Trump says he has a "whole different speech now"
Plus: Trump picks Vance
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Just two days after the failed assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, Republicans formally nominated him at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, making him the first convicted felon to be nominated by a major party. These are uncommon times.
Trump told the Washington Examiner that before this weekend, he had a “humdinger” of a speech prepared for his acceptance on Thursday, but after the shooting that left two dead including the shooter and Corey Comperatore, a firefighter who dove to protect his wife and daughters when he heard gunshots, Trump said he rewrote it. “Honestly, it’s going to be a whole different speech now,” he said.
Reaction to the shooting was a moment of consensus with people across the political spectrum saying they’re keeping Trump in their thoughts and prayers, from former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was shot in 2011 at a constituent event in Tucson, to Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), who was shot in the 2017 congressional baseball shooting. Political violence isn’t acceptable, they all said. It’s clear, though, from the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021 to the foiled kidnapping plot of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) and the attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, that it’s become all too common. This year’s Republican convention, then, could be a moment of change. A chance to turn the temperature down rather than a call to action to “stand back and stand by,” perhaps? A nation waits to see. — Hunter
Trump picks Vance:
Trump said that following “lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others,” Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) would be his running mate in a post on his social network.
Vance, a first-term Senator, former U.S. Marine, and the author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” got the call he was picked about 20 minutes before Trump announced it. Vance was introduced with his wife Usha Chilukuri Vance by his side at the convention this afternoon. Vance is a former self-described “never Trumper” who once called Trump an “idiot” and privately compared him to Nixon at best and Hitler at worst. He would be the first Millennial vice president in U.S. history.
Biden says we can’t normalize political violence:
After delivering a Sunday Oval Office address in which he decried the shooting at Trump’s rally and said “we can’t allow this violence to be normalized,” President Joe Biden sat for an interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt today that aired this evening. In a preview of the interview, Biden said it was a “mistake” for him to use the phrase “put Trump in a bull’s-eye” in a call with donors, but he said he used the phrase to mean focus on Trump.
“I meant focus on him, focus on what he’s doing, focus on his policies, focus on the number of lies he told in the debate,” Biden said. “Look, I am not the guy that said I want to be a dictator on day one, I am not the guy that refused to accept the outcome of the election. I am not the guy who said that won’t accept the outcome of this election automatically. You can’t only love your country when you win.”
Biden said during his Oval Office address that he called Trump after the shooting. He said they had “a short but good conversation” and that he and First Lady Jill Biden are “keeping him and his family in our prayers.”
More people watched Biden’s press conference than the Oscars:
More than 23 million people tuned into Biden’s press conference last Thursday at the NATO summit. That’s more than the 19.5 million people who watched this year’s Oscars, but less than half of the 51.3 million people who watched the debate. While the nation’s eyes this week will be focused on Milwaukee, it just goes to show there’s plenty of interest in Biden’s appearances following his debate performance.
Trump met with RFK Jr. to seek an endorsement:
Trump met with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this morning in Milwaukee to talk about whether Kennedy would be open to endorsing him, according to Politico. But according to Kennedy’s spox, it’s not going to happen because Kennedy’s staying in the race.
“Yes, Mr. Kennedy met with President Trump today to discuss national unity, and he hopes to meet with leaders of the Democratic Party as well,” Kennedy campaign press secretary Stefanie Spear said in a statement. “And no he is not dropping out of the race. He is the only pro-environment, pro-choice, anti-war candidate who beats Donald Trump in head-to-head polls.” Trump’s meeting with RFK Jr. is only the latest overture he’s made in hopes of winning over third party voters. In May Trump spoke at the Libertarian convention in Washington, D.C., and was booed.
Here’s the memo sent to Trump’s campaign following the assassination attempt:
In a memo to Trump campaign staff the day of the shooting, senior advisors Chris Lacivita and Susie Wiles asked staffers to “not comment publicly on the occurrence of today” and stay away from the campaign’s offices in Washington, D.C., and West Palm Beach, Fla.
“We are enhancing the armed security presence with 24/7 officers on-site,” they wrote in the memo. “It is our fervent hope that this horrendous act will bring our team, and indeed the nation, together in unity and we must renew our commitment to safety and peace for our country.”
Melania says the winds of change have arrived:
Former First Lady Melania Trump called for kindness and love in a statement after the shooting. “When I watched that violent bullet strike my husband, Donald, I realized my life, and Barron’s life, were on the brink of devastating change,” she wrote. “A monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine attempted to ring out Donald’s passion — his laughter, ingenuity, love of music, and inspiration.”
Trump thanked law enforcement officials, offered her sympathy to the families of the victims, and called for a world “where respect is paramount, family is first, and love transcends.” People in my mentions said they thought Trump wrote her statement using ChatGPT. I think she’s genuinely moved. “Dawn is here again. Let us reunite. Now,” she said. “The winds of change have arrived.”
Meet Usha Chilukuri Vance, J.D. Vance’s wife:
Who is the woman who could be Second Lady? Usha Chilukuri Vance was born and raised in California, her parents are Indian immigrants, and she met her husband while they were students at Yale Law School. They were married in 2014 and have three children.
A former litigator for the San Francisco and Washington, D.C., offices of Munger, Tolles & Olson, Vance just left her job and her profile was taken off the firm’s site today. “Usha has been an excellent lawyer and colleague, and we thank her for her years of work and wish her the best in her future career,” her former firm said in a statement. She was also a registered Democrat until 2014.
Marla Maples says she’s ready to get involved in politics:
In her first interview in eight years, Marla Maples said she’s open to getting political. “I’ve never been a fan of politics,” Maples, Trump’s second wife and the mother of Tiffany Trump, told The Evening Standard, a London-based newspaper. “I see how it can separate and divide us.” Still, she said she’s “ready” to get involved.
“I am available if needed and I’m not sitting back anymore,” she said. “I want to step out more, share more and not be afraid of positive or negative outcomes that come from speaking out.” She also said it’s “time to wake up to a higher truth, and to not believe everything that is shown to us in the news” and shared conspiracy theories about COVID-19 remedies and skepticism about the vaccine. Maples said she gets her news from “conversations.”
A bipartisan Senate group just introduced a bill that would ban members of Congress from trading stocks:
How on Earth are members of Congress still allowed to trade stocks? The Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks, or ETHICS Act, would ban members of Congress, the president, the vice president, and their spouses and dependents from buying or selling stocks, securities, commodities, futures, options, and trusts, and require them to divest covered assets beginning in 2027.
“The public should be confident that federal elected officials are making decisions that are in the best interests of the American people, not their own personal finances,” Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich), one of the bill’s co-sponsors, said in a statement. The legislation is also sponsored by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), and Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), and it’s backed by government watchdog groups including Public Citizen, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, and MoveOn.
“Members of Congress and other governmental officials have ready access to information on pending governmental actions and their potential impact on businesses,” Public Citizen lobbyist Craig Holman said in a statement endorsing the bill. “While most officials certainly do not use this inside information for self-enrichment on the stock market, the opportunity for abuse is omnipresent, and the sheer appearance of those opportunities for abuse undercuts the public’s confidence in the integrity of government.”
The earliest known photograph of a FLOTUS is headed to the Smithsonian:
A daguerreotype of former First Lady Dolley Madison believed to have been taken in 1846, nearly 30 years after her husband left office, has been acquired by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. Taken by John Plumbe Jr., it’s the earliest known photo of a former first lady and was purchased by the Smithsonian for $456,000 at a Sotheby’s auction last month. The photo joins the the first known photograph of a former U.S. president, John Quincy Adams, which was taken in 1843 by Philip Haas and acquired by the Smithsonian 2017.
“This artifact will provide the Smithsonian another opportunity to tell a more robust American story and illuminate the vital role women like Madison have played in the nation’s progress,” Smithsonian secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III said in a statement.
🔌 Nearly 300,000 still without power one week after Hurricane Beryl ripped through Texas. The outage comes as more than 119 million people were under extreme heat warnings Monday. [NBC News]
✉️ Price of U.S. postage stamp to rise to 73 cents. The agency has said it expects its "new pricing policy to generate $44 billion in additional revenue" by 2031. [Reuters]
💳 Costco hikes membership fee for the first time since 2017. Costco is hiking its annual membership fees in the U.S. and Canada by $5, and raising the cost of its higher-tier membership by $10. [CNBC]
📀 Redbox is closing all of its rental kiosks. Redbox’s parent company, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, changed its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case to a Chapter 7 liquidation case, and all employees will now be laid off and Redbox’s 24,000 kiosks will close. [NBC News]
☕ Coffee shops help spur entrepreneurship in communities, study finds. When a new Starbucks opens in an American neighborhood without a coffee shop, it leads to the creation of between 1.1 and 3.5 new companies a year over the next seven years, according to researchers. [The Economist]
Kendrick Lamar returns to No. 1 two months later:
Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” returns to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 following the release of its music video. The track was previously No. 1 for one week in May, a two-month gap.
Kid Rock responds to Trump shooting:
“You f— with Trump, you f— with me.” That’s what Kid Rock said in a social media post while wearing sunglasses a white baseball hat that said “White Boy of the Year” after the assassination attempt against Trump.
The Daily Show is no longer be on the ground in Milwaukee:
In a social media post on Sunday, The Daily Show said it would no longer be on the ground in Milwaukee during the convention citing the “evolving situation” there. The show said it would not broadcast Monday and would return Tuesday through Thursday from its New York City studio. “Our apologies for the inconvenience, but due to logistical issues and the evolving situation in Milwaukee, we need to reschedule our events on the ground in Wisconsin and will look to make those up in the coming weeks.”
Katy Perry’s “Woman’s World” panned:
“Even if ‘Woman’s World’ didn’t sound like its author had to have feminism explained to her by the top half of the first page of Google, its message of empowerment would have rang false, simply because it was co-written and co-produced by Dr. Luke, the producer Kesha accused, in a since-dismissed lawsuit, of sexual assault and emotional abuse—allegations he denied.” So wrote Pitchfork about Katy Perry’s first new solo singles in three years. “What regressive, warmed-over hell is this?” asked the Guardian. Perry said she was just being sarcastic. “We’re really overplaying it,” she said in a behind-the-scenes video.
Ellen DeGeneres says she’s retiring:
What’s the opposite of a quiet goodbye? Ellen DeGeneres said at the Santa Rosa, Calif., stop of her “Ellen’s Last Stand…Up” tour that she “got kicked out of show business for being mean” but denied that she’s mean and said she’ll soon retire. “This is the last time you’re going to see me,” she said. “After my Netflix special, I’m done.” Goodbye, Ellen.
Jack Schlossberg is a Vogue dot com political correspondent":
Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of John F. Kennedy, is now ~working~ in ~journalism~. Vogue dot com kicked off Schlossberg’s new gig with a Q&A and photoshoot. The site’s editor Chloe Malle said in a statement to the New York Times that “Jack emerged as a staff favorite early on in this election cycle with his irreverent but intelligent takes on the political landscape. We all know the stakes of this election and it is critical to Vogue that we do all we can to get our audience motivated to vote.” Said Antoni in an Instagram Story post following the news, “go get ‘em jack.”
Schlossberg said in the Q&A that it was former President Barack Obama’s first presidential run that got him excited about politics. “Obama was running and all I wanted to do was watch the news every day,” he said. But he also had his “coming of age with politics—of being super idealistic and then realizing it’s a long struggle. My journey has been no different.” You know I love when Kennedys work in magazines, but I do hope they’re not paying him too much. Vogue owner Condé Nast announced last November it would lay off roughly 5% of its staff, or about 270 employees.
Richard Simmons gave one final interview before his death:
Fitness guru Richard Simmons died Saturday at the age of 76, and just two days before his death he gave his final interview to People. Simmons talked about connecting with his fans, why he retired, and what he was planning for a comeback. “I know people miss me,” he said. “And you know what? I miss them, too.” RIP, Richard Simmons 🕊️
Thanks for reading! See you next week. ⭐