A political newsletter for normal people
WTF Just Happened Today? is a sane, once-a-day newsletter helping normal people make sense of the news. Curated daily and delivered to 200,000+ people every afternoon around 3 pm Pacific.
Day 1268: "Pivotal moment."
Today in one sentence: Nancy Pelosi urged Biden to make a decision about whether to stay in the presidential race, saying "time is running short"; Biden pledged to provide Ukraine with dozens of tactical air defense systems to counter Russian attacks; the Biden administration agreed to resume shipping 500-pound bombs to Israel after a two-month pause; and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a group of House progressives introduced articles of impeachment against Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito over their failure to disclose gifts they have received while serving on the court.
1/ Nancy Pelosi urged Biden to make a decision about whether to stay in the presidential race, saying “time is running short.” When asked if she supported Biden continuing his reelection bid, Pelosi replied that Biden is “beloved” and “respected” and “it’s up to [him] to decide if he is going to run. We’re all encouraging him to make that decision.” Hours after Pelosi’s comments, Rep. Pat Ryan said Biden should drop out “for the good of the country.” He’s the 11th House Democrat to call for Biden to drop out. Meanwhile, longtime Democratic fundraiser George Clooney wrote in a New York Times op-ed that Biden to step aside as the Democratic presidential nominee. “I love Joe Biden,” Clooney wrote. “As a senator. As a vice president and as president. I consider him a friend, and I believe in him.” But, he added, the “Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.” Clooney also called on Biden “to stop telling us that 51 million people didn’t see what we just saw. We’re all so terrified by the prospect of a second Trump term that we’ve opted to ignore every warning sign.” (Associated Press / Washington Post / CNN / NBC News / New York Times / ABC News / CNN / Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / Axios / Politico)
- Biden will sit for an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt on Monday. The interview will air in its entirety at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT on NBC. Portions of the interview will air earlier in the day on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt at 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT. (Axios / NBC News)
2/ Biden pledged to provide Ukraine with dozens of tactical air defense systems to counter Russian attacks. In a speech on the first day of a NATO summit in Washington, Biden called the military alliance “more powerful than ever” even as it faces a “pivotal moment” in the war between Russia and Ukraine. “Ukraine can and will stop Putin, especially with our full, collective support.” NATO countries, meanwhile, have started transferring the first of more than 60 American-made F-16s to Ukraine. (Associated Press / BBC / ABC News / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Washington Post / Politico / CNN / Bloomberg / Axios)
3/ The Biden administration agreed to resume shipping 500-pound bombs to Israel after a two-month pause. The 2,000-pound bombs, however, are still on hold. Israel, meanwhile, dropped leaflets ordering residents of Gaza City – an estimated quarter of a million people – to evacuate, saying “Gaza City will remain a dangerous combat zone.” (Wall Street Journal / BBC / Associated Press / New York Times)
4/ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a group of House progressives introduced articles of impeachment against Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito over their failure to disclose gifts they have received while serving on the court. Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement that Thomas and Alito’s “pattern of refusal to recuse from consequential matters before the court in which they hold widely documented financial and personal entanglements constitutes a grave threat to American rule of law, the integrity of our democracy, and one of the clearest cases for which the tool of impeachment was designed.” The effort, however, stands no chance of advancing in the Republican-controlled House. (Reuters / The Guardian / Axios / NBC News / CNN / Bloomberg / Washington Post / Politico)
- Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas did not disclose a yacht trip to Russia and a private helicopter flight to Putin’s hometown. “Buried on page 14 of a letter that two Democratic senators sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday, in which they urged Garland to appoint a special counsel to probe Thomas, was an astonishing list of dozens of ’likely undisclosed gifts and income” from Crow, Crow’s affiliated companies, and ’other donors.’” (Daily Beast)
poll/ 46% of voters said they’d support Trump over Biden (43%) in a hypothetical matchup. (Emerson College Polling)
poll/ 42% of likely voters said they’d vote for Harris over Trump (41%) if the election was held today. 43% said they’d vote for Clinton over Trump (41%), while 43% said they’d for Trump over Biden (42%). (Politico)
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📅 The WTFJHT Calendar: Now until then.
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🛠️ July 15-18: WTFJHT Infrastructure Week (limited publishing)
📺 July 15: Biden interview with Lester Holt on NBC.
🐘 July 15: Republican National Convention.
🇮🇱 July 24: Netanyahu addresses joint session of Congress.
🫏 Aug. 19: Democratic convention.
⛔️ Sept. 2: Labor Day – No WTFJHT.
📺 Sept. 10: Biden-Trump debate.
⚖️ Sept. 18: Trump is sentenced.
📆 Oct. 6: Last day to register to vote in some states.
⛔️ Oct. 14: Indigenous Peoples’ Day – No WTFJHT.
🗳️ Nov. 5: Presidential Election.
A political newsletter for normal people
WTF Just Happened Today? is a sane, once-a-day newsletter helping normal people make sense of the news. Curated daily and delivered to 200,000+ people every afternoon around 3 pm Pacific.
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