The Patriot Post® · Friday: Below the Fold
A shocking July jobs report: It’s hard to understand how estimates could be so wrong. The May jobs report initially showed a healthy number — 144,000 new jobs added — but that has now been revised to just 19,000 jobs. June was worse with 147,000 reported jobs evaporating, leaving just 14,000. In total, ~258,000 jobs were revised away in the July report. If May and June are any indication, July’s numbers — 73,000 jobs, well under the 100,000 expected — are also just the barest guess. Healthcare and Social Assistance added almost all of the new jobs. Unemployment rose to 4.2%, as estimated. Federal employment continued to fall with 12,000 fewer jobs in July; year-to-date, federal employment has fallen by 86,000 jobs. These massive revisions raise the question of what other growth figures may be erroneous. Will the 3% GDP growth in Q2 hold?
New wave of tariffs: Today, August 1, was the deadline Trump set for tariff negotiations. Under that deadline, Trump announced a wave of formalized tariff rates for countries that reached trade deals and changes for the countries that did not. Trump accused Canada of not curbing the flow of fentanyl and raised the tariff on non-USMCA-compliant trade from 25% to 35%. Nations that reached trade deals, like Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, Great Britain, and the EU, had the 15% negotiated tariff reaffirmed. Countries that did not negotiate a deal now face something close to the original “discounted reciprocal tariff” Trump first announced in April. The rates are changed slightly, with Southeast Asian nations seeing a lower rate than threatened earlier, but some countries, like Switzerland, saw the rate go up. U.S. Customs has until August 7 to implement the new tariffs fully.
Kamala Harris’s new book: Now that she’s taken her name out of the running for California’s gubernatorial race in 2026, Kamala Harris is announcing her next move — a book. 107 Days is a celebration of “the shortest presidential campaign in modern times,” according to Harris, and an “honest and behind-the-scenes account.” Publisher Simon & Schuster CEO Jonathan Karp called it “one of the best works of political nonfiction we’ve ever published.” Someone should tell them she lost miserably. Harris’s book is intended to earn a few bucks and keep her name in rotation ahead of the 2028 Democrat primary. Democrats would benefit from a real primary so they can implement the strategy our Mark Alexander laid out: “Field a lot of candidates, raise a lot of money, and fold each candidate’s constituents into an amalgam of general-election voters.”
Anti-police Marxist Mamdani hedges, tries to walk back “defund” stance: Zohran Mamdani returned to New York City on Wednesday after celebrating his wedding on his family’s privately owned Ugandan compound. Upon his return, he immediately visited the family of Didarul Islam, the slain police officer who left behind a pregnant wife and two kids after a shooting on Monday. Mamdani has been vociferously anti-police on his X account, calling to defund the police generally and the particular unit that responded to Monday’s shooting specifically as recently as December 2024. On Wednesday, Mamdani tried to obscure his stance, going so far as to say, “I am not running to defund the police.” Believing Mamdani’s change of heart or not is a matter of personal opinion, but Ken Frydman, a New York Democrat police-union adviser, said, “There isn’t a cop I know who trusts this guy.”
Trump’s major regulation cuts: “What we’re witnessing is the rise of the ‘Unrule,’ a revolt against the machinery of the administrative state,” said Clyde Wayne Crews, a regulation watchdog with the Competitive Enterprise Institute. In his first term, President Trump promised to cut two regulations for every one he added, but ultimately reduced them at a 4-1 rate. In his second term, Trump has promised to cut regulations at a 10-1 rate, and so far, he’s a man of his word. In fact, there has been a pause on issuing any new regulations at all. Many of the regulations Trump has introduced have been targeting other regulations for elimination or “reversals, delays, and withdrawals.” Crews highlighted the fact that when the regulations and bureaucrats who write them are gone, they’re never missed. He is calling on Congress to capitalize on Trump’s efforts by defunding the bureaucracy.
NC legislature codifies the integrity of women and children: North Carolina lawmakers overrode Democrat Governor Josh Stein’s veto of a bill that will officially “recognize two sexes in all administrative rules, regulations, or public policies adopted” by the state. This bill does many great things to protect women and children from sexual exploitation. It prohibits state funds from going to trans procedures, allows parents to opt out of school curriculum on religious grounds, restricts pornographic content, and defines “woman” and “man,” just to name a few. Stein’s veto seems to have stemmed from a section that requires state records to include both the “amended” and original versions of birth certificates for those who were given a new one after a “sex change.” Three cheers to the lawmakers for prioritizing the majority of their constituents who were actually being marginalized instead of the tiny percentage of those pretending to be marginalized.
Biden counselor is still stuck in 2024 propaganda: The investigation into Joe Biden’s cognitive decline and the aides who ran the White House during his time in office continues. Steve Ricchetti, former counselor to the president, sat down with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Wednesday to answer questions on Biden’s cognitive state. Ricchetti and his lawyer repeated the tired old deflections from before Biden’s disastrous June 2024 debate performance. According to his testimony, Biden made “common mistakes,” and efforts to paint him as in cognitive decline are a distraction from Trump administration excesses. Biden “faithfully and fully” carried out his duties every day, and neither Ricchetti nor anyone else usurped his authority or even noticed any decline. Does anyone believe this? At least Ricchetti answered the questions, unlike many others, including Biden’s doctor.
Dunkin’ imitates American Eagle, libs freak out: The Left is the mob melt-down path again. This time the derangement is over a Dunkin’ ad featuring “The Summer I Turned Pretty” star Gavin Casalegno talking about his tan being due to genetics. He was advertising new Dunkin’s summer drinks, and libs are up in arms about this part of the ad: “Look, I didn’t ask to be the king of summer, it just kinda happened. This tan? Genetics.” Just like that Sydney Sweeney ad, those crying foul claim that the ad amounts to “racist dog whistles” and support for “eugenics.” The irony abounds, though, as they are completely fine with all the DEI ads that focus primarily on people of color, celebrating them and their ancestry. But the moment a white person notes being proud of their heritage, that’s bad.
Whites benefit unless we favor blacks? An Axios “Justice and Race” reporter claims that President Trump’s reversal of DEI policies is “to the advantage of white people,” therefore, the civil rights movement has failed. This is absurd for many reasons, not least because DEI programs are unlawful. DEI programs specifically discriminate against and exclude white people in favor of people of color. According to the Civil Rights Act, not only is the “spirit” of the law being violated in DEI programs, but so is the letter of the law. Yet according to Axios, it is somehow “to the advantage of white people” to overturn the illegal DEI programs. Ensuring a level playing field for all was the goal of the Civil Rights Act, and, according to Chief Justice John Roberts, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.”
Headlines
Judge makes wildly insane ruling on Trump revoking Temporary Protected Status (RedState)
Trump admin withholds $100 million in funding for Duke University amid civil rights probe (Just the News)
Secretary of the Army stops West Point from hiring Biden’s censor mastermind (RedState)
State Department sanctions Palestinian Authority officials over “support of terrorism” (Washington Free Beacon)
For first time, Arab League nations condemn October 7, demand Hamas leave Gaza while calling for two-state solution (Christian Post)
“Unacceptable burden”: Trump gives drug companies 60 days to lower prices (Daily Wire)
Louisiana “Medicaid millionaire” bought Lamborghini while claiming government benefits for years (Fox News)
Virginia dad suspended from pool after calling out boy in girls' races (Daily Wire)
Texas man who allegedly shot Afghan refugee before casually walking away hit with murder charges (NY Post)
Canada seeks to jail Freedom Convoy organizers for eight years (Reason)
Humor: Kamala announces she will step away from politics to spend more time with vodka (Babylon Bee)
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