Republican Convention

• Trump shows at RNC Day One: Just two days after having narrowly escaped assassination, Donald Trump was back to work in a powerful way, taking in the news that Judge Aileen Cannon had tossed out Jack Smith’s classified documents case against him, announcing his vice-presidential pick, and making a moving appearance at the first day of the Republican National Convention. As the Washington Examiner reports, “Trump, with a bandaged ear, made his triumphant entrance at the Fiserv Forum arena in Milwaukee on Monday amid a sea of ‘Make America Great Again’ hats of all colors and ‘Trump 2024’ signs.” For pure, visceral theater, the moment is hard to describe. Singer Lee Greenwood both introduced Trump and sang “God Bless the USA,” as the crowd broke out into raucous shouts of “USA! USA! USA!” and “Fight! Fight! Fight!” — both of which recalled Trump’s actions in the moments immediately after the failed attempt on his life, and both of which exemplify the spirit of the GOP convention.

• Protests kick off RNC: As the RNC kicked off yesterday, a number of leftist protesters marched near the convention complex. A number of them held Palestinian flags while chanting, “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA.” Unsurprisingly, there was not one American flag present among the protesters, who also pushed through barricades while chanting, “Hey hey, ho ho, the Republicans have to go!” Meanwhile, armed Coastguardsmen patrolled the river near the convention. Something tells us these protesters aren’t pro-America. And so much for “turning down the temperature” after the Trump assassination attempt.

Security

• RFK Jr. finally gets Secret Service protection: The nephew of John F. Kennedy and the son of Robert F. Kennedy has finally been granted the Secret Service protection that his awful family history demands. “In light of this weekend’s events,” said impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, “the president has directed me to work with the Secret Service to provide protection to Robert Kennedy Jr.” You don’t say. What could be a more incriminating self-indictment than to admit that it took a near-assassination of one’s political opponent to grudgingly grant protection to yet another opponent? “Given the history of the Kennedy Family,” said Trump, “this is the obvious right thing to do!” In response, Kennedy posted the following to X: “It is a hopeful sign for our country when a political opponent calls for one’s protection. Maybe our country can unite after all.”

• Police group blasts Secret Service for scapegoating local cops: To say that the Secret Service was woefully and stunningly incompetent in protecting Donald Trump three days ago is to be kind. Not even counting today’s mind-boggling testimony from Director Kim Cheatle, it didn’t take long for the beleaguered organization to pass the buck in the wake of Saturday’s narrow miss, blaming local cops for failing to secure the rooftop from which the would-be assassin fired. One national police organization, though, wasn’t buying it. According to Just the News, “The nation’s largest police group on Monday night blasted the Secret Service for trying to shift blame … to local police.” The site quoted Fraternal Order of Police President Patrick Yoes: “This was not a failure of the local, state, or federal officers on the ground who responded to the shots fired at former President Trump. They acted heroically and put their lives on the line to protect everyone else at the event. … This is a failure at the management or command level who failed to secure an obvious weakness in the security of this event.”

• FBI gains access to Trump shooter’s phone (Washington Examiner)

• “Three counter-snipers” were in building Trump shooter used, took photos of him (The Federalist)

• Secret Service director acknowledges failure, explains partial timeline before shooting (Fox News)

Village Idiot

• Unhinged leftist prof says assassination attempt staged: University of Virginia assistant professor Sethunya Mokoko posted a message on X on Saturday following the failed assassination attempt against Donald Trump, ridiculously claiming that it was “staged theatrics.” Mokoko illiterately claimed that the Secret Service “ignored [the perpetrator] because trump & secrete service [sic] staged theatrics to win idiots’ vote.” And what is it that Mokoko teaches at UVA? According to his bio, he’s “an assistant professor in the Rhetoric and Writing Program” and teaches “Race, Rhetoric, and Social Justice” and “Writing about Culture and Society.” The only idiocy on display here is the claim that the assassination attempt was staged. UVA might want to evaluate the implications of having a crackpot conspiracy nut like this as a member of the faculty.

Trouble on Aisle 46

• Trump rally widow refuses Biden call: The widow of Corey Comperatore, the man who died shielding his wife and their daughters from an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, reported that Joe Biden called her, but she refused to answer. Helen Comperatore said, “I didn’t talk to Biden. I didn’t want to talk to him.” She further explained that it was because “my husband was a devout Republican, and he would not have wanted me to talk to him.” She added, “I support Trump. That’s who I’m voting for, but I don’t have ill will towards Biden. He didn’t do anything bad to my husband. A 20-year-old despicable kid did.”

Leftmedia

• CNN cuts its “Race and Equality” team: In CNN’s ongoing effort to stay afloat financially, the Leftmedia outlet is restructuring its operations and let go of some 100 staffers this week and also axed its “Race and Equality” reporter team. According to a CNN spokesman, “For all intents and purposes, the team is not a team anymore.” However, the spokesman quickly noted that this did not mean that CNN was ditching its DEI-focused reporting. “They’re assigned to different areas so that [their] perspective and work is brought into all of our types of programming,” said the spokesman. “It’s not a unit in the way it was before, but [race and equality] is very much still their focus.” So, don’t expect any content change from CNN’s reporting despite the fact that the network is still struggling with diminishing viewership numbers and lagging well behind its biggest competitors, Fox News and MSNBC.

Good News

• Musk puts his money where his mouth is: It’s no secret that Elon Musk has had a falling out with the Democrat Party. What began as a disagreement over free speech has become broader and deeper — so much so that the billionaire has announced he’s committing some $45 million per month to America PAC, a pro-Trump super PAC. As The Wall Street Journal reports: “Formed in June, America PAC is focused on registering voters and persuading constituents to vote early and request mail-in ballots in swing states, according to one of the people. The coalition assessed that the Democrats have historically had very robust ‘get out the vote’ campaigns and took note of the amounts of money that the Biden camp has dedicated to what are called on-the-ground efforts in swing states. America PAC will try to counter that.” Between Musk’s staunch advocacy for free speech and his willingness to support a Republican candidate for president, we’re almost inclined to welcome him to the party.

Misc.

• Biden says his “mental acuity has been pretty damn good” in defending his decision to stay in the race (NBC News), turns focus on Trump’s rhetoric: “I’m not the guy that refused to accept the outcome of the election” (NBC News)

• Statism: Biden unveils plan to cap national rent increases at 5% (Fox Business)

• Anti-Israel “Squad” member Cori Bush down 23 points in primary poll (Washington Free Beacon)

• Satire: Secret Service vows to find out what went wrong at the Trump rally as soon as they figure out who left cocaine in the White House (Babylon Bee)

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