Happy Friday! The political world is obviously shellshocked — and I’ll get to that — but let’s start this off on a positive note. Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee, Shilese Jones and the whole gang are competing tonight for their first night of Olympic gymnastics trials! I’m so ~flipping~ excited. 🤸♀️ Now, back to that shellshock:
I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send tips, commentary, feedback and cookie recipes to cmartel@digital-stage.thehill.com. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: I will be off next week for the holiday. The Hill’s Liz Crisp and Mychael Schnell are guest-writing the 12:30 Report. They’re both great writers, so you’re in great hands! Enjoy your Fourth of July! 🌭🍋🍦🎆 |
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🏛️ From the Supreme Court |
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OK, we have a Jan 6 ruling: |
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The Supreme Court issued rulings on three cases this morning. Chief Justice John Roberts also announced that Monday will be the final day of decisions. That means the highly anticipated case on former President Trump’s immunity will come Monday morning. Here are today’s rulings: -
6 obstruction: “The Supreme Court ruled Friday that an obstruction law used to charge scores of Jan. 6 rioters and former President Trump was improperly applied, spelling trouble for the Justice Department’s far-reaching prosecution of the Capitol attack.” This was a 6-3 ruling, but not along ideological lines.
- Homelessness: In a 6-3 ruling along ideological lines, the court decided that cities can ticket homeless people for camping in public, even when there is no alternative shelter available. This could drastically affect hundreds of thousands of people without homes.
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Knocking down federal agencies’ power: The Supreme Court overruled a prominent precedent that gave federal agencies the ability to implement regulations in areas such as consumer and environment protections. Basically, the court took a sledgehammer to federal agencies’ power, and shifted it to the courts.
📝 List of the major cases left
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That … was tough to watch:
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It’s hard to overstate the panic in Democratic circles today after President Biden repeatedly stumbled and lost his train of thought during last night’s debate with former President Trump. The most poignant example was when Biden froze and then eventually wrapped by saying, “we finally beat Medicare.” 📹 That clip is tough to watch While Biden improved later into the debate — and his aides blame it on a cold — the damage had already been done. Political observers from both sides of the aisle agree this was devastating for the president.
Would Biden drop out?: The Hill’s Brett Samuels and Alex Gangitano report that Biden officials are scrambling to shut down chatter about Biden dropping out. A Biden campaign spokesperson said Biden is not dropping out, and the president already brushed off talk of stepping back during a Waffle House stop after the debate. But this will be a major evolving storyline to watch over the coming weeks.
This is particularly interesting: A fast-growing group of former top Obama White House officials are openly voicing their concern about Biden following his performance in the debate. 💡Former President Obama is one of the few people Biden may listen to about stepping aside, so this group carries weight. (Read here)
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Democrats are frantic. And I mean *frantic*: |
The Hill’s Amie Parnes has been hearing from a number of panicked Biden allies, one of whom called the debate “an honest-to-God nightmare.” Another Dem called his performance “political suicide.” One Democrat had a dark sense of a humor about it: “I wish Jamaal Bowman was around to pull the fire alarm,” this source said, referring to the Democratic congressman who pulled the fire alarm last fall during a weekend government funding vote. 😅
*Basically, Dems are muttering the Tom Petty lyrics: ‘There ain’t no easy way out.”
How are Congressional Democrats feeling?: Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman reports that “[their] sense isn’t that this was a bad debate. It is much worse than that. In their view, Biden didn’t even clear the lowest bar. They may agree with him on policy. But Biden wasn’t even able to articulate what his policies are. For Democrats running down ballot, this is an incredibly serious problem.”
Read more reporting on the internal Democratic panic and discussions: -
‘Democrats Talk About Replacing Biden on the Ticket’: The New York Times
‘Democrats Privately Discuss Replacing Biden on Presidential Ticket’: The Wall Street Journal -
‘Democrats panic over Biden’s performance, doubt his future’: The Washington Post
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‘Democrats really have no way to spin this. We break down Biden’s disastrous debate.’: Politico
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Several leading New York Times columnists called for Biden to drop out: Including Nicholas Kristof and Thomas Friedman
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) thinks everyone should chill: “Chill the f— out,” he posted, pointing to his own polling projections from his election to Congress. Read Fetterman’s post
^ This was one of our most-read articles of the morning.
Curious what Jon Stewart had to say about it?: Let’s just say he said Biden had a “resting 25th Amendment face.” 💻 Watch him react to the debate.
From Meghan McCain, the daughter of the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.): “This is the most stressful debate I’ve ever watched and my parent was a nominee against Obama.”
From Cook Political Report’s data guru Dave Wasserman: “This debate making abundantly clear that Biden’s insistence on running for another term – when 66% of voters in our swing state poll believe it’s likely he won’t be able to finish a second term – has gravely jeopardized Dems’ prospects to defeat Trump.”
The open mouth didn’t sit well with Dems: CNN’s Kasie Hunt posted: “The voice, open-mouthed look, and visual contrast between President Biden and former President Trump all have Democrats I’m talking to nearly beside themselves watching this debate.”
Even the optimistic folks have fallen: Journalist Ben Jacobs posted: “Per the most sanguine Dem I’ve heard from tonight: ‘I understand much like Biden there was no path to replace him with anyone not named Kamala and in this state he’s better than her.’”
One Dem operative told The Hill’s Al Weaver: “Biden needed to do one thing — look alive and beat Trump over the head over abortion. Instead, he looks like a skeleton and pivoted out of a Q on abortion into immigration. … The f—?”
I’m sure you’ve read some takeaways by now: But just in case you haven’t, here are some debate takeaways from The Hill, The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.
Op-ed from veteran Democratic strategist Max Burns: “Biden’s debate performance is the wake-up call Democrats wanted to avoid,” Burns writes.
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➤ I WILL SAY THIS. X USERS BROUGHT THEIR A-GAME:
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This post had me laughing and weeping last night: @ginnyhogan_ posted: “ok if you don’t live in the US, please turn the debate off. This is our private family humiliation, and we’d all prefer you not stare.” This tweet has 312,000 likes so far. Omg: @hunteryharris posted, “give [Biden] one of the panera lemonades maybe.”
Somewhere, Justin Timberlake is glaring at this post: “This is going to ruin the tour,” @jigolden posted, poking fun at what Timberlake reportedly mumbled while getting arrested.
When Biden rattled some criticisms of Trump’s personal life: “You have the morals of an alley cat,” Biden said to Trump. @joshgondelman remarked that line “is like something you sing about the Grinch.” So. Many. Automated. Texts.: @conorjrogers posted Thursday: “Big day for those of us who love to text ‘STOP.” |
➤ MORE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS FROM THE DEBATE:
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This line has been getting traction: Trump took a jab at Biden, “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence,” referring to Biden’s response to a question. “I don’t think he knows what he said either.” Sorry to interrupt your beer pong game: The debate happened right near frat row at Georgia Tech. Reporters posted a lot of funny scenes from frat-row-meets-national-media.
Some drama on the sidelines: CNN rejected the White House Correspondents’ Association’s (WHCA) request to allow a pool reporter to be in the room during the debate. Details of the dispute The body language: Biden and Trump did not shake hands when they entered or exited. In fact, they barely acknowledged each other when walking on stage.
The first ladies: First lady Jill Biden accompanied the president, but former first lady Melania Trump was not seen at the debate. When the debate concluded, Jill joined her husband on stage, while Trump walked off solo.
I’ve always loved this tradition: NOTUS’s Byron Tau kept a running list of the various dinners that newsrooms ordered for debate night. 📝 See what each newsroom ordered A Trump was in the spin room — for Biden!: The Biden campaign deployed Trump’s estranged niece, Mary Trump, to be in the spin room, according to The New York Times. |
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🍫 Celebrate: Today is National Tapioca Day!
🍕 But my personal favorite pizza shop was left off this list!: The New York Times published a list of “22 of the best pizza places in the United States.” It sadly doesn’t include Colony Grill.
✈️ You’re either someone who gets to the airport three hours early or right as boarding closes. There’s no in between: The Wall Street Journal calculated when exactly you need to get to the airport, factoring in transportation and timing. |
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The House met this morning. The Senate is out. President Biden is in North Carolina and New York today. Vice President Harris is in Nevada, Utah and then California. (all times Eastern) |
- 12:30 p.m.: Biden and first lady Jill Biden campaign in Raleigh, N.C. 💻 Livestream
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2:50 p.m.: Harris speaks at a campaign event in Las Vegas..
- 3 p.: Former President Trump campaigns in Chesapeake, Va. 💻 Livestream
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4:30 p.m.: The Bidens speak at the grand opening of the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center in New York City. 💻 Livestream
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6:35 p.m.: Harris speaks at a campaign event in Park City, Utah.
- 8:30 p.m.: The Bidens campaign in New York City.
- 10:35 p.m.: Harris campaigns in Los Angeles.
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