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Leland Vittert’s War Notes: Taking the Bait

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.  

State of play


Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris waves as she boards Air Force Two at San Francisco International Airport on August 11, 2024. (Photo by JULIA NIKHINSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Vibe Swing

For reasons beyond understanding, the American people don’t associate the policies of the Biden-Harris administration with Harris. 

Republicans can rightly complain all they want about the media double standard, the undemocratic switch, the coronation, the honeymoon, but much like arguing with referees in sports, you look like a loser. 

It’s about the vibe. The Associated Press headlines, “Harris is pushing joy. Trump paints a darker picture. Will mismatched moods matter?”

Americans told us for years they wanted somebody other than Trump or Biden — now, they have that person. Why should we be surprised?

Our buddy Chris Cillizza laid out a devastating analysis of why the 2024 election is Trump’s to lose, and he’s losing. 

Team Harris (with lots of Obama talent) figured out almost innately that America wanted something other than Trump’s grievances or Biden’s incoherence and is delivering. 

Full North Korean: Time magazine’s profile on Harris explains it all.

Legit gripe: Trump complains so much it’s easy to overlook his legitimate gripes.

Things won’t change.

It’s starting: The Washington Post editorial board showed a modicum of intellectual honesty with their piece, “Questions We’d Love to Ask Kamala Harris.” 

Republican vice presidential candidate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) speaks at NMC-Wollard Inc. / Wollard International on August 07, 2024 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)

Trapped 

One can imagine the Harris campaign would like nothing more than hitting JD Vance over a picture showing him in drag during a law school Halloween party. 

Be fair: Nobody wants their college or law school pictures on display for the world to see, but to borrow a phrase, it’s a little weird.  

Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during an election campaign rally in Bozeman, Montana, on August 9, 2024. (Photo by Natalie BEHRING / AFP) (Photo by NATALIE BEHRING/AFP via Getty Images)

Don’t Take the Bait

Ahead of his interview with Elon Musk tonight,  “@realdonaldtrump” started posting again. 

Cue the segments about “the new Trump” or a “more disciplined Trump” suddenly talking about issues people care about — dream on. 

Trump still thinks and acts like he’s running against President Biden … it’s not working … worse still for him is he shows zero interest in changing:

Watch tonight: Meredith McGraw is out with an incredible new book, “Trump in Exile.”

On the U.S. Presidential campaign trail stopping in battleground states, Vice Presidential Kamala Harris and accompanied by her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz walks out into a packed rally in Pheonix, Arizona on Friday August 9, 2024. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Wednesday vs. Friday

In 48 hours, Kamala Harris went from attacking pro-Hamas protesters to all but joining them. 

Famed Democratic pollster Mark Penn went for the jugular about her comments after Hamas claimed Israel killed dozens by hitting a “school.” He wrote on X, “Hamas makes wild claims and Harris immediately responds to them as facts. Any serious presidential candidate would have said they were getting the facts on the Israeli strike (which Israel is providing) and then condemned Iran for the attack on US troops in Syria and possibly even mentioned the mass drone attack by Hezbollah.”

Fact check: Click here to see the IDF respond about the 31 terrorists killed in the airstrike this weekend. 

Watch tonight: Alex Caprariello spent the day with the 30,000 protesters promising to disrupt the DNC unless Harris agrees to an arms embargo against Israel. We’ll hear from him tonight. 

The politics: The Republican Jewish Coalition posts to YouTube that they “(Issue) ‘Praise Israel’ Challenge to Democrats Heading to the Chicago Convention.”

Zoom out: There is about to be a war between Israel and Iran — the Biden administration cares almost exclusively about their cease-fire deal for domestic political purposes.

Again, Glenn Greenwald — no fan of Israel — writes on X, “Major US military assets are being deployed to the Middle East as a regional war becomes increasingly possible. The NYT says all this was ‘ordered’ by Defense Sec. Austin ‘to take every possible step to defend Israel.’ Is the President involved? Anyone know if Kamala agrees?”

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.