Former President Donald Trump and his allies have been pushing a narrative that President Joe Biden would come onto the debate stage hopped up on drugs — a baseless allegation that appears to suggest their concern that Biden could outperform expectations.
Biden responded with a trolling bit on social media.
"I don't know what they've got in these performance enhancers, but I'm feeling pretty jacked up. Try it yourselves, folks," wrote Biden on X. In the picture, he was holding a can bearing the "Dark Brandon" meme and the words, "Get real, Jack. It's just water."
The back of the label states that the ingredients include "MAGA tears, Mysterious Orange Liquid, and Melted Chocolate Chip Ice Cream," before clarifying that it was in fact water.
Whatever she said about Donald Trump in the past means squat, given his "positive success" in running the country.
Rep. Elise Stefanik's (R-NY), who is a dogged Trump surrogate and shortlisted to join his ticket as V.P., appeared on CNN's "Out Front" ahead of the debate and was confronted with a series of digs she lobbed publicly over the years slamming the former president's character and policy shortfalls.
"On the issue though, of President Trump — obviously your views have changed and that is a fact congresswoman for many things you said many areas of policy on which you have vehemently disagreed with the former president," said Burnett. "Here are a few things that you have said in the past that stood out to me."
The congresswoman was then played a montage of various statements dating back years knocking the 45th president including: "I think he has been insulting to women," "I disagree with his belief that we should have a religious test for immigrants to this country," "I don't think that's who we are, that's not according to our Constitutional principles."
"I mean, at one point you said in 2015, there's no place for what Trump said about Muslims in this country — why has your view on Trump changed?"
And Stefanik, whose grin throughout the interview suddenly straightened out to stoic, clapped back and went on a fulsome explanation of how she is so proud for being so bold as to back the MAGA leader.
"I'm proud to be the first member to endorse him, for his reelection," she said. "We saw the success, and the most successful president in my lifetime..."
She rattled off Trump's particular effort to "rebuild the nation's military."
But she claimed her support of Trump has cost her nonstop scorn from the left.
"I was smeared by Democrats for doing so," she said.
"Now we're seeing the failure of Joe Biden," she said. "So I'm proud to be a top surrogate. And you know what more and more people who maybe were hesitant ten years ago, it's about President Trump — they are now supporting him today. We welcome them."
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell was visibly distraught on Thursday as his effort to recall a Wisconsin official failed.
After news broke that the Wisconsin Elections Commission denied a recall petition for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R), Lindell appeared on Steve Bannon's podcast at his scheduled time.
Lindell had previously promised the audience that he had enough signatures to ensure a recall. Vos became a target of MAGA loyalists after he refused to decertify President Joe Biden's win in 2020.
"Mike, what in the hell's happening in Wisconsin?" Bannon asked.
"Steve, they can't do it," Lindell admitted. "Their own lawyer said two days ago, yep, it's good to go, recall August 6th, that Wisconsin Election Commission is denying it."
"I've been after the WEC for three and a half years now because they [have] suppressed everything in Wisconsin like they did Colorado," he continued.
Lindell warned that failing to recall Vos would result in former President Donald Trump losing Wisconsin in 2024.
"So what are we going to... how did they... how did they deny it?" Bannon demanded.
"Illegally!" Lindell exclaimed. "According to our lawyers, it's absolutely, they can't deny it."
Bannon pressed Lindell to take action immediately by "going to court this afternoon."
"No, no, we're not going to, I'm going to be calling the lawyers," Lindell promised. "We're not, we will never give up to get rid of Robin Vos and the WEC."
Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) took to Fox Business ahead of the CNN debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, to proclaim that the former president is a great force for good in the Black community.
"President Trump is a harbinger of Black excellence," Hunt, who is Black, told host Larry Kudlow. He went on to tout his recent gathering with voters at a barbershop in Atlanta alongside his fellow guest, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), where Trump's mugshot from the Fulton County criminal case was on display; some of Trump's allies have bizarrely claimed that criminal charges could make Trump more relatable to Black people.
Commenters on social media were indignant at Hunt's claim.
"The Central Park 5 beg to differ," wrote the account @sirDukeDevin, referring to an infamous episode from Trump's past in which he demonized in racially charged terms a Black group of joggers accused of a brutal rape but later found to be innocent.
"That he said this with a straight face is incredible," wrote the account @Gregnus__2024.
"The levels of cringe and secondhand embarrassment in this clip... Jesus Christ," wrote the account @JayNCtoDC.
"Trump is not invited to the cookout and neither are any of these men on the stage," wrote the account @TruWordsRSpoken.
The former president has sought to bolster his numbers with Black voters going into the 2024 election season. Among other things, he has touted the economic gains made by Black voters during his administration, even though Black unemployment is even lower now than it was while he was in office.
Hunt's associate Donalds, who hosted another Black voter outreach session in Philadelphia, came under controversy while there for seeming to suggest that Black families were stronger under Jim Crow, a sentiment he swiftly tried to disavow.
Convicted criminal and political adviser Steve Bannon urged former President Donald Trump to turn Thursday's debate into a "cage match" by refusing to shake hands with his opponent.
Just hours before the debate was set to begin, Bannon spoke to Real America's Voice correspondent Brian Glenn — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-GA) boyfriend — about strategy for the event.
"I don't want to see the two shake hands," Glenn said. "You don't shake hands with someone who's trying to lock you up and lock your family up for life."
"I agree," Bannon replied. "There's nothing to shake hands about... President Trump, let's remember this. He didn't go to the inauguration."
"The reason he didn't go to the inauguration is that the 2020 election was stolen," he continued. "Joe Biden is not the legitimate President of the United States. You should only shake hands with the legitimate President of the United States. He's not it."
Bannon also said that the two men should not have opening statements.
"Let's just get on it," he opined. "Let's have a cage match. UFC comes to presidential debates."
"I just think President Trump ought to be his own true self."
"That's going to be a major contrast moment for President Biden and Donald Trump," Elrod said. "Donald Trump, if he passes any precedence here, he's going to make it clear he does not believe Joe Biden won the election. He's going to say that. That's going to be a major contrast moment. You talk a lot about how often we don't see Donald Trump. All the time. His rallies are not being aired on every single network."
Wallace chimed in that Fox refuses to air them. Her colleagues have pointed out that Fox tends to cut from the rallies the second Trump says something they perceive could hurt him.
"Fox stopped airing them, prime example," Elrod agreed. "We have to remind the American people what we're dealing with. The unhinged person."
The debate will display what other networks aren't showing, some have argued.
"By the way," Elrod also said. "I don't have to tell you this; he's become more unhinged since he's been president. Something set him off. He's become more erratic."
She said that it is essentially the American people who see and understand the difference.
"This is somebody who was crazy before. He's crazier now, and that will be a major moment for President Biden. Not only to help make that contrast clear tonight, but also talk about how he's going to continue to deliver for the American people," she closed.
A new ad released Thursday morning — hours ahead of the much-anticipated debate between the current and former president — left the internet in awe as viewers raved over its terrifying, poignant portrayal of a possible dystopian, GOP-led America with shades of "The Handmaid's Tale."
The ad, paid for and released on X by the progressive political group "Way to Win," begins with two people in the front of a car kissing. The man steps out of the car, heads into a convenience store and tries to buy a pack of condoms.
Not so fast — under this possible Republican leadership, you can't just buy condoms.
"ID please," the clerk said.
The surprised man replies: "You need an ID to buy condoms now?"
"It's a new legislation passed by Republicans in Congress after they voted against the Right to Contraception Act," she said. "I don't make the rules."
In this new world, an ID isn't enough. She breaks out a clipboard, pen and checklist of invasive questions, such as will the condoms be used with a spouse? Is the buyer in a "committed, monogamous relationship," and "is this heterosexual copulation?"
"Do you like Taylor Swift?" the clerk asks. When the prospective buyer says he likes her "Eras Tour," the clerk frowns. "Mmmm. Sorry. You're not eligible to buy the condoms."
Befuddled, the man walks away. Text overlays a black box: "OK, so they haven't come for condoms...YET. But REPUBLICANS in Congress JUST BLOCKED the RIGHT TO CONTRACEPTION ACT."
The block allows states to threaten access to contraceptives, including condoms, IUDs and birth control pills.
The ad reverberated through X, with shaken users applauding the shocking picture.
"Brilliant dystopian video on what life under a Christofascist Trump administration will be," wrote @bskyresistance. "It should be shared far and wide."
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) complained Thursday that Republicans have been accused of discriminating based on race while she argued white people were facing bigotry in the workplace.
At a House Oversight Committee hearing on "ending illegal racial discrimination," Greene said she was upset by racial claims made against Republicans.
"I'm listening today to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle charging Republicans with racism, hate, saying that we discriminate against people from the LGBTQ community, or based on race, has been appalling today, and I'm sorry for the witnesses that have had to hear that," Greene said.
The lawmaker then focused on several companies that she suggested were discriminating against white people.
"For the people watching at home today, we're talking about Title VII of the Civil Rights Act," she said. "Yet today, and it was reported by CBS, it says that major U.S. companies gave 94% of new jobs to people of color in 2021. White workers accounted for 20,524 jobs, just 6 percent."
She also noted that financial services company BlackRock had a program to promote "students who self-identify as Black or African-American, Hispanic or Latino, Native American, LGBTQ or disabled."
"This is talking about race, gender, LGBTQ, definitely leaves off white," she asserted. "White is not on this list, so that would be based on race. That seems to be a violation to me."
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) fired back at Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee after one claimed that former President Donald Trump stored classified documents in a "safe manner" in a Mar-a-Lago bathroom.
"I can't let go that one of my Republican colleagues just stated that the boxes containing national security secrets that were seized at Mar-a-Lago were stored in a safe manner," Swalwell said at a Thursday hearing. "Quote, stored in a safe manner."
Swalwell then shared a poster-sized photograph of boxes of documents in a Mar-a-Lago bathroom.
"This is the bathroom at Mar-a-Lago with over a dozen boxes of national security secrets that were 'stored in a safe manner,'" the lawmaker explained. "My friends, you are living on Fantasy Island. That's where cults live, so that makes sense."
A shouting match erupted in the House Judiciary committee Thursday when a Democratic lawmaker dared Republicans to keep their promise to the American people and impeach President Joe Biden.
A furious Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) challenged conservatives to either move forward with impeachment or give up the "Anna Paulina lunacy" that would see Republicans try to put Attorney General Merrick Garland under arrest.
"You've got nothing, nada, zero, zilch," Swalwell told Republicans. "You're just screwing around now."
Even Rep. James Comer (R-KY) admitted Thursday he was skeptical of, and confused by, a plan from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) to have Garland arrested for not turning over a recording of Biden's interview with special counsel Robert Hur.
"I will vote for it, but I don't think it's necessary," Comer said. "I don't think anyone understands how it's going to work."
Swalwell appeared equally skeptical of conservative's efforts to tarnish Biden's reputation when he egged them on during the committee meeting, promising to yield his time to anyone who could tell him when the impeachment would land.
"You promised the American people you were going to impeach President Biden," he said. "So bring it. I'll yield. Bring it."
Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) took the bait and the two men immediately began shouting at each other.
"Do you have a vote Mr. Bishop?"
"Yeah," Bishop shot back.
"Make the motion," Swalwell barked repeatedly as Bishop sputtered and finally snapped, "Do you want me to answer you?"
"You're a big man," Swalwell replied. "You talk about impeaching the president, bring the motion."
"As soon as they stop stonewalling the investigation—" Bishop began to say, but Swalwell lost patience.
"You got nothing," he said. "You guys got nothing because Joe Biden has been acquitted and this is just a pathetic, pathetic postgame of an exercise that yielded nothing. This is embarrassing. This is embarrassing and it's a waste of time. You have people sitting in here who are wearing shirts that say 'Moms Demand Action.' Do you think moms are demanding impeachment? No. They want their kids to be safe in their classrooms from gun violence."
"You actually sit on a committee that can do that," Swalwell said. "Come here and do something."
Watch the video below or click here (Swalwell's remarks begin at the 59 minute mark).
President Joe Biden has an opportunity to remind voters that Donald Trump is a convicted felon who's been found liable in court for sexual abuse, and conservative attorney George Conway says he should drive that point in over and over in their first presidential debate.
The president and the presumptive Republican nominee will face off Thursday night in Atlanta, and Conway told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that many viewers have not likely seen Trump in awhile and probably have no idea that he's been "unraveling" since leaving the White House under the cloud of the Jan. 6 insurrection.
"I think he has to go after Trump on everything in a restrained but very sharp way," Conway said. "He's running against a convicted criminal and adjudicated rapist, he should not be afraid of saying that – it's a fact. If you don't say that, you're basically condoning it. Not only does the American public have to be continually reminded, but also because it gets under Trump's skin. We're talking here about whether or not Donald Trump can hold it together for the allotted period of time and he might be able to. He's less able to the you keep hitting him on these things he's most sensitive about. That's really important, I think."
The former president no longer enjoys live coverage of his rally speeches and was off the campaign trail for much of this year while sitting in a courtroom for his various trials, and Conway said voters probably don't realize how diminished he's become since leaving office and getting temporarily banned from major social media platforms.
"One of the advantages Trump had before he was convicted on 34 felony counts was that he was off everyone's radar screen," Conway said. "People didn't see much of him. He was de-platformed in 2021. This is important. I think the Biden campaign made the correct move to get Trump out there early so that people can see him. He is considerably less effective, Trump is. He's considerably less coherent than he was even two or four years ago, and he's in a much more fragile state."
"He's a narcissistic sociopath who is unraveling," Conway added, "and we need to help him unravel."
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) this week has been pushing for a vote to use the House of Representatives' so-called "inherent contempt" powers to have Attorney General Merrick Garland arrested for not turning over a video recording of President Joe Biden's interview with special counsel Robert Hur.
However, even Fox Business's Maria Bartiromo appeared cool to the idea of instructing the House sergeant at arms to take the nation's top law enforcement official into custody.
During an interview with Rep. James Comer (R-KY), Bartiromo expressed bewilderment that such a step was being considered.
"Come on, Mr. Chairman, are you really going to bring the attorney general into custody?" she asked him.
"Well, that's Anna Luna's idea," replied Comer, who was also cool to the plan.
Comer went on to say that he believed that House Republicans would succeed in their efforts to obtain the recording given that CNN and the Associated Press were also suing for its release, and he said that arresting Garland wasn't necessary to achieve their goals.
"I don't think this inherent contempt thing is necessary -- I will vote for it, but I don't think it's necessary," he said. "I don't think anyone understands how it's going to work. The last time it was used, members of Congress rode horses to this building where I am right now."
It takes a lot to make Bartiromo skeptical of Republican talking points, as after the 2020 election she aired false conspiracy theories about Dominion Voting Systems that were concocted by a woman who believes she can speak to the wind.
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough called out a stubborn falsehood that clings to Donald Trump's presidency.
The former president persistently claims that the U.S. economy reached historic heights during his tenure in the White House, and many Americans tell pollsters they agree, but the "Morning Joe" host explained that's simply not true.
"It's galling and it has been galling to me for some time that Donald Trump repeats something enough that everybody believes it's true, even people in the media that talk about how great the economy was under Donald Trump," Scarborough said. "When you go back before the pandemic, if you don't count, the economy was the best ever. No, it wasn't, it wasn't even close. I know a lot of people hate numbers and they hate facts, and I understand a lot of people in Trumpland, they're snowflakes and, like, it's their feelings that matter, they lead with their feelings. But here are the facts: Before the pandemic, America's GDP was 2.5 percent, all right? Post-World War II, that's not the greatest performance ever. That ranks Donald Trump eighth, eighth, behind LBJ, behind Jimmy Carter, behind Reagan, behind Ike, behind Nixon – I could go on and on."
"Find eight presidents post-World War II, and Donald Trump did worse than most of them on GDP growth, yet Donald Trump is going to keep lying about the greatest economy ever before the pandemic," Scarborough added. "No, he didn't. It wasn't anywhere close to the greatest economy ever. I just wonder how much longer moderators and others are going to allow this lie to continue to fester. It's a lie that is having an impact on this race."
