Trump-Backed MAGA Candidate Caught in Humiliating Trap

Trump-backed MAGA candidate Bernie Moreno, who is campaigning to oust longtime Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, walked himself into a faceplant on Thursday while attempting to tout his accessibility in contrast to his opponent.

“I can tell you this, if I’m here, I will talk to you at any point in time, even take tough questions. Sherrod Brown won’t do that,” Moreno declared before claiming Democrats shielded Biden from visibility to hide his physical decline. “If you can’t come out here and address the media and talk to reporters and give your position and be unequivocal and clear, you have no business being in elected office.”

Punchbowl News reporter Andrew Desiderio took Moreno up on this offer, asking if his position on abortion conflicts with the Republican Party’s new platform. Moreno responded, “Look, we’re not here to talk about abortion.”

The Republican Party recently approved a policy platform crafted by Trump’s campaign that softens the party’s stance on abortion, supporting access to IVF and contraceptives while opposing abortion in the second trimester. Moreno previously has expressed support for a 15-week abortion ban, while the new GOP platform has removed references to a 20-week national abortion ban. Moreno has since tried to backtrack to say he supports the new platform.

Brown is facing headwinds heading into reelection in November, with Ohio shaping up to vote for Trump but polling appearing to favor Brown. According to The New York Times, Moreno is the Democratic Party’s preferred contender against Brown due to his extreme positions and bizarre moments in the spotlight. Moreno has previously called for reparations for white people and argued that women don’t need abortions, they need help carrying strollers.

Representative Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, issued a fierce warning to his fellow lawmakers late Thursday: that President Joe Biden must drop out of the race or risk losing the election for the party.

Just minutes after Joe Biden’s chaotic press conference concluded Thursday, Himes was one of four Democrats who released a statement urging Biden to drop out of the presidential race.

“The 2024 election will define the future of American democracy, and we must put forth the strongest candidate possible to confront the threat posed. I no longer believe that is Joe Biden,” Himes wrote.

During an interview on CNN later that night, Himes explained his “painful” decision to ask Biden to withdraw. The Connecticut Democrat said he couldn’t see the president’s “trajectory” to pull himself, and his fellow Democrats, to victory. Himes suggested that Biden no longer appeared to be the best person to sell all of the party’s accomplishments over the last four years.

“If you believe that our problem is that we haven’t gotten that message across well, and if you also believe that the president has the biggest megaphone, you have to drop the emotion, and the loyalty and love and say, ‘In the next four or five months, is that story going to be told with such precision and poetry and beauty that you will turn around all the numbers that say we are going to lose?’” Himes said.

“I did this painful thing tonight because for me, the answer to that is, I just don’t see that trajectory, I don’t see the numbers,” he said.

Himes explained that when picturing the incumbent’s path over the next few months, he was concerned that another disaster like Biden’s performance at the presidential debate could have catastrophic effects.

“Imagine that three months from now, we get another performance like there was in the debate, right before the election. Do you want to take that risk? I don’t.”

Himes spoke emphatically as he warned that the issue of Biden’s candidacy needs to be resolved within the coming days, or it will risk further damage to Democrats’ chances.

“We just went 10 days where the story was not Donald Trump promising totalitarianism, it was, ‘How is Joe Biden gonna do in the Big Boy press conference?’” Himes said. “Wherever you are on this stuff, this needs to stop soon.”

Himes spoke strongly as he shifted his address, which seemed to be directed at his fellow politicians, urging them to ask themselves the hard question, “Are you sure he’s going to win?”

“You’re not just gambling your own political reputation, you are gambling the future of the United States of America,” Himes said.

Panic over Joe Biden’s age and mental fitness has consumed the Democratic Party since the president’s abysmal debate performance in late June, during which he appeared dumbfounded and frail through the majority of his first 2024 matchup against Donald Trump. Since the face-off, droves of private-sector leaders, donors, and consultants have urged Biden to call it quits, looking for alternatives to a candidate that they openly describe as “comatose” and “dead.”

So far, 34 Democratic lawmakers have formally called on the president to exit the race, and more may soon join them. Some high-profile Democrats, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and former President Barack Obama have signaled behind closed doors that the president’s time leading the party is over. Still, others are reportedly “not budging” until Biden makes another egregious mistake—though the level of mistake required is aboundingly unclear.

Here’s the list of liberal politicians who have called on Biden to throw in the towel.

House of Representatives:

• Rep. Morgan McGarvey (July 19)
• Rep. Greg Landsman (July 19)
• Rep. Betty McCollum (July 19)
• Rep. Zoe Lofgren (July 19)
• Rep. Jared Huffman (July 19)
• Rep. Marc Veasey (July 19)
• Rep. Chuy Garcia (July 19)
• Rep. Marc Pocan (July 19)
• Rep. Adam Schiff (July 17)
• Rep. Mike Levin (July 12)
• Rep. Brittany Pettersen (July 12)
• Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (July 11)
• Rep. Eric Sorensen (July 11)
• Rep. Scott Peters (July 11)
• Rep. Jim Himes (July 11)
• Rep. Ed Case (July 11)
• Rep. Greg Stanton (July 11)
• Rep. Bradley Schneider (July 11)
• Rep. Hillary J. Scholten (July 11)
• Rep. Earl Blumenauer (July 10)
• Rep. Pat Ryan (July 10)
• Rep. Mikie Sherrill (July 9)
• Rep. Joseph Morelle (July 7)
• Rep. Adam Smith (July 7)
• Rep. Mark Takano (July 7)
• Rep. Angie Craig (July 6)
• Rep. Jamie Raskin (July 6)
• Rep. Mike Quigley (July 5)
• Rep. Seth Moulton (July 4)
• Rep. Raúl Grijalva (July 3)
• Rep. Lloyd Doggett (July 2)

Senate:

• Sen. Martin Heinrich (July 19)
• Sen. Jon Tester (July 18)
• Sen. Peter Welch (July 10)

This story has been updated.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries met with President Biden Thursday evening when, according to a letter issued by Jeffries on Friday, they talked about a lot and decided on nothing.

“In my conversation with President Biden, I directly expressed the full breadth of insight, heartfelt perspectives, and conclusions about the path forward that the Caucus has shared in our recent time together,” Jeffries wrote to his Democratic colleagues, describing conversations in the Democratic House Caucus as “candid, clear-eyed and comprehensive.”

“As House Democrats have done throughout this Congress, we will continue to work in the best interests of everyday Americans. Thank you for your continued leadership in service of the communities we are privileged to represent.”

The letter avoids direct mentions of what Biden and Jeffries spoke about, or what the outcome of the meeting was.

Jeffries has been holding meetings with top Democrats and the Congressional Black Caucus in the weeks since Biden’s disastrous debate performance. While he’s avoided making any definitive statements, closed-door Democratic meetings have been described as “an insult to funerals,” with Jeffries absorbing various concerns about Biden’s fitness to serve, pitches for Kamala Harris to replace Biden, and declarations of support for Biden. To date, 18 House Democrats and one Democratic senator have publicly called on Biden to step aside, including four independents who caucus with Democrats. Privately, influential Democratic leaders like Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama have reportedly expressed concerns about Biden’s candidacy, with Pelosi providing an explosive nonanswer on Wednesday morning about a need for Biden “to decide if he is going to run.”

Following a middling NATO press conference on Thursday evening with some oof-worthy gaffes, one Democratic operative described the state of the party to Politico as “in purgatory.” Jeffries’s letter announcing that he passed along opinions from Democrats to Biden appears to be a continuation of the party’s nonmovement, as Biden has firmly indicated he has no intention of stepping aside despite continued calls for him to do so.

Representative James Clyburn pledged his support to whatever Joe Biden decides, including whether he changes his mind.

NBC’s Savannah Guthrie asked Clyburn Friday morning about whether he’s leaving “the door open just a little bit” for continued questions about Biden staying on as the Democratic nominee for president.

“I took him at his word, and that’s why I am all in,” Clyburn said, referring to Biden’s stated desire to stay on as president. “I’m ridin’ with Biden, no matter what direction he goes, no matter what method he takes; I’m with Joe Biden.”

But the South Carolina Democrat offered a caveat.

“And if he were to change his mind, I’ll just answer the question, I would be all in for the vice president,” Clyburn said, referring to Kamala Harris.

With that answer, Clyburn somehow both affirmed his support for Biden but also for Harris to succeed him. He further elaborated on what he meant when NBC’s Craig Melvin asked him, “Should the conversation about the president getting out of this race, should that conversation continue?”

“No it shouldn’t,” Clyburn said. “The conversation should focus on the record of this administration, on the alternative to his election, and let Joe Biden continue to make his own decisions about his future. He’s earned that right, and I am going to give him that much respect. If he decides to change his mind later on, then we would respond to that.”

“If Project 2025 were to become the law in any form, that is where our focus ought to be,” Clyburn added.

Clyburn’s latest remarks build on what he said nearly two weeks ago after Biden’s poor debate performance, when he gave a stronger endorsement of Harris. Now Clyburn still supports Harris, but only if Biden were to decide himself to step down. On Thursday, Biden held a rare press conference that didn’t allay many people’s concerns about his fitness for office. He stumbled starting off, and concluded chaotically after he attempted to answer a question about Harris replacing him. This press conference may have won over Clyburn, but he’s clearly still giving Biden room to drop out.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is facing renewed blowback for allegedly sexually assaulting a former family babysitter after he reportedly decided to shoot her a late-night apology text.

The former babysitter, Eliza Cooney, accused Kennedy in a bombshell Vanity Fair piece of rubbing her leg, reading her diary, asking her to rub lotion on his back, and trapping her in the pantry and groping her, all on separate occasions in 1998, when she was 23 and Kennedy was 45.

Kennedy apparently thought the best way to smooth things over was via text. “I have no memory of this incident but I apologize sincerely for anything I ever did that made you feel uncomfortable or anything I did or said that offended you or hurt your feelings,” Kennedy wrote in a text message to Cooney, sent just after midnight on July 4 and obtained by The Washington Post.

“I never intended you any harm. If I hurt you, it was inadvertent. I feel badly for doing so.”

The presidential candidate then proceeded to invite Cooney to continue the conversation either by telephone or “preferably, face to face.

“I recognize that this might not be possible. I have no agenda for sending this text other than making the most sincere and ernest [sic] amends,” Kennedy added.

The message was not well received—as unsolicited, late-night texts from men usually are.

“It was disingenuous and arrogant,” Cooney told the Post in reference to the message. “I’m not sure how somebody has a true apology for something that they don’t admit to recalling. I did not get a sense of remorse.”

And she was further surprised by the invitation to continue the conversation with her alleged abuser in person.

“Meet ‘face to face’? What woman wants to do that?” Cooney added.

Kennedy initially brushed off the accusations in an interview on Breaking Points, chalking up the sexual harassment claims to his “very, very rambunctious youth.”

“In terms of the other allegations, listen, I have said this from the beginning: I am not a church boy. I am not running like that,” Kennedy said. “I said in my announcement speech that I have so many skeletons in my closet that if they could all vote I could run for king of the world.”

He also derided the rest of the Vanity Fair exposé, which included a photo of Kennedy posing next to what veterinarians identified as a barbecued dog, calling the article “a lot of garbage.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson relied on some flimsy facts to back the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE, Act, to make it harder for noncitizens to vote in the U.S. elections, something that is of course, already illegal.

The bill, which would require a Real ID or U.S. passport for voting rather than the standard driver’s license, passed the Republican-led House Wednesday, but it was built on a false premise and backed by baseless claims.

To attract support for the bill, Johnson circulated a white paper that included some claims about voting by undocumented immigrants—that aren’t backed up by any evidence, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.

In one section, Johnson’s handout referred to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who had ordered 137 noncitizens to be removed from the state’s voter rolls. But LaRose has yet to provide any actual evidence of illegally cast ballots.

LaRose even acknowledged in a May press release that some of those people could’ve been included as “the result of an honest mistake.”

“These may be well-meaning people trying to pursue the American dream, and communication barriers sometimes result in a registration form being submitted in error,” LaRose said. “We need to help them get that cleared up before an accidental registration becomes an illegal vote that could result in a felony conviction or even deportation.”

Under federal law, the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles is required to offer voter registration forms to state residents seeking any service. As a result, some forms are filled out by noncitizens, who even mark themselves as ineligible to vote, but the forms are still processed anyway. Another possible explanation is that those voters have been naturalized but have yet to visit the BMV to officially change their status.

If the evidence isn’t really adding up, there’s a good reason for that: Noncitizens don’t really vote in state or federal elections. In 2016, noncitizen votes accounted for just 0.0001 percent of the votes cast, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

Noncitizen voting is a right-wing conspiracy, though, and in reality, the only ones concocting a scheme to fake votes in the last election were in Donald Trump’s camp.

The SAVE Act is ultimately doomed to fail, but that may be by design. It will never pass the Democratic-led Senate, and President Joe Biden has already promised to veto it. But its failure sets the stage for Republicans to run rampant with claims of widespread voter fraud in the upcoming election, even though the numbers don’t support it.

In his latest desperate move to avoid being held to account, Donald Trump is arguing that evidence used to convict him for setting up hush money payments ahead of the 2016 election should be dismissed and his 34-count felony conviction should be vacated based on the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that significantly expanded presidential immunity.

“Because of the implications for the institution of the Presidency, the use of official-acts evidence was a structural error under the federal Constitution that tainted the District Attorney’s grand jury proceedings as well as the trial,” defense lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote in a motion filed on Thursday. “The jury’s verdicts must be vacated.”

The motion was filed on Thursday, the same day Trump was initially scheduled to be sentenced for his felony convictions. Trump’s lawyers pointed to two pieces of evidence—Hope Hicks’s testimony of conversations she had with Trump while he was in office and posts he made on Twitter while he was president—arguing both constituted official actions. The Supreme Court’s ruling doesn’t entirely define what constitutes an official action, but in his lawsuit that came before the Supreme Court, Trump had argued for absolute immunity on the basis that anything a president does is inherently an official act. It’s unclear if the Supreme Court’s ruling is retroactively applicable or if it applies to evidence brought in state-level cases, as it focused on the federal case brought by special counsel Jack Smith in relation to Trump’s fake electors scheme. While some evidence in Trump’s hush-money trial occurred during his presidency, the trial focused on actions Trump took when he was still a candidate, not president.

Whether removing Hicks’s testimony and Trump’s Twitter posts will be discounted as evidence, and whether that change is enough to throw the case is up to the judge. Last week, Judge Juan Merchan agreed to delay Trump’s sentencing to September 18 to review the Supreme Court’s ruling and its impact on the case.

Donald Trump was quick to pounce on one of President Joe Biden’s verbal flubs late Thursday, leveraging a glaring mistake to his advantage.

Moments after finishing his scripted speech, Biden mistakenly referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump,” shocking the crowd of reporters as well as some of his Cabinet members in attendance.

“Look, I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president [inaudible] think she was not qualified to be president, so let’s start there,” Biden said.

Moments later, Trump was resharing a clip of the slipup to his Truth Social page, mocking the president’s inability to keep his characters and facts straight.

“Crooked Joe begins his ‘Big Boy’ Press Conference with, ‘I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president, though I think she was not qualified to be president,’” Trump wrote, intentionally misquoting what Biden said. “Great job, Joe!”

Trump also took advantage of several other verbal lapses Biden had while responding to members of the White House press corps Thursday evening, including a moment when he stumbled over referring to his chief of staff of the military, and when he slurred the words “intelligence community” and “declassified.”

The easy punches from Biden’s opponent follow a NATO summit in which diplomats and world leaders watched and worried over Biden’s mental fitness, and his subsequent ability to win over the American public and maintain the threatened international alliance. Meanwhile, back at home, Democratic lawmakers are weighing whether to formally rescind their endorsement from Biden as their presumptive presidential nominee.

Even within Biden’s campaign, staffers are reportedly looking for other options: On Thursday, a leaked report revealed that the campaign was quietly polling voters on Harris’s odds, should she take the top of the ticket in a direct match-off against Trump. The leaked poll didn’t include its results, but other polls assessing Harris’s viability have indicated that she would have a slight advantage over Biden.

Former Donald Trump supporters will be featured on multiple billboards near the Milwaukee arena where the Republican National Convention will take place next week, with a simple message for the former president: I won’t vote for you.

The billboards are the handiwork of Republican Voters Against Trump, which has placed similar billboards around the city, sporting simple slogans like, “I won’t vote for a convicted felon.” The project, which has produced 15 billboards and one 60-second ad spot that will run in four swing states, is being funded by the Republican Accountability PAC, and targets moderate Republicans and right-leaning voters in key battlegrounds.

Scott Moore, a 63-year-old Army veteran from Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the former Trump backers whose face will be blown up and featured on the massive signs.

“I always thought a businessman could shake up the good ol’ boy system. I wasn’t thrilled about him, but I thought he was a successful businessman,” Moore told the Tennessee Lookout. He’d voted for Trump in 2016.

But later, he explained, “I saw that what he was doing was about him and not about our country.”

An estimated 2,429 delegates will attend the RNC, which begins Monday in Milwaukee, where they are expected to formally confirm Trump as the Republican Party’s nominee for president. Of those delegates, several are the very same fake electors alleged to have aided Trump’s scheme to overturn the election results in 2020.

To secure the party’s nomination, Trump must clinch 1,215 delegates. This seems likely, as he received 2,243 in the primaries, and former presidential candidate Nikki Haley released her 97 delegates this week, directing them to back Trump’s nomination.