Trump Warns of His Authoritarianism?

Editors:

Now some are wondering whether his french fry burp actually covered saying he's "*not* a Christian"?

Hearing it with both possibilities in my mind I believe Trump said "I'm a Christian," but had a bit of french fry burp back up on him. I don't believe he'd ever tell such a group he's not what they want him to be. I also wonder about the "won't have to vote" thing. I am incapable of seeing him as someone with a plan containing more than a week's specifics, unless it was about manipulating a particular piece of real estate's value. If I had to guess, he caught one phrase from some sycophant/offspring's summary of 2025 visions and tossed it out there (it had to do with voting, after all, which I doubt he's ever liked). The largest danger to me is he'll win and die, leaving it to Vance.

--Hugh Hansen

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If you lean left and you are worried – or not so much -- by Donald J. Trump’s latest talk there will be no need for Christians to vote in 2028 if they help elect him this November, this is your column. Click on the headline above and go to the Comment section in the column, or email editors@thehustings.news and indicate your political leanings (regardless of your opinion on this specific subject) in the subject line.

If you lean right – whether Trump’s comments worry you or not – please see the right column on this page. You may enter your comments in the appropriate lines after clicking on the headline, “Could There be Any Reasonable Explanation?”

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…meanwhile…

President Biden speaks Thursday about the historic prisoner swap with Russia. Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, Vladimir Kara-Murza and Alsu Kurmasheva were among those released by Vladimir Putin. (White House photo.)

UPDATE II: A Kremlin bureaucratic formality requires those released from prison, such as in Thursday's prisoner exchange, must formally request clemency in a letter to Russian leader/dictator Vladimir Putin. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was to serve 16 years for a made-up espionage charge asked the Russian government in his letter for an interview with Putin, Axios reports.

A much darker revelation came earlier from National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who in a Thursday press briefing said the US had sought the release of dissident Alexei Navalny, according to Axios. Navalny died under mysterious circumstances while held in a Russian prison last February.

Clarification: We have noted that Gershkovich, the highest profile prisoner in the exchange, and retired US Marine Paul Whelan were released Thursday. We also listed British-Russian anti-Kremlin journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza, but did not mention his Pulitzer Prize-winning work as a Washington Post contributor. A fourth release by Russia to America is Alsu Kurmasheva, of Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Liberty.

UPDATE: The US-Russia prisoner swap actually involved a seven-nation exchange that took place in Ankara, Turkey, The New York Times reports. In addition to WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich, retired US Marine Paul Whelan and Russian-British journalist and Kremlin opponent Vladimir Kara-Murza, Russia released several allies of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who himself died in a Russian gulag last February, reports The Atlantic Daily which notes that Russia got "what it wanted" in the exchange. That includes release of Vadim Krasilov, a colonel from the Russian intelligence service who was serving a life sentence in a German prison for carrying out a Kremlin-ordered hit on a dissident in Berlin, a Russian money launderer serving time in an American prison and two Russian spies caught in Slovenia.

Gershkovich, Whelan to be Released in Swap -- Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich (above) and retired US Marine Paul Whelan and a third American will be released from Russian prisons by late Thursday in what CNN and the BBC describe as a "massive prisoner swap," according to the Biden administration. Gershkovich and Whelan both had been sentenced to 16-year prison sentences for espionage.

•••

Will it be Shapiro? -- The Harris campaign has confirmed to The Philadelphia Inquirer that the vice president will kick off her tour through swing states next Tuesday in Philadelphia, with her choice for running mate. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is native of a Philadelphia suburb, adding to speculation that he is Harris' lead choice to run for vice president on the Democratic ticket. But the Inquirer adds that Harris' swing state campaign next week will go through Arizona, home to Sen. Mark Kelly, who also is seen as a top candidate for the job. Harris and her running mate also will tour western Wisconsin, Detroit, Raleigh, North Carolina, Savannah, Georgia and Las Vegas, the campaign told the newspaper.

•••

KSM to Plead Guilty in 9/11 Case – Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two others charged with plotting the September 11 attacks have agreed to a plea deal in which they will avoid the death penalty, according to NPR’s Morning Edition. They also will have to answer questions from victims’ family members about why they did what they did. Nearly 3,000 died at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and aboard an airliner in rural Pennsylvania.

It is not known whether KSM, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi will remain at Guantánamo or will be transferred to prisons in the US. It is also not known what prompted the plea bargains – President Biden was not involved according to the National Security Council, NPR reports, but the cases had not been going well for prosecutors, especially regarding evidence gathered via torture during the Bush 43 administration. 

And it’s not completely over: the cases of 30 more men held at Guantánamo remain.

•••

Fed Cut, Not Yet – A week after the June numbers for the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, once obscure outside Federal Reserve nerds, dropped to 2.5% were released, Chairman Jerome Powell says the Fed could cut interest rates at its next meeting in September to avoid weakening the labor market, The Wall Street Journal reports. 

“The broad sense of the committee is that the economy is moving closer to the point at which it will be appropriate to reduce our policy rate. A reduction in the policy rate could be on the table as soon as the next meeting in September.” 

That’s potentially good news for Vice President Harris’ presidential campaign, if consumers notice substantial relief in mortgage and car loan rates, and credit card interest. 

With the Fed’s hold Wednesday, the policy rate remains between 5.25% and 5.5%, though PRI’s Marketplace reports that the rate being offered consumers by banks may already be coming down.

--TL

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WEDNESDAY 7/31/24

NABJ Interviews Trump – What did the Trump campaign hope to get from the ex-president’s interview at the National Association of Black Journalists’ convention in Chicago, Wednesday? The campaign had claimed to be winning over Black voters from President Biden, but Donald J. Trump said nothing to advance that cause, what with Vice President Harris as her opponent.

Rachel Scott of ABC News began by asking Trump about his false claims that former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley and former President Obama might not be American citizens and thus disqualified for the job, that Trump told four congresswomen of color to “go back to where they came from,” though they are American citizens, that the ex-prez has used words like “animal” and “rabid” to describe Black district attorneys and has called Black journalists “losers,” saying their questions are “stupid” and “racist,” and noted Trump had dinner with known white supremacists at his Mar-a-Lago resort. 

“Why should Black voters trust you after you use language like that?” Scott asked.

“Well, first of all, I didn’t think I’ve ever been asked a question so … in such a horrible manner. First question. You didn’t even say ‘hello, how are you?’ Are you with ABC? Because I think they’re a fake news network. And I think it’s disgraceful. I came here in good spirit. I love the Black population of this country. I’ve done so much for the Black population of this country. Including employment, including opportunity zones with Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, which is one of the greatest programs ever for Black workers and Black entrepreneurs.” 

Trump did get one audience member’s off-screen applause when he said he saved “broke” historically Black colleges and universities (HSBCUs). And, of course, it could only get better from there, right?

Well, the headline on the story by Kadia Goba, the Semafor political reporter who joined Scott and Fox News’ Harris Faulkner on the Chicago NABJ stage, reads that “Trump falsely says (Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris ‘turned black’ after previously promoting her Indian heritage…” 

Meanwhile, Politifact conducted real-time fact-checking during the one-hour interview.

Terry Marsh, assistant professor of media at Norfolk State University told Politico it is “probably the most unusual presidential interview I’ve ever seen. He seemed to avoid answering questions that are important to this group of people. His motive was just to explain his agenda. I’m confused why he came.”

Vice President Harris is in talks with the NABJ to speak to the group virtually, after their convention, according to USA Today.

--TL

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Escalating War – Hamas has accused Israel of killing Ismail Haniyeh, its top political leader, in an airstrike on Tehran Wednesday where he was attending the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, NPR’s Morning Edition reports. Hamas called Haniyeh’s killing “a dangerous event,” as Israel’s war on the militant Palestinian group has spilled out past Gaza into southern Lebanon.

Israel officials had no comment on the attack. 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Channel News Asia during a visit to Singapore that the US is not involved, and was not aware of the airstrike, which came hours after Israel said it killed a top commander of Hezbollah in an airstrike on Beirut. That strike on Lebanon was, in turn, retaliation for a rocket strike from Lebanon on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights last weekend, which resulted in at least 12 fatalities, mostly youth and teenagers, according to The New York Times.

Qatar had hosted Haniyeh in US-backed Gaza ceasefire talks, according to NPR.

Haniyeh’s killing, political assassinations, continued targeting of Palestinian civilians in Gaza undermine mediation efforts when “one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side,” said Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohanned Al Thani.

•••

Project 2025 Director Leaves – The director of Project 2025, Paul Dans, is stepping down from the Heritage Foundation-led campaign from which the Trump campaign is trying to distance itself, The Hill reports.

“When we began Project 2025, we set a timeline for the project to conclude its policy drafting after the two party conventions this year, and we are sticking to that timeline,” said Kevin Roberts, Heritage Foundation president. 

Project 2025 would place the entire executive branch of the federal government under direct control of the president under the unitary executive theory. Donald J. Trump denied knowledge of the project prior to the Republican National Convention, despite its connections with numerous associates of the ex-president. Dans was chief of staff at the Office of Personnel Management in the Trump administration.

--TL

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TUE 7/30/24 ...meanwhile...

Vice – With much of the world’s attention turned to the Paris Olympics and other summer activities, the punditocracy is concentrating on running mates from both parties. 

On the Democratic side, Vice President Kamala Harris, little more than a week into her campaign ahead of a formal virtual nomination by August 7, two key candidates to become her running mate have dropped out. Gretchen Whitmer has formally removed her name from consideration, saying she will fill out her remaining two years as Michigan’s governor. She also will serve as co-chair of Harris’ presidential campaign.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper also has removed his name from consideration, in part because Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a “GOP firebrand” according to The Washington Post would become acting governor. In addition, Cooper has not been “formally vetted” to become Harris’ running mate, an anonymous source told the WaPo.

The veepstakes … That leaves Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, according to Politico. With Cooper formally out of the running, Beshear is the remaining red state governor still in the mix. 

Meanwhile … “Mayor Pete” Buttigieg is campaigning hard for Harris’ veepstakes. He has gotten much attention among Democrats recently for his Fox News appearances, where he calmly and cheerfully explains why anti-Democratic tropes on the network are misinformed, a role he explained to Jon Stewart Monday Night on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show.

Meanwhile, at the Trump campaign … Hard to believe Donald J. Trump would admit to a mistake and remove Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) as his running mate, but some Republican lawmakers believe he has turned out to be “a magnet for controversy” and negative press, The Hill reports. Some GOP senators and congress members believe Trump should have chosen a woman, or a “person of color,” like Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who was key in writing Trump’s 2017 tax bill.

“I don’t think Trump likes any discomfort – he can create discomfort himself – but he doesn’t like external discomfort coming in, and J.D.’s struggling,” a Republican senator who remained anonymous told The Hill. “I would assume he’s not very happy.”

•••

Leo Says Biden Amendment Would “Pack the Court” – Attorney and right-wing activist Leonard Leo, the mentor to Justice Clarence Thomas considered largely responsible for the Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority, rarely appears in public. But he took to Fox News Digital Tuesday to criticize President Biden’s No One is Above the Law Constitutional amendment announced Monday at the LBJ Library in Austin, Texas. 

Saying the amendment has virtually no chance of adoption, Leo argued it would “really politicize the institution,” adding that it “is really just another attempt to pack the Supreme Court and to attack the integrity of the court without any real basis.”

--TL

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MON 7/29/24 -- Biden Pitches Constitutional Amendment

President Biden commemorates the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act Monday at the LBJ Library in Austin, Texas, where he will announce a “bold plan” to reform the US Supreme Court and “ensure no president is above the law.”

Look for Biden’s proposal to be the focus of his remaining half-year in office, as he pushes to ease democrats’ and Democrats’ fears about the potential for authoritarian executive rule after SCOTUS in its 2023-24 term gave presidents, former or current, broad immunity for “official” acts. 

Biden will propose the No One is Above the Law Amendment according to the White House, which would make “clear no president is above the law or immune from prosecution for crimes committed while in office,” and states “the Constitution does not confer any immunity from federal criminal indictment, trial, conviction, or sentencing by virtue of previously serving as president”:

  1. No immunity for crimes a former president committed in office: Biden “shares the founders’ belief that the president’s power is limited – not absolute – and must ultimately reside with the people.” 
  2. Term limits for Supreme Court Justices: The sitting president would appoint a justice every two years to spend 18 years in active service on the Supreme Court.
  3. Binding Code of Conduct for the Supreme Court: Biden “believes that Congress should pass binding, enforceable conduct and ethics rules that require justices to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity, and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest.” SCOTUS justices would “not be exempt from the enforceable code of conduct that applies to every other federal judge.”

Biden originally intended to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act earlier in July but delayed the event after the July 13 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania against Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump.

Biden’s speech, scheduled for 3 pm Central time (4 pm Eastern) is a closed event, though you can watch the live stream here.

•••

Venezuela Election Looks Fishy – Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US has “serious concerns” after Venezuela’s National Electoral Council named Nicolas Maduro winner of a third term in elections held Sunday. Elvis Amoroso, president of the council and a close ally of Maduro announced after hours delay that Marduro had 51% of the vote to opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez’s 44%, NPR’s Morning Edition reports.

Opposition leader Maria Corino Machado insisted Gonzalez had 70% of the vote to Maduro’s 30%. Machado cited several exit polls, including one by Edison Research, of the US, that showed Gonzalez over Maduro 65% to 31%. Maduro, first elected president in 2013 following the death of his mentor, Hugo Chavez, is widely unpopular in Venezuela. 

Gonzalez, a 74-year-old retired diplomat took over the opposition campaign from Machado after the Maduro regime banned her from running, according to NPR.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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SAT-SUN 7/27-28/24 -- Trump: Last Vote for Christians

GOP presidential candidate Donald J. Trump suggested to a Christian group Friday night that this November’s election would be the last for which they would ever need to vote. Ostensibly, he apparently was trying to make it easy for a segment of conservative Christians who do not care to go to the polls.

The nefarious explanation is that Trump expects to be American dictator not just for a day, January 20 and will end presidential elections as we know it. 

Give him the benefit of a doubt, and perhaps Trump means he’ll fix everything conservative Christians want – including establishment of Christian nationalism in the US -- so there will be no reason for Christians to vote again in 2028. 

In either case, here’s your chance to enter your warning or try to ease worries, as a Citizen Pundit, for what you think Trump meant Friday at the Believers’ Summit hosted by the far-right youth-oriented political group, Turning Point Action, in West Palm Beach, Florida. 

Here is what Trump told the Believers’ Summit about voting, according to The New York Times: 

“You won’t have to do it anymore. You know what? Four more years, it’ll be fine, you won’t have to do it anymore, my beautiful Christians.

“I love you, Christians. I’m a Christian. I love you, you got to get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not going to have to vote.”

--Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Weird

By Stephen Macaulay

One of the things that Democrats in support of the candidacy of Kamala Harris are doing is to refer to Donald Trump and his sidekick JD Vance as being or of having beliefs or notions that are, vis-à-vis the people who are located within bigger part of the bell-shaped curve, “weird.”

Strange. Odd. Out of step.

Let’s take a portion of a Trump stump speech theme, something he has said on more than one occasion, so it is not like nitpicking out of context.

Allegedly, Trump visited a recreational boat manufacturer in South Carolina.

Trump said he was told by someone at the company that “They” — and as “They” are not identified, it must be the Feds, because the governor of South Carolina is a Republican and legislative assembly is dominated by Republicans — “want us to make all electric boats.”

Let’s let that go. There is no proposed legislation for that. But as electric vehicles are seen by Trump as being related to environmental issues, and as he seemingly thinks environmental concerns are irrelevant, it is good for his brand to use this fantasy.

Now, let’s go full Trump:

“He [the person at the boat company] said ‘The problem is the boat is so heavy it can’t float.’

“I said, that sounds like a problem.”

Fair point. A boat that can’t float isn’t exactly useful. But there are electric boats. And they do float.

Someone might point out to Trump that the Boeing 757 he uses weighs over 255,000 pounds — and it flies!

To continue:

“He said, ‘Also, it can’t go fast because of the weight’ and they want to now have a 50 mile or a 70 mile radius. You have to go out 70 miles before you can really start the boat up, and you go out at two knots. That’s essentially almost like two miles an hour.

“I say, ‘How long does it take you to get out there?’

“’Many hours. And then you’re allowed to go around for 10 minutes, but you have to come back because the batteries only last for a very short period of time.’”

Now that is certainly too tangled to figure out. You have to go 70 miles before you can accelerate the boat, but 70 miles is the limit the boat can travel? And it takes “many hours” to “go around for 10 minutes”?

Even if this was the case, would anyone buy the boat?

Trump:

“So I said, ‘Let me ask you a question.’

“And he said, ‘Nobody ever asked this question.’”

Probably because it is a nonsensical question. But Trump continued:

“And it must be because of MIT. My relationship to MIT. Very smart. He goes. I say, ‘What would happen if the boat sank from its weight? And you’re in the boat and you have this tremendously powerful battery, and the battery is now underwater, and there’s a shark that’s approximately 10 yards over there.’

“By the way, a lot of shark attacks lately. You notice that? A lot of shark.”

In case you’re wondering: Trump had an uncle who was a professor at MIT. The uncle died in 1985. Just imagine if he played Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

Trump goes into a shark-attack digression:

“I watch some guys justifying it today. ‘Well, they weren’t really that angry. They bit off the young lady’s leg because of the fact that they were, they were not hungry, but they misunderstood what, who she was.’

“These people are crazy. He said ‘There’s no problem with sharks. They just didn’t really understand a young woman swimming,’ — no, really got decimated and other people too, a lot of shark attacks.”

Ah, yes. . . .

Anyway, back to that electric boat:

“I said, ‘So there’s a shark 10 yards away from the boat, 10 yards or here. Do I get electrocuted? If the boat is sinking, water goes over the battery, the boat is sinking. Do I stay on top of the boat and get electrocuted? Or do I jump over by the shark and not get electrocuted?’

“Because I will tell you, he didn’t know the answer. He said, ‘You know, nobody’s ever asked me that question.’

“I said, ‘I think it’s a good question. I think there’s a lot of electric current coming through that water.’

“But you know what I’d do if there was a shark or you get electrocuted? I’ll take electrocution every single time. I’m not getting near the shark!”

Now let’s realize this is at a political rally. Presumably an event where he is trying to persuade people to vote for him.

So what does he do?

Does he explain what his goals to improve the lots of those listing are? Does he work to inspire them with images of a brighter future?

No, he talks about electric boats with bizarre capabilities, about how smart he thinks he is, and about sharks.

Again, while this was from a speech in Las Vegas it was not the only time he brought up sharks. Clearly the man has some issues vis-à-vis electricity, sharks and other things people don’t really spend a whole lot of time thinking about. And note how he raises the sinking boat and hungry sharks to a level of catastrophe, just like things he otherwise gets worked up about: the unfortunate situation at the border is an “invasion.” (The people who are getting over the border are killing innocent Americans, presumably after they’ve brought over kilos of fentanyl. Odds are, more of them are taking tremendously tough jobs like picking fruit in the Central Valley and the only thing they’ve brought over are the clothes on their backs.*)

And we could go into some of the things that Vance has said that are out of the mainstream of thinking (e.g., adults with children should have a number of votes predicated on their progeny, which, in effect, makes offspring and spouses somewhat, well, not what one would ordinarily consider them as being for a certain segment of the populus.)

So calling Trump and Vance “weird” is arguably definitional.

But Tom Friedman, in The New York Times, interprets that in another way:

“It is now a truism that if Democrats have any hope of carrying key swing states and overcoming Trump’s advantages in the Electoral College, they have to break through to white, working-class, non-college-educated men and women, who, if they have one thing in common, feel denigrated and humiliated by Democratic, liberal, college-educated elites. They hate the people who hate Trump more than they care about any Trump policies. Therefore, the dumbest message Democrats could seize on right now is to further humiliate them as ‘weird.’”

No, that is the dumbest interpretation of what is going on.

Electric boats, sharks, cat ladies, and things like that discussed in the context of politics are weird.

And the “white, working-class, non-college-educated men and women” Friedman refers to are not being called “weird.” Trump and Vance are.

These men and women were undoubtedly raised by parents and teachers who taught them things about what’s right and wrong, good and bad, sensical and nonsensical. 

To finally have people point out that what Trump often says (think of all of the crazy things he said about COVID or about the “love letters” between him and the leader of a country that President George W. Bush, a Republican, identified as being part of the Axis of Evil) is outside the norm. Weird.

Some people are not going to be moved no matter how Trump and Vance are described.

But those who can be moved, those who have had doubts but not certainty, may see the fundamental weirdness at play and when it is being called out and identified by others, it may have an effect on their willingness to acknowledge what they fundamentally know. (And speaking of things fundamental in the Judeo-Christian society, presumably a certain number of the people who Friedman describes attended Christian services while growing up and are aware of the Ten Commandments, including the first three which are: “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall make no idols. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain” and Trump saying of himself back in 2019, “I am the chosen one” goes over the line Commandments-wise, again, outside the norm). 

Referring to Trump and Vance as weird while providing instances of their weirdness doesn’t serve to humiliate anyone other than the people involved.

In Friedman’s logic, calling Trump “old and weird” would be offensive to AARP members, not something that is mainly objectively measurable.

==

*(This is not to excuse illegal immigration in any way. But it does bring to mind one of the ways to at least minimize the number of people coming over. These people are, to a large degree, coming from another country because they believe there is a better opportunity for them in the U.S., with “opportunity” equaling “job.” So why not resurrect the idea that employers on this side of the border must establish electronic records for each and every employee on their staff and if there are discrepancies found — and this can be done by random checks — then they pay huge penalties and the illegally employed individual is sent back. By cutting demand (i.e., employers not interested in hiring illegals), the supply will be reduced.)

Macaulay is pundit-at-large.

Could There be Any Reasonable Explanation?

Whether you are a never-Trumper conservative worried you might not be able to vote again if the ex-president wins this November’s presidential election, or you are pro-MAGA and believe the reaction to his comments to the Believers’ Summit hosted by Turning Point Action, in West Palm Beach, Florida are being overplayed, this is your column.

Click on the headline above and go to the Comment section in the column, or email editors@thehustings.news and indicate your political leanings (regardless of your opinion on this specific subject) in the subject line.

If you lean left – whether Trump’s comments worry you or not – please see the left column on this page. You may enter your comments in the appropriate lines on there after clicking on that headline, “Trump Warns of his Authoritarianism?”

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On Harris’ Running Mate Candidates

Editors:

While I like Senator Kelly (and have two potential lines of connection to him -- thinking White House key chains here) I no longer have any feel for Arizona to know whether his presence on the ticket would make the state winnable. My best college friend knows Gov. Beshear a bit, did some effective campaigning for him in northern Kentucky, and his success in appealing to Red voters is admirable, but I don't think he becomes well-enough known, quickly enough, to change the electoral math. Big Gretch (Michigan governor) belongs at the top of the ticket, with Raphael Warnock (senator from Georgia). I don't know the North Carolina guy at all -- same objection as with Kelly plus no keychains.

So, I would choose (Pennsylvania) Gov. Shapiro, if VP Harris were too busy and just delegated the job to me. Prep carefully with him, then have him meet with some group(s) of Michigan Arab voters, seek to minimize that potential conflict.

Still, if I win Mega Millions tonight, I'm buying a little place in Toronto.

--Hugh Hansen

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Welcome, Citizen Pundits

The Hustings works best as civil media when we receive a healthy number of comments from you on political news/news aggregate/analysis from the center column. Let us know what you think of President Biden’s address from the White House Oval Office Wednesday evening and his explanation for stepping down from his re-election campaign, or of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before a joint session of Congress Wednesday afternoon … or both.

Or comment on any of the recent news from the center column, including Vice President Harris’ initial surge in popularity as the likely Democratic presidential nominee, and the Trump campaign’s initial reaction to her campaign.

Please let us know, too, whether we missed something you feel we should cover. 

Go to the Comment section of the left or right column, depending on your political leanings, or email editors@thehustings.newsand please list whether you are right, conservative or MAGA or left, liberal or progressive, in the subject line.

_____

…meanwhile…

Real Gross Domestic Product rose a healthy 2.4% in the second quarter of the year, according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, up from +1.4% in the first quarter. The Q2 increase reflected greater consumer spending, private inventory investment and non-residential fixed investment, the BEA says, partially offset by increased imports to the US.

FRIDAY 7/26/24

Harris Calls for Cease Fire – In what’s being called her first-ever foreign policy speech, Vice President Harris pushed back on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s assertion before a joint session of US Congress Wednesday that there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

“The images of dead children, desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time, we cannot walk away in the face of those tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering and I will not be silent,” Harris said Thursday following her White House meeting with Netanyahu, according to NPR’s Morning Edition. President Biden met separately with Netanyahu at the White House.

“And as I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done. So to everyone who has been calling for a ceasefire and to everyone who yearns for peace, I see you and I hear you. Let’s get the deal done so we can get a ceasefire to end the war. Let’s bring the hostages home and let’s bring much-needed relief to the Palestinian people.” Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, recited one by one the names of hostages being held by Hamas, Morning Edition reported, and condemned protestors who spray-painted pro-Hamas slogans on a monument in Washington. 

Harris’ comments drew quick criticism from far-right members of Netanyahu’s cabinet, according to Haaretz.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Friday that “a surrender to [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar, an end to the war in a way that would enable Hamas to recover, and an abandonment of hostages held by Hamas. We cannot fall into this trap!” 

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Givr posted on X; “There won’t be an end to the war, madame candidate.”

Meanwhile at Mar-a-Lago, GOP presidential candidate Donald J. Trump urged Netanyahu to end the war, The New York Timesreports, ahead of a scheduled meeting between the two on Friday.

•••

Obamas, Finally – Barack and Michelle Obama finally have officially endorsed Kamala Harris Friday as the Democratic nominee for US president, in a video initially released on the vice president’s campaign website, according to The Guardian. 

“We called to say Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office,” former President Obama said. 

--TL

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THU 7/25/24 -- Biden 'Passes the Torch'

Biden Bids Adieu – Joe Biden buried the Trump-like ambition for a second presidential term he expressed in his interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos following his debate disaster last month and formally announced he will not seek re-election in November. 

“I revere this office, but I love my country more,” he said from the Oval Office, where his family watched from the side, just off-camera.

Biden endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, who already has procured a majority of primary delegates necessary for the Democratic Party’s nomination. The party will hold a “virtual” delegate vote by August 7, ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago beginning August 19. Harris is expected to announce her running mate prior to the convention.

Though Republicans have called on Biden to step down from the presidency immediately, Biden said he will remain until his term ends next January 20.

“In recent weeks, it has become clear to me that I need to unite my party in this critical endeavor,” Biden told the nation. “I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future, all merited a second term. But nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy. That includes personal ambition …

“So I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. It’s the best way to unite our nation.”

•••

Netanyahu to White House – Amidst protesters outside the US Capitol, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday gave a fiery address to a joint session of Congress. Thursday, he visits the White House on the ultimate day of his three-day Washington visit to meet with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Biden hopes to convince Israel and Hamas to agree to his proposal for a three-phase release of remaining hostages in Gaza, according to U.S. News & World Report.

The White House says negotiations are in its closing stages, but with issues that need to be resolved.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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Big Day in Washington -- WED 7/24/24

At the White House – President Joe Biden addresses the nation Wednesday from the Oval Office to explain why he is stepping down from his re-election campaign to make way for Vice President Kamala Harris. The president is scheduled to begin at 8 pm Eastern time. 

On X he tweeted he will share “what lies ahead, and how I will finish the job for the American people” (per USA Today). Watch Biden’s address on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and CNN or streaming on myriad news websites.

On the Hill – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks Wednesday afternoon to a joint session of Congress “with significantly ramped-up security presence and barricades to keep out the many different anti-war and religious groups planning to protest his speech,” according to CQ Roll Call. Vice President Harris normally would preside over the joint session, but she will instead be making previously scheduled campaign appearances.

Together again … Biden greets Netanyahu at the White House on Thursday, the final day of the Israeli PM’s three-day Washington visit. 

“The leaders will discuss developments in Gaza and progress toward a ceasefire and hostage release deal and the United States’ ironclad commitment to Israel’s security, including countering Iran’s threats to Israel and the broader region,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a White House statement.  

•••

About that Presidential Campaign – Vice President Harris’ sudden rise to the top of the Democratic ticket raised more than $100 million from 1.1 million donors in the first 41 hours after President Biden stepped down, The Washington Post reports. The new ticket clearly has energized Democrats, including progressive “Bernie Bros” who previously criticized Harris’ tough-on-crime stance from when she was California’s attorney general, according to Politico.

The Trump campaign is attacking Harris for her efforts, or alleged lack thereof, as the Biden administration’s “border czar,” for allegedly “covering up” Biden’s diminishing cognitive capabilities over the last three-and-a-half years and even as a “diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)” running mate. That last attack is being counter-attacked as a blatantly racist criticism of Harris. 

Meanwhile, Haley Not Haley … Michael G. Adams, attorney for former GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley has sent a cease-and-desist letter to a group called Haley Voters for Harris, formerly called Haley Voters for Biden, Fox News reports. Adams demands the group stop use of Haley’s “name, image or likeness that implies her support for the election of Kamala Harris as President of the United States.” 

Haley, you may remember, questioned GOP presidential candidate Donald J. Trump’s “mental fitness” after he confused her name with Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA), and once said the first party to nominate a younger candidate than Trump or Biden would win the election. 

But Haley recanted in time to be invited to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where she committed her primary delegates to Trump. 

A Haley Voters for Harris statement counters that the group does not claim to speak on behalf of Haley or her views. HV4H Director Craig Snyder told NPR’s Morning Edition that the group’s name is “a factual statement of the way a lot of people feel and the way a lot of people intend to vote in November.”

•••

Menendez Resigns – ICYMI, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), convicted last week on federal corruption charges and facing likely expulsion by the Senate Ethics Committee will resign his seat effective late August (per The New York Times). New Jersey Gov. Philip D. Murphy, a Democrat, said he would promptly appoint a replacement, though he demurred on whether it might be his wife, Tammy Murphy, who lost the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat to Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ) earlier this year. Kim faces wealthy hotel operator Curtis Bashaw, who beat a Trump-backed candidate for the Republican nomination.

•••

Cheatle Resigns – On Monday, Secret Service Director Kimberly A. Cheatle told the House Committee on Oversight and Reform that she could not reveal, or did not know, key details about the July 13 assassination attempt on presidential candidate Donald J. Trump at his rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania (per The New York Times). Her contentious testimony drew rare bipartisan agreement between the committee’s chair, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) and ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) that she must resign.

On Tuesday, she did.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Undemocratic Democrats

Editors:

The same folks “all in” on Vice President Harris as the best Democrat to run against Donald Trump are the same insiders, and so-called journalists who for months assured us that President Biden was physically and mentally fit to serve four more years as POTUS. I’m still puzzled at how democracy is not questioned when 14 million Biden votes and millions in donations for him just magically flow to Harris and her campaign? Dean Phillips, Jason Palmer and Robert Kennedy Jr. cannot be all that happy.

--Rich Corbett

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About Kamala & the Wall

By Stephen Macaulay

The Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, the result of some rare Senatorial bipartisan activities (lead Republican on the bill, James Lankford of Oklahoma, said, “It doesn’t have everything in it I wanted, it doesn’t have everything in it my Democratic colleagues wanted. But it definitely makes a difference), was torpedoed by primarily Republicans who were acting in fealty to the dictates of their Dear Leader Donald Trump. After all, if the bill passed, then he’d lose what is his primary criticism of the Biden Administration (that and some bizarre “crime family” trope).

According to factcheck.org:

“It included money to build more border barriers, to greatly expand detention facilities, and to hire more Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents, asylum officers and immigration judges to reduce the years-long backlog in cases to determine asylum eligibility. It sought to expedite the asylum process, essentially ending — in most cases — the so-called ‘catch and release’ policy whereby migrants are released into the U.S. pending asylum hearings. And it would have increased the standard of evidence needed to win asylum status.

“The bill also would have supplied more funding to interdict fentanyl and human trafficking. . . .”

So what do we have here?

  • Walls
  • More enforcement personnel
  • Expedited handling of illegal aliens
  • Reduced amounts of fentanyl coming over the border

One of the things that is going to be thrown at, with some vigor, Kamala Harris is that she was supposed to take care of the border and, well, the border continues to be a mess.

But what is the role of our elected legislators?

That bill, as Lankford pointed out, didn’t have absolutely everything for everyone.

But it was better than what we now have. Far better. But the bill was spiked.

According to the official Republican 2024 platform, which seems to have been written by someone who doesn’t exactly have a grasp of when words should be capitalized: 

“We must secure our Southern Border by completing the Border Wall that President Trump started. Hundreds of miles have already been built and work magnificently. The remaining Wall construction can be completed quickly, effectively, and inexpensively.”

Let’s take a look at the “Border Wall that President Trump started.”

Turns out that during FOUR YEARS (if you’re going to use caps, use them):

  • 52 miles of new primary wall systems were built
  • 33 miles of new secondary wall systems were built
  • 351 miles of existing primary barriers were replaced
  • 22 miles of existing secondary barriers were replaced

So giving him the benefit of the doubt, there were a whopping 85 miles of new wall built.

The length of a wall (or Wall) would need to be 1,933 miles to completely stretch along the border. Right now, there are 403 miles of primary structures, 52 of which are wall.

That means 1,530 miles of border need wall (Wall!).

At the rate the Trump Administration performed construction during his first term, 21.25 miles per year, it would require 72 years to finish the job. That’s nearly as long as Trump has been on the planet.

It is estimated that the Trump Administration spent $15 billion on The Wall. Of that, some $10 billion was taken from the Department of Defense.

Fifteen billion dollars. 

This means that if there were 458 miles of something built or replaced or reinforced or otherwise Wall, it cost US taxpayers — NOT Mexico (remember that?) -- $32,751,092 per mile.

So in order to build the remaining 1,530 miles of Wall it would cost $50,109,170,760 — OK, let’s say there’s a volume discount and we’ll call it a cool $50 billion.

Somehow what Kamala Harris did or didn’t do on the border is trivial compared to all of this.

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Harris Builds Support Among Some Dems

President Biden’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris as his replacement in the election campaign quickly drew significant support from fellow Democrats Sunday. According to Politico, the following have endorsed the veep’s stand-in candidacy:

•Former President Bill Clinton and former Sec. of State Hilary Clinton.

•Rep. Jim Clyburn, South Carolina.

•Rep. Debbie Dingell, Michigan.

•Gov. Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania (a leading potential running mate for Harris).

•Gov. Roy Cooper, North Carolina (also a potential running mate).

•Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts.

Former President Barack Obama is a holdout, posting on Medium that he has “extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges.”

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and current Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also have not yet committed to Harris.

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Harris Has the Dem Nomination

Veep Harris has the Democratic nomination for president in hand [White House photo].

Vice President Kamala Harris has secured pledges from a majority of Democratic National Convention delegates Monday night, The Washington Post reports, which means she can count on becoming her party's presidential nominee when it moves forward with a special process August 7, ahead of the convention. The DNC is scheduled to begin August 19. Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV) had expressed interest in switching parties back to Democratic in order to challenge Harris, but he apparently abandoned the notion by Sunday night.

--TL

Biden Bows Out -- MONDAY 7/22/24

By Todd Lassa

The number of Democratic lawmakers who called on Joe Biden to drop his re-election campaign topped 30 on Saturday. By Sunday morning, The New York Times reported that the president, holed up in his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, summer house with what was described as a mild case of COVID would not likely make any announcement until after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Washington Wednesday to address Congress, “unwilling to give the premier the satisfaction given their strained relations lately over the Gaza war.”

But that speculation was old news by Sunday afternoon, when President Biden posted a letter on X-Twitter announcing his withdrawal and endorsing his vice president, Kamala Harris, to lead the ticket.

Like a primary candidate running a distant second who hangs in the race too long, Biden insisted he was in it ‘till the end, until suddenly, he was not. 

Unlike the primary scenario, this leaves Harris and any potential challengers very little time to cut Biden’s name off campaign signs already printed up. The Democratic National Convention in Chicago is scheduled to begin August 19. CNN reports that the Democratic National Committee is expected to hold a “virtual” roll call between August 1 and August 7. 

Alternatively, there also has been much talk about a mini-primary process consisting of town halls, debates and other candidate forums, though this sounds rather time consuming particularly at the height of summer vacation season. The DNC could also hold either an open convention or a brokered convention August 19-22, according to Forbes.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), the first Democratic lawmaker to call on Biden to withdraw, told Wolf Blitzer on CNN Dems need to wait for other potential candidates and not rush to nominate Harris. 

Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV) told Martha Raddatz on ABC News This Week Sunday morning that it was time for Biden to withdraw. After the president withdrew, Manchin told two ABC News sources he is considering re-registering as a Democrat in order to run against Harris for the nomination.

First of what will surely become one of many Republican talking points targeting the likely Harris nomination is that she essentially “lied” to the American people by not saying anything about Biden’s diminishing capabilities, which were detailed by Olivia Nuzzi in New York magazine’s Intelligencer. Suddenly, Biden’s smashing State of the Union performance last March feels like it happened ages ago

Obituary: Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee – The 15-term Democratic congresswoman serving Texas’ 18th District, including Houston, died Friday, age 74. Family did not list a cause of death, according to The New York Times, but last June Jackson Lee announced she had pancreatic cancer. Among her congressional accomplishments, Jackson Lee was the author and sponsor of legislation that in 2021 made Juneteenth a national holiday.

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Too Slow, Joe

By Stephen Macaulay

Let’s ratchet back all the plaudits for Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the presidential race. It became absolutely clear that Joe Biden wasn’t up to the task during his “debate” with Donald Trump. That was June 27. It is now July 21.

As he might put it, “C’mon, man.”

There should be a certain level of annoyance with the man for dragging the inevitable out for as long as he did.

That could have negative consequences for the Democrats in November.

Will there be statements then along the lines of “If only we’d had a couple more weeks …”?

At this state it seems fait accompli that Kamala Harris will be the candidate. Biden has endorsed her.

Again, because of this delay, it very well may be that she’s the most convenient candidate. Not the best. Convenient.

Yes, Joe Biden did a good job as president. Yes, he deftly accomplished things that his predecessor only blew smoke about. Yes, the world is in a better place thanks to Biden’s support of Ukraine (it is frightening to think of the condition of that country were Trump in office: the inability of that man and his acolytes to recognize the fact that there is global interconnectedness that can’t be rolled back with tariffs and walls is pathetic).

But I can’t but think that in the past several months — there is plenty of reporting about how Biden had missed more than a step long before June 27 — Biden has developed a sense that he is the only one who should be president. 

A Trumpian attitude. 

Had that continued, what is a laudatory career of service would have been horribly besmirched.

But he has done the right thing.

Still, he is presenting Kamala Harris with a tremendous challenge.

If she fails in November, it won’t entirely be her fault, but it is likely that she will get the blame.

Too bad his mom or dad never told him, “Joey, you’ve got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em.”

There would have been more time for the momentum that is going to be needed to take on the Trump-Vance ticket.

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

The Left on Biden’s Withdrawal

The Hustings humbly seeks your comments on Joe Biden's withdrawal Sunday from the presidential race. Will the Democrats run Vice President Harris, or someone else? Who will be the vice presidential candidate? Do you think this strengthens or weakens the Trump/Vance ticket?

Enter your Comments in this column, or the one on the right, if you lean conservative. Or email editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings in the subject line.

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The Right on Biden Stepping Down

The Hustings humbly seeks your comments on Joe Biden's withdrawal Sunday from the presidential race. Will the Democrats run Vice President Harris, or someone else? Who will be the vice presidential candidate? Do you think this strengthens or weakens the Trump/Vance ticket?

Enter your Comments in this column, or the one on the left, if you lean liberal. Or email editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings in the subject line.

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The List, So Far

Gathering up the names of Democratic senators and House members who have called on President Biden to withdraw his re-election campaign in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris, or another prominent party member is, yes, a bit like hearding cats. DuckDuckGo it and you’ll find several news outlet sites offering up their lists, but many of them are several days old.

But USA Today is trying to keep up with a running list. While its list Friday morning did not include Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), who announced his call for Biden to step down before Donald J. Trump completed his hour-and-a-half GOP nomination speech, the newspaper does note that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has scheduled a meeting with the president for Friday.

Tester became the second Democratic senator after Peter Welch, of Vermont, to call on Biden to withdraw. Here are the 18 Democratic US representatives who have called for his withdrawal, according to USA Today…

•Greg Stanton, Vermont.

•Raúl Grijalva, Arizona.

•Scott Peters, California.

•Brittany Petterson, Colorado.

•Jim Himes, Connecticut.

•Ed Chase, Hawaii.

•Brad Schneider, Illinois.

•Eric Sorensen, Illinois.

•Mike Quigley, Illinois.

•Seth Moulton, Massachusetts.

•Hillary Scholten, Michigan.

•Angie Craig, Minnesota.

•Mike Sherrill, New Jersey.

•Pat Ryan, New York.

•Earl Blumenauer, Oregon.

•Lloyd Doggett, Texas.

•Adam Smith, Washington.

•Mike Levin, California.

Enter your Comments in the left or right columns as appropriate for your political leanings, or email editors@thehustings.newsand indicate whether you lean left or right in the subject line.

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From God and Unity to Hannibal Lecter

FRIDAY 7/19/24

Donald J. Trump’s presidential nomination acceptance speech Thursday evening began with the calm-voice unity he promised after last Saturday’s assassination attempt.

“I was beginning to tell the great job my administration had done on immigration on the southern border,” Trump said, describing the attempt by Thomas Matthew Crooks at the ex-president’s rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania. A chart Trump turned to on his right saved him from taking the bullet directly.

“I said to myself, ‘wow, what was that?’ It can only be a bullet…

“I felt safe because I had God on my side.”

Trump’s speech, which CNN clocked in at one hour, 32 minutes was as “unifying” and as touchy-feely as the ex-president has ever been in public for about the first half hour but then turned quickly into his finishing the rally he tried to begin in Butler County five days earlier.

Trump said he will be a president "for all of America, not for half of America ... We are one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” We must not demonize others with whom we disagree, Trump added. 

We should “stop weaponizing the Justice department,” he said, calling out “highly respected federal judge” Aileen Cannon, who on Monday dismissed Trump’s classified documents case in Florida. 

“If Democrats want to unify our country, they should drop these witch hunts which they’ve been doing for eight years.”

He called out “crazy Nancy Pelosi” and touted his administration’s work on “right to try,” giving Americans access to pre-approved drug trials. 

Trump promised to end President Biden’s wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

“We’re dealing with fierce people, and we don’t have fierce people, except when cheating on elections.”

From there, Trump’s free-flowing, off-Teleprompter hour repeated, “drill, baby, drill,” an oft-told assertion that the Biden administration has stifled US oil production, which is not true. He kept returning to the “border crisis.”

Trump repeated his plan to deport illegal immigrants. He tied in his regular rally call-out of Silence of the Lambs character Hannibal Lecter to mentally ill immigrants he said other countries are sending here.

“I will end our illegal immigration crisis by closing our border and completing the wall,” which Trump misleadingly stated he built most of.

“I will bring back the American Dream,” Trump continued. “That’s what we’re going to do. You don’t ever hear about the American Dream anymore.

“Starting day one, we will drive down prices and make America affordable again.” The next Trump administration would cut its $36 trillion in debt and “we will reduce your taxes.”

Details to come?

•••

Tester Calls for Withdrawal – Jon Tester of Montana has become the second Democratic US senator to call for President Biden to withdraw from the presidential race (per NPR’s Morning Edition). Tester is in a tight race to win his fourth term this November against Republican candidate Tim Sheehy, a former US Navy Seal. The winner in this red state could very well determine which party controls the Senate next year.

•••

Gershkovich Sentenced to 16 Years – American reporter Evan Gershkovich was sentenced to 16 years in a high-security Russian penal colony, “after a hurried, secret trial that the US government has condemned as a sham,” his employer, The Wall Street Journal, reports. The court’s verdict came after three days of hearings and was considered a foregone conclusion, as espionage trial acquittals are considered exceedingly rare. 

News of Gershkovich’s sentencing came amidst reports Friday that US and Russian officials were closing in on a prisoner swap that would free the WSJ reporter.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

An ‘Easy Call’ in November

Guest Commentary by Rich Corbett

The Trump/Vance ticket will still be painted poorly by most in the mainstream media (journalism is skewed more than ever to the left). But The Biden/Harris failure in nearly everything they touched will have far more Americans feeling bamboozled by “moderate” Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

From the Biden administration’s failed and costly foreign policy, giving us world instability everywhere, to their excessive spending and attempts to buy votes (student loan forgiveness, green energy, etc.) to their war on domestic energy, which helped to give us the highest inflation in recent memory. 

The ridiculous open border policy imported criminals and fentanyl that destroy communities across America. People are no longer safe, living in or visiting progressively run Democratic cities, with their soft-on-crime district attorneys and openly anti-law enforcement rhetoric. Progressive leadership from the top has ruined our public schools and has churned out students who have been taught more hatred for America.

And yet, even using the heavy handed lawfare of the type we see in third-world banana republics and communist countries, partisans were unable to stop Biden’s opponent, Donald Trump. 

Let’s not even broach the questionable Secret Service protection failure in Pennsylvania.

So much for the “unity” that was promised when Biden/Harris attracted voters in 2020. Let’s hope voters are not fooled by Democrats and their left-wing propagandists again. It’s an easy call in November 2024 for those who want to save the USA.

Corbett is editor of My Desultory Blog

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news