President Biden’s sudden withdrawal from the 2024 election may have come as a surprise, but his endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party’s coalescing around the VP to be at the top of their ticket is not. The party of identity politics is now taking a huge gamble with an untested and unpopular likely nominee for president. Not only has Harris been less popular than Biden throughout his presidency, but she’s entering the general election with a dismal electoral track record and will be forced to defend the current administration’s unpopular policies. How will candidate Harris perform against Trump on the national stage? And how might a President Harris continue or change Biden’s policy agenda?
Ruy Teixeira is a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on the transformation of party coalitions and the future of American electoral politics. Before joining AEI, he was a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. Teixeira is co-author of the books The Emerging Democratic Majority (Scribner, 2002) and Where Have All the Democrats Gone? The Soul of the Party in the Age of Extremes (Henry Holt & Company, 2023).
Following the assassination attempt on Donald Trump’s life in Pennsylvania, the former president is moving full steam ahead with his campaign as the Republican National Convention kicks off in Milwaukee. Trump started the convention Monday off with a bang, announcing his VP choice, Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) – a controversial decision that promises handwringing around the globe. Meanwhile, the Biden campaign continues to flounder, struggling to reset post-debate disaster, with Democrats still speaking privately about a forced exit strategy for the ailing incumbent. How might Vance help or hurt Trump’s chances in November? And how are both parties shifting their tones following the tragic events of the weekend?
Brit Hume currently serves as a chief political analyst for FOX News Channel (FNC). He acts as a regular panelist on FOX’s weekly public affairs program, FOX News Sunday, and contributes to all major political coverage. Before joining FOX News, Hume was with ABC News for 23 years and served as ABC’s chief White House correspondent.
In today’s WTH Extra! episode, Dany and Marc discuss Marc’s latest Washington Post column, How Trump Can Make NATO Great Again. While in office, President Trump pushed allies to meet their NATO commitments, leaving the alliance militarily stronger than it had been since the Cold War. But with a myriad of new threats facing the West, NATO is in an urgent need of a MAGA makeover that builds on the accomplishments of Trump’s first term.
On June 4, Wall Street Journal reporters Annie Linskey and Siobhan Hughes broke the groundbreaking story Behind Closed Doors, Biden Shows Signs of Slipping. In response, Democrats and the media alike called it a “hit piece” against Biden designed to get Trump re-elected. But when Biden appeared on stage against Trump in their first presidential debate, America saw a frail and elderly president who before had only existed behind closed doors. Will Biden be the Democratic nominee for president? And how did the media help cover up Biden’s now obvious cognitive decline?
Annie Linskey is a White House reporter for The Wall Street Journal. Before joining the Journal, she worked for the Washington Post as a White House reporter and was the lead reporter on Democrats for the Boston Globe’s Washington bureau during the 2016 campaign. She also reported on the Obama White House for Bloomberg News and BusinessWeek.
In a spate of end-of-term decisions, the Supreme Court released its decision on the question of presidential immunity, ruling that the president has broad protections from criminal prosecution for “official acts,” a presumption of immunity for likely official acts, and zero immunity for private acts. Does this now mean that the U.S. now has a “king” as head of state, someone above the law, as many have implied? Can the president really release Seal Team 6 to kill political rivals without consequence? The answer is simple: No. Rather, the Court continued the job of rebalancing our Republic in favor of three branches, with Congress as the clear venue for trying any president for high crimes and misdemeanors. What does the ruling mean for Trump’s pending trials? And how is criticism of the Court eroding it as an American institution?
Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at the National Review Institute, an NR contributing editor, and the author of Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency. Previously, he served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
In today’s WTH Extra! episode, Dany and Marc discuss Dany’s recent substack, Joe Won’t Go. Will President Biden take the advice of panicked liberal pundits, politicians, and advisors and drop off the top of the Democratic ticket? Long story short: No. And notwithstanding the flurry of unwanted advice the White House is receiving, it really is up to the President. You see, Joe likes being President, and so do the rest of the Bidens.
The numbers are in, and it’s clear that Americans of all political stripes – Democrats, independents, and both MAGA and non-MAGA Republicans – want America to be engaged and leading on the world stage. The Reagan Institute’s new summer survey shows that the vast majority of Americans want a strong military; support defending NATO allies; and continue to support Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel. But hidden in the crosstabs is an important finding: The myth of MAGA isolationism and Republican support for Russia is just that, a myth. Self-identified “MAGA Republicans” were more internationalist than “non-MAGA Republicans” on every issue and the number of Democrats and Republicans who want Russia to win over Ukraine is a statistical tie.
Roger Zakheim serves as the Washington Director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. He previously practiced law at Covington & Burling LLP where he led the firm’s Public Policy and Government Affairs practice group. Before joining Covington he was General Counsel and Deputy Staff Director of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee where he managed the passage of the annual National Defense Authorization Act. He was also the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense.
In this new WTH Extra! series, Dany and Marc discuss Marc’s recent Washington Post column, Biden’s Latest Attack on Trump is Wildly Inaccurate. Is Trump really the isolationist his detractors make him out to be? Or is he the second coming of Charles Lindbergh some of his supporters hope for? Turns out, the isolationists who claim to represent the MAGA agenda might not be so representative after all.
Georgia’s parliament in Tbilisi recently overrode a presidential veto on a “foreign agents” law that sparked an uproar domestically and from the country’s Western allies. Critics decried the legislation—which requires any organization receiving more than 20% of its funding from foreign sources to register as an “agent of foreign influence”—as yet another element in the Russian takeover of the small South Caucasian nation. Russia still occupies 20% of Georgia’s territory. Why should Americans care about Russian games in a country of 3 million people? Because for Vladimir Putin, Georgia is just the beginning of his ambitions in Europe. And the Georgian people are among the most pro-American in the region, at one point the second largest troop contributor to our war on al Qaeda. Standing up for Georgia now means avoiding conflict later.
David Kramer serves as the Executive Director of the George W. Bush Institute. Prior to joining the Bush Institute, he taught at Florida International University’s Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs, and served as an Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasian Affairs. David chairs the board of the Free Russia Foundation and serves on the board of the International Republican Institute.
This past weekend, Israeli special forces rescued four hostages Hamas kidnapped on October 7 and held in Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp. Israelis were ecstatic about the news. Meanwhile, Israel’s usual detractors in the West accused Israel of war crimes for harming “civilians” during the operation, apparently forgetting that Hamas chose to embed hostages within Gaza’s civilian population. What does the hostage rescue mean for the prospects of saving the remaining 120 hostages? Will turmoil and resignations at the senior levels of Israel’s national security government derail efforts to destroy Hamas? What does the future hold for this war amid growing threats from Hezbollah in Lebanon?
Haviv Rettig Gur is The Times of Israel’s senior analyst. Before joining the Times of Israel, he was a reporter for the Jerusalem Post. Haviv has reported from over 20 countries and served as director of communications for the Jewish Agency for Israel, Israel’s largest NGO. He lectures on Israeli politics, the US-Israel relationship, the peace process, modern Jewish history and identity, and Israel-diaspora relations. Haviv lives in Jerusalem with his wife and two sons.