was part of a deeper problem.”
19:09: Amid speculation about a possible withdrawal of Joe Biden from the US presidential race, the Democrat has announced further campaign dates for the coming week. “I look forward to getting back on the campaign trail next week,” said a written statement from the US president, who is seeking a second term in the November election.
Biden had to temporarily pause his campaign appearances due to a coronavirus infection. He is currently isolating himself in his private home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
17:51: Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle will testify before a House investigative committee in Washington on Monday. Cheatle’s spokesman Anthony Guglielmi announced this on Platform X. “We are committed to better understanding what happened before, during and after the attempted assassination of former US President Donald Trump and to ensuring that something like this never happens again.”
The Secret Service, which in addition to protecting US President Joe Biden also protects all other former presidents and their families, came under massive criticism after the attempted assassination of Trump.
