As the Democrat/Media Establishment Complex continue to press Joe Biden to exit the race, the hard-Left progressives have now entered the chat. And I find myself running low on popcorn, not coincidentally.

Adding to the chaotic meltdown of the Democrat Party comes Bernie Sanders to scold everyone -- the media included -- on bedwetting over Joe Biden. Appearing on Morning Joe today after Team Biden campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon and her insistence that Biden will "absolutely" remain in the race, Sanders blasts fellow Democrats and media enablers for suggesting otherwise. Why not run on the record rather than the polls, Sanders wonders:

"Maybe if we start focusing on [Biden's] record, start focusing on what he is trying to do — not only is he going to win, I think he has a chance to win in a big way. Because working class people in this country are hurting."

— @SenSanders on Biden's re-election campaign pic.twitter.com/RIoCUoXqpi

— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) July 19, 2024

Ahem. If working-class people in the country are still hurting after four years of Biden's leadership and Democrat policies, that might make running on Biden's record problematic. Plus, the issue isn't record any longer -- it's whether Biden can do the job now, let alone for the next four years. Democrats are pretending it's about the polls, but it's really about distancing themselves from their massive fraud on the American electorate about Biden's capacity, a point that the Protection Racket Media would like to avoid as well. 

Put all that aside, though, and consider what Sanders' intervention means. The progressive Left has rallied behind Biden, in part because he turned his campaign sharply to the Left to gain their support after the debate. Even while Democrats in the House and Senate are releasing statements urging Biden to withdraw and plant stories that Biden is wavering, Sanders is riding to his defense. 

Not just Sanders either, but also Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She blasted fellow Democrats for their whisper campaign as well as the party establishment for attempting to boot both Biden and Kamala Harris off the ticket. She went live on Instagram last night urging Democrats to re-think their internecine coup attempt, and warned that the Democrat establishment was selling out to corporate donors:

In a late-night livestream on Instagram, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez acknowledged that there were good-faith arguments for Mr. Biden to leave the ticket. But she said the ongoing debate was being clouded by wealthy donors to a “disturbing” degree and being distorted by social media, “groupthink” and anonymous leaks by her colleagues to the news media.

“People need to understand the reality and the gravity of what these people are proposing,” she said. “I’m not saying this is all a reason not to do it, but I do think people are talking about this without having two eyes wide open as to what this really means.”

She added bluntly: “I have not seen an alternative scenario that I feel will not set us up for enormous peril.”

The effort to exclude Harris sends up a big red flag to AOC as well:

AOC: "If you think that is going to be an easy transition, I'm here to tell you that a huge amount of the donor class and these elites who are pushing for the president not to be the nominee also do not want to see the VP be the nominee."

— Peter Sterne (@petersterne) July 19, 2024

Where's my popcorn again? I'm out already?

All of this tends to put a serious crimp in the notion pushed by Dump Biden conspirators and their media mouthpieces that the pressure on Biden will be irresistible. Biden (or whoever has strategized for this crisis) lined up the party's left flank to protect Biden, and it seems to be working. Democrats need the hard-Left progressives for ground organization and grass-roots fundraising. If they conduct a party coup in defiance of Bernie and AOC, the consequences will be explosive -- and maybe literally, after watching the Left riot in 2020 and in the days since the October 7 massacre by Hamas in Israel. It will rip the party in two and leave them unable to compete all the way down the ballot, and all of their billionaire-class donors won't be able to paper over the split. 

As long as Bernie and AOC are defending Biden, he's not going anywhere Biden doesn't want to go. And it's clear that Biden doesn't want to go at all. And once again, that's what he's saying:

“I look forward to getting back on the campaign trail next week to continue exposing the threat of Donald Trump’s Project 2025 agenda while making the case for my own record and the vision that I have for America: one where we save our democracy, protect our rights and freedoms, and create opportunity for everyone.

“The stakes are high, and the choice is clear. Together, we will win.”

All Biden has to do is bide his time for three weeks, and Democrats are stuck with him. 

Addendum: Has the Protection Racket Media begun to reframe the narrative? The AP published this after Sanders' pushback:

A swath of Americans watching President Joe Biden is seeing something beyond debate-stage stumbles and prime-time miscues: Themselves.

Debate about the 81-year-old Democrat’s fitness for another term is especially resonating with other older Americans who, like him, want to stay on the job. ...

Many older adults are wary of seeing a peer shoved aside because of his age and, like Forest, insist it should be up to each individual when they decide to exit the workplace.

I sense a narrative shift a-comin'!

Update: Hakeem Jeffries has notably steered clear of the Schumer-Pelosi-Obama effort to dump Biden from the ticket. Earlier today, the House Democrat Caucus leader re-upped his Biden endorsement:

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said he continues to support President Joe Biden's candidacy and believes the incumbent remains able to beat former President Donald Trump in November's general election. 

"I've answered that question repeatedly over the last three weeks," Jeffries said Friday at an event on street safety improvements at Brooklyn schools. "I've answered that question repeatedly, my answer has not changed."