Mitch McConnell Tempts Trump’s Wrath With Remark About “America First”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is loath to directly criticize Donald Trump. But he is opposing Trump’s America First foreign policy, calling this week’s NATO summit a “top priority, no question about it.”

“This is the most important thing going on in the world right now,” McConnell said in an interview with Punchbowl News.  

The Kentucky senator has been a steadfast supporter of Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, consistently pushing for funding to help Ukraine fend off Russia’s invasion. In contrast, Trump has a long history of supporting President Vladimir Putin and Russia, and has even questioned the need to fund Ukraine. 

Trump has endorsed primary candidates who parrot his pro-Russia, anti-Ukraine position, in opposition to candidates who have taken the establishment GOP position advocated by McConnell. In Utah’s Republican Senate primary last month to replace the retiring Mitt Romney, Trump’s pick was defeated by a pro-Ukraine Republican. 

“I’m hoping that people on our side have figured out this is not some kind of political suicide mission to support [Ukraine].… The political situation among Republicans has improved,” McConnell said.

McConnell went further in criticizing Trump’s foreign policy, comparing it to the nativist language from before World War II.

“The language they used in the ’20s and ’30s are similar to what you hear today—‘America First,’” he said. He also criticized Trump’s friendship with Hungarian autocrat Viktor Orbán, whom the convicted felon is meeting on Friday. Orbán visited Moscow in recent days and used pro-Russian language to describe the war in Ukraine.  

“By highlighting that, I’m hoping [conservatives] might decide they better keep better company,” McConnell said. “And that’s not just the former president, but other so-called conservative groups that have invited him over or gone over there.

“My guess is they’re having some second thoughts about that, because many of them argue we ought to be spending our time worrying about China,” McConnell added. “Well, [Orbán] is completely in bed with the Chinese and the Russians. So I hope highlighting that issue changes behavior.” 

McConnell and Trump have a tortured relationship. As president, Trump appointed McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, as secretary of transportation, but then made racist attacks on her and accused McConnell of being compromised by China. Trump has also called McConnell a “dumb son of a b----.” McConnell nonetheless endorsed Trump’s 2024 candidacy, but only after Trump locked up the GOP nomination.

Democrats are searching for possible pathways away from another Joe Biden nomination, including by essentially staging a revolt at the Democratic National Convention in August.

At least 21 Democratic lawmakers have formally called on the president to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race, while some high-profile party leaders, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, have signaled behind closed doors that the president’s time leading the party is over. After Biden reaffirmed during a post-NATO Summit press conference on Thursday that he would not be taking his name off the ballot, the intraparty panic began to fuel curiosity about a potential alternative.

At least one Democratic National Committee member and convention delegate is openly speculating about simply not endorsing Biden at the convention. Joe Salazar, a former Colorado state representative and a DNC delegate at the August convention, believes that the conference should force Biden off the ticket if he refuses to step aside on his own.

“No Democrat presidential candidate should ever be trailing Donald Trump. That dude is a treasonous lyin’ multi-felon,” Salazar told The Lever’s podcast Lever Time. “I’ve been hearing from people before Biden announced his reelection campaign. And people were concerned then back in August and September, about the fact that he was thinking about running again. And so he decided to run.”

But Salazar says that since Biden’s disastrous debate performance last month, Coloradans of every stripe are “begging and pleading” that he figure out a way to get the president to step down.

Biden isn’t yet the party’s official nominee, although he did win thousands of delegates through the Democratic primary, during which the DNC did not truly consider other options. That has provided the basis for Salazar’s plan.

The DNC’s official rules designate that pledged delegates’ votes must in “good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them.” The nomination process requires a candidate to win 1,976 delegates. Since Biden has already secured 3,896 delegates, he should be a shoo-in on the first ballot, even if a significant number of delegates opt to defect.

But on the second ballot, approximately 700 superdelegates, who include governors and lawmakers, will join the vote, and their inclusion could potentially turn the vote.

“If Biden doesn’t budge, Salazar and others hope that DNC rules could allow them to file a petition to call for a different candidate, and essentially revolt at the convention,” explained Lever Time host Arjun Singh. “He added that this is still a hypothetical point. But he and an official in the Colorado Democratic Party are actively exploring whether their idea of a petition could be a provable workaround.”

However, should Biden decide to leave the race by his own volition before the convention, all of his pledged delegates will be released to nominate whomever they choose.

Donald Trump is desperately trying to use George Clooney’s call for President Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race to his advantage … and it’s coming across weirdly flirtatious? 

In one of his latest fundraising emails, the former president highlighted Clooney’s recent break from his Democratic ranks. 

“George Clooney just said Biden should drop out,” the email read. “Does that mean he’s endorsing me?!”

“Even though he’s a proud member of the Hate-America Hollywood Elite, I will gladly accept his endorsement IF he pledges to change his ways!” Trump wrote, adding, “But I honestly couldn’t care less what George Clooney thinks.”

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, HuffPost reporter Jennifer Bendery hit the nail on the head, writing, “Trump’s latest weird fundraising email reads like a desperate plea to date George Clooney fresh out of a breakup.”

Sure, Biden and Clooney appear to be splitting up. The president even reportedly unfollowed the Academy Award–winning actor on social media—a classic breakup move. 

But the space between the president and one of his most outspoken backers certainly doesn’t leave space for Trump to, for lack of better words, slide in. Trump is simply anxious to use the star power of his haters to elevate his platform, to supplement his own lack of high-profile celebrity support. 

What Trump really doesn’t want anyone to know is that he, and the Republicans, really want Biden to stay in the race because they think they can beat him. So by calling for Biden to drop out of the race, Clooney isn’t so much signaling a crush on Trump but rather that he hopes to crush him in November.  

Never mind about Project 2025: A Republican congressman just wants to go back to the good old days of 1960, before “the angry feminist movement” ruined things for men. 

In a speech on the House floor Thursday, Representative Glenn Grothman railed against government programs such as subsidized childcare, calling out President Lyndon Johnson’s “war on poverty” as taking “the purpose out of the man’s life, because now you have a basket of goodies for the mom.”

“They’ve taken the purpose of the man to be part of a family,” Grothman said. “And if we want to get America back to, say, 1960, where this was almost unheard of, we have to fundamentally change these programs.”

Grothman went further in his misogynist rant, blaming the “breakdown of the family” on “people like Angela Davis, well-known Communist, people like the feminists who were so important in the 1960s” and somehow coupling them with the U.S. government in the 1960s. 

“So I hope the press corps picks up on this, and I hope Republican and Democrat leadership put together some sort of plan for January, in which we work our way back to where America was in the 1960s,” Grothman added.

At least part of the press will pick up on Grothman’s remarks, but not for the reason he wants. Not only is his recollection of history way off, but it’s highly doubtful that Republicans and Democrats would ever want to work together to bring back gender imbalances from 60 years ago. If Grothman thinks the purpose of men is diminished because of “a basket of goodies for the mom,” he is quite mistaken. Single mothers and other women still don’t earn salaries as high as men’s, and the “goodies” have been vastly reduced or in some cases eliminated by Grothman and his fellow conservatives. 

And while more than a few Republicans have criticized the reforms of the Johnson administration, their hypocrisy does not allow them to mention how those reforms actually  benefit Americans of all political stripes, including through Medicare, Medicaid, and the Civil Rights Act. Now, if Grothman wants to return to 1960s economics, where one adult salary could support a family of four, he would probably find plenty of support from Democrats, but probably none from Republicans. 

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.”