That’s what Trump told the Republican conference on Capitol Hill this morning. Luckily, he may be spared from having to attend the convention in that horrible city: Donald Trump is preparing for a scenario in which he will be unable to attend the Republican National Convention, a decision influenced in part by the possibility that he could be sentenced to home confinement after his historic conviction late last month. Preparations are being made at both Mar-a-Lago, his home in Florida, and in Milwaukee, the host city for the convention next month, should Trump either choose to make appearances from afar or be unable to attend, according to two sources familiar with the planning. […] In case of potential house arrest, the Republican National Committee is already setting up convention-themed staging at Mar-a-Lago, along with a massive screen at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, where most convention activities will take place. “If you look at what has been released about the stage at our convention, it’s going to be the highest-tech stage ever,” a Republican operative who has toured the convention site said.
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Pelosi’s four daughters all say this is a flat-out lie which, of course, it is. After all, this is the guy who also said this: He made quite a splash at today’s meeting up on Capitol Hill. It was just as nuts as his freak show the other day about boat batteries and sharks. The cult was in full-effect apparently, just loving every minute of Deal Leader’s appearance. God help us.
Would anyone put it past him? Last Sunday in Nevada, Donald Trump rather strangely did not endorse a Senate candidate in advance of the primary the following Tuesday. It was especially odd because one of them was his ambassador to Iceland and a super Trump loyalist by the name of Jeff Gunter. After Trump got on the plane back to Mar-a-lago he posted an endorsement of Gunter’s rival, Sam Brown, who went on to win two days later. The beltway consensus was that Trump waited to see who was likely to win before making his endorsement which is logical. He does that all the time. But according to Gunter, something else was in play. After Trump made the endorsement, Gunter took to twitter to accuse Trump of taking a “big check” from “the swamp” (presumably one of the Senate Super Pacs) to endorse Brown even after he’s been convinced to endorse Gunter by “awesome & fearless MAGA warriors.” He claimed “the snakes are within” either referring to Trump campaign insiders or GOP establishment players or both. He told the NY Times that he can prove this accusation about the endorsements. We’ll have to see.
A record-high 32% of U.S. voters say they would only vote for a candidate for major office who shares their views on abortion. The importance of a candidate’s abortion stance to one’s vote is markedly higher among pro-choice voters than it was during the 2020 presidential election cycle, while pro-life voters’ intensity about voting on the abortion issue has waned. Also, voters’ greater intensity on the issue today compared with 2020 is explained mainly by Democrats, while Republicans and independents have shown little change. U.S. adults who are pro-choice are also significantly more likely now than two decades ago to say it is important that any future Supreme Court nominees share their views on abortion. These results come two years after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization leaked draft decision foretold the court’s plan to abolish constitutional protection for abortion. At the same time, Gallup finds Americans’ support for abortion rights and identification as “pro-choice” holding at the historically high levels seen since the Dobbs decision was leaked.
🎼Look, look at the brain flying Ubu Don visited Washington, D.C. on Thursday to show off his debraining machine, only to find his fawning Republican nobles had already been debrained. Digby will be along presently with a more thorough account of yesterday’s Capitol Hill follies starring Republicans’ 34-felony-convicted former president and 2024 presumptive nominee. Suffice to say it’s udderly insane the tolerance MAGA Republican “leaders” have developed for self-humiliation. How these adults can live with themselves having sacrificed all self-respect on the altar of Trump is beyond comprehension. A major political party in the most powerful country on Earth has lost its collective mind. It’s gone from Andy Borowtiz satire to deeply unsettling. The U.S. Constitution may not be a suicide pact, but the Republican Party now is. Lickspittles and Toadies Sarah Longwell of Republican Voters Against Trump described how Republicans who once saw Trump as too corrupt, unfit, and uninformed (you fill in the rest) for the presidency have become Trump lickspittles and toadies.
Oreos, beer, snack food and sedition How gullible do Donald Trump’s footmen think his #MAGA base is? Pretty gullible, judging by their latest conspiracy theory regarding Hunter Biden’s three felony convictions. And conservatives claim it’s liberals looking down their noses at them. CNN: In the wake of Hunter Biden’s conviction on federal gun charges Tuesday, right-wing media personalities sought to downplay the jury’s decision, falsely claiming the case was a “fake trial” designed to “cover up” other supposed crimes committed by the president and his family. The reaction showcased how far to the fringes the right-wing and pro-Trump media ecosystem has drifted in recent years, with high-profile personalities defaulting to conspiracy theories and innuendo in response to inconvenient political news. Via Greg Sargent at The New Republic: “Hunter Biden guilty. Yawn,” tweeted MAGA thought leader Charlie Kirk. “The true crimes of the Biden Crime Family remain untouched.
Knee-jerk hysteria does not denote a confident party President Joe Biden’s son Hunter was found guilty in federal court of failing to properly fill out a form to buy a gun which he had in his possession for 11 days and never fired. Fair enough. What he did was against the law and a jury of his peers found him guilty. The case was solid. Biden was a drug addict back in 2018 at the time of his crime and he should have admitted it on that form. But people in the midst of an addiction crisis make bad decisions and often get on the wrong side of the law. Hunter Biden’s response to the verdict was to say that he was more grateful for the support of his family, friends and community than he was disappointed in the verdict. And he added “recovery is a gift from God and I am blessed to receive that gift one day at a time.” Joe Biden reiterated that he loves his son and always will and that he is proud of his recovery. He also said that he respects the outcome of the case and the judicial system. Both Bidens were restrained and solemn in the face of a serious legal outcome which, until recently, was simply expected from a president and his family.
Get a load of this ridiculous nonsense: The GOP team’s practice was supposed to start at 6 a.m. But when NOTUS showed up around 5:52, the majority of the team was already on the field, their arms warm and their hamstrings loose. Most were wearing jerseys and gray baseball pants. The Democrats showed up in combinations of sweatpants, shorts, T-shirts and soccer jerseys. They looked like “The Bad News Bears” at the beginning of the movie. The Republicans look like the rich kids in “The Sandlot” — but with the gear and the game. They look like a real baseball team. The Democrats do not. As both teams prepare for the annual Congressional Baseball Game — a contest that oscillates between bipartisan goofiness and partisan combat, depending on the Congress — the two teams this year seem to be, if not on different planets, then at least in different leagues. Republicans are using the game to literally tee off on Democrats. Months of crack-of-dawn practices and buckets full of bruised baseballs can attest to their frustration — a frustration borne out of uncomfortable political realities. The party is divided.
The Supremes Have It, Why Not Trump? If you wonder why Alito and Thomas are basically telling the whole country “I do what I want” and daring anyone to try and do anything about it, here’s why: Sen. Lindsey Graham, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, plans to block an effort by Senate Democrats to unanimously pass a Supreme Court ethics bill Wednesday on the Senate floor. “I will object,” Graham, R-S.C., told NBC News. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who chairs the Judiciary Committee, said earlier Tuesday that he would make a unanimous consent request to pass Supreme Court ethics legislation that the panel advanced last July. Graham’s objection means the bill won’t be able to move forward, because any senator can block a request. It isn’t clear whether the measure will come up for a vote under the normal process, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he’s considering it. Even before Graham made his comments, Democrats doubted the legislation would advance.
The return of Sinclair’s Mighty Wurlitzer Public Notice and Judd Legum’s Popular Information assembled another stew of cookie-cutter commentaries from right-wing Sinclair Broadcasting’s local talking heads. Sinclair repackaged talking points from the Wall Street Journal’s widely panned June 4 article, “Behind Closed Doors, Biden Shows Signs of Sipping,” questioning Joe Biden’s mental fitness. The sourcing is questionable. Conveniently, repetition obliterates questions: Nevertheless, the Wall Street Journal piece was repackaged by Sinclair Broadcast Group and beamed into the homes of millions of Americans. Sinclair, which is controlled by right-wing media mogul David Smith, owns or operates 185 local television stations across 86 markets. Sinclair repackaged the Wall Street Journal story through its centralized news team, known as The National Desk. The segment was then pushed to dozens of local news stations owned by Sinclair. Local anchors introduced the piece by reading from a nearly identical script.