Updated July 22, 2024
- Last week, former President Donald Trump picked Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate. Vance, who was once a critic of Trump, is the first millennial to join a major-party ticket.
- Trump said in a post on Truth Social:
"After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio."
Here is a quick breakdown of Vance's politics.
Vance became a Senator in 2022, when he:
- Said he would back a national ban on abortion after 15 weeks.
- Opposed U.S. aid for Ukraine.
- Fought for train safety after the toxic train disaster in East Palestine in his home state.
- Joined the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, the Commerce Science and Transportation Committee, the Joint Economic Committee, and the Special Committee on Aging.
- Said had he been vice president in 2020, he would not have certified the election. He said:
"If I had been vice president, I would have told the states, like Pennsylvania, Georgia and so many others that we needed to have multiple slates of electors…and I think the U.S. Congress should have fought over it from there. That is the legitimate way to deal with an election that a lot of folks, including me, think had a lot of problems in 2020. I think that's what we should have done."
Updated July 8, 2024
- In the aftermath of the debate, leading Democrats have been pushing Biden to step out of the race and let another top Democrat run. Party members are questioning whether the 81-year-old is fit to serve another term. Leader of House Democrats, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), convened top committee members to discuss Biden's abilities. According to close sources, several Democrats, including Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Jim Himes (Conn.), and Mark Takano (Cali.) privately said that Biden should step aside. Five other Democratic lawmakers have firmly called on Biden to desert his reelection campaign.
- In response, Biden has maintained that he will not drop out of the race. The president wrote in a letter to congressional Democrats that he is "firmly committed to staying in the race" and challenges other Dems to run against him. He is urging the party to stand as a united front, as stated during a Pennsylvania campaign stop. He said:
"I, honest to God, have never been more optimistic about America's future if we stick together."
- Despite the Biden campaign's damage control after the debate, a few Democrats have been highlighted as potential replacements if the president decides to step out of the race. Those include Vice President Kamala Harris, who could inherit Biden's campaign funds, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, Gov. Gretchen Witmer of Michigan, Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, or Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania.
Highlights from the debate
- As anticipated, Thursday night's presidential debate focused more on personal attacks than policy-concerning discussions. Biden attacked Trump for his relations with adult film star Stormy Daniels, commenting that he "[has] the morals of an alley cat," while Trump went after Hunter Biden's criminal record and Biden's age and health, remarking that "[h]e can't hit a ball 50 yards."
- Analyses from the debate highlight Biden's delivery of rambling, softspoken answers and Trump's consistent falsehoods and misleading statements. Biden's age of 81 was apparent throughout the performance, raising anxiety amongst his campaign leaders and Democrats.
- Trump's attempts to sell false statements to voters were rarely pushed back on by Biden or fact-checked by the moderators. Trump's inaccurate and hyperbolic claims included: his administration had the "best environmental numbers"; Nancy Pelosi refused his offer for national guard troops on Jan. 6; threats to prosecute Biden for "all of the things that he's done"; and that Democrats want to allow abortions up until and after birth. To this, Biden responded:
"You're lying. That is simply not true. We are not for late-term abortions, period."
- Nevertheless, Trump continued, adding:
"[Democrats] will take the life of a child...even after birth."
- The presidential hopefuls debated over the Israel-Hamas war, which has killed approximately 40,000 Palestinians since October. Biden emphasized the U.S.'s support to Israel, saying that his administration is continuing to send experts to hinder Hamas' power. Trump retorted by claiming Biden has become a "very bad Palestinian" for not letting Israel "finish the job."
- Despite immigration being a leading issue amongst voters, it was not the center of attention during the debate. Trump continuously turned questions about immigration into an attack on Biden, accusing him of "opening up the safest border in the world to terrorists, prisoners." Biden, on the other hand, emphasized his administration's work to manage illegal immigration. He even went so far as to say that border control has endorsed him, which the National Border Patrol Union claims is untrue. The union posted to X:
"To be clear, we never have and never will endorse Biden."
- Following the debate, there are talks of replacing Biden as the Democratic nominee. David Axelrod, former senior advisor to former President Barack Obama, said:
"There are going to be discussions about whether [Biden] should continue."
- The next presidential debate will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 10, at 9 p.m. ET. This will be the last debate before the presidential election.
This Thursday, June 27, is the first presidential debate of this year’s general election. It’s been four years since President Biden and former President Donald Trump last debated each other, and this year, they’re taking the stage in Atlanta, Georgia.
The debate will be hosted by CNN and will occur without an in-person audience. Jake Tapper and Dana Bush, hosts of the network’s political talk show State of the Union, will moderate the event.
The debate will break campaign tradition by occurring months earlier than usual and with a new set of rules, including muted microphones unless a candidate is directly spoken to, no prewritten notes, and a coin toss to determine the order of closing statements.
Presidential debate details
Who: The debate will be between Biden and Trump. Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. failed to meet CNN’s requirements to participate, which are at least 15% support in four approved national polls and qualifying for ballot placement in enough states to receive 270 electoral votes.
When: The event will be on Thursday at 9 p.m. Eastern time. The debate will last about 90 minutes.
Where: You can watch the debate on CNN’s cable channel or CNN.com. The event will also be available to stream on The New York Times, ABC News, and Fox News.
Check back on Thursday to watch the debate live here.
The Latest
-
The Long Arc: Taking Action in Times of Change“Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.” Martin Luther King Jr. Today in read more... Advocacy -
Thousands Displaced as Climate Change Fuels Wildfire Catastrophe in Los AngelesIt's been a week of unprecedented destruction in Los Angeles. So far the Palisades, Eaton and other fires have burned 35,000 read more... Environment -
Puberty, Privacy, and PolicyOn December 11, the Montana Supreme Court temporarily blocked SB99 , a law that sought to ban gender-affirming care for read more... LGBTQIA+ -
Women Are Shaping This Election — Why Is the Media Missing It?As we reflect on the media coverage of this election season, it’s clear that mainstream outlets have zeroed in on the usual read more... Elections
Climate & Consumption
Health & Hunger
Politics & Policy
Safety & Security
Biden is best when he speaks from his heart. He was over-coached trying to remember all the facts, stats and figures that his debate team prepared him for - and that cost him some ‘media-presence’ debate points. If media-performance was the primary factor for determining a presidential candidate’s qualifications, we would be governed by armies of empty headed neo-triumps, neo-hitlers and other 'actor' wannabe-dictators.
Job performance matters and no honest person can discredit the many significant accomplishments of the Biden administration to date nor the stark contrast of the embarrassment of a President that the trump was, or the sadly morally and ethically devoid person that the trump still is. Quick speaking and quips are much less important than a well qualified, ethical and honest strategic leader with a track record of record-setting accomplishments.
Couple of tips: Tell the debate team that they need to let Joe be Joe, let him respond contemporaneously and just dump the over-prepping. Also, just simply ignore the trump’s barrage of lies and misdirections with a smile and a short comment like ‘liars lie’; then answer the question posed and talk about what the Biden administration will accomplish next term.
Democrats need to stop whining and worrying about the debate performance and concerns about positioning a new nominee. It does not help and is very counter-productive.
Democrats need to gather together as a united front with a common purpose of a strong Democratic Party election performance to prevent the looming Christian Nationalist takeover of our government. To do that, they need to capture the Presidency, the Senate and the House.
Ethical standards need to be imposed of the Supreme Court and some the new laws that the court is creating legislatively to support the Federalist Society’s wealthy donors, need congressional legislative corrections - and that can only happen with a unified Democratic Party.
Christian Nationalist conservatives represented by the Heritage society have a terrifying strategy for radically increasing Presidential authority through a number of executive and congressional actions that would effectively give their chosen leader the ability to simply ignore congressional or judicial mandates. (see the Heritage Society’s 500 page 2025 plan and see John Oliver’s excellent review of this plan for the trump’s presidency.) If these poor Christian Nationalist fools get their wish for a trump presidency, there will no longer be any reason for the trump to honor any of the promises made to them - and there will be no way to get him out of office. The executive branch agency’s leadership ranks would be replaced by only the most loyal trump supporters and would not enforce any congressional mandates, nor would they enforce court decisions that the trump would not like.
This is all very similar to the way Hitler, as a populous leader, was put into office by wealthy German Conservatives in order to suppress developing German liberalism. They saw Hitler as a useful tool to be used to promote their conservative self-interests.
AND JUST HOW DID THAT WORK OUT: Hitler took ownership of the government to serve Hitler’s self-interests. These Christian Nationalist fools would follow the very same path and would deserve the same fate of the German Conservatives under Hitler.
Our country would loose our ‘rule of law’ to a ‘law of rulers’ - unless the Democratic Party can decisively win the 2024 elections.
If I could, I would donate to Democratic Party Causes close to the costs of moving to a more rational country - because that move would be required should the trump win re-election.
As a final observation, contrary to many religious leaders, our country was not founded on Christian ideals. Our country was founded on the precepts of common law, and the best features of differing civilizations such as the Roman Congress and Native American tribal council gatherings to peacefully resolve inter-tribal conflicts.
Most of the founders were deists and were not Christians. They intentionally separated the church from the state as religious disputes are often-argued using faith based arguments instead of rule based logic. Our founder’s allowed people to practice whatever religions they needed so long as their religious practices did not interfere with other’s practices.
There was to be no ‘one-true and absolute’ religion - if Christian Nationalist’s should succeed in forcing their one-and-only ‘true’ religion on our country, we will quickly devolve into an autocratic religious theocracy - no better than that of Iran.
The stakes are really high. Let’s all dig in and support the Democratic Party.
I hope it makes a difference, but it probably won't. tRump will be who he always is & has been. Democrats & anyone with a shred of decency will find him outrageous. They will think, " Now. Finally, people will see him for what he is & the difference between these two candidates."
Not even close.
Those deep in the MAGA camp won't even watch. They'll tune into Fox entertainment or look for FB memes of the event to share tRump's triumph...because he will proclaim himself the winner.
Those tRumpets who do watch will do so with a lens of finding a faltering, old man who has trouble talking. They will be too busy to listen to policy differences or actual plans to make our country better. If Biden does well, I can already hear the demand for drug testing.
The MAGA crowd will always be dug in. All America can hope for is to motivate those undecided, non-partisan, or independents to listen, be critical, and vote There's hope.
B needs to stay on message:
I will fight for your freedoms. Democrats will fight for your freedoms and rights. The Gop has already taken and continues to take your freedom.
- The right wing said they wouldn’t come after abortion, look what they did.
- The right wing said they wouldn’t come after marriage equality, look at Amy Comey Barrett’s opinion that just came out in Munoz (that nobody is talking about).
- The right wing said they wouldn’t come after contraception and ivf, look what the Alabama senate did.
- The right wing is coming for the federal emergency medical treatment and active labor treatment act (emtala), which allows state hospitals to treat woman that are on the verge of dying and having a miscarriage. They are coming after that, and set precedent that federal laws no longer override state laws.
- We are dealing with a pro death movement, with gun violence and abortion rights.
- They came after abortion
- They are coming for birth control
- They are coming for marriage equality
- We gave them the opportunity in the senate to protect birth control, and they voted no.
The gop are taking away your freedoms, and the Democrats are fighting hard to save them.
- T is proud he appointed 3 Supreme Court justices who took away your freedoms and rights.
- He is the one who lead a violent insurrection
- He is the one who dined with a Nazi
- He is the one who is a convicted felon, adjudicated fraudster and rapist.
- He is the one who has never shown any remorse.
- He is the one, on tape, admitting he knew how deadly covid was, but kept it quiet to help his election campaign.
- He is the one who in this, it’s fair to say, killed people.
Vote democrat, if you want to vote for your freedoms.
(I hope at some point B says, "I don’t know what you just said, and nobody else does either." It needs to be done, but Americans need to see how T responds to mockery, and it’s not going to be pretty. I'd also like him to touch on how red states won't fully train drs in woman's health, so they go to other states. They won't now practice in red states, so expect to see an uptick of deaths from ovarian and breast cancers.)
Vote for democrats who are fighting like hell for your rights...if you want to vote for your own freedom.
i'm not sure Vance would have the experience needed to step in as the President of the USA if Trump were to suffer a debilitating medical issue. He is in his Late 70s & is no spring chicken.
I want to reiterate that a good “media presence” does NOT a good president make.
A President that works to resolve complex and multidimensional issues that affect our nation needs to think deeply about how to address those issues with a singular focus and solicited inputs from many knowledgeable experts - one at a time. Anyone who takes on issues such as these simply cannot adequately address them in a two minute snapshot window. People who can quickly come up with one line ‘zingers’ suitable for a TV clip are not honestly answering questions posed, or have not really considered the issues with the depth and clarity needed to adequately address them.
I believe that FDR was a transformational president who did much to shape the future of our country. If FDR needed to go on TV to answer pop-quiz questions while dealing with an insane narcissistic sociopath adversary, I doubt that he could have been re-elected once - let alone survive three consecutive re-elections.
If FDR had to show up to adversarial media events with his failing physical health and being wheel-chair bound, just how likely would he have been re-elected three times?
What would our country and the world be today without FDR’s transformational leadership?
What would our country’s future become without Biden’s transformational leadership - all due to his inability to spontaneously deliver one line ‘zingers’ suitable for 30 second TV clips?
Our county’s future will be bleak if we are reduced to judging our country’s leadership solely by their media presence and ignoring their documented and very real record of substantive achievements.
CNN did this and CNN is pounding on the issue of Biden’s poor debate performance - while ignoring the trump’s lies and the trump’s track record of void ‘market speak’ lies about achievements.
And just when did Rupert Murdoch secretly purchase CNN?
I follow the news pretty closely so I don't think either Biden or the former WH resident will say something I haven't already heard. Plus, the former WH resident is such an a$$ that it is difficult to listen to his mindless ravings and outright lies. For those reasons, I may not watch. But...being curious I may not be able to resist tuning in for a few minutes to see if my pre-debate impressions pan out.
Joe Biden is the People's President. We love him and see him as a person who cares more for US than he does for himself. Also, we see the good he does and plans to do. The Democrats who speak bad about him need to realize they are rocking the boat for all Democrats and could lose their elections because of it. Simply put, follow President Biden and trust that he will do the right thing when the time comes. As Joe would say, "Have a little faith for a change!"
Biden should continue to run. he just needs good Advisors surrounding him.
We r now living in a dictatorship. The new trumplickin party must be eliminated. Trump is a dangerously narcissist. He will consume everything he is aware of.
I always thought working from home was a distant dream, especially with two kids running around. But guess what? I earn over $40 per hour working from home, and it's completely changed my life. My best friend, who makes over $10,000 a month doing the same thing, convinced me to give it a try. The potential is truly limitless! Here’s what I’ve been doing to make it all happen: https://www.cashdaily9.com
Has "causes" ended. I don't see new articles.
What borders stupidity?.......
Mexico n Canada
I am calling on my representatives in the US Congress to find the moral courage to stand against President-elect Trump's frivilous nominations for his Cabinet positions. It appears that he is going out of his way to find the least qualified people for each position. If I didn't know better, I might imagine that Trump is less interested in governing than purposely trying to destroy the government.
- Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence? Really? With her well-publicized connections to our arch-enemy Vladimir Putin and her frequent conspiricy claims, she does not belong anywhere near the intelligence community
- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr for Director of HHS? His crackpot beliefs and antipathy toward vaccines should automatically disqualify him.
- Matt Gaetz for Attorney General? I shouldn't even have to say anything about him because I'm sure you all are well aware of his exploits with underage girls. A yet-to-be convicted criminal (appointed by a convicted felon) should not be the nation's top lawman.
- Elise Stefanik for UN Ambassador? Her record demonstrated zero diplomatic skills, not to mention Soros conspiracy beliefs. She would not be taken seriously at the UN and would only help to make the US an international laughingstock.
- Pete Hegseth for National Defense? A probable white nationalist who defended war criminals?
- Mike Huckabee for Ambassador to Israel? His belief that there's no such thing as a Palestinean is a recipe for war.
- etc, etc . . .
Anyway - I understand your loyalty to the Party, but I would hope you could find it in your soul to call upon your oath of office and put the health and well-being of the country and its citizens first.
Thank you for your attention,
John D.
Tallahassee, FL
The only people who can save this country from a king is the Republicans in the Senate let's hope they do.
He's an idiot.
So sad to hear the election results this time around. It is not good news for our country nor the world. Vice President Harris needs to hold firm and not concede and request recounts.
If Trump wants rapist and murderer out of the country start with himself. Unbelievable he's threatening to kill people shoot how is this idiot allowed to run for president of this great country
I get paid over $40 per hour working from home with 2 kids at home. I never thought I'd be able to do it but my best friend earns over 10k a month doing this and she convinced me to try. The potential with this is endless. Heres what I've been doing..
check https://paybuzz108.pages.dev
Trump is desperate he will do anything to win. He knows where he's going jail.
If your voting for him and Trump you can't be for law enforcement
JD Vance is young, charismatic, and is already disrupting the political aspect.
It's a blockage to vote for either Trump or Harris as neither one are comfortable picks - however, JD being chosen as Trump's VP is almost likely to sabotage his career just like Trump did to Mike Pence albeit his professionalism in congratulating and attending President Biden's inauguration was commendable. It did gain disapproval and distrust from the MAGA supporters though.
That's why, if JD Vance should run, it should be as president.
He is fake and thinks Americans are ignorant. Hypocrisy is his kaunguage
He's the perfect pick for the Republican ticket.
He's an election denier, supports a national abortion ban, supports parents having more voting rights,and opposes no-fault divorce (& also believes women should not leave abusive marriages either, despite what the psychological experts say).
All of these stances run counter to what the majority of Americans want and some of it runs counter to the Constitution. Like I said, he's perfect for the ticket.
I hope both tRump & vance continue to speak their minds as much and often in public as they possibly can. I hope fact-checkers and honest journalists & Democrats are there to call out all the BS.
The bought and paid misogynistic, weird dude is perfect for the ticket just perfect!
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jul/19/jd-vance-beliefs
Inauthentic poser.
Nearly 70 swing state officials, most of those appointed, are poised to obstruct election certification, a report says.
Perhaps they could all get a memo on how the process works and the prosecutorial actions that will occur if the process is not followed (including maximum sentences for those found guilty)?
https://www.newsnationnow.com/politics/2024-election/swing-state-election-officials-trump/amp/
Musk claimed a DDoS attack was to blame for livestream glitches. Experts doubt it
If muskrat with all his money, 'tech', engineers, experts can't fend off a ddos and allows bozo to gaslight on his platform what truly can you expect from these two clowns on the world stage?!
Here's the only breakdown you really need of JD Vance- The JD stands for Just Dumb. Just look at the whole ticket you have JD or just dumb insulting every woman in the country that doesn't have children by calling them a cat lady and then you have the world's biggest liar at the top of the ticket Donald Trump, who incidentally is also a convicted felon and sex offender And they team up with Elon Musk probably the most disliked man in the United States, whose medium ex is going right down the toilet so he desperately reaches out to the Donald so he can pedal his lies on X. L O L the Republican party is turned into a complete and utter disaster. It will take decades to get over what Donald Trump has done to it. It has gone from being the conservative wing of America to the hallmark of crazed lier's and just plain strange out there people who are willing to attack literally the institutions and buildings of America. That's what Donald Trump has done to the republican party not to mention this country.
When republicans repeatedly violate the rights of artists by using their material without consent that is THEFT!
How do you expect them to follow the law when they are in power
for decades trump has shamelessly shortchanged / not paid his bills / accepted bribes while in office etc and vance has been suckled on another teat and you want these idiots to run your country?