Trump Pushes Dangerous MAGA Conspiracy Targeting Kamala Harris

In a wild attempt to discredit Vice President Kamala Harris, Donald Trump is alleging that Harris and Biden didn’t adequately protect him, causing him to be “forced to take a bullet for Democracy.”

Trump made the claim in a Truth Social post Tuesday morning, saying, “IT WAS MY GREAT HONOR TO DO SO!”

Since a gunman attempted to kill Trump at a Pennsylvania rally 10 days ago, Republicans and Democrats alike have criticized the Secret Service for failing to thwart a rooftop shooter only 400 feet away from the former president. Politicians on both sides were further critical of U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle for saying it would take 60 days to compile a report on the incident.

In the end, Cheatle resigned on Tuesday, but that won’t stop Trump. Once the former president and convicted felon pushes a conspiracy theory, his followers tend to pile on and give the idea life in the right-wing media ecosystem. There will likely be continued attempts by the right to pin the shooting on the Biden administration, and Harris by extension. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has already joined in by claiming something suspicious in Biden stepping down to endorse Harris.

The right has blamed diversity, equity, and inclusion principles for the Secret Service failing to stop the shooter, and Fox News attempted to use the same right-wing dog whistle against Harris even before Biden withdrew from the race. It’s only a matter of time before Trump and right-wing media attempt to tie Harris, DEI, and the failures of the Secret Service together in one big conspiracy to attack the popular new presidential campaign.

Republicans don’t have much else to try except some exceptionally weak talking points, and Harris is already getting some shots in against Trump. But just like the QAnon and election-rigging conspiracies the right wing pushed in the last few years, this one probably won’t win over the average American either.

Donald Trump is fuming after Minnesota Governor Tim Walz slammed Republicans for being “stuck” with the former president as their presidential candidate, while the Democrats have begun mounting a new campaign around Vice President Kamala Harris.

During an interview on Fox News Tuesday morning, Walz couldn’t wipe a smile off his face as he combated Bill Hemmer’s wild suggestion that the Democrats had “leapfrogged the entire democratic system” by moving to get behind Harris in the days since Joe Biden dropped out of the race.

“Look, the process has always been there, I welcome—if … anybody wants to become a DNC delegate, you’re welcome to. But what I know is, Democrats are ready to move when the situation warrants it,” Walz said.

“Look, it doesn’t matter convictions, it doesn’t matter failed policies. Republican Party is stuck with Donald Trump. He’s yours, you got him. Welcome to it,” said Walz. “Democratic Party can make our decisions, we pick our nominee. Look, if you don’t like it, don’t vote for her in November!”

The Minnesota governor said that he knew voters would appreciate the Biden administration’s strong economic policies and its disinterest in courting foreign dictators such as Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán or Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“So, J.D. Vance, ‘Mind your own business,’ is what I would tell them,” Walz said. “We can manage it.”

Apparently, Trump didn’t appreciate Walz’s booking on the conservative news network.

“Why did Fox News put up Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota, where I am leading?” the Republican nominee wrote on Truth Social shortly after Walz’s appearance. “They make me fight battles that I shouldn’t have to fight!”

Walz was among those reported as having received vetting materials to join Harris on the Democratic ticket in November.

While Walz wouldn’t confirm he was in contention on Fox News, he did say that he’d spoken to Harris. “We have the same values, we believe we can win in the Midwest,” he said, pledging to do “whatever’s necessary” to keep “personal freedoms” front and center in Harris’s campaign.

When pop star Charli XCX tweeted out “kamala IS brat,” she might not have imagined CNN correspondents and Democratic politicians weighing in.

“So is the idea that we are all kind of brat and that Kamala Harris is brat?” asked a confused Jake Tapper Monday evening.

While Harris’s K-Hive may have adopted their moniker from Beyoncé back in 2019, this year, it’s brat summer, named for Charli XCX’s viral new album. When BidenHQ rebranded to “KamalaHQ” following the vice president’s announcement she was taking over the Democratic ticket, a very smart member of her campaign staff added the recognizable brat-style logo to their social media.

As Grace Segers writes for The New Republic, Harris’s team seems to be embracing the memes as an attempt to appeal to younger voters.

But not all Democrats are hip to the trend: California Representative Mark Takano said he initially thought people were being negative about Kamala Harris by “calling her a brat.”

“I just saw it on Instagram.… I said, ‘What is this?’” Takano told CNN. “But it’s not that Kamala Harris is a brat, it’s she is brat, and then I started listening to music, and I said, ‘Oh wow.’”

After being informed by his team that it was a term of endearment, Takano joined in on the fun.

As did Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii.

Still confused? In a TikTok interview, Charli XCX defined “brat” as: “You are just that girl who is a little messy and maybe says dumb things sometimes, who feels herself but then also maybe has a breakdown but parties through it. It is honest, blunt, and a little bit volatile. That’s Brat.”

Perhaps brat can be a way for Harris to punch back at Republican lawmakers who want to attack her over her laugh or just for being plain “weird.”

“I will aspire to be brat,” said Tapper on Monday. Us too, Jake.

Speaker Mike Johnson is doubling down on threats to arrest anyone who interrupts or protests Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress Wednesday, including members of Congress themselves.

He told fellow Republicans Tuesday that protests would not be tolerated, and he plans to send a “Dear Colleague” letter warning other members of Congress about protesting.

Tuesday’s message reiterates Johnson’s warning last week to arrest any Democratic lawmakers who seek to interrupt or disrupt the speech. He called for “extra sergeants at arms on the floor” to deal with and arrest any dissenters, whether from the House floor or the gallery. Several Democrats have said they plan to boycott the speech or protest.

Congress’s invitation to Netanyahu comes at a time when the Israeli prime minister is facing arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court along with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and top Hamas leaders over accusations of war crimes in Gaza. A meeting with President Joe Biden was pushed to Thursday after briefly being up in the air. Vice President Kamala Harris won’t be presiding over Netanyahu’s address to Congress, and will instead be campaigning in Indianapolis while planning to meet privately with the Israeli prime minister later.

Netanyahu isn’t getting the red-carpet treatment that he has gotten in years past in Washington, D.C., because of the brutality of his war in Gaza. His willingness to drag out the war for more than nine months with a staggering civilian death toll has contributed to Biden’s drop in popularity among young people and communities of color. It seems that Johnson’s invitation to speak and the loads of laundry washed on his behalf may be the only major benefits Netanyahu gets from his U.S. visit.

A new report from CNN reveals more evidence that Trump vice presidential pick J.D. Vance once believed accusations of sexual assault against his running mate.

Earlier this month, Mediaite reported that, in a 2016 MSNBC appearance, Vance said he believed Jessica Leeds’s accusation that Trump groped her. Sarcastically noting Trump’s tendency to lie, he said, “This is sort of he said/she said, right? And at the end of the day, do you believe Donald Trump who always tells the truth? Just kidding, or do you believe that woman on the tape?”

On Tuesday, CNN reported that Vance repeatedly expressed similar sentiments online.

In October 2016, after the Access Hollywood tapes were released, Vance tweeted a since-deleted post asking, “What percentage of the American population has @realDonaldTrump sexually assaulted?”

Vance also reportedly liked tweets that read, “Maybe the Central Park 5 could take out a full-page ad to condemn the coddling of thug real estate barons who commit serial sexual assault,” and, “I wish there was a 2nd Vice Presidential debate just to see [Mike Pence] deny that Trump said he grabbed p*ssy.”

On Facebook, he shared a Washington Post op-ed by a Southern Baptist Convention leader who condemned conservative religious leaders’ support of then-presidential candidate Trump “following the disclosure of his sexually predatory recorded comments.” Vance posted an excerpt of the article that read, in part, “[Trump] has reaffirmed who he is over and over again, even during this campaign—from misogynistic statements to racist invective to crazed conspiracy theorizing.”

Vance’s team told CNN that the posts in question “from nearly a decade ago are old news that have been addressed numerous times since he entered the political world. They don’t reflect his views on President Trump today and haven’t for many years.” Indeed, after Trump was found liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll, Vance quickly said he believed his “friend” Trump.

The unearthed social media activity—piling atop a mountain of examples of Vance once railing against his current running mate—has fueled ongoing conversations questioning his convictions and speculating that Trump may be regretting his vice presidential pick.