Joe Biden Drops Out of the 2024 Race

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Joe Biden Drops Out of the 2024 Race

(Headline USA) Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race for the White House on Sunday.

The drop ended his bid for reelection following a disastrous debate with Donald Trump.

The disastrous debate was finally enough to get the media and Democrats to doubt the elderly president’s fitness for office.

The drop will likely create panic on the left as it is just four months before the election.

The decision comes after escalating pressure from Biden’s Democratic allies to step aside following the June 27 debate, in which the 81-year-old president trailed off and gave nonsensical answers.

Biden plans to serve out the remainder of his term in office, which ends at noon on Jan. 20, 2025.

“I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote in a letter posted to his X account.

He did not immediately throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris, the party’s instant favorite for the nomination at its August convention in Chicago.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Big Pharma Genetically Modifying Pigs for Organ Harvesting

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Big Pharma Genetically Modifying Pigs for Organ Harvesting

(Headline USA) Big Pharma is breeding Genetically modified pigs to provide organs for human transplants.

The first gene-edited pig organs ever transplanted into people came from animals born on a special research farm in the Blue Ridge mountains – behind locked gates, where entry requires washing down your vehicle, swapping your clothes for medical scrubs and stepping into tubs of disinfectant to clean your boots between each air-conditioned barn.

“These are precious animals,” said David Ayares of Revivicor Inc., who spent decades learning to clone pigs with just the right genetic changes to allow those first audacious experiments.

The biosecurity gets even tighter just a few miles away in Christiansburg, Virginia, where a new herd is being raised – pigs expected to supply organs for formal studies of animal-to-human transplantation as soon as next year.

This massive first-of-its-kind building bears no resemblance to a farm. It’s more like a pharmaceutical plant. And part of it is closed to all but certain carefully chosen employees who take a timed shower, don company-provided clothes and shoes, and then enter an enclave where piglets are growing up.

“We designed this facility to protect the pigs against contamination from the environment and from people,” said Matthew VonEsch of United Therapeutics, Revivicor’s parent company.

The Associated Press got a peek at what it takes to clone and raise designer pigs for their organs – including a $75 million “designated pathogen-free facility” built to meet Food and Drug Administration safety standards for xenotransplantation.

After decades of failed attempts, companies including Revivicor, eGenesis and Makana Therapeutics are engineering pigs to be more humanlike.

So far in the U.S. there have been four “compassionate use” transplants, last-ditch experiments into dying patients — two hearts and two kidneys. Revivicor provided both hearts and one of the kidneys.

The four patients died within a few months.

Now the FDA is evaluating promising results from experiments in donated human bodies and awaiting results of additional studies of pig organs in baboons before deciding next steps.

The main challenges include how to avoid rejection and whether the animals might carry some unknown infection risk.

The process starts with modifying genes in pig skin cells in a lab. Revivicor initially deleted a gene that produces a sugar named alpha-gal, which triggers immediate destruction from the human immune system. Next came three-gene “knockouts,” to remove other immune-triggering red flags. Now the company is focusing on 10 gene edits — deleted pig genes and added human ones that together lessen risk of rejection and blood clots plus limit organ size.

They clone pigs with those alterations, similar to how Dolly the sheep was created.

Twice a week, slaughterhouses ship Revivicor hundreds of eggs retrieved from sow ovaries. Working in the dark with the light-sensitive eggs, scientists peer through a microscope while suctioning out the maternal DNA. Then they slip in the genetic modifications.

“Tuck it in nice and smooth,” murmurs senior researcher Lori Sorrells, pushing to just the right spot without rupturing the egg. Mild electric shocks fuse in the new DNA and activate embryo growth.

Ayares, a molecular geneticist who heads Revivicor and helped create the world’s first cloned pigs in 2000, says the technique is “like playing two video games at the same time,” holding the egg in place with one hand and manipulating it with the other. The company’s first modified pig, the GalSafe single gene knockout, now is bred instead of cloned. If xenotransplantation eventually works, other pigs with the desired gene combinations would be, too.

Hours later, embryos are carried to the research farm in a handheld incubator and implanted into waiting sows.

Tags on their ears identify their genetics.

But in neighboring Christiansburg is the clearest signal that xenotransplantation is entering a new phase — the sheer size of United Therapeutics’ new pathogen-free facility. Inside the 77,000-square-foot building, the company expects to produce about 125 pig organs a year, likely enough to supply clinical trials.

It will take years of clinical trials to prove whether xenotransplantation really could work. But if it succeeds, United Therapeutics’ plan is for even larger facilities, capable of producing up to 2,000 organs a year, in several places around the country.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Hawley: Whistleblowers say Trump’s Security Detail was Unprepared, Inexperienced

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Hawley: Whistleblowers say Trump’s Security Detail was Unprepared, Inexperienced

(Bethany Blankley, The Center Square) – Multiple whistleblowers have come forward telling U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., that many working as part of President Donald Trump’s security detail at a rally in Pennsylvania one week ago weren’t Secret Service and were “unprepared and inexperienced personnel,” Hawley says.

The accusation comes after the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, on which Hawley sits, announced it will conduct a bipartisan investigation into the July 13 assassination attempt of Trump.

As previously reported, multiple whistleblowers contacted his office “with disturbing new information behind the assassination attempt on the former president,” he said.

They did so after Hawley opened a whistleblower tip line, pledging to protect the anonymity of everyone who contacts his office. Whistleblowers are encouraged to make protected disclosures by calling (202) 224-6154 or emailing [email protected].

In response to the information he has received so far, Hawley contacted Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who oversees the U.S. Secret Service, demanding answers.

“Whistleblowers who have direct knowledge of the event have approached my office. According to the allegations, the July 13 rally was considered to be a ‘loose’ security event,” he wrote to Mayorkas.

“Whistleblower allegations suggest the majority of DHS officials were not in fact USSS agents but instead drawn from the department’s Homeland Security Investigations. This is especially concerning given that HSI agents were unfamiliar with standard protocols typically used at these types of events, according to the allegations.”

New information is now available on further security failures. Other security failures identified, he says, include not using canine units to monitor entry and detect threats among the perimeter or crowd; unauthorized individuals accessing the backstage areas; and DHS personnel not “appropriately polic[ing] the security buffer around the podium and … not stationed at regular intervals around the event’s security perimeter.”

Hawley demanded answers after DHS “has not been appropriately forthcoming with members of Congress,” he said, and after he called on the committee’s chair, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., to immediately launch an investigation.

“Although we still do not have all the facts, the little that we do know suggests a staggering security failure,” he wrote to Peters. “Evidently, the shooter was able to gain an elevated position on a rooftop with a clear line of sight of the President, well within accurate range, with a firearm. The details of this tragedy must be vigorously investigated by Congress, including the motive of the shooter, and the serious operational failures that occurred on July 13.” Hawley called on Peters to “launch a full, public, and comprehensive committee investigation into this assassination attempt and failures to adequately protect the former president,” including calling Mayorkas and Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to testify.

Peters and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY, the ranking member of the committee, announced the committee will conduct a bipartisan investigation and hold a hearing. They first requested an urgent briefing with the Secret Service, DHS and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A call committee members did have, Hawley says, was ended before they could ask a single question. “This is completely unacceptable and contrary to the public’s interest in transparency,” he added.

Peters said the committee “is focused on getting all of the facts about the security failures that allowed the attacker to carry out this heinous act of violence that threatened the life of former President Trump, killed at least one person in the crowd, and injured several others.”

Peters and Paul also sent letters to Mayorkas and to FBI Director Christopher Wray requesting a range of documents and information on security process, among other information. A briefing was requested before July 25 and a public hearing is scheduled for Aug. 1.

Hawley is also demanding answers from BlackRock CEO Larry Fink requesting all records related to the assassination attempt after it became public that the alleged shooter appeared in one of BlackRock’s commercials.

What appears to be a clip of the commercial “has circulated widely on social media and raised the question about what your company knows about the shooter,” Hawley told Fink.

Fink is requested to provide the information by July 24.

When accepting his party’s nomination for president, Trump said at the Republican National Convention last week that surviving the assassination attempt was “a gift from God.” At a rally on Saturday, one week after the shooting, he said he “took a bullet for democracy.”

Trump, in First Rally Since Butler, Says He ‘Took a Bullet for Democracy’

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Trump, in First Rally Since Butler, Says He ‘Took a Bullet for Democracy’

(Therese Boudreaux, The Center Square) In his first campaign trail stop since surviving an assassination attempt and accepting the party nomination at the Republican National Convention, Donald Trump on Saturday appealed to auto workers in Michigan.

Mixing usual talking points on the economy and immigration, he also rose up against the “threat to democracy” chatter from his opponent.

“They keep saying, ‘He’s a threat to democracy,’” Trump told thousands inside Van Andel Arena in downtown Grand Rapids, the state’s second-largest city. “I’m saying, ‘What the hell did I do for democracy?’ Last week I took a bullet for democracy.”

“So, I owe immigration my life,” he deadpanned.

U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, needed just three minutes to introduce him. And Trump took the next 100-plus. Covering his injured right ear was a beige-colored bandage, smaller than when he was last seen at the convention.

About an hour before he took the stage, a statement from Dr. Ronny Jackson said recovery is going well, a full CT scan of his head was done at Bulter Memorial Hospital in Pennsylvania, and a comprehensive hearing exam will be forthcoming.

The line waiting outside to get in stretched more than 2 miles, wrapping around the freeway exit ramp by 1:30 in the afternoon, four hours before Trump spoke.

Throughout the event, the former president drew cheers, laughs and loud applause. At one point, he called up a supporter from the crowd wearing a United Auto Workers T-shirt.

Early on, Trump polled the crowd on which Democrat he should run against, pointing out the party’s instability of support for President Joe Biden. Trump mentioned Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, telling the audience, “You have a terrible governor here. I’d like to run against her, actually. She’s one of the 20 that are mentioned. She’s done a terrible job.”

In addition to auto workers and border protection, Trump pledged to cut energy bills in half, reduce crime, remove taxes on tips, and lower inflation if elected. He also spent considerable time speaking about energy policy under the Biden administration.

“They don’t know what the hell they’re doing,” he said. “They’re incompetent. That’s the threat to democracy. It’s a threat to our country.”

He also called the Green New Deal the “green scam.” He said America would not only become energy independent, but energy dominant. And he pointed to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska as pivotal.

“Environment is very important to me, but you can’t use it to destroy a country,” he said, referring to drilling bans in what is known as ANWR.

Drawing boos and laughter from the crowd, Trump mocked the Biden administration’s plan to make Army tanks electric.

“So when we go to bomb the hell out of a country, we do it in an environmentally-friendly way,” he quipped.

Trump, pointing to an endorsement from Elon Musk, clarified that he’s not against electric vehicles. He is against mandating manufacturers to make more than the market dictates.

“I’m a person with great common sense, not an extremist,” he said, drawing enthusiastic assent from the crowd.

Speaking of Project 2025, Trump said it’s from the far, far right and that he is not associated with it.

“I don’t know what the hell it is,” he said. “It is extreme, but I don’t know anything about it, and I don’t want to know anything about it.”

Trump also tied foreign policy to national security, another big theme during the event. He talked of reciprocal tariffs, promising that countries like Mexico and North Korea “will fear us” as they did during his presidency.

He continued to hype party unity, saying Republicans left Milwaukee, Wis., together as never before.

“We’ve never been so determined,” he said. “Bad things happened last time. We’re not going to let them happen this time. We will never stop working to deliver a magnificent future for our people, and together we will fight, fight, fight, right? And we will win, win, win.”

Whoopi Goldberg Goes After Trump’s 17-Yr-Old Granddaughter

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Whoopi Goldberg Goes After Trump’s 17-Yr-Old Granddaughter

(Headline USA) Whoopi Goldberg came under fire this week after she attacked former President Donald Trump’s granddaughter, who spoke at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday.

Seventeen-year-old Kai Trump described the former president as “just a normal grandpa” and urged voters to consider a side of him “that people don’t often see” thanks to the leftist media.

“The media makes my grandpa seem like a different person, but I know him for who he is,” Kai Trump said. “He’s very caring and loving, he truly wants the best for this country.”

On The View the next day, Goldberg blasted Kai Trump for trying to humanize her grandfather.

“I know his grandchild was up on the thing and they’re trying to humanize [Trump] and change your idea about who this guy is,” Goldberg said. “Don’t fall for that.”

Critics hit back at Goldberg for going after a teenager.

“‘The View’ needs to be canceled. Whoopi Goldberg has hit a new low. Now she’s going after a [17-year-old]?” one person wrote on X under the username @BackThebluecool. “[Don’t] humanize him? He’s a human.”

ACT for America founder Brigitte Gabriel agreed, writing, “This is classless, she should be fired.”

Later in the show, Goldberg went on to argue that Democrats needed to stop trying to push President Joe Biden out of the 2024 race and rally behind him.

“I don’t care how old you are,” she said of the 81-year-old.

“I don’t care if you can’t put two sentences together,” she continued. “If you get the job done, then I’m gonna follow you because that’s what I’m looking for.”

Biden is under increasing pressure to abandon his reelection bid from top Democratic leaders, including former President Barack Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

However, despite reports that Biden is now considering their calls for him to drop out, the Biden campaign has insisted that he is committed to winning in November.

“I will not sugarcoat the state of the race: We have our work cut out for us to win this November,” Dan Kanninen, the Biden campaign’s battleground states director, said in a memo on Friday.

“We also have immense opportunity and a clear path to victory if we listen to what the voters on the ground are truly paying attention to, if we focus on the issues that matter most to the electorate in the battleground states,” he added.

Speaker Johnson Warns Lawmakers Who Interrupt Netanyahu Address Will Be Arrested

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Speaker Johnson Warns Lawmakers Who Interrupt Netanyahu Address Will Be Arrested

(Headline USA) House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., warned lawmakers this week that anyone who disrupts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress next week will be arrested.

“There are a number of Democrats in the House who have said they’re going to boycott that event. Some others may protest,” Johnson said on Wednesday.

“We’re going to have extra sergeants at arms on the floor,” he added. “If anybody gets out of hand, we’re going to arrest people if we have to do it.”

Netanyahu is set to address the House and Senate next Wednesday, his first address to Congress since 2015. He was boycotted then as well over his opposition to then-President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran.

Now, several Democratic lawmakers have vowed to boycott Netanyahu’s address over Israel’s continued military campaign in Gaza.

“I boycotted his last visit,” Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., said.

“I certainly will not attend this one. It’s not going to help move us forward—it’s a detriment,” he continued. “Should he come for any reason, in any venue, I am not going to be there.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., agreed, calling Netanyahu a “war criminal” during a CNN interview.

“Look, you have a prime minister who has created the worst humanitarian disaster in modern history,” Sanders claimed.

“Five percent of the [Palestinian] population is now dead or wounded, 60% of whom are women and children,” he continued. “… So why you would invite somebody who has done such horrific things to the Palestinian people is something that I think is a very bad idea.”

Just this week, hundreds of congressional staffers, most from Democratic offices, urged their bosses to interrupt Netanyahu’s address or at least refuse to attend it.

In a letter, the anonymous staffers wrote, “Citizens, students, and lawmakers across the country and the world have spoken out against the actions of Mr. Netanyahu in his War on Gaza. We hope you will join your fellow members of Congress in protest at his speech or in refusing to attend it.”

States Force Green Transition in Public Transportation Despite Taxpayer Burden

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States Force Green Transition in Public Transportation Despite Taxpayer Burden

(Nolan Mckendry, The Center Square) – Despite a hefty taxpayer price tag, several states are requiring cities to transition their public transportation to emitting zero greenhouse gasses.

Since 2022, seven states have passed laws to transition to zero-emission school buses.

In Illinois, a law passed last year requiring all transit agencies to purchase zero-emission buses by 2026. Similar legislation was passed in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland and New York.

The Chicago Transit Authority reports that the transition will require an extra $1.8 to $3.1 billion taxpayer dollars in order to fund the transition, as opposed to diesel trucks.

In order to make that transition, cities will have to invest heavily in green infrastructure, like charging stations and batteries, or staffing electrical engineers.

“The operating savings from a fully electric fleet is expected to be offset by ongoing capital costs that are reduced compared to the transition period, but continue to be somewhat higher than diesel scenarios even after the transition is complete,” the CTA’s report said.

Put simply, post-transition will entail cost savings in daily operations, like lower fuel and maintenance costs. And once the transition is complete, these capital costs will decrease because the initial infrastructure investments have already been made, but will still be higher than a diesel fleet.

Annually, CTA estimates those capital costs to be $90 million greater than for a diesel fleet, attributed to “the added cost of replacing chargers and the projected higher costs to purchase and overhaul electric buses.”

“Electric buses can be cost competitive when their costs and benefits over their lifetime are considered but remain more expensive when only considering upfront costs, due to the cost of the batteries,” according to a report from C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group.

So consumers may see a short term increase in their electricity bill.

The CTA is aiming to have the transition complete for nine neighborhoods by 2040, with an average implementation rate of 4.77 years.

The CTA prioritized equity, ensuring that communities with lower incomes see the implementation first, with some garages already ready to support an electric fleet.

“As the power sector builds renewables and transmission and distribution capacity, the fully loaded unit cost of electricity production, accounting for operating costs, capital costs, and depreciation of new and existing assets, in this scenario could rise about 25 percent from 2020 until 2040 and still be about 20 percent higher in 2050 on average globally,” according to a report from McKinsey & Company, a global asset management firm out of Washington D.C.

To provide states with the required funding for rolling out the transition, the Federal Transit Administration and the Department of Energy offer a variety of grants and incentives.

Approximately $4.1 billion worth of federal grants have been made available through the FTA Low or No Emission Vehicle Program (Low-No), FTA Bus and Bus Facilities Program, and FHWA Congestion Management Air Quality (CMAQ) funds.

In a Pew Research Poll from February, “dealing with climate change” ranked as the 18th most important policy priority. Protecting the environment ranked 14th.

Since the coronavirus pandemic, inflation is up over 20%, according to an analysis from Bankrate.

For all sectors, electricity rates are up 20.11% since 2020. For transportation, electricity rates are up 28%, the highest for all sectors. Residential rates are up 21.52% and commercial rates are up 20.30%.

Other cities in the middle of electrifying their public transportation include New York City, Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco.

Whitmer’s Call for Trump Assassination Revisited Before Michigan Rally

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Whitmer’s Call for Trump Assassination Revisited Before Michigan Rally

(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer used coded dogwhistle signals to mobilize left-wing extremists—possibly part of a modern-day MKUltra experiment—in an apparent effort to kill GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump before the 2020 election.

The incident was resurrected by Whitmer’s previous gubernatorial rival, Tudor Dixon, in an X post after the deeply divisive Whitmer attempted to call for “unity” in a statement following the July 13 attack on Trump in Butler, Pa.

The viral screenshot features a sticker saying “86 45” that was propped up in Whitmer’s studio during an October 2020 appearance on Meet the Press.

Trump was the 45th president at the time. While “86”—a term that reportedly comes from 1930s restaurant slang—can mean to eject or remove something, during the Korean War it came to take on another meaning: to shoot something down, in reference to the F-86 fighter jet.

Whitmer’s message was receiving renewed scrutiny during Trump’s rally Saturday in Grand Rapids, Michigan, although he had the benefit of added protection with a beefed-up Secret Service detail after reportedly purging the DEI hires who had been assigned to him last weekend.

Trump also had the added protection of his new running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, who—if elected—would be the first Marine veteran to serve as vice president.

The event appeared to go off without incident, with Trump drawing a sizeable crowd in the battleground state, which could make Whitmer’s recent efforts to reinforce the state’s election-theft laws more difficult.

Whitmer is best known outside of Michigan for her authoritarian COVID lockdowns and the staged “fednapping,” during which FBI agents attempted to set up a group of right-wing “militia” members in an entrapment campaign, accusing them of a plot to abduct Whitmer—although court proceedings later revealed it was the embedded FBI agents who organized the group and proposed the idea.

Ironically, the governor was discussing that alleged plot with now-disgraced Meet the Press host Chuck Todd while also signaling to leftist subversives such as Antifa that they should attempt to “86” Trump.

Whitmer is currently being floated as one of the top prospects for a presidential ticket should Democrats succeed in nullifying their own primary and ousting presumptive nominee Joe Biden, the incumbent president, from the 2024 race.

If installed in the White House, Whitmer would be the closest thing since Barack Obama to having a George Soros operative in the top seat of power. Although rumors of her being related to Soros have been unsubstantiated, her career was boosted substantially by the Hungarian-born, ex-Nazi oligarch, and she continues to receive significant campaign funding from the Soros network.

Not coincidentally, George Soros’s son and heir, Alex Soros, recently sent a dogwhistle message similar to Whitmer’s, which has come under renewed scrutiny following the Trump assassination attempt.

In January, he posted an image of a bullet hole followed by a second image of $47 (Trump, if re-elected would be the 47th president). Of course, if Biden where ousted prior to the completion of his term, Vice President Kamala Harris would presumably become the 47th president, further confusing matters.

Some have loosely tied the Soros family to recent conspiracy theories that link the multitrillion-dollar BlackRock and other key players to the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump, based largely on circumstantial evidence but nonetheless noteworthy enough to warrant an investigation.

The series of apparent coincidences, when viewed in perspective as part of a grander scheme, seems striking—especially after the BlackRock- and DNC-linked cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike caused a global IT meltdown on Friday.

Among the computer systems suspiciously impacted by the CrowdStrike malfunction were voting machines in Arizona’s Maricopa County, overseen by another Soros surrogate, Gov. Katie Hobbs.

Those systems are not supposed to be connected to the Internet.

Ben Sellers is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/realbensellers.

MURDOCK: Trump’s Grand Old Party in Milwaukee Was Anything but Conventional

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MURDOCK: Trump’s Grand Old Party in Milwaukee Was Anything but Conventional

(Deroy Murdock, Headline USA) MILWAUKEE—Within a veritable armed camp—surrounded by steel fences, concrete barriers, and severely well-armed law-enforcement officers—Republicans are having a Grand Old Party on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Milwaukee’s denizens have been cheerful hosts, eager for their political and journalistic guests to savor their excellent beer, barbecue, and beautiful buildings.

From tax-reform debates to the Log Cabin Republicans’s soiree for gay right-wingers in an art-filled, waterside castle, one first-time conventioneer perfectly captured the entire scene: “CPAC on crack.”

Five things have stood out amid all the hoopla, bonhomie, and steadily improving weather.

• Topic A is the fact that Donald J. Trump is here at all. Everyone marvels at what a narrow escape he endured at the hands of an assassin just two days before the Republican National Convention. The bandaged former president’s entry into the Fiserve Forum Monday night swelled emotions, from the adoration of his supporters to admiration for his seemingly infinite strength.

Observers described Trump’s demeanor as “reserved,” “subdued,” and even “solemn.” While his signature bravado might return in full force, and he appeared cheerier Tuesday night, there’s little doubt that even a man of Trump’s abundant self-confidence must have been rocked to his core after coming within a pinkie’s width of never again seeing his family, friends, and fans.

• Unlike previous party platforms, this year’s manifesto is less a book than a brochure. It treats brevity as a virtue and is designed for laymen to read, not for wonks to dissect—not that there’s anything wrong with that!

“Our party’s platform pledges seven times to cut regulations that are killing our jobs and costing you thousands of dollars,” Platform Committee Chairwoman and Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told the convention Monday night.

“Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, outsourced our energy supply, driving electricity prices up over 29%,” she continued. “The day Joe Biden and Kamala Harris walked into office, gas was $2.40 a gallon on average. Today it’s $3.54. Our platform says we will make America energy dominant!”

• Trump’s selection of freshman Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, as his running mate stirred polite applause from those I interviewed. At age 40, a Vice President Vance would represent a classic passing of the torch to a new generation—at least once Trump transfers it. The Iraq War veteran also is quick-witted and eloquent.

Still, numerous participants seemed puzzled why Trump did not select someone who could throw a key state into play (such as Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin or former New York congressman Lee Zeldin, who also could rally Jewish voters), solidify Republican gains among Hispanics (Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida), or expand the GOP’s appeal among blacks and muffle Democrats’ relentless shrieks of “Racism!” (Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina).

The unshaved Vance does none of the above. But he is Trump’s man, and that’s good enough for most folks around here.

• Tuesday night’s prime-time endorsements of Trump and warm words about him from Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis dramatized the total unity that the GOP now enjoys. Trump’s former rivals are now allies, and their backers will follow them onto the Trump Train, if they have not boarded already.

What a contrast with the Democrat Party! Its cinematically rich infighting should be titled Throw Poppa from the Train.

• Finally, Trump’s battle cry has been updated, slightly and cleverly. A huge sign inside Fiserv Forum reads: “Make America Great Once Again”

The last two words subtly remind voters how great America was during Trump’s first three years, before COVID-19 ruined everything. Trump delivered a tight southern border, record-high tax cuts, record-low unemployment, energy dominance, falling crime, rising school-choice options, four Middle East peace agreements, and zero new wars.

Securing four more years of such triumphs is no pipe dream. Donald J. Trump and his conservative policies fueled all of this and much more. And, with the consent of the American people, they will do so—once again.

Deroy Murdock is a Manhattan-based Fox News contributor.

Secret Service Confesses to Denying Trump’s Security Requests Pre-Assassination Attempt

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Secret Service Confesses to Denying Trump’s Security Requests Pre-Assassination Attempt

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The scandal-marred Secret Service has admitted to denying President Donald Trump’s requests for enhanced security before the assassination attempt on July 13. 

Disturbingly, this announcement comes just days after the federal agency denied reports that Trump had sought additional bodyguards to protect his life. 

“There’s an untrue assertion that a member of the former president’s team requested additional resources and that those were rebuffed,” Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi falsely claimed the day after the shooting. 

Despite these denials, sources who spoke anonymously to the New York Times on Saturday confirmed that Trump had made such requests in the two years leading up to the incident in Butler, Pennsylvania. 

At a Trump rally in the Bronx, Secret Service officials expressed significant concerns about the lack of metal detectors, which caused delays in admitting attendees. Other officials were worried about picnic tables that allowed attendees to stand and have a clearer aim at the president. 

At a massive rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, the Secret Service denied requests for more trained dogs to search the area. Approximately 100,000 people attended the rally, making it one of the largest political rallies in recorded history. 

Faced with this new information, Guglielmi stated that when there is a need for increased security, they rely on state and local law enforcement officials. 

“In some instances where specific Secret Service specialized units or resources were not provided, the agency made modifications to ensure the security of the protectee,” Guglielmi said. “This may include utilizing state or local partners to provide specialized functions or otherwise identifying alternatives to reduce public exposure of a protectee.” 

This revelation comes as Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle faces growing calls to resign following the apparent security failures at the Trump rally. 

Cheatle is expected to testify before Congress on Monday. 

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