9 hr 35 min ago From CNN’s MJ Lee, Jeff Zeleny, Manu Raju, Michael Williams and Annie Grayer
Analysis: Republicans and Democrats take opposite approaches to flawed candidates
From CNN’s Zachary B. Wolf
Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden.
Both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are well into retirement age. Both ramble through answers to questions when they bother to take them. Both mix up names. Neither took part in debates during a primary season in which they racked up wins.
One of the men, Trump, 78, has been able to remake the Republican Party around his own divisive persona, despite being a recently convicted felon, indicted for election interference and mishandling classified documents, and found liable for sexual abuse and defamation — as well as lying about his net worth to get loans tied to his massive real estate portfolio.
Meanwhile, Biden, 81, has now spent weeks defiantly defending his fitness for the job, slowly emerging from a protective bubble at the White House after a disastrous debate and spotty subsequent interviews.
The next week will offer a fresh look at what must feel like a cruel dichotomy to Biden supporters.
When the Republican National Convention gets underway Monday, it will show off a speaking schedule full of far-right personalities and an official party platform rewritten and simplified around Trump’s priorities.
Trump, between now and then, will pick a vice president from a short list of people who have previously criticized him but are now all in on his candidacy.
While the former president celebrates his dominance at the convention, Biden will be fighting back the argument that Democratic convention delegates should pick a younger successor next month.
The latest in a series of public tests of Biden’s abilities will be another interview with a network news anchor, NBC this time, broadcast in prime time on Monday.