The GOP Won’t Be Done with Trump Even If He Loses
Jeff Greenfield: “It is the fundamental belief — or tropism — of Trump that he is incapable of losing an election honestly. The loss itself is proof of fraud, and even a potential loss is grounds for rejecting the results. In one of the first debates of 2016, he was the only Republican candidate who would not pledge to back the party’s ultimate nominee. When he lost the Iowa caucuses to Ted Cruz, he tweeted: ‘Based on the fraud committed by Senator Ted Cruz during the Iowa Caucus, either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified.’ He claimed he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton in 2016 because of the ‘millions’ of aliens who voted illegally.”
“Given this core character trait, what do you suppose will happen if Trump faces a serious competitor for the nomination in 2024? Is he likely to accept the vote count that shows him losing a primary or caucus? Is it likely he will forego the temptation to challenge every convention rule that poses a threat to him? (If you want to see what a genuinely contested GOP convention looks like, check out the Taft-Roosevelt fight in 1912, or the Eisenhower-Taft confrontation of 1952.)”
“Most important, a Trump who is denied the nomination — which, by his account, must have been the product of horrible, disgusting cheating the likes of which nobody has ever seen — is a Trump with the inclination and the resources to run an independent campaign for president. And he’ll have enough true believers to doom whoever the GOP nominee is.”
Quote of the Day
“I’m not surprised that Donald Trump is having recriminations about his decision and McCarthy’s to oppose the independent commission and to refuse to participate in the select committee. It will go down as a historic and strategic blunder by both of them.”
— Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), quoted by the Los Angeles Times.
Bipartisan Gun Bill Heads to the House
Punchbowl News: “The House will take the 80-page package this morning. The Rules Committee, which sets the parameters for floor debate, has scheduled a meeting for 7 a.m. Based on our estimates, this should put final passage around noon.”
“Democrats have a 220-210 margin in the House, meaning they can lose four votes and still pass the bill.”
Giuliani Under Scrutiny in Georgia Investigation
“Georgia investigators are scrutinizing Rudy Giuliani’s appearance before state lawmakers in 2020, where he peddled baseless claims of voter fraud and encouraged legislators to appoint a new slate of presidential electors,” CNN reports.
“The special purpose grand jury — which has been investigating whether former President Donald Trump or his allies violated the law in their efforts to flip the 2020 election results in Georgia — has heard testimony from at least four witnesses regarding Giuliani’s activities.”
Western Economies Slow Sharply as Recession Risks Grow
“The U.S. and European economies slowed sharply in June as surging prices of energy and food weakened demand for other goods and services, business surveys showed, increasing the risk of recessions around the world,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The new figures on manufacturing and services activity underline how dark the outlook has become in both Europe and the U.S. Russia’s war in Ukraine has hit global growth as high inflation spread across the globe. Economies also face continuing supply-chain disruptions and the prospect of rising interest rates that curb business investment. Europe faces additional pressure from a possible energy shortage this winter.”
Blake Masters Backs Privatizing Social Security
Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters (R) called for privatizing social security yesterday at a FreedomWorks forum.
Trump Had a Mystery Call with Putin
Playbook spoke to British documentarian Alex Holder — whose raw video footage was subpoenaed by the January 6 Committee — and learned about an unscheduled call Donald Trump had with Russian president Vladimir Putin during a packed day of campaigning just days before the presidential election.
Why McConnell Backed a Gun Bill This Time
For the first time publicly, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) explained why he backed the bipartisan gun bill, Politico reports.
Said McConnell: “We’ve lost ground in suburban areas. We pretty much own rural and small-town America. And I think this is a sensible solution to the problem before us, which is school safety and mental health. I hope it will be viewed favorably by voters in the suburbs that we need to regain in order to hopefully be in the majority next year.”
It’s the same rationale I gave earlier this month. It’s just politics.
January 6 Hearings May Solve the GOP’s Trump Problem
Peggy Noonan: “Mr. Trump’s national polling numbers continue underwater, but the real test will be to see those numbers after the Jan. 6 hearings are over. I believe we’ll see Rep. Liz Cheney’s kamikaze mission hit its target, and the SS Trump will list…”
“The 1/6 hearings are doing nothing to help Mr. Biden—some thought they would—but they are sinking Mr. Trump.”
Rich Lowry: “I thought the January 6 committee wouldn’t have any chance of reaching this cohort of Trump backers. Instead, by revisiting the insanity of the post-election period and sucking Trump into responding, the committee has seemingly enhanced the sense of Trump fatigue among these voters, at least at the margins.”
Feds Broaden Indictment Against Oath Keepers
U.S. prosecutors broadened a seditious conspiracy charge against Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and eight co-defendants, the Washington Post reports.
The new indictment does not allege new facts, but gives the Justice Department more leeway in proving a violation of the historically rare, Civil War-era charge in this case.
Britain’s Conservative Party Chair Resigns
“Oliver Dowden, the chairman of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative party, resigned on Friday, saying it could not carry on with business as usual after two crushing by-election defeats and someone had to take responsibility,” Reuters reports.
North Korea Nuclear Test Looms
“Officials and experts in Washington and Seoul agree that North Korea is set to conduct its seventh nuclear test and its first since 2017 — likely quite soon,” Axios reports.
Covid Vaccines Saved 20 Million Lives in First Year
“Nearly 20 million lives were saved by Covid-19 vaccines during their first year, but even more deaths could have been prevented if international targets for the shots had been reached,” the AP reports.
Senate Passes Bipartisan Gun Bill
“The Senate approved bipartisan legislation on Thursday aimed at keeping firearms out of the hands of dangerous people, after a small group of Republicans joined Democrats to break through their party’s longstanding blockade of gun safety measures and shatter nearly three decades of congressional paralysis on toughening the nation’s gun laws,” the New York Times reports.
“It would enhance background checks for prospective gun buyers ages 18 to 21, requiring for the first time that juvenile records, including mental health records beginning at age 16, be vetted for potentially disqualifying material. The bill would provide incentives for states to pass ‘red flag’ laws that allow guns to be temporarily confiscated from people deemed by a judge to be too dangerous to possess them. And it would tighten a federal ban on domestic abusers buying firearms, and strengthen laws against straw purchasing and trafficking of guns.”
Records Show Sheena Greitens Alleged Abuse in 2018
“Sheena Greitens grew concerned enough about her then-husband Eric Greitens’ (R) violent and controlling behavior four years ago that she contacted both a marriage therapist and family lawyer to outline allegations of the former Missouri governor being physically and emotionally abusive to her and their young children,” the Kansas City Star reports.
“The two communications, sent in 2018, offer an exhaustive account of the abuse allegations against Eric Greitens that were first made public in a sworn statement filed by Sheena Greitens in March.”
“Now a candidate for U.S. Senate in Missouri, Eric Greitens has tried to paint the allegations as a political conspiracy orchestrated by establishment Republicans in an effort to derail his campaign.”
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“I think if you can step back, what’s going on here right now in the Republican Party… 50% roughly of the Republicans would walk off the cliff for Donald Trump. Now I think at least 20% want to push him off the cliff.”
— Bob Woodward, on CNN.
Wisconsin Election ‘Investigator’ Deleted Records
“The former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice hired to investigate President Joe Biden’s victory in the battleground state testified Thursday that he routinely deleted records, and deactivated a personal email account, even after receiving open records requests,” the AP reports.
