A run down of the major themes of Day One of the RNC, from gas prices to the many black Republicans who took the stage. Plus, JD Vance and DJ Trump are mirror images. Also, as the polarizing effect of fiery political rhetoric is blamed for political violence, we hear from dozens of Republicans who agree, deflect, deny, explain, excuse, acknowledge.
In this episode, we recap the key moments of the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention in Wisconsin and discuss the announcement of J.D. Vance as Donald Trump's vice-presidential running mate.
A lot happened in American politics last night: the Biden interview, the Vance unveiling, Trump’s RNC entrance—his first public appearance since Saturday’s shooting. And there, to help you all make sense of it, was The Free Press team in our first-ever live video on X. To be honest, we weren’t sure how it was going to go. We were blown away by the response.
There were some 350,000 of you watching this experiment, in which we had the kind of panel we wish were assembled on cable news, or as host Michael Moynihan put it: “the Traveling Wilburys of political panels.”
Monday night’s supergroup included Newsweek editor and Free Press contributor Batya Ungar-Sargon, Puck correspondent Tara Palmeri, Red Scare co-host Anna Khachiyan (chain-smoking, of course), legendary pollster Frank Luntz, Manhattan Institute president Reihan Salam, author and Free Press contributor Rob Henderson, and journalist James Pogue. This is a group of people you just cannot find anywhere else.
Today, we’ll play that live conversation for you. And stay tuned for more live! Follow The FP on X.
Before delving into events in Milwaukee, we discuss the dismissal of the Donald Trump documents case, Joe Biden's disturbing interview with Lester Holt, and the status of the investigation into Trump's would-be assassin. And then we get into the significance of VP pick J.D. Vance, the Teamsters, and a Republican National Convention like no other. Give a listen.
Former President Trump makes a grand entrance at the Republican National Convention. New information on the Trump rally shooting. President Biden defends his re-election bid. CBS News Correspondents matt Pieper and Steve Kathan have today's World News Roundup.
Donald Trump has picked Senator J.D. Vance as his vice presidential nominee. The U.S. Secret Service is in crisis following the attempted assassination of Trump. And President Joe Biden is shifting his campaign.
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Today's episode of Up First was edited by Megan Pratz, Roberta Rampton, Kelsey Snell, Olivia Hampton and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Ben Abrams and Mansee Khurana. We get engineering support from Arthur Laurent. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
As you now well know, at 6:11 p.m. on Saturday evening, shots rang out at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. One person, a 50-year-old man named Cory Comperatore, was killed. Two others, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, were gravely injured. Trump’s ear was grazed by a bullet.
Before the 45th president was whisked away by Secret Service, he emerged defiant with his fist pumping in the air, blood on his ear and face. “Fight! Fight! Fight!” he yelled at the crowd, to which they chanted back: “USA! USA! USA!”
As we would later learn, one of the bullets pierced the top of Trump’s right ear, flying just a hair’s breadth away from his head. One inch. One inch and we would be having a very different conversation. As Niall Ferguson wrote in The Free Press:
“An inch or two further to the left and the bullet that grazed Donald Trump’s ear would have penetrated his skull and very likely killed him. A slight gust of wind, a tremor of the assassin’s hand, an unexpected move by the former president—for whatever tiny reason, Trump lived to fight another day.”
Saturday’s attempted assassination has already shifted the course of this election. How will it shape our politics and our country? And was this violence the inevitable outcome of our painfully divided country, and who is responsible for those divisions?
Those are the subjects of today’s episode. This is an episode in two parts.
The first part is about the unspeakable events that took place on Saturday. Then in the second half, you’ll hear our initial conversation that took place last week about political brokenness, the crisis of trust between the American people and our elected officials—and how to fix it with some help from the Constitution. In light of what happened over the weekend, it feels even more poignant.
The guest in both halves of this episode is Yuval Levin, one of the greatest political analysts and explainers of our time.
Yuval has even been called the “the most important voice in the political culture.” He worked on domestic policy in the George W. Bush administration. He’s now a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he studies Congress, the presidency, the courts, the Constitution, and American political life.
What I particularly love about Yuval is that when everyone around us seems to be taking the black pill, Yuval is clear-eyed. He’s neither optimistic nor pessimistic. Yuval is just realistic, informed by a deep sense of American history that gives him a perspective on what’s happening now while motivated by a true love for this country.
Header 6:The Free Press earns a commission from any purchases made through all book links in this article.
Located between China and India, Pakistan, Buthan, and Nepal is the world’s highest chain of mountains, The Himalayas.
The Himalayas aren’t just very tall, picturesque mountains that are the home of Mount Everest. They are perhaps the most important mountain range on Earth.
The Himalayas serve as the source of several of the world’s most important rivers. It is responsible for weather patterns throughout much of Asia, and it has served an important role throughout history in trade, religion, and geopolitics.
Learn more about the Himalayas, how they were formed and the role they play in the world today on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
After surviving a horrifying assassination attempt, Donald Trump announces J.D. Vance as his VP pick and promises to shift the tone of the Republican convention. Jon, Lovett, Dan, and Tommy talk about the VP selection, whether it's possible to "lower the temperature" of our political discourse, and Joe Biden's testy interview with Lester Holt.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
