Hot Air

“There has been a very, very clear [EV] policy, which regrettably has been attacked by people who are engaged in high levels of disinformation. They’ve been trying to scare people about the range of vehicles, and there’s range anxiety out there.” —climate czar John Kerry

“There’s no question about whether or not the world is going to get to a low carbon/no carbon economy. … The only question is, are we going to get there in time to not be ravaged by the worst consequences of the climate crisis?” —John Kerry

For the Record

“Other than the environmentally destructive mining for materials, the child labor sometimes involved in that mining, the coal needed to create electricity for charging, the drag on the electric grid in states that already have trouble (ahem, California), the extra particulates released into the atmosphere from tires due to weight and torque, the loss of battery range in extreme cold or heat, generally shorter range than gas-powered cars to begin with, and the subsidies and mandates needed to goad consumers into buying EVs that cost on average far more than gas-powered cars, what’s not to love?” —Nate Jackson

“Irony alert: EVs are supposed to stop global warming, but they can’t charge in the cold.” —Nate Jackson

Demagogues

“It is not in the best interest of our progress as a nation to ban books and deny our children the ability to benefit from the knowledge of America’s full history.” —Kamala Harris

“We are all starting to narrow in on what this election will mean. … It’s going to be the choice between what is about respecting our democracy, what is about competence, versus chaos.” —Vice President Kamala Harris

“I am scared as heck. … We should all be scared.” —Kamala Harris

Baghdad Bob

“The president is going to continue to stand against conspiracy theories. … We had a very free and fair election. That’s what we know. That is a fact.” —White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre

Race Bait

“Republicans are yelling that states don’t have the tools to help with migrants, but rather than work with Democrats, Republicans are targeting communities of color and Democratic cities like Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia. … These are cities that are run by African Americans.” —Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (D-TX)

Projection

“I think it’s critically important that we understand that there are petty politics at play on this [illegal immigration] issue.” —Kamala Harris

“It’s a tragedy that there are certain so-called leaders who are playing politics with this issue.” —Kamala Harris

The BIG Lies

“The first bill that we offered right after inauguration was to fix the immigration system. A comprehensive plan to deal with the immigration system. … We want solutions. … We’re in an election year and the folks who want to return Donald Trump to the White House would prefer to talk about a broken immigration system instead of focusing on the solutions that are at hand.” —Kamala Harris

“President Biden is working on this issue and … Republicans in the House are playing political games … so that no real results get done.” —Deputy Biden Campaign Manager Quentin Fulks

“[Texas Governor Greg Abbott] is doing these political stunts and it is causing harm. It is not fixing the problem.” —Karine Jean-Pierre

Belly Laughs of the Day

“We’ve delivered. … We’ve done really good work. Our challenge will be to let people know who brung it to ‘em.” —Kamala Harris

“We have a president in Joe Biden who is forward thinking in a way that we’ve not seen in a long time.” —Kamala Harris

“[Biden] is extraordinarily smart. He has the ability to see around the corner in terms of what might be the challenges we face as a nation or globally.” —Kamala Harris

“President Biden I think has done an extraordinary job of holding people together.” —John Kerry

“I think that the president is more than up to this job. … You think about this individual who has kind of like limitless reserves of energy.” —Senator Tina Smith (D-MN)

“The president’s going to continue to lead … with leadership and putting American people first and bringing people together.” —Karine Jean-Pierre

“He’s going to continue to focus on … bringing the country together around, you know, optimism.” —Karine Jean-Pierre

Political Futures

“Why does Trump retain such a grip on the Republican imagination after losing the 2020 election, contributing heavily to the loss of two Republican Senate seats in Georgia in 2021, and contributing heavily to the loss of the Senate in 2022 with his spate of bizarre primary picks? Why should Trump, who spends much of every day fulminating about his upcoming legal cases, have the upper hand against Republicans without such baggage? Why does Trump, who is certainly no conservative ideologue, live so large in the imagination of conservatives? There are several reasons. Primarily, Trump is lucky in his enemies. To be more precise, Trump’s very presence on the political stage — and his victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016 — drove his enemies out of their minds.” —Ben Shapiro

“I wish the Democrats would think a little more carefully when they talk about MAGA. … Just take a step back and be honest: [Trump] was kind of right about NATO. He was kind of right about immigration. He grew the economy quite well. Tax reform worked. … [H]e wasn’t wrong about some of these critical issues, and that’s why they’re voting for him. And I think people should be a little more respectful of our fellow citizens. … I think this negative talk about MAGA is going to hurt Biden’s election campaign.” —JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon

“I agree with Jamie Dimon. There is absolutely no reason why you should criticize former President Trump’s supporters. … By calling them 'deplorables,’ by calling them ‘crazies,’ it is not helpful. And I think that’s why people are so sick and tired of politics. We need American leadership. We need to move America forward. And I hope that’s what 2024 is going to be all about.” —former Pennsylvania Democrat Patrick Murphy, the first Iraq War vet elected to Congress