Weeks where decades happen

There’s, um, a lot going on right now.

Jul 18, 2024

AI rendering of “person overwhelmed by news”

I think this may be the first edition of Wake Up To Politics ever to be headlined by a Lenin quote, but in this case it feels appropriate: “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.”

Folks, between a presidential assassination attempt, a presidential infection, the dismissal of a presidential indictment, a vice presidential selection, a brewing party coup, and a senatorial conviction — I feel confident stating that we are firmly in the latter.

Let’s run through the latest:

1. Biden has Covid. And even bigger problems.

President Biden tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday, sending him into quarantine during one of the most critical moments of his political career.

“The president presented this afternoon with upper respiratory symptoms, to include rhinorhea (runny nose) and non-productive cough, with general malaise,” Biden’s doctor said in a statement. “He felt okay for his first event of the day, but given that he was not feeling better, point of care testing for Covid-19 was conducted, and the results were positive for the Covid-19 virus.”

But that’s not even the worst news for him.

ABC News reported last night that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) urged Biden to drop out of the presidential race during a meeting on Saturday, and that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) have also expressed grave concerns to Biden about his continued candidacy.

The new reporting — which was confirmed by other news outlets, and not explicitly denied by either Schumer or Jeffries — amounted to a signal that, after weeks of indecision following Biden’s disastrous debate performance, the most powerful Democrats in Washington have decided to dispense with him.

Pelosi will “do everything in her power” to make sure Biden steps off the Democratic ticket, an ally of hers told Politico. Earlier on Wednesday, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) — a prominent Democratic lawmaker and a Pelosi protégé — publicly called on Biden to step down. Schumer and Jeffries were also reportedly behind a Wednesday move to delay Biden’s nomination, while Biden campaign co-chair Jeffrey Katzenberg reportedly warned the president that his top donors “have all but stopped writing the kind of big checks that sustain campaigns in the home stretch.”

Meanwhile, according to the New York Times and CNN, Biden has grown newly “receptive” to reconsidering his future on the ticket in recent days. “He’s gone from saying, ‘Kamala can’t win,’ to ‘Do you think Kamala can win?’” a senior Democratic adviser told CNN.

“President Biden is the nominee of the party,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in response to the reporting. “He plans to win, and looks forward to working with congressional Democrats to pass his 100 days agenda to help working families.”

Note: Here’s what Biden told BET in an interview earlier this week, before the Covid diagnosis, when asked if there was anything that would persuaded him to leave the presidential race:

“If I had some medical condition that emerged, if somebody, if doctors came to me and said, ‘you got this problem, that problem.’”

2. Vance makes his national debut

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) addressed the Republican convention Wednesday night, delivering his first primetime address as the party’s vice presidential nominee.

During the speech, Vance drew on the personal story that first brought him to fame with his bestselling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” seeking to highlight his working-class roots. The address was punctuated by chants of “Mamaw,” in tribute to the late grandmother who raised him, and — in one of its more powerful moments — “J.D.’s mom,” in honor of his mother, who struggled with drug addiction when he was growing up but was attending the convention after almost 10 years of sobriety.

“Never in my wildest imagination could I have believed that I could be standing here tonight,” Vance said.

The 39-year-old Ohio senator also repeatedly sought to slam 81-year-old Biden, while emphasizing his own young age in the process:

When I was in the fourth grade, a career politician by the name of Joe Biden supported NAFTA, a bad trade deal that sent countless good jobs to Mexico.
When I was a sophomore in high school, that same career politician named Joe Biden gave China a sweetheart trade deal that destroyed even more good American middle-class manufacturing jobs.
When I was a senior in high school, that same Joe Biden supported the disastrous invasion of Iraq.

“And somehow,” he added, “a real estate developer from New York City by the name of Donald J. Trump was right on all of these issues while Biden was wrong. President Trump knew, even then, that we needed leaders who would put America first.”

Each of the stances Vance name-checked were also ones supported by many Republican politicians at the time — a sign of the Trump-Vance ticket taking the GOP in a new, more populist direction.

More from the convention: Ex-Trump adviser Peter Navarro took the stage just hours after being released from prison… Trump’s eldest grandchild made her political debut… “The hottest fashion accessory at the Republican National Convention is the ear bandage,” the Washington Post declares.

3. Secret Service questions mount

Let’s count the number of apparent security failures tied to the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump last weekend:

#1: Trump’s security was supposed to be on an increased posture in the first place due to an (unrelated) assassination threat from Iran.

#2: The Secret Service had identified the rooftop of the AGR International building (where Thomas Matthew Crooks shot at Trump from) as a potential vulnerability before the event, but failed to post any agents there.

#3: The agency also left the building outside of the security perimeter for the event, even though it was only about 400 feet from Trump’s podium — within range of a rifle.

#4: The Secret Service’s initial planning called for a patrol car and officer to be stationed outside of the building during the event, which might have helped detect Crooks. The agency requested that local law enforcement provide that personnel, but when informed that they lacked the resources, it does not appear that the Secret Service provided such personnel themselves.

#5: Three hours before the shooting, Crooks entered the security perimeter and reportedly “aroused suspicion when he passed through the magnetometers carrying a rangefinder,” a device used by hunters to measure distances when aiming a gun. Even though he stood out as suspicious, security personnel lost track of him.

#6: 40 minutes before the shooting, Secret Service personnel again identified Crooks as suspicious as he walked near the AGR International building with the rangefinder. Again, they lost track of him.

#7: 20 minutes before the shooting, Secret Service snipers spotted Crooks on the rooftop and was aware of a potential threat. At this point, Trump would still not go on stage for another 10 minutes; however, the rally was not delayed, even as two local officers were dispatched to search for Crooks.

#8: About two minutes before the shooting, a local law enforcement officer climbed up to the rooftop to look for Crooks — but the search does not appear to have been very well-thought-out. When he was able to see Crooks, the gunman “turned his firearm” towards the officer; the officer was holding onto the roof with both hands, so he couldn’t hold a weapon. He fell backward, and then Crooks fired at Trump.

Meanwhile: Law enforcement officials have still reportedly been unable to detect Crooks’ motive, although signs point more to it being for notoriety than for an ideological purpose. According to ABC News, investigators found internet searches on Crooks’ phone for both Trump and Biden, as well as for the dates of Trump’s Pennsylvania rally and the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. They also found a message posted to a gaming platform: “July 13 will be my premiere, watch as it unfolds.”

What’s next: Congressional Republicans are calling for Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle’s resignation as multiple investigations continue into the agency. Cheatle is set to testify before a House committee on Monday. She is currently at the RNC, where a group of Republican senators attempted to question her in the hallways last night. Cheatle ignored them. Watch the video