At a Critical Point in His Campaign, Biden Vows to “Finish the Job”

What's Happening

Politics

At a Critical Point in His Campaign, Biden Vows to “Finish the Job”

What's going on: In his first solo and unscripted press conference since November, President Biden reaffirmed his plans to continue his reelection campaign — brushing off concerns about his age and ability to defeat former President Trump. During the nearly hourlong presser, Biden said he’s “the best qualified person to do the job” and highlighted his decades of political experience. But as he tried to ease concerns over his mental fitness, the president couldn’t avoid some verbal gaffes that likely caused some Democrats to facepalm. There was the moment Biden referred to Vice President Harris as “Vice President Trump.” That came after he had mistakenly called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “President Putin.” Still, last night was a far cry from the debate flop that set off a panic among Democrats.

What it means: Biden’s performance did little to quell the growing calls for him to end his reelection bid. By the end of the night, at least three more House Democrats called on the president to withdraw from the race. Meanwhile, other Democrats last night praised Biden’s command of foreign policy and vowed to support his race against a convicted felon. The Biden campaign faces a tough battle in the weeks ahead to prove itself to voters and Democrats. A new poll released before the press conference found that 67% of Americans surveyed said Biden should drop out. There are also reports that former President Obama and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had a private conversation, expressing concerns about Biden’s reelection chances. And The New York Times reported that Biden’s campaign has been testing how Vice President Harris would fare against Trump in November.

Related: Got Election Anxiety? You're Not Alone (USA Today)

Technology

She Is Beauty, She Is Grace, She Is AI

What's going on: While lawmakers and industry leaders debate the safety of AI, others have been busy hosting the world’s first AI beauty pageant. Judges crowned AI-generated Moroccan lifestyle influencer Kenza Layli as the contest’s first “Miss AI” after she beat out nine other AI women. Don’t worry, this isn’t a spoiler from a Black Mirror episode — it’s real life. The brains behind the beauty contest is Fanvue, a social media platform that allows creators to monetize their content (like OnlyFans) and is one of the few to allow AI-generated posts. We’re guessing beauty pageant contestants never thought AI would be coming for their titles.

What it means: Mixing AI with beauty pageants could push already unrealistic beauty standards to a new unattainable level. All 10 “Miss AI” finalists fit into the traditional beauty queen mold, ticking off the boxes for being young and thin. Beauty pageants have long been criticized for promoting harmful stereotypes about women. In fact, traditional contests, like Miss USA and Miss Teen USA, are seeing declining viewership due to these concerns. Experts also warn mixing AI and beauty pageants could exacerbate gender and racial stereotypes. One expert warns AI tools are “made to replicate and scale up existing patterns in the world” and aren’t “made necessarily to challenge them.”

Related: How AI Is Making Its Way Into Your Beauty Products (Allure)

Sports

Another Kind of Sunday Night Football: Copa América and Euro Cup

What's going on: A major South American soccer championship is going down in the US. Argentina will try to defend their Copa América title against Colombia on Sunday in Florida. Colombia made it to the final after beating Uruguay 1-0 earlier this week, which led to a chaotic post-game brawl. Wondering about the US Men’s National Team? They were knocked out early, marking the first time the team has failed to advance past the group stage in a World Cup, Copa América, or Gold Cup while playing at home. Unsurprisingly, the team’s head coach was fired this week. Meanwhile, fans across the pond are gearing up for a different final.

Tell me more: England is going up against Spain on Sunday in the Euro Cup final. If that sounds familiar it’s because the two countries went head-to-head last year during the Women’s World Cup. There are major stakes riding on Sunday’s game since it’s the first time England’s national soccer team has made it to a final outside their home country since the 1966 World Cup and 2021 Euro Cup. While Spain looks to win its fourth European Championship, England will attempt to win its first. Game on.

Related: Obama’s USA Men’s Basketball Send-Off Looked a Lot Like a Key & Peele Sketch (The Guardian)

Quick Hits

😢 “Fly away, beautiful.” Dan Gilroy paid tribute to his longtime partner Shelley Duvall.

🏀 Sorry Caitlin Clark, but A’ja Wilson got this one. Here are the other athletes who took top honors at the ESPYS.

🎄 Christmas in September? Hallmark will be giving viewers an early holiday gift.

🛍️ Forget sorting through racks of clothes, Substack is giving thrifters a new way to shop.

💍 The wedding of the year is here. Good luck keeping up with the three-day celebration (and the guest list).

Let's Unpack This

Amid the growing calls for President Biden to drop out of the election, there’s another ongoing debate: Should there be an age cap for presidential candidates? We talked to Rose McDermott, a political scientist at Brown University. Here’s what she had to say…

What are the pros of having an age limit for presidential candidates?

There’s a minimum age: You have to be [at least] 35 to be president. Part of the reason the founders of the Constitution didn’t have an upper age limit is that nobody lived long [enough] to have to worry about somebody outliving their performance. But clearly, the founders were concerned about characteristics associated with age or they wouldn’t have had a minimum age … There are good reasons to be concerned about the age of leaders because there are certain illnesses that are much more likely [to develop] as you get older. Some of them are things like cancer, but a lot of them are also things that are concerning for decision making, like Alzheimer’s. I think the idea is not just whether or not you want an age limit or a series of tests that are required for somebody to pass … the idea is to protect the nation against the consequences that come with particularly devastating neurological diseases.

Is there any benefit to not having an age cap?

As people get older, they do increase in wisdom. It’s what you call crystallized knowledge, which is the ability to synthesize the information that you acquire across the course of a lifetime and apply it in new situations. There can be benefits to that. But that happens only when somebody isn’t also having an illness at the same time. That’s why something like cognitive tests might be useful.

Should there be a constitutional age cap for presidents?

Yes, I’ve argued that for a while … I think that the percentage of the population now that’s over 65 is … less than 20%. The problem is that once somebody gets above a certain age, they are no longer representative of the majority of the population, which is a lot younger. Maybe at certain times, like in World War II, that didn’t matter so much. But now when you have pressing concerns — like climate change and AI — that are so tied to novel technologies and future problems, it’s just really hard to envision that somebody who’s generationally not representative of the majority of the population is the best choice … My one moment of hesitation [on the age cap] is that you can lose somebody who can be really valuable. 

PS: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Read more:

• Where Does the Money Go if Biden Steps Aside? (New York Times)

• Biden Wouldn’t Be the First Democratic Incumbent To Drop Out (Politico)

Extra Credit

See

Spaceships aren’t the only thing that’ll get your heart racing in the new movie Fly Me to the Moon. So will Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson’s electric on-screen chemistry. The perhaps unlikely romantic pairing star in director Greg Berlanti’s latest film, which takes place during the height of the 1960s space race. Cole Davis (Tatum) is a no-nonsense launch director responsible for the upcoming Apollo 11 moon landing mission while Kelly Jones (Johansson) is a marketing exec hired by NASA to orchestrate a fake moon landing in case the mission completely blows up — literally and figuratively. The stakes are high, the fashion is on point, and even if parts of the storyline aren't 100 percent historically accurate, we’re willing to let it fly (sorry, we had to).

Settle This

People are trying to figure out if they want to have a “hot girl summer” or become “boysober.” Which would you pick?

Game Time

Kick your weekend off with Pile-Up Poker, a brand-new game where poker meets solitaire. Create as many poker hands as possible to earn cash and climb the leaderboard. We’re all in.

Skimm Well

Mental health-related leaves of absence are up 300% since 2017 — and women accounted for 69% of those taken in 2023, according to one analysis.

In a world where it can feel challenging to take control of your mental and physical health, we’ve got you covered. The Skimm Well newsletter gives you expert-backed advice and info to do just that.

Skimm Well

Mental health-related leaves of absence are up 300% since 2017 — and women accounted for 69% of those taken in 2023, according to one analysis.

In a world where it can feel challenging to take control of your mental and physical health, we’ve got you covered. The Skimm Well newsletter gives you expert-backed advice and info to do just that.