🟡 ‘White Dudes for Harris’ | Semafor | Semafor (2024)

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: The Senate is on track to overwhelmingly approve a pair of bills regulating social media this week, but the measures face a difficult road in the House where more members like Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore are likely to voice First Amendment concerns..

Playbook: Vice President Harris’ campaign is moving on from the “sugar high” of her announcement into a new phase before the Democratic convention that will dictate whether she can translate her momentum into expanding the map for Democrats. “She is not blinded by the sugar,” one insider said. “She understands the gravity and excitement of the moment but also understands the work that needs to be done.”

Axios: Donald Trump is struggling to land attacks on Harris a week into her presidential campaign.

WaPo: Down-ballot Democrats are cautiously optimistic with Harris now at the top of the ticket. “I love Joe Biden, but I think it’s a fact that we were having a difficult time activating our base. We have that problem solved,” said Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich.

White House

• President Biden will stop in Houston today to pay respects to the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee following his speech in Austin.
• Biden was briefed yesterday on the Park Fire in northern California on Sunday and “directed his team to do everything possible to support ongoing fire suppression efforts,” the White House said.

Congress

• The House is out this week until September. The Senate is in with a judicial nomination teed up for Monday evening.
• A “coordinated campaign” established to flip five Republican seats and protect two competitive ones in New York plans to open 35 field offices throughout the state by mid-August. The $5 million effort will pay for 80 staffers including fellows, headquarters personnel, and field, college, and youth organizers. “The path to a Democratic majority runs straight through the 17th district,” Democratic candidate Rep. Mondaire Jones told Semafor’s Kadia Goba.
• Two dozen corporate tax directors from Business Roundtable member companies met with Congressional leadership on Thursday, a BRT spokesperson told Semafor’s Joseph Zeballos-Roig. They also met with lawmakers on tax-writing committees on both sides of the aisle. The group intends to host staff briefings in the months ahead, as lawmakers prepare to deal with expiring provisions of the GOP tax law next year.
• Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., has COVID-19.

Economy

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen rebuffed former President Donald Trump’s assertion that the American manufacturers are getting hurt by the strong US dollar, saying the greenback’s strength is due to the strong domestic economy. — Bloomberg

Courts

The Justice Department settled a lawsuit by former FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page who accused the Trump administration of violating their privacy by releasing their text messages disparaging then-President Donald Trump to the media.

Polls

• A Wall Street Journal poll shows striking differences between men and women on a range of issues.
• Vice President Harris’ popularity rose in the week since she entered the race for president, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll. Her favorability rating rose to 43% in the poll released Sunday, up from 35% the week before. Her unfavorability slid to 42% from 46% last week.

On the Trail

• Vce President Harris raised $200 million in the first week of her campaign for president.
• The Harris campaign and Democratic lawmakers accused former President Donald Trump of saying he would end elections in the country if he wins the election.
• Trump has abandoned the appeal for unity in the country following the assassination attempt against him two weeks ago.
• Harris’ campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez hinted she would continue President Biden’s asylum crackdown, which has been credited for a sharp drop in migrant crossings at the southern border, if she is elected. — CBS
• A manipulated video of Harris mimicking her voice saying things she didn’t say is raising concerns over how artificial intelligence can mislead voters ahead of Election Day. The video gained attention after X owner Elon Musk shared it on the platform without noting it was released as a parody originally.
• Trump told a Bitcoin conference over the weekend he would fire Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler and select regulators friendly to the crypto industry if he retakes the White House.
• The Harris campaign is warning donors of “financial scams” from groups sending texts and emails claiming to be soliciting donations for the vice president.
• The Trump campaign can’t be happy about defending JD Vance’s remarks about women without children rather than focusing on Harris’ “many extreme views,” The Wall Street Journal editorial board says. Vance’s remarks don’t “play well with the millions of female voters, many of them Republican, who will decide the presidential race,” according to the WSJ board.
• Usha Vance disparaged Trump’s actions on Jan. 6 and was outraged by the attack on the Capitol, according to friends. — WaPo

National Security

The US and Japan made their most significant upgrades to their military alliance in some 60 years as China has become the Indo-Pacific region’s “greatest strategic challenge.”

Technology

• Apple’s new artificial intelligence features will miss the launch of its iOS 18 software for iPhones and iPads. — Bloomberg
• Elon Musk’s move to back Donald Trump can be traced to early 2021 when the Biden administration excluded Tesla as it planned to fulfill a campaign promise to bolster EV sales. — WSJ
• Billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel appears to be warming to Donald Trump’s bid for reelection following the selection of running mate JD Vance. — NYT

Big Read

Vice President Harris was one of the first to find out President Biden decided to drop out on July 21. He endorsed her 27 minutes later. The Democratic Party machine was set to back him if he chose to stay in the race, but Harris would be the candidate if he dropped out, The Washington Post says. According to former party chair Donna Brazile, Harris wanted Biden and was “sticking” with him. The Association of State Democratic Committees decided July 19 it would back Harris to avoid the suspense if Biden did drop out. On a call of the executive committee, no one objected, Minnesota Democratic chief Ken Martin said. It took the AP 32 hours to declare Harris the new presumptive nominee after Biden dropped out.

Blindspot

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, curated with help from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: JD Vance responded to Vice President Harris’ accusation he would be only loyal to Donald Trump and not the US, saying: “What the hell have you done to question our loyalty to the United States of America?”

What the Right isn’t reading: Harris’ campaign has voters focused on multiracial identity.

Principals Team

Editors: Benjy Sarlin, Jordan Weissmann, Morgan Chalfant

Reporters: Kadia Goba, Joseph Zeballos-Roig, Shelby Talcott, David Weigel