NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight’s 7 p.m. ET show. Subscribe to War Notes here.  

Joe Biden’s Long History with Race and “Illegals”

In unscripted moments, Joe Biden still sounds today like your typical 1970s Southern Democrat. After all, he eulogized the notorious racist and good friend of his, Strom Thurmond. 

It’s only after his staff gets to him that he becomes super woke.

Among the greatest hits:

• “You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.”
• Saying Republicans would put Black people “back in chains” 
• Implying all Black people think the same 
• Calling Obama “articulate” and “clean”
• Calling for locking up drug dealers 
• Not supporting blanket amnesty and asking for “illegal aliens” to learn English

It would be easy to dismiss those as the musings of a younger man who, like all of us, is entitled to grow and morph, except in unscripted moments, Biden reverts back. He demonstrated this when he called the alleged killer of Laken Riley an “illegal” or his moment with Charlamagne Tha God saying that “you ain’t Black” if you don’t support him. 

Biden apologized on MSNBC on Saturday, saying, “And I shouldn’t have used ‘illegal.’ It’s ‘undocumented,’” but only after doubling down Friday, saying the alleged killer was “technically not supposed to be here.” 

Would the real Joe Biden please stand up? 

Of course, it’s not just Biden but Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., too. 

Can Trump capitalize on this? 

Watch tonight: Bill O’Reilly on the five things Trump must do to capitalize on Biden’s said faults. 

• APPEAL TO COLLEGE EDUCATED: According to a Politico analysis, “primary voter data reveals that Trump struggled in places where a majority of adults are college-educated.”
• APPEAL TO GOP voters who won’t commit to GOP nominee 
• APPEAL TO WOMEN: According to Politico, “Exit polls also showed other general election warning signs for Trump. In both North Carolina and Virginia, the former president’s support was weakest among women, whom he also struggled with in 2020.”
• APPEAL TO VOTERS ON THE ECONOMY
• AVOID CONVICTION 

Biden (and the Folks at the Oscars) Tougher on Bibi than Hamas and Qatar 

Stars at the Oscars wore “ceasefire” pins, which wasn’t enough for the protesters that delayed the red carpet. President Biden is figuring out the same thing: The pro-Hamas folks care far more about punishing Israel than they do about the Palestinian “civilians” or certainly about the hostages. 

From Noah Pollak on X, formerly Twitter: “Every time Hamas refuses a deal, Biden inches closer to their position and ratchets up pressure on Israel. Hamas sees this. Everyone sees it. Biden is why there is no hostage deal. It’s hard to imagine him handling this more stupidly.”

Distinction without a difference: We long predicted in War Notes Biden would turn on the Israelis. 

• Biden knows best: Biden and his staff want to make a distinction without a difference that he is criticizing and attempting to constrain Netanyahu, not Israel — and by extension, that he knows better than Israel what’s in the Jewish state’s best interest.  
• Long history: Netanyahu and Biden have a deep distrust and dislike of each other. 
• Fighting for survival: Netanyahu must win the war against Hamas to have any chance of staying in power and saving himself from prosecution on bribery charges.

Hur Incoming 

Special counsel Robert Hur testifies tomorrow.

• Republicans will use the must-see TV to tease out the embarrassing mental lapses that caused Hur to write his famous line calling Biden “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
• Democrats will paint Hur as a partisan attack dog that went outside the scope of his investigation to score political points. 
• Popcorn: Hur’s report, especially the line about not remembering the year of his son’s death, reportedly sparked Biden’s disastrous late-night press conference …
• Can Hur do it again? 

Hazelwood Beating 

Not far from Ferguson, Missouri, a 15-year-old Black girl nearly beat a white classmate to death — she’s in critical condition. The 15-year-old is protected by Missouri’s juvenile justice system. 

Times have changed: The Black Democratic prosecutor in St. Louis County tweeted, “This is sickening & so difficult to watch. In MO, by law our office @stlcopa has no jurisdiction. This is a Juvenile court matter, unless it is certified…& by law, certification is not our decision either. We pray the victim makes a full recovery. This is just heartbreaking.”

• This is interesting: Wesley Bell is taking on “Squad” members who are enthusiasts about defunding the police and Hamas-apologist Cori Bush in the Democratic primary — and he’s vocal about charging a Black 15-year-old. 
• Times have changed! 

Lifeline Needed

For the first time in years, a network Sunday show was interesting! 

Watch here: George Stephanopoulos asked Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., to square her support of Donald Trump (after the E. Jean Carroll verdict) and Mace’s outspoken position as a rape survivor herself. 

• Spoiler alert: It didn’t go well for Stephanopoulos. 

And it didn’t stop when the cameras went off. 

Philip Nieto reports in Mediaite, “Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) raged at George Stephanopoulos on social media — following her explosive interview where she accused the anchor of trying to shame her as a rape victim.”

What if? Why doesn’t Trump freeze out the Sunday shows?

• No supporters
• No surrogates 
• No campaign officials 

Imagine a world where you were running for president and at the same time you controlled the party, the Republican National Committee AND the media hated you? 

Then imagine that you told EVERY Republican that you would never ever support them again if they ever appeared on a Sunday show, giving all the networks and reporters and websites and newspapers that hate you the ability to take shots at you and embarrass you and run that stuff for 24 hours unanswered. 

Then, imagine that if this candidate froze out the Sunday show jerks, they would come back begging for appearances and possibly fairer.  

Maybe, just maybe, your chances of winning would increase.

Tune into “On Balance with Leland Vittert” weeknights at 7/6C on NewsNation. Find your channel here. 

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.