A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
New Dem Ticket Hits The Road
Vice President Kamala Harris has reportedly picked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) to be her running mate, according to multiple news outlets. A formal announcement is expected soon.
Walz, 60, was first elected governor in 2018 and re-elected in 2022. He previously served six terms in Congress, initially winning his seat in the Democratic wave of 2006.
A former teacher and coach and longtime National Guardsman, Walz has not been a prominent figure on the national Democratic stage. He was not known to have presidential ambitions. But in the weeks since President Biden ended his re-election bid, Walz’s solid record as a progressive governor, his perceived appeal in the critical Blue Wall states, and his direct, folksy manner had catapulted him into the top rank of vice presidential contenders for Harris.
Not since Sen. Edmund Muskie (D-ME) was picked by Vice President Hubert Humphrey as his running mate in 1968, following President Lyndon Johnson’s abrupt withdrawal from the race, has a political figure taken this surprise route to the ticket.
The new Democratic ticket is scheduled to make its first public appearance later today at Temple University in Philadelphia before embarking on a five-day campaign tour of key swing states – Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada – before Harris ends up back home in the Bay area on Friday.
2024 Ephemera
- Kamala Harris formally clinched the Democratic Party nomination for president in a pre-convention virtual roll call that sought to sidestep any state-level ballot access issues she might encounter.
- Maricopa County, Arizona public schools have opted out of serving as polling places for the 2024 election due to the chaos and misinformation Donald Trump has fueled around the proper administration of elections.
- Among my personal wish list items for American politics: All campaigns last at most 100 days. Plus: mandatory voting like in Australia and make Election Day a national holiday.
Dangerous
Mother Jones: JD Vance Reiterates False Claim That Democrats “Tried to Kill” Trump
Man Charged With Making Online Threats Against Harris
A Winchester, Virginia man was arrested Friday on federal charges of making threats against Vice President Kamala Harris on the social media platform GETTR. The FBI cited some 4,359 online threats allegedly made by the man over the past year. “The threats included promises to kill Ms. Harris and her family, to pluck out her eyes with pliers and to burn her alive,” the NYT reported.
Quote Of The Day
I wasn’t asking him to step down. I was asking for a campaign that would win. And I wasn’t seeing that on the horizon.
Nancy Pelosi, on her role in getting President Biden to end his re-election bid, during an appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America”
Yet Another Undisclosed Clarence Thomas Trip!
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) revealed a previously unreported 2010 round-trip flight that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas took between Hawaii and New Zealand aboard the private jet of billionaire GOP donor Harlan Crow.
Jenna Ellis Is Cooperating In Arizona Fake Electors Prosecution
Former Trump campaign attorney Jenna Ellis, who pleaded guilty in the Georgia RICO case, is now cooperating with prosecutor’s in Arizona’s fake electors prosecution, according to Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes.
Ellis was one of the 18 co-defendants indicted in April in the Arizona case. Nine felony counts will be dropped and Ellis will avoid jail time in return for her full cooperation.
How Will Trump’s NY Conviction Fare Before SCOTUS?
Roger Parloff takes a close look at Trump’s use of the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision to launch a new line of appellate attacks on his New York hush money conviction. It’s a very difficult assessment to make, as Parloff deftly notes with this grim passage:
It is impossible to predict outcomes with any confidence, given that Trump’s motion is based on doctrines that were unknown to American jurisprudence until about 10:29 a.m. on July 1, when the Supreme Court unveiled them. In addition, and as the briefing amply reveals, the Supreme Court’s ruling is opaque, vague, and ambiguous. When Justice Merchan retrospectively applies that Court’s decision to the trial record of the Trump prosecution, his ruling will consist of wall-to-wall holdings of first impression.
So … About RFK Jr. And That Bear
The New Yorker article that prompted Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to comically “get ahead of the story” by posting a video account of his bizarre dumping of a bear carcass in Central Park a decade ago is now out and includes photo evidence.
Ex-Police Chief To Be Charged In Newspaper Raid
The former Kansas police chief who oversaw last year’s raid on the office of the Marion County Record will be charged with a felony of interfering in the judicial process, according to special prosecutors.
Federal Judge Rules Google Is An Illegal Monopoly
U.S. District Amit P. Mehta of Washington, D.C., found that Google has illegally quashed competition against its internet search monopoly in a major anti-trust win for the Justice Department.
MONDO!
You can’t beat that Cajun-Swedish combo. The greatest pole vaulter who ever lived capped his gold medal performance at the Paris Olympics with another world-record height, beating his own prior record(s).
To give you some sense of Mondo Duplantis‘ domination of pole vaulting, here are the top vaults (click “All” next to “Best by Athlete”) ever recorded:
For those not familiar, Duplantis was born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana, by a Cajun father and Swedish mother. He has competed internationally for Sweden since 2015.
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I’m good with Walz. Now, FORWARD.
To lift from the past: “Yes, We Can!”
Walz was a solid choice. I’m happy and energized - he can hold his own against anything TFG and his sidekick can lob his way. Let’s go.
Minnesota VPs…Humphrey, Mondale (my old law partner, by the way) and Walz.
I’m loving it if so!
I’m a little disappointed, thus, I will be forced to vote for the felon and his weird running mate. I realize this is not a rational reaction to my disappointment, but I am life-long democrat; “Disarray” is my heritage, and my birthright.
/s