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.  

Lining up to Show “Loyalty”

This time, members of the House (Reps. Matt Gaetz, Anna Paulina Luna, Bob Good, Andy Ogles and Lauren Boebert) lined up as former President Donald Trump headed into his New York trial. 

• Irony alert: They are showing loyalty to a man (Trump) on the day of testimony from the man who went to jail for being loyal to Trump (Michael Cohen).
  • Fair question: When has Trump ever shown loyalty the other way…he could have pardoned everyone (Steve Bannon, Peter Navarro, Cohen, etc.) but didn’t because Trump still cares what the New York Times thinks about him. 

Metaphorically, everybody who kisses Trump’s ring (or shows loyalty) gets mono, cold sores or worse. 

• Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, called the Republican representatives’ appearances “embarrassing.”
• He isn’t wrong, but Romney doesn’t exactly deserve a chapter in “Profiles in Courage.” 

As we told you Tuesday when the VP wannabees showed up, they are wrecking their credibility with swing voters. Members of the House who want Cabinet jobs are right not to care. 

Watch tonight: Michael Discioarro and Katie Cherkasky will discuss whether Trump’s team delivered the knockout blow to Cohen’s credibility today. 

• MSNBC lays out the problem for the prosecution. The question is: Does Michael Cohen still lie? 

Bonus coverage: We’ll have Victor Davis Hanson on to talk about how Trump created a cult-like loyalty that only goes one direction. 

Getting on the Michelle Obama Bandwagon

We welcome ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith to the “draft Michelle Obama” bandwagon. “I think that Michelle Obama would hands down be the next president of the United States if she were to run against Trump,” he said on Kevin Garnett’s podcast. 

• We’ve been saying this for more than a year. 

To be fair: There is zero evidence to suggest Michelle Obama would actually do it.

• BUT, there is growing evidence of Democrats ringing the alarm bells, including Eli Lake’s excellent piece, “The Rise of the ‘Never Bidens.’” 

Lots of people are pointing to New York Times polling about the debates, but MSNBC’s focus groups are potentially more telling.

The calendar: There are six weeks between the first debate and the Democratic National Convention. 

Will Biden’s Border Plan Work?

Forget for a second all the clips of Biden saying he can’t do anything about the border without Congress. Let’s just look at whether his executive action plan will work. 

• The details: He will bring back some of the immigration bill that failed in Congress and shuts the border down with more than 4,000 a day coming across.
  • Click here to read more.
• Look forward: The question is not if it will work to actually secure the border (it won’t) but rather if it will work to bring down the numbers enough for him to brag about it in October.
• International intrigue: NBC reports Mexico is stopping three times as many migrants as last year.
  • International conspiracy: Mexico knows the border issue is crushing Biden. They would much prefer Biden in the White House to Trump. 

The NFL’s Existential Crisis

Who knew a graduation speech extolling family values could expose the NFL’s deepest problem? 

What he actually said: Harrison Butker, kicker for the Super Bowl champ Kansas City Chiefs, delivered the commencement speech at Benedictine College, saying in part to the graduating women:

• “Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world. I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say that her life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.” 

BLOWBACK:

• The NFL commented, “His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.”
  • Between the lines: Evidently, that doesn’t include inclusion of thought … after all, the NFL put Black Lives Matter slogans on the backs of helmets and in end zones.
• The Daily Mail outlines some of the other responses. 
• Page Six labeled the speech “sexist and anti-LGBTQ.”
  • To be fair: He called Pride Month a celebration of sins. Is that really anti-LGBTQ? Is saying his wife likes being a homemaker sexist? 

Hometown hate: 

• Kansas City’s official X account tweeted he doesn’t actually live in Kansas City but in a suburb.
• Then, the city deleted the tweet and promised an investigation into its posting, but not a firing.

Unusual defender: Whoopi Goldberg comes to the rescue. 

Bigger picture: This highlights the NFL divide between a league obsessed with woke inclusion and its fan base, which is definitively not. 

Maybe the Secret Service Can Help 

We’ll see if the U.S. Capitol Police have more success than the Secret Service trying to find who left cocaine inside one of their secure locations. 

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.