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.
Trump Got Played
President Joe Biden’s debate challenge video included multiple cuts (meaning he couldn’t get it in one take) while attempting the “anytime, anywhere” attitude of a prizefighter. He said, “Well, make my day, pal. I’ll even do it twice.”
- Headline: Biden Will Debate Donald Trump Twice
- June 27 on CNN and Sept. 10 on ABC
- Reality: Biden offered to appear with Trump on a stage.
- There will be no live audience.
- There will be effectively no interaction between the candidates (microphones will be cut).
- They will appear on Biden-friendly TV networks with Biden-friendly moderators (ABC, CBS, Telemundo, CNN).
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr., prominent independent candidate, will not be participating.
- The first debate will be in June when NOBODY is watching TV.
Thought bubble: For Democrats saying they revere institutions and norms, they are cutting out the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates — is that a threat to democracy?
- Nicely played: The Biden campaign is pretty smart
- Biden flipped Trump’s “anytime, anywhere” on its head
- They took the “Biden won’t debate” argument off the table
- They got friendly networks and moderators
- And they laid out rules very favorable to their candidate
That was fast:
- Within a few hours of Biden’s video, CNN already had the first debate lined up … wonder how much of a heads-up the Biden campaign gave them?
- CNN dutifully laid out rules that conformed precisely to Biden’s requirements.
- ABC News suggested Sept 10. It’s hard to imagine how Biden could go wrong with George Stephanopoulos.
- Intrigue: Fox invited Trump and Biden to a debate in October. Only Trump has accepted.
- Biden’s original video said he would debate twice, and promptly, CNN and ABC both made their announcements.
- Jen O’Malley Dillon declined the Fox debate with a devastating statement: “President Biden made his terms clear for two one-on-one debates, and Donald Trump accepted those terms. No more games. No more chaos, no more debate about debates. We’ll see Donald Trump on June 27th in Atlanta — if he shows up.”
Biden snark:
- “I’ve also received and accepted an invitation to a debate hosted by ABC on Tuesday, September 10th. Trump says he’ll arrange his own transportation. I’ll bring my plane, too. I plan on keeping it for another four years.”
Fair question: Team Biden won the day, but why ruin it by trying to out-Trump Trump? It’s inelegant.
- High stakes: A debate on June 27 leaves 53 days until the DNC for Democrats to replace Biden if he bombs it.
Trump’s original response: “I would strongly recommend more than two debates and, for excitement purposes, a very large venue, although Biden is supposedly afraid of crowds – That’s only because he doesn’t get them. Just tell me when, I’ll be there. ‘Let’s get ready to Rumble!!!’”
- Then his campaign proposed more debates. There are no points for second place.
See the future: Trump will lose the debates badly, and when he does, he will blame the media and moderators, and nobody will care.
Stupid is as stupid does: While Biden’s campaign proved themselves smart today, Trump fell into yet another trap saying, “Joe Biden is the WORST debater I have ever faced.”
- Alex Thompson and Maggie Haberman wrote on X about Trump setting expectations for Biden at ground level.
- Haberman tweeted, “Same thing as 2020. Set the bar low for Biden and Biden stepped over it.”
Smart analysis: Our buddy Colby Hall, founding editor of Mediaite, writes, “The performative back and forth between Biden and Trump feels like pre-arranged theatrics that only reassert the criticism that U.S. politics has devolved into the kayfabe that makes professional wrestling so compelling.”
Watch tonight: Philippe Reines, who played Trump in Hillary Clinton’s 2016 debate prep, will bring his insights. We’ll also have Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on to discuss whether Trump can learn from his disasters in 2020.
Bonus coverage:
- 4D chess: The sooner the debates are, the better they will be for Biden
- Reasonable people can agree that Biden continues to deteriorate mentally (and physically), so the sooner they are, the better.
- The sooner they are, the less they matter.
- The sooner they are, the more issues will change.
Before we go:
- The best debate moments in history relived and examined…
- President Ronald Reagan talking about his opponent Walter Mondale’s “youth and inexperience.”
- Lloyd Bentsen saying to Dan Quayle, “Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy.”
- President George H.W. Bush checking his watch.
- Biden saying to Trump, “Will you shut up, man?”
Watch tonight: We’ll look at how much body language plays a role and how the debaters plan not only the attacks but taking a punch.
Police Week
President Biden spoke at the annual ceremony on the National Mall honoring fallen police officers. He had more families than ever to address. The FBI reports, “From 2021 to 2023, more officers were feloniously killed (194) than in any other consecutive three-year period in the past 20 years (73 officers in 2021, 61 officers in 2022, and 60 officers in 2023).”
Look forward: 2024 is on track for an equally deadly year, so any progress made in 2021 and 2022 stopped.
No punishment: There is significant irony to National Police Week being in D.C., while in New York City, the migrants charged in an unprovoked videotaped attack on New York police officers get offered plea deals.
Watch tonight: While officers are being killed at a steady rate, we’ll look at officers attacked and the willingness of criminals to fight back.
Look Who’s Killing Palestinian Civilians
It’s highly unlikely you have seen this video of Hamas gunmen taking over a United Nations compound in Rafah and shooting at civilians likely trying to get food.
Media reality: It should come as no surprise.
- The media, like kids on college campuses, only care about Palestinians or dying Muslims in general when they can blame the Jews.
NBC News reports a U.S.-built and paid-for pier to bring in more aid to Gaza will be completed as early as today.
- Hamas will attack the pier — they already have — just like how they killed Israeli soldiers guarding food aid coming into Gaza.
- Hamas will continue to starve and brutalize its population while blaming Israel.
- Biden, his friends in the media, the United Nations and the pro-Hamas types on college campuses will keep blaming Israel for their suffering.
Be fair: Yes, Palestinians do suffer immensely on a daily basis. Gaza was hell before the war, and it has only gotten worse.
Look forward: If the war ends with Hamas still in power, the Palestinian civilians will continue to suffer. Hamas will keep brutalizing them, and Hamas will attack Israel a few years from now, starting a new war.
The hostages: Hamas still holds at least five Americans hostage. You don’t hear much about their suffering, do you?
Think about the noise around the WNBA basketball player who was jailed in Russia.
- We traded an international arms dealer for her.
- She got herself in trouble. Maybe it was by accident, and there was no reason for the detention, but it was still on her.
- Where’s the talk about Hamas holding American hostages?
No Longer Plebes
Navy academy plebes (freshmen) completed the Herndon Monument Climb and can now wear the upperclassman’s hat rather than the round “dixie cup.”
Click here to watch the entire three-hour event that starts with the 21-foot Herndon covered in grease and shortening plus water hoses spraying the shirtless plebes.
The Associated Press has some fun facts, including “the longest (climb) was more than four hours in 1995, when upperclassmen glued down the Dixie cup.”
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.
