Mary Trump: Her Uncle Donald, who wants a second crack at being president, has a falling out with Project 2025 -- but evidence shows the ties that bind are tight

(marytrump.org.)

 

The director of the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 stepped down yesterday, but that departure will not erase Donald Trump's fingerprints, which are all over the conservative organization's plans to radically reshape American government and society via its close ties to the Republican Party, writes Mary L.  Trump -- clinical psychologist, best-selling author, online opinion writer, niece of Donald Trump, and outspoken critic of her estranged (and deranged?) uncle's efforts to claim a second term as president.

Why is Mary Trump opposed to Donald's 2024 presidential campaign? She knows him and has observed his warped behavior from inside TrumpWorld; plus, she has the professional credentials to assess his behavior with depth and clarity. Her insights are at the heart of Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man (Simon & Schuster, 2020), her memoir, which rose to No. 1 on Amazon's bestsellers list, selling 1.35 million copies in its first week of release.

What about yesterday's shakeup at Project 2025? It will not erase Donald Trump's ties to the project's 900-page plan to transform life in the United States -- no matter how hard Donald tries to make that happen, writes Mary Trump, in a piece titled "Like An Albatross" at her Substack Page, "The Good in Us."

For somebody who is such a prolific liar, Donald is also quite a bad one. You would think that somebody who has as much practice as he’s had would be better at it. You could say the same thing about his golf game.

I was reminded of this earlier today when Donald’s campaign put out a press release in response to the announcement that Paul Dans, the director at the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, the fascist manifesto for a second Trump administration, is stepping down.

Written by two senior campaign advisors, Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, the release read,

“[Donald’s] campaign has been very clear for over a year that Project 2025 had nothing to do with the campaign, did not speak for the campaign and should not be associated with the campaign or the president in any way.

“Reports of Project 2025’s demise would be greatly welcomed and should serve as notice to anyone or any group trying to misrepresent their influence with President Trump and his campaign — it will not end well for you.”

It’s as if these people can’t help but be thugs. But the thuggery is just another indication of how rattled they’ve been by evidence-based attempts to connect Donald with the extreme right-wing transition and governance plans laid out in the document.

This seems to be another case of relationships ending on bad terms, which often happens  where Donald Trump is involved. Mary writes:

This is in line with Donald’s own attempts to distance himself from the dystopian proposals outlined in Project 2025 as soon as it became clear they were extremely unpopular with those voters who were familiar with them.

"I know nothing about Project 2025,” he wrote on Truth Social. “I have no idea who is behind it.”

He followed up with another post: "I have not seen it, have no idea who is in charge of it, and, unlike our very well received Republican Platform, had nothing to do with it."

He also claimed to know nothing about the people behind it even though 140 people who worked in his administration are involved in Project 2025.

Methinks, of course, he doth protest too much.

The more Americans learn about Project 2025, the less they seem to like it. Mary writes;

Democrats have sounded the alarm, Americans have taken notice, making Donald and his campaign uneasy. Anybody paying attention can see the connection between his authoritarian policies (mass internment of immigrants; much tighter restrictions on abortion, to name just two) and those laid out in the 900-page blueprint.

Not even mainstream political reporters were buying the campaign’s denials. New York Times’ reporter Jonathan Swan wrote on Twitter, “Project 2025 has become inconvenient for the Trump campaign but it has produced nearly all the policy it was ever going to & owns the central personnel database in the conservative movement.” Swan continued by pointing out that “it’s cost-free to trash Project 2025 now for political reasons & then take their database to pick & choose from after winning election.”

Only two weeks ago, Chris Cuomo asked Ken Cucinelli, former Deputy of Homeland Security in the Trump administration and co-author of one of the essays in Project 2025, “What does it mean that Donald has said ‘I have no idea what this is. I haven’t looked at it. It’s not mine?’”

Cucinelli responded, “I don’t think it means anything. He is running a campaign.”

It’s good to see the usual suspects aren’t falling for Donald’s lies. Not only because he is so bad at it, but also because Project 2025—and all of the dangerous anti-democratic plans it contains for the next Republican administration, needs to be hung around his neck like an albatross.

Donald Trump agrees to a victim-impact interview with the FBI as questions continue to swirl about the nature of his injury from shooting in Pennsylvania

Trump shooting investigation (AP)

 

Donald Trump yesterday agreed to sit for a victim-impact interview with the FBI regarding the apparent assassination attempt against Trump on July 13 in Butler, PA. As we have previously reported, the official story of the assassination, which largely was constructed by Trump himself, is filled with holes, so it will be interesting to see how forthcoming Trump is with the FBI. Our guess is "not very," if he can find a way to disclose as little as possible about the incident. A date for the Trump interview has not been disclosed.

Under the headline "Trump agrees to be interviewed in FBI’s probe into assassination attempt; FBI agent says agency eager to get ex-US president’s ‘perspective on what he observed’ during July 13 rally shooting Al Jazeera reports:

Donald Trump has agreed to be interviewed as part of an FBI investigation into the assassination attempt against the former United States president, an official said, as questions continue to swirl around the campaign rally shooting.

Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, said on Monday that the agency wants “to get [Trump’s] perspective on what he observed.

The former president and Republican Party 2024 presidential nominee has agreed to sit for a standard victim’s interview, which “will be consistent with any victim interview we do”, Rojek told reporters.

Trump, who has been highly critical of the FBI, was shot in the ear during a July 13 rally in Pennsylvania, spurring widespread condemnation and questions about what security measures were put in place before the event.

Witnesses say the alleged gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, had taken up a position on a rooftop with a direct line of sight of the rally stage. One rally attendee was killed and two were seriously injured in the incident.

During Monday’s briefing, FBI officials said they had yet to identify a motive for the shooting.

But they said Crooks had conducted online searches into prior mass shooting events, improvised explosive devices and the attempted assassination of the Slovakian prime minister in May.

A picture is emerging of Crooks as an intelligent, methodical loner who took steps to conceal his activities related to Trump. Al Jazeera reports: 

US lawmakers have pressed the country’s law-enforcement agencies to explain their security protocols ahead of the Trump rally shooting, which the FBI has said it is investigating as an act of “domestic terrorism” and an attempted assassination.

Last week, FBI Director Christopher Wray said during a congressional hearing that the agency will leave “no stone unturned” as it looks into what happened.

A day earlier, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned amid widespread pressure over the incident.

“I take full responsibility for the security lapse,” she said in an email to staff. “In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your director.”

Cheatle admitted the Trump shooting was an "operational failure. From AlJazeera:

The US Secret Service chief has admitted to Congress that the agency failed to prevent the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a July 13 campaign rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania.

“We failed. As the director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security lapse,” Director Kimberly Cheatle, who faced  Republican calls for her removal, said on Monday in testimony before the Committee on Oversight and Accountability in the US House of Representatives.

“The assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on July 13 is the most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades,” Cheatle said.

“There clearly was a mistake, and we will make every effort to make sure that this never happens again,” she said.

The shooting at an outdoor campaign rally wounded Trump in the right ear, killed one rally attendee and injured two others.

The suspected shooter, 20-year-old nursing home aide Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by law enforcement. The motive for the shooting is not clear.

Cheatle said Crooks had been identified as “suspicious” before Trump took the stage but had not been deemed to be a “threat”.

Bob Ayers, a former CIA officer and international security analyst, told Al Jazeera that Cheatle “dodged” many of the questions the committee asked her.

"I was in Washington for 20 years, and I’ve even testified before the Senate … when you go before a congressional committee of any sort, you are briefed to no end by your staff,” he said, adding that Cheatle “walked in like she didn’t know what was going to be asked, and so she tried to stonewall”.

Al Jazeera’s Shihab Rattansi, reporting from Washington, DC, said that despite evading many of the questions, Cheatle did provide some information.

“She did confirm that the FBI had informed the Secret Service that the gunman had used a drone in the area”, as well as that he had brought in a range finder – a small device to measure distance – that wasn’t a prohibited item, Rattansi said.

Why would Cheatle stonewall on questions posed by members of a Congressional committee? That is one of many questions hanging over this investigation.

In just eight days' time, Kamala Harris overtakes Trump in Reuters/Ipsos poll and drags Democrats out of disarray while GOP goes into scrambling mode

 

It has been eight days since President Joe Biden stepped aside, allowing Vice President Kamala Harris to take over at the top of the Democratic Party's 2024 ticket. In that short time span, Harris and her team have turned the race for president upside down. Republican Donald Trump had led in polls by varying margins for months. But a poll released July 23 has Harris leading Trump 44% to 42%. That is a small margin, and it does not mean Harris is going to steamroll to victory on Nov. 5, but she has put a new tone on the race in a remarkably short period of time. Other storylines beneath the surface suggest Harris holds other advantages  that likely have Team Trump shaken. For example:

(1) The Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Harris is in strong position with certain key voting groups, especially independent voters;

(2) Trump, who once was willing to debate Biden "anytime, anywhere, anyplace" now seems reluctant to debate  Harris at all. With polls shifting in Harris' favor, is he concerned that a poor debate performance could strengthen her position even more.?

(3) Questions increasingly are being asked about the nature of Trump's injuries from an apparent assassination attempt on July 13 in Butler, PA. As we have previously reported, the official story of the assassination, which largely was constructed by Trump himself, is filled with holes and is likely to fall apart if FBI investigators have enough integrity to apply strict scrutiny to the matter. Suspicions have heightened in recent days as photos of Trump without a bandage on his injured ear show no sign of tissue damage or efforts to repair the wound.

We will have more in upcoming posts on both the July 23 poll and questions swirling around the nature of Trump's wounds from the apparent assassination attempt. But first, let's take a look at a report about the new poll, under the headline "Exclusive: Harris leads Trump 44% to 42% in US presidential race, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds." Reuters' Jason Lange writes:

Vice President Kamala Harris opened up a marginal two-percentage-point lead over Republican Donald Trump after President Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign and passed the torch to her, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

 

That compares with a marginal two-point deficit Biden faced against Trump in last week's poll before his Sunday exit from the race.

 

The new poll, conducted on Monday and Tuesday, followed both the Republican National Convention where Trump on Thursday formally accepted the nomination and Biden's announcement on Sunday he was leaving the race and endorsing Harris.

 

Harris, whose campaign says she has secured the Democratic nomination, led Trump 44% to 42% in the national poll, a difference within the 3-percentage-point margin of error.

 

Harris and Trump were tied at 44% in a July 15-16 poll, and Trump led by one percentage point in a July 1-2 poll, both within the same margin of error.

 

While nationwide surveys give important signals of American support for political candidates, a handful of competitive states typically tilt the balance in the U.S. Electoral College, which ultimately decides who wins a presidential election.

 

A pollster with Trump's campaign played down any polling showing an increase in Harris' support, arguing that she was likely to see a temporary rise in popularity because of widespread media coverage of her new candidacy.

 

"That bump is likely to start showing itself over the next few days and will last for a while," pollster Tony Fabrizio said in a memo circulated to reporters by Trump's campaign.

 

Candidates often expect a bump after formally accepting their party's nomination at stage-managed, televised conventions such as the one that Trump had last week. But the poll showed no sign of that. Bump or not, the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll underscores the rationale for Biden dropping out of the race and for Harris replacing him on the ticket.

 

Some 56% of registered voters agreed with a statement that Harris, 59, was "mentally sharp and able to deal with challenges," compared to 49% who said the same of Trump, 78. Only 22% of voters assessed Biden that way.

Some 80% of Democratic voters said they viewed Biden favorably, compared to 91% who said the same of Harris. Three quarters of Democratic voters said they agreed with a statement that the party and voters should get behind Harris now, with only a quarter saying multiple candidates should compete for the party's nomination.

Here are more insights on the poll from moveon.org:

A brand-new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Vice President Kamala Harris is leading Donald Trump in the polls 44%-42%.

That comes after Harris raised more than $100 million in the first 48 hours of her campaign—shattering records and raising more money than any other presidential campaign in American history.

A Salon headline put it this way: "Kamala Harris has Donald Trump running scared."

Trump is so afraid of Harris that he is now scrambling to change the debate rules. In a desperate screed on Truth Social, Trump said he wants the debate to be hosted by Fox News instead of ABC, as he had previously agreed.

And Trump is reportedly even second-guessing his pick for vice president.

The polling toplines and Harris's massive fundraising haul aren't the only pieces of good news.

In-depth polling on key questions shows Harris has big electoral strengths that terrify Trump's team.

For example, while Trump had calculated that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s bid would siphon votes away from the Democratic nominee, a CBS poll shows Harris performing strongly in a three-way matchup against Trump and RFK Jr. The poll had Harris leading the pack at 42%, Trump at 38% and RFK Jr. at 8%.

In addition, Harris shows huge electoral strengths among key demographic groups that will be critical to winning in November.

• Among voters aged 18-29, Harris leads Trump by 25 percentage points, and nearly 40,000 new young voters registered to vote in the 48 hours after Harris announced for president.
• Among Black voters, Harris leads Trump by 54 percentage points.
• Harris is also popular among Latino voters, and especially with undecided Latino voters who will be the critical element in November.

Simply put: Kamala Harris can win this election. And if we all do our part, she will.

We can't return to Donald Trump's presidency and the daily chaos and the struggle of stopping the worst of his attempts to divide us, further dismantle democratic institutions, and roll back our remaining rights and freedoms.

The white Christian nationalist Project 2025 takeover plan tells us everything we need to know about the plan for a second Trump presidency.

Here is more about Project 2025 from a report at bbc.com: 

A proposed Republican party platform has been approved at the party’s national convention, but a much more detailed proposal from a conservative think tank has also been drawing attention.

Project 2025 was created by the Heritage Foundation and runs for nearly 900 pages.

Trump has disavowed Project 2025, though critics have pointed out it was led by former officials in his administration.

The document calls for the sacking of thousands of civil servants, expanding the power of the president, dismantling the Department of Education, sweeping tax cuts, a ban on pornography, halting sales of the abortion pill, and more.

There is agreement between many parts of the official Republican platform and Project 2025, although the think-tank document is much more detailed and in some policy areas goes much further than the party line.

There is a sharper contrast between the two when it comes to the issue of abortion, with Heritage urging much more aggressive anti-abortion policies.

Who wrote Project 2025?

It is common for Washington think tanks of all political stripes to propose policy wish lists for potential governments-in-waiting.

The conservative Heritage Foundation first produced policy plans for future Republican administrations in 1981, when Ronald Reagan was about to take office.

It has produced similar documents in connection with subsequent presidential elections, including in 2016, when Trump won the presidency.

A year into his term, the think tank boasted that the Trump White House had adopted nearly two-thirds of its proposals.

The Project 2025 report was unveiled in April 2023, but liberal opposition to the document has ramped up now that Trump has extended his polling lead.

The Republican nominee himself has distanced himself from the proposal.

"I know nothing about Project 2025," he posted on his social media website, Truth Social. "I have no idea who is behind it.

"I disagree with some of the things they're saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal."

But the team that created the project is chock-full of former Trump advisers, including director Paul Dans, who was chief of staff at the Office of Personnel Management while Trump was president.

Russell Vought, another former Trump administration official, wrote a key chapter in the document and also serves as the Republican National Committee’s 2024 platform policy director.

More than 100 conservative organisations contributed to the document, Heritage says, including many that would be hugely influential in Washington if Republicans took back the White House.

The Project 2025 document sets out four main policy aims: restore the family as the centrepiece of American life; dismantle the administrative state; defend the nation's sovereignty and borders; and secure God-given individual rights to live freely.

New images of Donald Trump without a bandage on his injured ear, show no signs of damage, as new evidence raises more questions than it answers about apparent assassination attempt in rural Pennsylvania

 

Trump ear image1 (Reuters)

The first photographs of Donald Trump without a bandage on his right ear, which was injured in an apparent assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, PA, have been published -- and they tend to show no clear damage to the ear. In fact, the ear looks perfectly fine -- no sign of scarring, scabbing, or any other residue from a tissue injury. That has raised new questions about the nature of Trump's injury, on top of questions already swirling around the shooting incident in Pennsylvania and the damage it supposedly caused.

 

Trump ear image2 (AP)

In short, the photographs have added confusion to an event that already was confusing, mainly because of a lack of transparency and clarity on several fronts, including the FBI.  Director Christopher Wray's recent testimony before Congress caused Trump to go into a panic-fueled tantrum. Why did Trump go into a panic over fairly routine remarks by Wray at an already scheduled appearance before Congress? That is one of many unanswered questions surrounding the incident in Butler, PA.

The online news site indy100.com, an arm of The Independent, tries to sort out a jumbled picture. Under the headline "First photos of Trump without ear bandage have everyone saying the same thing," Greg Evans writes:

Trump ear image3 (AP)

 

The first images of Donald Trump without a bandage on his ear have emerged following the failed assassination attempt earlier this month and everyone is marvelling at the lack of stitching or apparent scars on the former president.

After surviving the attempt on his life on July13, which left him with blood pouring from his ear, resulting in an already iconic image, Trump adopted a large white bandage on his ear which he wore to the Republican National Convention just shy of a week later.

The first images of Trump without the bandage came courtesy of a sitdown meeting with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida, amid the highly controversial war in Gaza. 

The images show that Trump's ear appears to be relatively unscathed and doesn't have any scarring or noticeable scabs. In one photo, Trump could even be seen showing Netanyahu where his ear was hit by the bullet.

Although it seems clear that something hit Trump -- he says it was a bullet that pierced the flesh of his right ear --  the lack of noticeable injuries has prompted some observers to question the severity of the former president's injuries.

Comments by Rep. Ronny Jackson, who previously served as Trump's physician were also mocked after he claimed that the bullet had caused a 2 cm wide wound on the former president's ear.

Doubt has recently been cast by FBI director, Christopher Wray, as to whether Trump was hit by a bullet or by shrapnel.

However, Jackson responded to these claims on Truth Social, calling them "wrong and inappropriate," adding: "There is absolutely no evidence that it was anything other than a bullet."

Photos that have emerged in recent days do not seem to square with Jackson's statement, so the public is left to wonder what happened in Pennsylvania to the former president and the Republican Party nominee for the 2024 presidential race.

Trump ear image4 (Reuters)

As Donald Trump whines and files complaints with the Federal Election Commission, Kamala Harris and Joe Biden build a united front for an election where democracy and the soul of America likely are at stake

Kamala Harris and Joe Biden (AP)

Donald Trump was so rattled by President Joe Biden's decision to address the nation last night that he had a lawyer send two legal complaints to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), both related to Vice President Kamala Harris' ascendance to the top of the Democratic Party's presidential ticket -- and neither of which appeared to have support in the law.

That's from a report at The New Republic (TNR), which indicates the thought of Harris as his opponent has Trump throwing more tantrums and fits than usual. Under the headline "Trump Proves With Latest Tantrum He Knows Kamala Harris Has the Edge; Donald Trump is having a fit over the amount of attention Joe Biden is getting," TNR's Edith Olmsted writes:

Donald Trump is seriously pissed that President Joe Biden addressed the nation last night from  the White House, the first time he has spoken publicly and directly  to the American people since isolating for Covid-19 last week, ending his re-election campaign, and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris over the weekend.

There’s obviously a lot to talk about—but Trump (predictably) wants to talk too, even if he doesn’t have anything new to say.

Biden and Harris seem to have taken up residence in the dark, empty spaces between Trump's ears. But Trump still has at least one lawyer who will work for him, so Olmsted writes about the former president's plans to walk, once again, down that familiar legal path:

In response to Biden’s announcement that he would address the country at 8:00 p.m. (EDT) on Wednesday to discuss “what lies ahead, and how I will finish the job for the American people,” the Trump campaign’s general counsel David Warrington sent letters to ABC, NBC, and CBS demanding that the former president be granted equal airtime, according to The New York Times.

In the letter, Warrington wrote that because Biden will likely address his endorsement of Harris, it “appears that President Biden’s speech will not be a bona fide news event, but rather, a prime-time campaign commercial.” 

Warrington cited the Federal Communications Commission’s “equal time” rule, arguing that Trump should be given equal time for a “campaign speech.”

Under rules installed in the 1970s, news stations are no longer required to give equal time to candidates for “bona fide news events,” such as presidential speeches or news conferences. When that rule was implemented, critics noted that it gave an incumbent president an inherent advantage when it came to news coverage in an election cycle. If they had a problem with that, one can scarcely imagine how disturbed they’d be by how powerful the American president has become.

None of the outlets Trump’s team reached out to had responded by Tuesday night, and it’s unclear if they will. Maybe some of Trump’s meandering 92-minute address at last week’s Republican National Convention can carry over somehow?

Since his legal arguments appear to be losers, how does this impact Trump? Here is how Olmsted sees it:

All of this goes to show just how scared Trump is of his new opponent. Harris’s apparent edge has sent the former president on several tantrums in just the few days since her candidacy was announced, and scrambling for a way to get out of the next presidential debate.

Warrington also filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission over Harris’s so-called “heist” of Biden’s campaign’s $91.5 million war chest. But legal experts argue that she’s within her rights to take over the money because, as Biden’s running mate, she was named as a recipient on the principal campaign committee that raised the money.

Here are key moments from Biden's address, per reporting at NPR:

In an Oval Office speech Wednesday night, President Biden addressed his decision to abandon his race for a second term, telling Americans, “the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation.” 

“I revere this office. But I love my country more,” Biden said from behind the Resolute desk. “It's been the honor of my life to serve as your president, but in defense of democracy, which is at stake, I think it's more important than any title.”

Biden said stepping aside was “the best way to unite” the country.

Biden also outlined some of his priorities for the final six months of his term, including lowering costs, defending voting rights, protecting access to abortion, Supreme Court reform and working toward peace in the Middle East.

The remarks were Biden’s first to the public since bowing to pressure from the Democratic Party and withdrawing from the presidential campaign on Sunday.

Biden said he believed his record as president “merited a second term.”

“But nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy,” he said “That includes personal ambition.”

That decision was quickly followed by an endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris to run for president. Biden did address his former campaign team via telephone on Monday, when he told staffers that while “the name has changed at the top of the ticket… The mission hasn’t changed at all.”

In his remarks Wednesday, which ran just over 10 minutes, Biden said it has been the honor of his life to serve as president and he thanked Americans for the privilege. And he praised Harris, saying, “She’s experienced. She's tough. She's capable. She's been an incredible partner to me, and a leader for our country.”

He repeatedly stressed that he believes democracy is at stake in this election, telling Americans: “I ran for president four years ago because … the soul of America was at stake. And that's still the case.”

Trump seems afraid to debate Kamala Harris, to the point he already is seeking a friendlier venue (Fox News) to replace the agreed-to host, ABC News

Kamala Harris launches her first '24 campaign rally (Milwaukee Sentinel)

Donald Trump wants no part of debating Kamala Harris, and he already is trying to alter the agreed-to terms for the second presidential debate of 2024, according to a report at The New Republic (TNR). 

Under the headline "Pathetic Trump Already Trying to Weasel Out of Debating Kamala Harris; Donald Trump is scrambling to get out of the next presidential debate," TNR's Edith Olmsted provides details:

It’s only been two days since President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race, and Donald Trump is already trying to get out of debating Vice President Kamala Harris.

The former president was up late again Monday night ranting on Truth Social, and turned his attention to ABC News, which is set to hold the second presidential debate on September 10. The change-up in presumptive Democratic presidential nominees means Trump will likely face Harris onstage.

How is the Republican nominee taking that news? Not well, Olmsted reports, noting he already seems to have gone into wiggling mode:

“ABC Fake News is such a joke, among the absolute WORST in the business. They try to make Crooked Joe into a brave warrior because he didn’t have the ‘guts’ to fight it out—He quit!” Trump wrote. “They then tried to make ‘Sleepy’ look like a great President—he was the WORST, and Lyin’ Kamala into a competent person, which she is not. ABC, the home of George Slopadopolus, is not worthy of holding a Debate, of which I hope there will be many!”

In a separate post, Trump also accused the Democratic Party of misleading the Republican Party and “causing it to waste a great deal of time and money.” In another, he labeled Harris the “‘Border Czar’ who never visited the border,” and knocked her for her “absolutely terrible pole [sic] numbers.”

These posts mark day two of Trump’s meltdown over Biden’s withdrawal and endorsement of Harris. In the place of well-reasoned, or spelled, criticisms, Trump seems set on airing his grievances over the next debate, possibly to create a context for skipping it altogether.

Trump must really be in a snit because he resorted to his usual form of language, which mostly involves insults, disrespect, and inflammatory barbs.  Olmsted writes:

“Now that Joe (Biden), not surprisingly, has quit the race, I think the Debate, with whomever the Radical Left Democrats choose, should be held on FoxNews, rather than very biased ABC,” Trump wrote on Sunday. It’s not clear why these two thoughts are connected, but one thing is certain: Trump is scared enough of Harris to seek a friendlier debate venue.

When it came to Biden, Trump said he’d debate him “anytime, any place.” Now it’s only sometimes and a few specific places. Although, to be sure, Trump did a lot of whining about the first debate too. He tried desperately to undermine the credibility of the hosts and Biden’s performance before it had even happened.

Ultimately, Trump was able to flourish in CNN’s controlled environment, where his many baseless claims went uninterrupted, and undisputed until after the program had ended.

Kamala Harris moves quickly to secure support from high-profile Democrats, while choosing a running mate likely is the next big task on a crowded to-do list

(Getty)

 

Kamala Harris had an impressive first 24 hours atop the Democratic Party's presidential ticket, according to a report at The Evening newsletter  (7/21/24) of the The New York Times (NYT) How strong was it? Under the headline "Democrats cleared the path for Harris’s nomination," Reporter Matthew Cullen writes:

Vice President Kamala Harris has already secured the endorsement of the vast majority of elected Democrats, just a day after President Biden made the stunning announcement that he was dropping his re-election bid. Few obvious challengers to her nomination remain, as the party anxiously looks to move past the divisions that have torn it apart for weeks.

Here’s the latest.

Harris  yesterday earned the endorsements of several key Democratic governors, including JB Pritzker of Illinois and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, who were seen as some of the last serious threats to her nomination. She also secured the backing of Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House, who continues to wield considerable influence in the Democratic Party. A few other key Democrats, such as Barack Obama, have so far not endorsed Harris.

In her first 24 hours as a 2024 presidential candidate, Harris raised $81 million and took control of Biden’s enormous operation. Several celebrities also announced their support.

Yesterday morning, the vice president made her first public appearance since Biden ended his campaign. She praised Biden’s record as “unmatched in modern history,” while making a concerted effort to reintroduce herself to the electorate on her own terms. “One day down,” she later posted on social media. “105 to go. Together, we’re going to win this.”

Harris’s first big task will be choosing a running mate. The list of possibilities includes several governors and well-known Democrats; Eric Holder, a former attorney general, will lead the vetting process.

What’s next: As Times chief political analyst, Nate Cohn, wrote, it won’t be easy for Harris to beat Donald Trump, in part because Biden’s age was not the only thing that voters said they were dissatisfied with.

In stepping aside, Biden looked to rewrite his legacy

President Biden, who has long been concerned about his epitaph, was persuaded over the weekend that his legacy would be enhanced if he made the ultimate political sacrifice in the effort to prevent Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

My colleagues reported on the behind-the-scenes discussions that led to the decision. By Saturday night, some people very close to the president could sense that something was coming. But almost no one outside Biden’s Delaware vacation home, where the president was recovering from Covid, knew what he was thinking until he posted his statement on social media Sunday.

Kamala Harris receives a jubilant reception on Cape Cod as rally generates more than $2 million, and Democrats show signs of turning crisis into unity

Kamala Harris waves to the crowd as she departs rally on Cape Cod (Reuters)

 

Kamala Harris was a hit yesterday as campaign funds rolled in during a stop in Massachusetts, which marked her first rally at the top of the Democratic Party's 2024 presidential ticket. CBS News reported that the event signaled Democrats are determined to coalesce around Harris after weeks of stalemate regarding President Joe Biden's re-election efforts, which were hampered by his poor debate performance against Republican challenger Donald Trump. While reports have noted that not all Democrats are thrilled about the idea of Harris leading the ticket, the enthusiastic response in Massachusetts -- plus the sounds of campaign cash clicking to the tune of an estimated $2 million during the event -- indicate those voices have been quieted for now.

CBS' Laura Haefeli sets the scene under the headline "Kamala Harris visits Provincetown, raises more than $2 million for campaign." Haefeli writes:

Vice President Kamala Harris landed at Joint Base Cape Cod Saturday before heading to Provincetown for a campaign fundraiser at the Pilgrim Monument.

Video taken by an attendee shows a packed crowd of people who paid top dollar to support the Biden-Harris campaign. Organizers say the event raised more than $2 million.

"It was a great joyous atmosphere, everybody was very, very excited to see such turnout of our elected officials supporting each other and supporting the future of the country," said Provincetown resident Tara Sandler. She is proud of her little town at the tip of Cape Cod hosting the VP and elected officials including Governor Maura Healey, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

"It was really great to see the coalition of Democrats come together and support democracy," said Sandler.

Inside of the event, Harris focused on LGBTQ rights in a town that is home to many members of that community, promising protection for marriage equality and access to health care, criticizing Trump's team, claiming they're attacking those same freedoms. 

"If Trump gets elected and Project 2025 happens, then we're going to be in big trouble. We have to unite as Democrats behind the vice president and the president," said Sandler

Commitment to Biden-Harris ticket

Vice President Harris doubled down on the campaign's commitment to the Biden-Harris ticket, despite questions about the party's future."People are so committed to this moment in history that I think we all feel a sense of pride trying to help move the dial," says Provincetown neighbor Scott Squillace, proud to be amongst the crowd."It was a diverse crowd too, real representative of not just P-town but our community at large," said Squillace.Vice President Harris doubled down on the campaign's commitment to the Biden-Harris ticket, despite questions about the party's future.

"People are so committed to this moment in history that I think we all feel a sense of pride trying to help move the dial," says Provincetown neighbor Scott Squillace, proud to be amongst the crowd. "It was a diverse crowd too, real representative of not just P-town but our community at large," said Squillace. Reassured, just one week after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, security was at an all-time high. Dozens of Secret Service agents, local and state law enforcement on hand Saturday, and the event was held inside a tent. "I felt very safe," said Squillace, And as the event wound down, the unusual sight of a motorcade through the small streets of P-town, stunned neighbors, happy to welcome the VP. "I saw the motorcade. I saw a lot of lights and they were going very fast," said Julianna, a young neighbor spending time along Commercial Street.

"Her coming here was a wonderful idea," said neighbor Frank Russo.As for President Biden, what ultimately made him decide to step aside? This is from a report at The New York Times:“I need you and Mike at the house,” President Biden said late Saturday afternoon. Mr. Biden was on the phone from his vacation home in Rehoboth, Del., with Steve Ricchetti, a counselor to the president and one of his closest advisers. He was referring to Mike Donilon, his chief strategist and longtime speechwriter. Soon, both men were in Rehoboth, socially distanced from the president, who was recovering from Covid. From that afternoon and far into the night, the three worked on one of the most important and historic letters of Mr. Biden’s presidency — the announcement of his decision to withdraw from his re-election campaign after top Democrats, donors, close allies and friends had pressured him relentlessly to get out. He would not tell most of his staff until a minute before making the historic announcement to the world on social media on Sunday. Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Mr. Biden went on to endorse, spoke to him earlier on Sunday morning, as did Jeff Zients, his chief of staff, and Jen O’Malley Dillon, his campaign chair. A handful of senior advisers at the White House heard directly from the president on a Zoom call. Others in the West Wing learned when they saw it pop on social media.

“I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down,” he wrote, “and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term."