Although the president’s campaign insists he is “absolutely not dropping out”, here is Eric Garcia with a look at the mechanics of replacing him at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket, just in case.

James Zogby, a former adviser to Jesse Jackson and Bernie Sanders, has proposed a plan to have an open contest for the Democratic presidential nomination after the incumbent’s disastrous appearance in the first debate last week, writes Eric Garcia.

Campaign staffers are preparing to shift their focus to elevating, then electing, vice president Kamala Harris, sources have told The Independent, even as Biden vehemently denies any intention to stand aside.

Here’s the latest from Andrew Feinberg.

Despite the president’s best efforts, senior Democrats remain in “panic mode” after Biden insisted he would not abandon his presidential re-election campaign despite serious concerns growing over his mental fitness for office.

Anonymous lawmakers described the situation facing Biden and the Democratic party in a pointed interview with Politico.

“Everybody wants him to quit. There’s a sense of despair,” the unnamed lawmaker told the outlet.

“I think people don’t understand how we get out of this hole. And we’re hurtling toward losing to Trump.

“All my text chains in Congress go from a dark humor to ‘let’s take action’… I don’t find any discernible group of people who actually believe we’re going to win with Joe Biden.”

Mike Bedigan has the latest.

The former first lady remains a popular choice for a Democratic presidential run among voters and beat Trump 50 per cent to 39 per cent in a new Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Wednesday.

The same survey found Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom and Gretchen Whitmer all narrowly losing out to the loudmouthed Republican felon in hypothetical matchups.

Obama has repeatedly declined any further involvement in politics and a spokesperson repeated that line to NBC yesterday, commenting:  “As former first lady Michelle Obama has expressed several times over the years, she will not be running for president.

“It’s got to be in your soul, because it is so important. It is not in my soul.”

Here’s Martha McHardy on the threat Obama would pose to Trump if she changed her mind.

The president’s forthcoming interview with the respected ABC News anchor has been hastily arranged in the aftermath of debategate to give Biden an opportunity to reassure voters about his fitness and will see Stephanopolous join him in Wisconsin as he campaigns in the crucial swing state to record the sit down.

But, according to The Daily Beast, their heart-to-heart, due to be filmed for Friday evening’s edition of World News Tonight, could last just a quarter of an hour.

That said, the White House has bluntly stated in response to the story: “False. The interview will be longer.”

But exactly how long – 15 minutes and one second? 30 minutes? An hour? – remains a mystery.

Here’s more on that from Martha McHardy.

“I had a bad night," the president told Wisconsin radio host Earl Ingram yesterday in a pre-recorded interview set to air this morning, according to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

"And the fact of the matter is that I screwed up. I made a mistake.

“That’s 90 minutes on stage, look at what I’ve done in three-and-a-half years.”

Biden also used the interview, which lasted 20 minutes, to talk up his efforts on behalf of the Black community, declaring: “I picked a Black woman to be my vice president.

“I've appointed the first Black woman to be a Supreme Court justice. I've appointed more Black judges, more Black women judges, than every other president in American history combined."

On Trump’s treatment of the same demographic, the president said: “I’m sorry to get so worked up.

“But he is just — he's terrible things in the community, and he has about as much interest and concern for Black, minority communities as the man on the moon does.”

This is what the president had to say yesterday about the coming of Independence Day 2024.

Today, he and the vice president are hosting a barbecue for active-duty military service members and their families on the South Grounds of the White House.

Let’s hope Robert F Kennedy Jr is not invited! “Sorry Bobby, no one wants to try your dog steaks... ”

In the evening, the president and the first lady will host a Fourth of July celebration on the South Lawn for serving military, veterans, caregivers and survivors, with Biden due to deliver remarks before viewing a fireworks display over the National Mall.

Biden held a virtual meeting with 24 Democratic state governors on Wednesday and met in person with Kathy Hochul, Wes Moore and Tim Walz, the governors of New York, Maryland and Minnesota respectively, to reassure them that he can still beat Trump and remains the right person to lead the party into November’s election.

He also reportedly told them that he had a medical checkup since the debate and is fine, according to Politico.

Hochul, Moore and Walz emerged from the White House to tell the press their confidence in Biden was restored and insisted: “We have his back.”

Gavin Newsom and Gretchen Whitmer posted similarly-worded messages of support for the president on social media.

Here’s Alex Lang’s report.

Here’s Biden’s press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterating the president’s position.