Biden soldiers on: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill.

In today’s edition, senior national political reporter Sahil Kapur reports on how President Joe Biden is seeking to keep his fracturing coalition together. Plus, "Meet the Press" moderator Kristen Welker breaks down Biden's most revealing responses from his news conference.

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Biden soldiers on with Michigan rally and talks with lawmakers as more Democrats defect

By Sahil Kapur

DETROIT — President Joe Biden’s coalition is cracking, and one prominent new defection in battleground Michigan is turning heads as Biden hosts a rally here Friday night.

Rep. Hillary Scholten, a 42-year-old freshman who flipped a GOP-held district around Grand Rapids in 2022, said voters elected her “to speak the truth, even when it’s hard” and that Biden is no longer the right standard-bearer for the Democratic Party to take on Donald Trump.

“Joe Biden has been that leader for so long; but this is not about the past, it’s about the future. It’s time to pass the torch,” Scholten said in a statement.

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Democrats with the volunteer group Pass the Torch, which is seeking to replace Biden atop the ticket, said her warning should be heeded.

“People should really listen,” Abby Clark, a longtime Democratic organizer and former campaign aide based in Detroit, told NBC News. “That district is exactly the kind of district we need to be winning with a Dem ticket to elect a president and have a majority in each chamber.”

Michigan is a must-win state