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President Joe Biden is preparing for the most consequential press conference of his career this afternoon as he faces mounting calls to drop out.
A gaffe could be the nail in then coffin for the 81-year-old's presidential campaign when he takes questions from reporters at the White House.
Meanwhile a new favorite has emerged in betting odds in the race to be Donald Trump's running mate.
Follow all the developments below in DailyMail.com's U.S. politics blog, with coverage from our reporters in Washington D.C. and across the country.
How Biden's press conference performance will determine his fate
The eyes of the world will be on Joe Biden on Thursday evening and all the 81-year-old has to do is give strong, forceful answers to a series of questions, showing he can perform well in an unscripted setting and quiet the talk he is not mentally fit for a second term in office.
But in a sign of how worried aides are about his performance at the 5:30 pm ET press conference, they have a backup plan in place in case Biden fumbles for words and stares into space like he did in the first presidential debate.
The pressure is on Biden as he tries to tamp down the voices in the Democratic Party calling for his exit from the presidential race and shore up support behind his candidacy. At least a dozen Democratic lawmakers have called for him to bow out.
A good performance can reassure his frantic allies that he has the mental and physical energy to compete against Donald Trump. A bad perfomance could be a disaster and the nail in the coffin for his chances of staying as the Democratic nominee.
New favorite emerges in betting odds to be Trump's running mate
Donald Trump is expected to announce his running mate at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee next week.
Speculation over who will get the nod to be on the GOP ticket has been growing for months.
He has narrowed his list of contenders to just a handful of party heavyweights and has teased when he will make the announcement.
But betting odds in Las Vegas show one man inching ahead.
Senator Marco Rubio was the slight +225 favorite at BetOnline as of Tuesday.
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and Ohio U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance were each listed at +250.
However, on Wednesday, Burgum surged into the lead with odds of +150, with Vance the second choice at +285.
Trump has held auditions for his VP slot for months. Rubio, Burgum and Vance have emerged as the frontrunners in recent weeks.
The former president hosted Rubio at his rally in Miami on Tuesday night and kept the audience guessing as to whether he would be the choice.
'He's one handsome son of a b*tch': How MAGA favorite JD Vance caught Trump's eye as he weighs his pick for VP
If looks are the key to Donald Trump's vice presidential pick then there is only one winner.
J.D. Vance's blue eyes and thick beard first caught the attention of the former president two years ago, when the author and former Marine was competing for the Republican nomination in Ohio's Senate race.
'He's one handsome son of a bitch,' Trump told his inner circle.
Since then Vance has emerged as one of his most formidable promoters on cable news channels.
And a strict running regimen instituted during his run for Senate has seen the possible veep lose weight recently, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by Trump himself, according to a source familiar with the former president's conversations.
Biden's odd response when asked about George Clooney's stunning call for him to step back: 'AFL-CIO. Go, go, go!'
President Joe Biden faced a barrage of questions during his meeting Wednesday with new British PM Keir Starmer about George Clooney’s stunning op-ed calling for him to step aside.
Biden’s response, as he faces calls in Congress to step down, was to say: ‘AFL-CIO. Go, go, go!’ His response suggests he puts more stock in the powerful labor union, which issued a statement saying it stood in ‘strong solidarity’ with him on July 3, following his debate fiasco.
The cacophony in the Oval Office came as reporters got their first sustained chance to ask Biden about the Hollywood star's call for him to step down from the race – just weeks after helping him haul in nearly $30 million at an L.A. fundraiser.
He is certain to face more questions on the matter when he holds what the White House is now calling a 'big boy press conference' on Thursday at the NATO summit he is hosting in Washington.
'Joe Biden is a hero; he saved democracy in 2020. We need him to do it again in 2024,' Clooney wrote in his bombshell New York Times op-ed.
ABC's brutal ultimatum to George Stephanopoulos after his damning verdict on Joe Biden - as network plunged into 'fully-fledged crisis'
George Stephanopoulos was threatened with being taken off air if he didn't clarify his position on Joe Biden's ability to serve another four years, it is claimed.
The ABC host gave his blunt assessment of the president's performance in a brief interview when he was ambushed on Tuesday.
The former Bill Clinton aide was asked on the street in Manhattan if Biden should step down and responded: 'I don't think he can serve four more years'.
Biden's interview with the former White House press secretary on Friday followed a disastrous debate performance on June 27.
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