Leland Vittert’s War Notes: Let’s Play ‘What If?’

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.  

Let’s Play “What If?”

At some point, there will be a verdict…

• The jury will return with guilty, hung or not guilty.

So what happens next?

• If guilty:
  • Does Donald Trump go directly to Rikers? Almost certainly not.
    • If he did, can you imagine the vigil of who’s who of Republicans camping outside?
      • Will Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., pitch a tent outside? What about the veepstakes contestants?
        • Will the VP candidates come visit him in jail? What about Melania? 
      • What songs will Republicans sing at the nightly vigil? 
    • Does the judge allow him to appeal and hold off sentencing?  
    • If he doesn’t go to Rikers, can he leave New York City? Does he play golf this weekend? Hold a rally? 
  • What does Joe Biden do? He’s on vacation in Delaware…this weekend, it’s 80 and sunny.
    • Will he go for ice cream to celebrate? 
    • What about a bike ride? 
  • Does Alvin Bragg get appointed ambassador to Spain as a reward? 
  • Does Judge Merchan get nominated to the federal bench? Or how about a cushy professor gig at NYU Law?
  • Remember all the people who celebrated when Biden won in November 2020 — will they have another block party? 
• If the jury is hung:
  • Which cable network gets the first juror interview?
  •  How long will it be until the first book deal? 
  • Does Bragg hold press conferences asking for a retrial? 
  • Trump will declare vindication.
• If not guilty:
  • Trump won’t go to Disney World. Will he rally in Alabama? Indiana? Hold a boat parade at Mar-a-Lago? 
  • What will the ad look like? Here is the new one he put out.
  • What does Biden say? Hold his own rally? Praise the legal system?
  • Does Bragg resign? 
  • What bars offer free drinks? 
  • What about Melania — will she believe the jury’s verdict? 

Does Joe Biden Want to Win?

Black and young voters don’t support President Biden by record numbers. That isn’t just “bad” for the Biden campaign; it’s existential. Yet rather than crisscrossing the country trying to stop the bleeding, he’s holed up on vacation. 

• Fact check: Biden supporters may not like that statement, but it is undeniably true.
  • Five months out, Biden is fighting for his base, not expanding his coalition.
  • This is awful news for the Biden campaign.
    • Politico headlines about a “freakout” among Democrats
      • Click here for the video evidence.

State of play: NPR just issued a warning to the campaign about young voters. 

• CNN breaks down the numbers this way: “65% of voters under the age of 30 say they want a candidate to bring major change to the U.S., and in that same poll, you know which candidate they thought would bring major change to the country? They thought Donald Trump would.”

Look back: Yesterday, we went through Biden’s problem with Black voters — not so much that they are abandoning him but that all his pandering isn’t working to get them back. 

Forget if Biden can win … right now, it doesn’t appear that he wants to win. 

Let’s look at Biden’s schedule this week. 

• Saturday: Delivered the commencement address at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
• Sunday: Traveled from Delaware to the White House
• Monday: Memorial Day Address at Arlington National Cemetery
• Tuesday: Nothing aside from daily briefing
• Wednesday: Campaign events in Philadelphia
• Thursday (today): Travels to Delaware
• Friday: No campaign events
• Saturday: No campaign events
• Sunday: No campaign events

Our friend Bill O’Reilly says, “This guy just doesn’t show up for work. I’ve never seen this … I have never seen a chief executive work as little as Joe Biden. Number 2 is Warren Harding …”

Our own numbers show Biden, by any measure, uniquely unavailable to the press as compared to his predecessors and on vacation far more than his predecessors. 

• Through the first 3 years, only counting unofficial or semi-official travel (weekends and vacations away, and trips to Camp David)…
  • Biden has spent 408 days away from the White House
  • Trump spent 291 days away from the White House
  • Obama spent 135 days away from the White House
  • George W. Bush spent 478 days away from the White House
    • The only one higher than Biden. 

Again, does he really want to win? 

• Holy cow: One poll shows Virginia tied.

Be fair: During the pandemic in 2020, Biden won from his basement.

• He essentially ran as the anti-Trump.
• Jen Psaki says he should do that again. 
• Of course, Biden now has a record — and people universally don’t like it. 

Biden logic: The media isn’t touting Biden’s accomplishments enough.

TJ Ducklo of Team Biden posted on X, “The President just spoke to approx 1,000 mostly black voters in Philly about the massive stakes in this election. @MSNBC @CNN & others did not show it. Instead, more coverage about a trial that impacts one person: Trump. Then they’ll ask, why isn’t your message getting out?”

Hans Nichols (@HansNichols) first pointed this out in Axios about Biden not banking on a Trump conviction to win.

Fair question: If Biden is spending most of his time on vacation and not banking on a Trump conviction and thinks the media is out to get him … what is his strategy to win? 

This will matter: Boston’s Democratic mayor just released her list of crimes, including theft, that should NOT be prosecuted. And she wants to eliminate the gang registry.

• Progressive policies sound great at oyster parties on Nantucket.
• But they crush the very neighborhoods (like those in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco) they are designed to protect. Now, people living in those neighborhoods say they aren’t voting for Biden. 
• The mayor didn’t get the memo that the pendulum is swinging back. 

Is America Turning into England

Believe it or not: We are now at risk of having an entrenched aristocracy — akin to the U.K. 

Look back: Our good friend George Will wrote in his book “The Conservative Sensibility,” “Americans were born exceptionally free from a feudal past, and hence free from an established church and an entrenched aristocracy.”

This is happening in two ways:

• First: The rise of fabulously wealthy businessmen who now wield enormous political power.
  • Axios writes up, and the Left loses its mind, over the Trump and Elon Musk alliance.
  • To be fair: It’s existed far longer on the Left – think Biden’s cozy relationship and stays at Carlyle Group founder David Rubenstein’s Nantucket house. 
• Second: The uniquely American middle class is disappearing.
  • We are increasingly a massive working class who struggle and the aristocracy whose wealth continues to grow.
  • McDonald’s defended the price hikes we recently reported on.
  • CNN Business reports groceries cost 33.5% more now than they did in early 2020.  

The Ayatollah and American College Students

The ayatollah in Iran (yes, the regime that held Americans hostages for 444 days) just endorsed the student protests across America. 

• He wrote on X, “Dear university students in the United States of America, you are standing on the right side of history. you have now formed a branch of the Resistance Front and have begun an honorable struggle in the face of your government’s ruthless pressure – which openly supports Zionists.”

Best response: Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., on X about what would happen to the mostly women protesting on college campuses

• ICYMI: Heather Mac Donald spoke last night on the rise of Marxist women in America. 

Pamela Paul writes in The New York Times, “And Now, a Real-World Lesson for Student Activists.”

• She says, “The toughest lesson for this generation may be that while they’ve been raised to believe in their right to change the world, the rest of the world may neither share nor be ready to indulge their particular vision.”

Watch tonight: So, how did we go from the ayatollah taking American hostages to mass protests supporting the ayatollah’s causes on America’s campuses? 

I Couldn’t Believe This: Suspended Driver Zooms Into Court While Driving

Who says traffic court can’t be exciting? Click here to see the reaction and facial expressions of Judge Cedric Simpson when he realizes a man joining a court hearing for a suspended license is Zooming while driving.

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.