Andy Borowitz: Half of All G.O.P. Voters Wish Party Would Nominate Some Other Criminal Besides Trump

Although Donald J. Trump holds a commanding lead over the rest of the Republican Presidential field, approximately half of all G.O.P. voters wish that their party would choose a different criminal, a new poll indicates.

“No disrespect to Donald Trump, who has been an amazing perpetrator,” Carol Foyler, a poll respondent who lives in Tempe, Arizona, said. “But it would be great to see a fresh crook in there.”

“When he was President, Trump committed crimes at an incredible rate,” Tracy Klugian, who resides in Columbus, Ohio, said. “But he’s older now, and I worry that he won’t be able to keep up that pace.”

“Don’t get me wrong, Donald Trump deserves major credit for all the laws he’s broken,” Harland Dorrinson, who lives in Springfield, Missouri, said. “But it’s time to pass the torch to a new generation of felons.” https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/
 

The 2020 Election Fueled a Crisis of Democracy. Voters Fear a Repeat in 2024.

Many Republicans believe that Trump beat Biden and that the next election will be stolen, while Democrats expect another GOP effort to overturn results.

Incredible takeaway: Close to 70% of Republicans believe that President Biden didn’t legitimately win the election, several polls show, despite multiple federal and state investigations, as well as court decisions, finding no evidence of fraud extensive enough to have changed the result. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-2020-election-fueled-a-crisis-of-democracy-voters-fear-a-repeat-in-2024-72d84fbd

Government Shutdown Threat Builds in Post-Downgrade Fallout

A fresh fiscal showdown is brewing in Washington that threatens to complicate the Federal Reserve’s policy making and strengthen Fitch Ratings’ warning that self-inflicted wounds are tarnishing America’s standing in the global economy.

Congress left for an extended August recess without resolving simmering conflicts over spending and hot-button social issues, raising the risk of a government shutdown when federal funding runs out after Sept. 30. It’s the latest case of brinkmanship over the national budget that fueled Fitch’s move to strip US debt of its prized AAA status last week — a landmark decision that’s caused hand-wringing across Wall Street and Washington.

The credit rating company’s determination has emboldened Republicans to call on President Biden and congressional Democrats to yield to their demands for fresh spending cuts. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-07/government-shutdown-threat-builds-after-downgrade-imperiling-wall-street-bets

House Republicans are adding dozens of anti-LGBTQ+ measures to must-pass bills

House Republicans have embedded at least 45 anti-LGBTQ+ provisions into must-pass funding bills — many of which would weaken discrimination protections for same-sex couples or restrict gender-affirming care for adults and minors, The 19th reports.

The volume and severity of these provisions is an unprecedented attempt by federal lawmakers to restrict the rights of LGBTQ+ people, activists say.

The measures are not likely to make it through the Democrats who control the Senate as Congress finalizes a federal budget. But lawmakers’ willingness to tie these provisions to the federal budget raises the stakes for a community that has already seen its rights rolled back across many states this year. It is not guaranteed that all of the efforts can or will be blocked in the Senate. https://19thnews.org/2023/08/house-republicans-anti-lgbtq-measures-federal-spending-bills/

DeSantis’s Florida Approves Climate-Denial Videos in Schools

Florida’s Department of Education has approved the classroom use of material from the Prager University Foundation, a conservative group that produces videos that distort science, history, gender and other topics. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/desantiss-florida-approves-climate-denial-videos-in-schools/

House GOP Eyes Fall Push for Biden Impeachment

Speaker Kevin McCarthy has been insistent: House Republicans are still gathering evidence and have yet to decide whether to open up a formal impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden.

But many House Republicans privately say that it appears to be a foregone conclusion: Biden will face an impeachment inquiry in the fall and could be just the fourth US president ever charged with high crimes or misdemeanors – and that it might all happen by year’s end. https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/08/politics/house-republicans-impeachment-inquiry-biden/index.html

G.O.P. Contenders Feed Voter Distrust in Courts, Schools and Military

Several have adopted much of Mr. Trump’s rhetoric sowing broad suspicion about the courts, the F.B.I., the military and schools. As they vie for support in a primary dominated by Mr. Trump, they routinely blast these targets in ways that might have been considered extraordinary, not to mention unthinkably bad politics, just a few years ago. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/07/us/politics/trump-republican-primary-candidate-trust.html

Trucking Company Bankrupt Despite Trump Intervention

The trucking company Yellow, which received a controversial $700 million pandemic loan from the Trump administration, filed for bankruptcy on Monday and plans to liquidate its business.

Defense Department analysts initially concluded that Yellow didn’t qualify for the program, which was aimed at companies considered critical to national security. But the Pentagon reversed course after an apparent lobbying effort from the Treasury Department and White House, according to a lengthy Congressional oversight report. https://www.semafor.com/newsletter/08/08/2023/who-cares

Welcome to the courtroom campaign

While Trump is correct that his legal troubles have galvanized GOP support so far this year, he will increasingly become a candidate defined by these prosecutions. Court dates, public spats over technical legal issues, finances drained to lawyers, deposition and trial prep — it will all crowd out the campaign trail. It’s possible the same dynamic continues, and Republicans in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina stick with him. But as the campaign becomes about the Trump trials, there may be second thoughts five months from now.

But if Trump is the Republican nominee, there is no persuasive case we have seen that standing trial for falsifying business records, illegally retaining national security secrets, obstructing justice, trying to overthrow an election, and fighting a federal civil case for rape and defamation is a political benefit in a general election. https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2023/08/07/welcome-to-the-courtroom-campaign-00110068

Kamala Harris Takes on a Forceful New Role in the 2024 Campaign

In recent weeks, Vice President Kamala Harris has dashed off to Florida on short notice. She sparred with the state’s conservative governor, Ron DeSantis, over how to teach slavery in schools. And she flew into Iowa to defend abortion rights while 13 Republican presidential candidates were having dinner a few miles away.

Although her words were directed at Republicans, her message was also aimed at all her doubters. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/06/us/politics/kamala-harris-prosecutor.html

Democrats urge US House Republicans not to cut food aid to the poor

Twenty-five Democratic lawmakers on Monday urged Republican leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives to stop calling for further cuts to the largest U.S. food aid program for low-income Americans as a key committee considers a $728 billion farm and nutrition spending bill. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/democrats-urge-us-house-republicans-not-cut-food-aid-poor-2023-08-07/

Democrats are drastically overperforming in 2023's special elections. Is it a clue for Biden vs. Trump?

Democrats say that based on 2023 so far, they see plenty of reason for optimism about their chances with voters.

An analysis from FiveThirtyEight found that in 38 special elections held so far this year, Democrats have outperformed the partisan lean — or the relative liberal or conservative history — of the areas where the races were held by an average of 10%, both romping in parts of the country that typically support the party while cutting down on GOP margins in red cities and counties, too. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/democrats-overperforming-2023-special-elections-clue-biden-trump/story?id=101850305

Judge Says Manhattan DA Can See Trump’s Rude Rape Trial Deposition

A federal judge on Thursday decided to give the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr. exactly what he wants: a video copy of former President Donald Trump’s damning testimony in an unrelated rape and defamation case that was decided earlier this year. https://www.thedailybeast.com/judge-says-manhattan-da-alvin-bragg-jr-can-see-trumps-rude-rape-trial-deposition-from-e-jean-carroll-case

According To New Legal Documents Rudy Giuliani Is the Biggest Creep Ever

New documents in a sexual abuse lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani reveal that the former New York mayor frequently made misogynistic, antisemitic, and homophobic comments—meaning that he’s an even more disgusting creep than previously thought.

Giuliani’s former associate Noelle Dunphy sued him in May, accusing him of promising to pay her a $1 million annual salary but instead raping and sexually abusing her over the course of two years. Her lawsuit alleges that Giuliani was constantly drunk, talked openly about trying to overturn the 2020 election, and even plotted to sell pardons with Donald Trump at the low, low price of $2 million each. https://newrepublic.com/post/174792/rudy-giuliani-biggest-creep-ever-new-legal-documents-say

Biden world moves to stave off Cornel West and No Labels threat

Top Democrats, including those close to Joe Biden, are moving to dull the possibility that not one but two third-party challengers could siphon away critical votes in the upcoming election.

Inside the party, there is bubbling concern of a repeat from what happened seven years ago, when Green Party candidate Jill Stein drew more votes in three critical battleground states than the amount by which Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton in those places. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/03/third-party-candidates-trump-biden-00109541

Trump Cites Self Incrimination Concern in Lawsuit Against Cohen

Donald Trump is concerned that evidence sought by Michael Cohen in a $500 million lawsuit the former president filed against his ex-lawyer could potentially incriminate him in other cases, Bloomberg reports.

Trump argued in a court filing Wednesday in Miami that documents sought by Cohen, particularly Trump Organization financial records, should be covered by a confidentiality order amid the former president’s separate criminal proceedings. Cohen has said the evidence should be made public, regardless of any prosecutions. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-03/trump-cites-self-incrimination-worry-in-lawsuit-against-cohen

Archer Said the Opposite of What Republicans Claimed

Devon Archer, who was Hunter Biden’s business partner, actually said the opposite of what House Republicans claimed, according to a transcript of his recent testimony.

That’s the pattern here. Comer and Jordan and others hype claims of Joe Biden’s involvement in Hunter Biden’s work only to see those claims collapse as more information is made public. Devon Archer’s testimony was hailed as a central breakthrough in implicating Joe Biden. Instead, it has a top ally of Hunter Biden stating under penalty of perjury that Joe Biden was not involved in Hunter Biden’s business and that Biden’s trip to Ukraine in 2015 was not centered on protecting Burisma at all. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/08/03/devon-archer-transcript-biden/
 

About half of US Republicans could spurn Trump if he is convicted, Reuters/Ipsos poll shows

About half of Republicans would not vote for Donald Trump if he were convicted of a felony, a sign of the severe risks his legal problems pose for his 2024 presidential bid, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. https://www.reuters.com/legal/about-half-us-republicans-could-spurn-trump-if-he-is-convicted-reutersipsos-poll-2023-08-03/

Fitch highlighted Jan. 6 insurrection with Treasury ahead of US credit downgrade

Fitch downgraded the U.S. credit rating due to fiscal concerns, a deterioration in U.S governance, as well as political polarization reflected partly by the Jan. 6 insurrection, Reuters reports.

In a move that took investors by surprise, Fitch downgraded the United States to AA+ from AAA on Tuesday, citing fiscal deterioration over the next three years and repeated down-to-the-wire debt ceiling negotiations that threaten the government’s ability to pay its bills. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/fitch-decision-cut-us-credit-rating-based-deteriorating-governance-polarization-2023-08-02/

Half of Americans think the economy is getting worse, despite months of stronger economic news

Despite months of increasingly positive economic indicators, the American public remains negative about the state of the nation’s economy, with 51% saying they think the economy is still in a downturn and getting worse, according to a new CNN poll. https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/03/politics/cnn-poll-economic-pessimism-joe-biden/index.html

Cornel West Owes More Than Half a Million in Unpaid Taxes

Veteran Ivy League professor and bestselling author Dr. Cornel West has long advocated for taxing the rich to provide more services to America’s lower classes.
 
But the academic-turned-Green Party presidential candidate isn’t living up to those standards in his own life—as public records from New Jersey and California show, West owes the IRS hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes. https://www.thedailybeast.com/cornel-west-owes-more-than-half-a-million-in-unpaid-taxes

Percentage of Republicans who think Biden’s 2020 win was illegitimate ticks back up near 70%

A new CNN poll finds that 69% of Republicans and Republican-leaners say Joe Biden’s win in 2020 was not legitimate, up from 63% earlier this year and through last fall, even as there is no evidence of election fraud that would have altered the outcome of the contest. https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/03/politics/cnn-poll-republicans-think-2020-election-illegitimate/

Jim Crow-era lifetime ban on felons voting is unconstitutional, court rules

Mississippi’s lifetime ban on certain felons voting constitutes cruel and unusual punishment and violates the Eighth Amendment, a federal appeals court ruled Friday, potentially paving the way for tens of thousands to regain their voting rights.

If it holds, the decision would affect about 30,000 Mississippians who have served sentences for felonies covered by the disenfranchisement clause, the plaintiffs estimate. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/08/05/mississippi-felons-voting-rights-appeal/

DeSantis’ ‘anti-woke’ bills are costing Florida millions of dollars in business

A slew of new bills signed into law by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has draped the Sunshine State in controversy, spurring protests, lawsuits and travel advisories warning the state is ‘openly hostile’ toward people of color, immigrants, women and LGBTQ+ community members.

The fallout is starting to spread to a key economic artery for an income-tax-free state heavily reliant upon tourism taxes: Florida’s convention business. https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/06/economy/florida-convention-business-cancellations/index.html
 

THE DAILY GRILL ...

Former President Trump's legal team says he's been indicted for actions that are protected by the First Amendment — and that the First Amendment will ultimately exonerate him. https://www.axios.com/2023/08/03/trump-defense-jan-6-first-amendment-indictment

VERSUS

To put it simply, if you and I engaged in a criminal conspiracy, and we talked about it in public, no, we couldn't be prosecuted for what we said. But that wouldn't get us off the hook for the underlying crime. We could still be prosecuted for that. https://www.axios.com/2023/08/03/trump-defense-jan-6-first-amendment-indictment



Mike Pence on CBS's "Face the Nation" said he had "no plans" to testify but did not rule it out  being a witness against Trump if the case goes to trial. "But people can be confident we'll obey the law. We'll respond to the call of law, if it comes, and we'll just tell the truth," said Pence. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ex-vice-president-pence-does-not-rule-out-being-witness-trumps-prosecution-2023-08-06/

VERSUS

“WOW, it’s finally happened! Liddle’ Mike Pence, a man who was about to be ousted as Governor Indiana until I came along and made him V.P., has gone to the Dark Side, I never told a newly emboldened (not based on his 2% poll numbers!) Pence to put me above the Constitution, or that Mike was ‘too honest. He’s delusional, and now he wants to show he’s a tough guy.” https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/05/politics/trump-mike-pence-delusional-truth-social/index.html



Elon Musk says that his fight against Mark Zuckerberg will be live-streamed on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1688091377823895552

VERSUS

Zuckerberg responded on Threads: "Shouldn’t we use a more reliable platform that can actually raise money for charity?" https://www.threads.net/@zuck/post/CvneFkSS5JT/

Vivek Ramaswamy suggested canceling Juneteenth, calling it a useless holiday in a conversation with Iowa voters. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/vivek-ramaswamy-calls-juneteenth-useless-rcna98428

VERSUS

“Juneteenth is a new holiday so we still have a chance to define what it means to us. It needn’t be about grievance & self-flogging. Let it be a celebration of the American Dream itself. ”— Less than two months ago Vivek Ramaswamy posted this video on social media celebrating the day. https://twitter.com/VivekGRamaswamy/status/1670802957565034496