NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight’s 9 pm ET show. Subscribe to War Notes here.
Before you go to bed: Watch till the end of the show tonight – we are trying out a new segment that you will be talking about tomorrow with your friends.
Feel good: DJ Daniel, the 13-year-old cancer survivor and now honorary Secret Service agent from last night’s speech, joins us tonight.
War warnings: China said it’s ready for war with the U.S. – either a tariff, trade or actual war.
- What I am thinking: It doesn’t seem like China is that scared of Trump’s 4D chess on Ukraine.
Hamas ultimatum: Trump issued a stern warning to Hamas that they must release all the hostages or “there will be hell to pay” – it’s a lot like the red line he drew a few weeks ago that he didn’t back up.
About Last Night
For my euphoric Republican friends, I have a warning. For my depressed Democratic friends, I have hope.
- 2 minutes: Both hope and warning come in the start of Sen. Elissa Slotkin’s rebuttal.
- Look back: Rebuttals are normally the end of political careers – Slotkin is the exception.
- Substance: Slotkin offered something that Democrats badly need – a road map out of the wilderness.
- Read the transcript here.
- She defined patriotism as something other than waving the flag.
- She harkened back with longing to a less divided time in America.
- She actively and correctively acknowledged the anger of the working class, paycheck-to-paycheck voters and did not demonize them.
- She quoted Ronald Reagan.
- Wait? What? A Democrat quoting Reagan – now you have my attention.
- Lost opportunity: She then used that attention to spend six minutes talking about January 6 and threats to democracy.
- The code words about “inclusion” to defend boys in girls sports are stupid.
- Slotkin abstained this week from a Senate vote protecting girls from boys in sports – WOOF … take a stand!
- The code words about “inclusion” to defend boys in girls sports are stupid.
- Read the transcript here.
- Be fair: Whatever Democrat wants to be president in 2028 should IMMEDIATELY hire whoever wrote the first two minutes of the speech.
- That is how you win elections – so yes, there is hope for Democrats, but they have to see it beyond their anger at Republicans.
Hope: Slotkin’s first two minutes stands in contrast to the dumpster fire of:
- Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, shaking his cane at Trump and screaming – only to demand to be ejected so he could go to the cameras and promise more articles of impeachment.
- The women wearing pink because of Trump’s “war on women,” yet many voted against protecting girls from boys on their sports teams.
- 🪧 The stupid auction-like paddles that members of the squad held up – they have rightly been turned into memes – find pictures on Twitter of the memes
- Note to politicians: Never hold up a sign!
- 🪧 The stupid auction-like paddles that members of the squad held up – they have rightly been turned into memes – find pictures on Twitter of the memes
- The refusal to stand for a senior in high school admitted to West Point or the 13-year-old cancer survivor named an honorary member of the Secret Service.
- Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, posting this dance video.
- At least 22 Democratic senators reading the same script in trying to make an authentic prebuttal video.
- Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., made her latest attempt at a fundraising video.
- Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., walking back his praise of Trump for closing the border.
We could do a full page of this, but I got to bed late and am now on deadline.
Why it matters: Not everything Trump does is good, but there’s no good Democrats to fight him.
- Proof: The Democratic response consisted of bingo paddles and a 75-year-old with a cane — stupid.
- Where is House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries? Where is the Democratic leadership?
- Who keeps Democrats from doubling down on the clown show?
- Where is House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries? Where is the Democratic leadership?
Note: I didn’t say much about Trump – the speech was a walk-off home run – a CBS poll showed 68% of Americans felt “hopeful” after watching the speech – damn.
- The story today is about Democrats – and that’s good for Trump.
- BUT: Slotkin had a moment, and Republicans should be scared of that.
Watch tonight: Chris Cillizza on how Democrats fix this.
- It’s a little bit like a very bad football team.
- Take the New York Giants – they’ve won nine games in two years.
- Get a new quarterback?
- A new defence?
- A new offensive line?
- Take the New York Giants – they’ve won nine games in two years.
Soviet Union
MAGA firebrand Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., threatened progressive mayors with criminal prosecution today – sounds a lot like Soviet-style politics.
- The mayors of Chicago, Denver, Boston and NYC came before the House Oversight Committee for a dissecting of their policies.
- Click here to watch.
- Prediction: This is going to end badly for Republicans in two ways.
- The obvious: Democrats, once in power, will start prosecuting Republican governors – and criminalizing (even bad) policy is a bad idea.
- Prediction: This is going to end badly for Republicans in two ways.
- The political: It’s not a 70/30 issue like:
- Boys in girls sports
- Closing the border
- Lowering crime
- Lowering taxes
- Ending government waste
- Deporting illegal immigrants who commit crimes
- All of these issues poll really well – that’s why Trump talked about them last night.
- Democrats could only dream of the FBI arresting the Democratic mayor of Denver – it’s a 30/70 issue for Republicans.
- Stay away.
- Back to last night: Trump played defense on prices and tariffs – if Republicans are seen focusing on prosecuting mayors rather than bringing prices down, it will become a HUGE problem.
- It’s not just prosecuting mayors – firing people who predict the weather doesn’t make sense to most common-sense Americans.
Tune into “On Balance with Leland Vittert” weeknights at 9/8 CT on NewsNation. Find your channel here.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.