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.  

Backfire

It’s Day 2 of the Donald Trump trial in New York, and it’s awfully boring. 

• MSNBC profiled released juror Kara McGee.
  • On second thought, perhaps we shouldn’t worry about jurors wanting to write books post-trial.
    • After enduring this circus, they should get book deals. 
  • As of writing, they haven’t empanelled a single juror.

Big picture: Americans have a fundamental sense of fair play…

• The CNN and MSNBC sets outside the courthouse fall afoul of that sense
• Spending the next eight weeks of Americans’ lives focused on how Trump accounted (on his internal business records) for otherwise legal payments among two consenting adults just feels like overkill. 

Thought bubble: The inherent boredom helps Trump. 

Just the politics:  

• Joe Biden faces problem after problem every day:
  • The economy
  • Israel and Iran
  • Pro-Hamas protesters at home
  • His electric vehicle dream falling apart
  • Black and Latino voters abandoning him in Georgia and North Carolina 

Trump’s trials let him do what he does best: Play the victim 

• Be fair: Did Trump buy off Stormy Daniels and likely hide how he did it? YES!
  • Will Americans see that as enough to break 250 years of tradition and charge a former president with a crime? NO!
    • Everyday swing voters see that it will grate on them.  

Watch tonight: George Will joins us on whether the Trump trials will backfire on Democrats. 

Falling Apart

The Supreme Court seemed skeptical of using a law born out of financial crimes to prosecute Jan. 6 rioters and even Trump.

The New York Times cites a particularly sharp question from Justice Clarence Thomas: “There have been many violent protests that have interfered with proceedings…Has the government applied this provision to other protests?”

Look forward: The Supreme Court throwing out many of the Jan. 6 cases, and especially the Trump charges, will only play into Trump’s hand. 

Immediate response: If Democrats weren’t so busy salivating over whatever juror No. 89 said in Manhattan court today, they would be trashing the Supreme Court. 

Look backward: Will Democrats come to regret using Jan. 6 as a wedge issue rather than an opportunity to heal and bring the country together? 

Ground truth: A lot of people did some VERY bad and violent things on Jan. 6, and they should be prosecuted and jailed. 

Can’t we all agree jailing grandmothers who went into the Capitol for ten minutes and, even according to the government’s own case, did nothing violent is a bad idea?

Watch tonight: We’ll talk to Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., about how Democrats can continue claiming to be the champions of democracy while attacking its institutions. 

Where are the Free Speech Types?

NPR just suspended the editor who blew the whistle on the radio network’s far-left bias.  

• Yet there have been crickets from all the free speech types.
  • Yes, but private employers aren’t restricted by the First Amendment.
  • Yes, but NPR receives public money — things could get interesting.

More importantly: The suspension opens NPR up to lawsuits, and lawsuits involve discovery. Discovery is fun — not for the targets, but for those doing it and reporting on it. 

Plus, it opens NPR up to pattern and practice investigations — in other words, looking at whether they treat employees fairly regardless of their political viewpoints. 

• The National Review delivers a devastating fact check on that: “NPR Unmasked: New CEO Flaunts Lefty Bias on Social Media after Editor’s Damning Exposé”
  • Why is it OK for the CEO to “flaunt” her lefty ideas if Uri Berliner can’t talk about the lefty ideas at NPR? 

Zoom out: What is free speech anymore?

• Chanting “Death to America” is OK in Dearborn, Michigan.
• But Trump talking about a judge’s Democratic activist daughter should land him in jail? 

Waiting Game 

The longer Israel waits for overt military action against Iran, the relatively less it will do — that’s supposition but good supposition.

More importantly: Why haven’t we heard anything from Biden, who so badly wants restraint, about America and its allies bringing nonmilitary action upon Iran? 

Watch tonight: Ambassador John Bolton joins us tonight with how Tehran is looking at things. 

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.