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Biden concedes debate fumbles but declares he will defend democracy. Dems stick by him — for now

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President Joe Biden is trying to quell Democratic anxieties over his unsteady showing in his debate with ex-President Donald Trump. Biden appeared to acknowledge the criticism on Friday saying ”I don’t debate as well as I used to.”
 
 
President Joe Biden worked forcefully Friday to quell Democratic anxieties over his unsteady showing in his debate with former President Donald Trump, as elected members of his party closed ranks around him in an effort to shut down talk of replacing him atop the ticket.
 
Biden’s halting delivery and meandering comments, particularly early in the debate, fueled concerns from even members of his own party that at age 81 he’s not up for the task of leading the country for another four years. It created a crisis moment for Biden’s campaign and his presidency, as members of his party flirted with potential replacements, and donors and supporters couldn’t contain their concern about his showing against Trump.
 
Biden appeared to acknowledge the criticism during a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, saying ”I don’t debate as well as I used to.” But he added, “I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done.” Speaking for 18 minutes, Biden appeared far more animated than he had the night before as he excoriated Trump for his “lies” and for waging a campaign aimed at “revenge and retribution.”
 
“The choice in this election is simple,” Biden said. “Donald Trump will destroy our democracy. I will defend it.”
 
He added, alluding to his candidacy, “When you get knocked down, you get back up.”
 
First lady Jill Biden, at a Friday evening fundraiser in New York City, said her husband told her after the debate, “I don’t know what happened. I didn’t feel that great.” But she seconded the president in stressing that he tells the truth and he bounces back from adversity.
 
Even before the debate, Biden’s age had been a liability with voters, and Thursday night’s faceoff appeared to reinforce the public’s deep-seated concerns before perhaps the largest audience he will garner in the four months until Election Day.
 
Privately, his campaign worked to tamp down concerns and keep donors and surrogates on board. Democratic lawmakers on Friday acknowledged Biden’s poor showing, but tried to stop talk of replacing him as their standard-bearer, and instead shift the focus to Trump’s attacks and falsehoods.
 
 
“Well, the president didn’t have a good night, but neither did Donald Trump with lie after lie and his dark vision for America,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper told The Associated Press on Friday, hours before he introduced the president in Raleigh. “We cannot send Donald Trump back to the White House. He’s an existential threat to our nation.”
 
Former President Barack Obama backed up his former vice president, posting on X that “Bad debate nights happen.” Alluding to his own poor showing in the first debate of his reelection campaign in 2012, Obama continued, “Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself.”
 
He added: “Last night didn’t change that, and it’s why so much is at stake in November.”
 
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries answered with a flat “no” when asked Friday if Biden should step aside.
 
Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., allowed he “had to take a few more antidepressants than usual” after Biden’s debate showing.
 
But he added that “a Donald Trump presidency would cause me far greater discomfort than a Joe Biden debate performance.”
 
Biden’s campaign billed the Raleigh event as the largest-yet rally of his reelection bid in the state Trump carried by the narrowest margin in 2020. He then traveled to New York for a weekend of big-dollar fundraisers that his campaign now needs more than ever.
 
Biden’s campaign announced that it raised $14 million on debate day and the morning after, while Trump’s campaign said it raised more than $8 million from the start of the debate through the end of the night.
 
Vice President Kamala Harris, whom the Biden campaign sent out to defend his performance, tried to reassure Biden supporters at a rally in Las Vegas on Friday, saying, “This race will not be decided by one night in June.
 
“This race will be decided by you. By us,” she said. “Who sits in the White House next year will be determined by what we together do in these next 130 days.”
 
Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler said there had been no internal conversations “whatsoever” about Biden stepping aside, though he, too, acknowledged that the president had a “bad night” on stage.
 
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., said he could hardly sleep because of the number of telephone calls he got after Biden performed “horribly” in the debate.
 
“People were just concerned. And I told everybody being concerned is healthy, overreacting is dangerous,” Cleaver said.
 
Rep. James Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat whose support in that state helped Biden secure the Democratic nomination four years ago, said he would likely speak to Biden later Friday and his message would be simple: “Stay the course.”
 
Biden and his team have long wagered that voters would look past their concerns about his age and unpopularity when confronted at the ballot box with a choice between the president and Trump. Despite their concerns about Biden’s performance, they took solace in Trump doing little to expand his own appeal to voters on Thursday.
 
Polls from CNN and 538/Ipsos conducted soon after the debate found that most debate-watchers thought Trump outperformed Biden. But the two men’s favorability ratings remained largely unchanged, just as they did in the aftermath of Trump’s conviction.
 
Democrats seized on Trump’s equivocations on whether he would accept the will of voters this time around, his refusal to condemn the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, trying to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden, and his embrace of the conservative-leaning Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade that had legalized abortion nationwide.
 
But Biden fumbled on abortion rights, one of the most important issues for Democrats in this year’s election. He was unable to explain Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. A conservative Supreme Court with three justices nominated by Trump overturned Roe two years ago.
 
As elected Democrats united behind Biden publicly, donors and party operatives shared panicked text messages and phone calls Thursday night and into Friday expressing their concern that Biden’s performance was so bad that he may be unelectable this fall.
 
Among the few public Democratic voices calling on Biden to step aside was congressional candidate Nancy Boyda in Kansas, who broke with most in her party and called on Biden to suspend his campaign and retire at the end of his current term.
 
But there were no immediate signs of organized efforts among donors, his campaign leadership or the Democratic National Committee to convince the president to step aside, according to interviews with several people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share sensitive conversations.
 
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat frequently mentioned as a 2028 contender and speculated about as a potential replacement for Biden, released a statement backing him on Friday.
 
“The difference between Joe Biden’s vision for making sure everyone in America has a fair shot and Donald Trump’s dangerous, self-serving plans will only get sharper as we head toward November,” she said.
 
California Gov. Gavin Newsom also dismissed questions on whether he would consider stepping in for Biden, telling reporters, “I will never turn my back on him.”
 
Under current Democratic Party rules, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to replace Biden as the party’s nominee without his cooperation or without party officials being willing to rewrite the rules at the August national convention.
 
Trump was set to hold a rally Friday afternoon in Chesapeake, Virginia, a onetime battleground that has shifted toward Democrats in recent years but that his aides believe can flip toward the Republicans in November. [AP]
 
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BREAKING: Jubilation As PDP Wins All 30 LGs In Osun State(See winners)

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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Osun State Independent Electoral Commission, OSSIEC, has announced that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, won all the local government and councillorship positions in the just concluded local government elections in the state.

The Chairman of the Commission, Hashim Abioye, made this announcement via a Facebook Live broadcast on Saturday evening.

Abioye stated that PDP candidates secured all the councillorship seats in all 332 wards in the state, as well as the chairmanship elections in all 30 local government council areas.

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The names of the PDP chairmanship candidates and their respective local government council areas:

Babalola Wasiu Kayode – Boripe

Okunade Oluwafemi Adesanya – Egbedore

Adeyenuwo Rotimi John – Ife Central

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Agboola Francis Olajire – Obokun

Azeez Lateef Adeniran – Isokan

Aina Abayomi Adesina – Boluwaduro

Sodiq Samuel Oluwapelumi – Ola Oluwa

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Ajibade Oluwatoyin S. – Irepodun

Adebanjo Oladiti Tunmininu – Ilesa West

Ibironke Alade Adegboye – Atakumosa East

Aroke Muyiwa Aderemi – Ife South

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Kolade Obafemi Kolawole – Olorunda

Moshood Adekunle Kabiru – Iwo

Awotunde Abiodun Sarafadeen – Ifelodun

Akande Taiwo Adekunle – Osogbo

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Dada Feyisayo Ajibola – Atakumosa West

Amodu Taiwo – Ede North

Atolagbe Kayode Olayinka – Ifedayo

Akande Michael O. – Ife North

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Adeyekun Taiwo Adebayo – Oriade

Adeniran Adenike Felicia – Ayedaade

Afolabi Oyekola Lukman – Ede South

Odunyemi Haruna Bukola – Ife East

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Jooda Ambali Babajide – Irewole

Adewale Adeyinka Oluwaseun – Odo Otin

Ogunbiyi Solomon Akinyemi – Ayedire

Raimi Adenike Nafisat – Ejigbo

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Adebisi Jayeola Nasir – Ila

Ilesanmi Taiwo Sunday – Ilesa East

Alade Aderemi Fatai – Orolu

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DSS arrests three for assaulting operatives during LSHA crisis

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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested three persons linked to the alleged assault on its officers during the crisis that rocked the Lagos State House of Assembly, following the removal Mudashiru Obasa, as Speaker

Apparently sensing danger, some lawmakers had mobilized their supporters to the Assembly Complex, but these supporters allegedly attacked some DSS officers who were invited by the Assembly leadership to secure the facility. Security sources revealed that “after extensive analysis of CCTV footage, we were able to clearly identify three of the suspects”.
“The suspects, Ibrahim Olanrewaju Abdulkareem, a photographer and two others attached to the Assembly’s Seargent at Arms, Adetu Adekunle Samsudeen and Adetola Oluwatosin Fatimoh, a lady, were consequently tracked and arrested during the week in different parts of Lagos,” The trio have since confessed to the crime and will soon be charged to court, the source said.

It would be recalled that the Lagos Assembly had in a leaked memo dated 14th February, 2025 and addressed to the DSS Director in the State, and Heads of other Security Agencies in Lagos State, told the Security Agencies in Lagos that, there was credible information to the effect that, Obasa had planned to forcefully reinstate himself today, February 18, 2025.
Accordingly, the Assembly management, held the view that, the development posed “a potential security threat” to it and its members.

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Police seal OSSIEC office, officials nabbed, says chairman

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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The chairman of the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC), Hashim Abioye, has claimed that the police have sealed off the headquarters in Osogbo.

In a video post on the OSSIEC X handle, Abioye accused the police of also arresting election officials and blocking journalists from covering the local government election.

According to him, several OSSIEC officials were detained while on their way to polling units on Saturday.

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Attempts by our correspondent to reach Abioye for further details proved abortive as his telephone line was switched off.

The OSSIEC chair, in the post, assured voters that materials had been deployed to affected areas.

So far so good, the reports have been positive and the conduct has been very smooth and peaceful as against the false alarm raised by the police. Everywhere is calm,” Abioye said.

“The only thing is that in some of the areas in which materials are supposed to have arrived for voters to cast their votes, we had reports of police arresting our officials.

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“I don’t know on whose order because there is no court order that warranted the arrest of officers of our officials.

“As it is, we have deployed materials to those units because we have enough on the ground.

For our people in the media community, I want to apologise for the inadequacy of the tags and the jackets because we have enough but the police sealed our office and that was not warranted at all.”

Abioye’s comments come after police had called for the local government election to be called off by the state government, citing a security threat.

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In a statement by its Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, on Friday, the Police said it received credible intelligence indicating a likelihood of violence and significant security threats should the planned elections proceed.

The police explained that reports gathered from joint intelligence gathering revealed that various groups, including political elements and other interested parties, are mobilising to instigate unrest, disrupt public peace and undermine the democratic order.

However, the Osun State government acknowledged the police’s advice but insisted on going on with the election.

Channels Television reports that the election eventually went on as scheduled on Saturday.

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