Intro

The Washington Roundtable: Susan B. Glasser, Jane Mayer, and Evan Osnos discuss President Joe Biden’s struggle to retain voters’ confidence in his bid for reëlection and his animosity toward the “élites” he says are insisting that he step down. Plus, Donald Trump’s campaign strategy amid Democratic turmoil and ahead of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

“The problem is the meta-narrative, which seems to be centered on: Will Biden faceplant or won’t he?,” Jane Mayer says. “And, so long as that’s the narrative, the narrative is not on Donald Trump and the threat to democracy that he poses.”

This week’s reading:

• “Joe Biden’s Less-Than-Awful Press Conference Does Not Mean Everything Is Now O.K.,” by Susan B. Glasser
• “The Controlled Normalcy of Kamala Harris’s Trip to Las Vegas,” by Antonia Hitchens
• “A Congressional Democrat Explains Why He’s Standing with Biden,” by Isaac Chotiner
• “Joe Biden’s Cynical Turn Against the Press,” by Jay Caspian Kang 
• “Joe Biden Is Fighting Back—but Not Against Trump, Really,” by Benjamin Wallace-Wells

To discover more podcasts from The New Yorker, visit newyorker.com/podcasts. To send in feedback on this episode, write to themail@newyorker.com with “The Political Scene” in the subject line.