This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A record-setting heat wave gripped much of middle and western parts of the United States heading into the weekend. Temperatures in the triple digits are being documented all over.
But that's not why those in the Democrat party, from key leaders to rank-and-file, are sweating.
It's because of the confused state of their presidential candidacy, candidate Joe Biden's status as the incumbent and the evidence he's given in recent public appearances that he simply may not be up to the job, mentally.
The Washington Examiner reported the party’s top-ranking officer in the House, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, of New York, met with Biden to talk about the path forward.
The meeting came only a short time after Biden's press conference at a NATO summit where he introduced Ukraine's president as "President Putin" and he called his vice president, "Vice President Trump."
Jeffries pointed out he "expressed the full breadth of insight, heartfelt perspectives and conclusions about the path forward that the caucus has shared in our recent time together."
So far, at least 18 House Democrats have asked Biden to withdraw from the race, which likely would trigger a war for his replacement. Kamala Harris, the vice president, is even less popular than Biden, whose numbers have been far underwater all year.
Biden has refused to concede he's having difficulties, and certainly has refused to walk away.
The Daily Mail reported the intraparty battle has prompted donors’ threats to freeze $90 million in donations.
"According to the New York Times, the donations will not be transferred over if Biden remains at the top of the Democrats' 2024 ticket," the report explained.
The report continued, "Donald Trump used a brutal meme to mock rival President Joe Biden introducing Volodymr Zelensky as 'President Putin' before his NATO press conference. The former president posted an image of a Wheel of Fortune board with the letters Z,L,N,S,Y."
The image shows Biden shouting "Putin."
Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican, pointed out the national security threat from a president not able to quickly grasp the nuances of a possible threat to the nation.
"Democrats have known Biden is unfit to be president, and if they had any integrity, they'd invoke the 25th Amendment already," Hawley said. "We're talking about the security of the American people here – so why does Biden still have the nuclear codes?"
Biden's week was ending with a campaign swing through Michigan, an attempt to shore up support in a necessary swing state that easily could go for Trump this election.
Democrats convene in Chicago next month to name, officially, their candidate, presumed to this point to be Biden, who will be 82 in a just a couple of months.
Biden said they can do "whatever they want" at the meetings, but said he still has "overwhelming support."
There are those leftists who are presuming there's nothing at all wrong.
A Whatfinger report said TV personality Rachel Maddow went to a leftist news organization to defend Biden, claiming he “showed a startingly impressive command of the issues at his press conference.”
A commentary at Twitchy scorched Democrats for saying they now recognized that this Biden is not the same Biden they wanted in 2020.
Twitchy said, "Many of them are in denial about just how bad Biden has always been, even way back in 2020. Lots and lots of us tried to tell Democrats Biden was a mess then, but the media screamed about democracy and insisted Joe had a stutter and HOW DARE we pick on the kindly old man who fights through a speech impediment."
