Harris Out on the Trail Ahead of VP Pick

Happy Wednesday! We’re all for combating this country’s loneliness problem. But color us skeptical that this artificial intelligence “friend” you wear around your neck and is “always listening” is the way to do it.

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Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

• Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Wednesday that the political head of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, had been assassinated in Tehran, where he attended Iran’s presidential inauguration ceremony. He was reportedly targeted in an airstrike, and though the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not comment on the killing, Iran vowed “a harsh and painful response” to the assassination. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has sought to eliminate Hamas leaders in the prosecution of the war, said he would convene his security cabinet on Wednesday to discuss the increasingly fraught security situation in the region. “We don’t want war,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told IDF troops this morning, “but we are preparing for all possibilities.”
• Just hours earlier on Tuesday, the IDF launched an airstrike in the southern part of Beirut, Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah—the Iranian-backed terrorist organization headquartered in Lebanon—in retaliation for a rocket strike that killed 12 children in northern Israel on Saturday. A spokesman for the IDF claimed the strike had successfully eliminated a senior Hezbollah military commander, Fuad Shukr, who the IDF said had organized Saturday’s attack on Israel—and who was also wanted by the U.S. government “for the planning, coordination, and execution of terrorist attacks outside of Lebanon.”
• Both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris released new campaign advertisements on Tuesday as the campaigns seek to appeal to voters in the wake of President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race. “This campaign is about who we fight for. We believe in a future where every person has the opportunity, not just to get by, but to get ahead,” Harris said in her campaign’s new 60-second ad. “But Donald Trump wants to take our country backward … but we are not going back.” Meanwhile, the Trump campaign framed the presumptive Democratic nominee as weak on issues of immigration, the fentanyl crisis, and terrorist threats. “This is America’s border czar—and she’s failed us,” the narrator said in the Trump campaign’s new 30-second ad. “Kamala Harris: Failed. Weak. Dangerously liberal.”
• FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Judiciary Committees on Tuesday, telling senators that the agency may have discovered social media posts and comments from between 2019 and 2020 made by the gunman who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump on July 13. “Some of these comments, if ultimately attributable to the shooter, appear to reflect antisemitic and anti-immigration themes to espouse political violence and are described as extreme in nature,” Abbate said. Ronald Rowe, the new acting Secret Service director, also testified during the hearing, telling lawmakers he was “ashamed” of the security lapse in Pennsylvania earlier in the month while also shifting blame to local law enforcement. “We assumed that the state and locals had it,” Rowe said. “I can assure you that we’re not going to make that mistake again.”
• The U.S. on Tuesday announced new sanctions on five individuals and seven groups—from China, Iran, and Hong Kong—for contributing components used in Iran’s missile and drone program. The sanctioned behavior includes business transactions with Iran that provided the country with accelerometers and gyroscopes—key components used for missile and drone guidance and navigation, according to the Treasury Department. “Iran’s reckless proliferation of its ballistic missiles and [drones] risks further instability and endangers civilian lives, both in the region and around the world,” said Brian Nelson, a senior official at the Treasury Department. “Today’s action exposes additional key front companies and trusted agents through which Iran has sought to acquire these components.”
• U.S. officials said on Tuesday that America would deliver $500 million in defense aid to the Philippines as the Southeast Asian nation looks to modernize its military and defend against increased Chinese provocations in the South China Sea. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the move in Manila in a joint statement with their Filipino counterparts. The U.S. and the Philippines hope a strengthened Filipino military will deter China from asserting control of the country’s territorial waters after months of rising tensions and direct confrontation between the two Asian countries.
• The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the U.S. will arm dozens of Ukraine-bound F-16 fighter jets with American missiles and bombs. Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Norway are sending the U.S.-made planes, which will arrive later this summer, and the Pentagon’s move would ease concerns the jets would not come equipped with adequate weaponry as Ukraine looks to turn the war in its favor after more than a year of few territorial gains.
• The Senate voted 91-3 on Tuesday to pass two pieces of legislation that would institute additional online safety and privacy measures in an effort to protect children on the internet. Proposed in 2022, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) would make tech companies responsible for reducing content deemed potentially harmful to kids on their platforms. The other bill, an updated version of the previously approved Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0), would raise the age requirement for parental consent on data collection from 12 to 16. The bills’ status in the House is unclear, however, with lawmakers on their summer recess until mid-September and relevant committee leaders split on how to approach such legislation. 
• Olympic officials in Paris postponed the Games’ men’s triathlon originally scheduled for Tuesday due to unsafe pollution levels in the Seine river—the venue for the triathlon’s swimming portion—after days of heavy rain. Organizers rescheduled the event to Wednesday, with both men’s and women’s competitors taking to the water this morning. Meanwhile, the U.S. women’s gymnastics team—led by decorated gymnast Simone Biles—won the gold medal in the Olympic team competition on Tuesday, finishing ahead of Italy and Brazil, which took the silver and bronze medals, respectively. 

Harris Rides Wave of Democratic Enthusiasm 

AMBLER, Pennsylvania—Concerned. Worried. Sad. Frustrated. Mildly depressed. That’s how Democratic supporters at a rally in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, on Monday described their feelings about the election with President Joe Biden at the top of the ticket.

But then he withdrew from the race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who quickly coalesced Democratic support for the nomination in a matter of hours. That changed everything for the voters in attendance on Monday.

“It really changed my total attitude,” Norma Villanueva told TMD. The 84-year-old former emergency room physician said she wasn’t planning to attend any Biden rallies, but the switch at the top of the ticket gave her “a whole lot of energy.” 

Michelle Kearns, a real estate agent who recently moved to the area from Pittsburgh, explained that she was concerned about Biden’s chances but is “definitely more optimistic” with Harris. “I think we’re on pace now,” she said. 

More than 1,000 supporters crowded into the Wissahickon High School gymnasium on Monday afternoon to hear …

As a non-paying reader, you are receiving a truncated version of The Morning Dispatch. Our full 1,630-word story on the burgeoning Kamala Harris campaign is available in the members-only version of TMD.

Venezuelans Protest Maduro’s Power Grab

In the days since Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro declared an unlikely victory in Sunday’s presidential election contest, Venezuelans have taken to the streets, descending on the capital city of Caracas, some carrying the long pieces of paper they say will prove Maduro stole the election: the voting records. 

Sixteen people have been killed in clashes between law enforcement and protesters. Days after the vote, the country’s citizens are seeing little clarity and much consternation at home and abroad about the outcome.

Maduro, who is seeking a third, six-year term after more than a decade leading the socialist government, declared victory, with the Maduro-controlled National Electoral Council announcing he won 51 percent of the vote against the opposition candidate, former diplomat Edmundo González. That figure starkly contradicts exit polling conducted by U.S.-based Edison Research that had González winning 65 percent of the vote to Maduro’s 31 percent. The opposition has pointed to data gathered by their representatives at 40 percent of the country’s ballot boxes to claim that González is the rightful and “overwhelming” victor.

Outside observers are pressing the National Electoral Council for vote tallies from individual precincts to …

As a non-paying reader, you are receiving a truncated version of The Morning Dispatch. Our full 1,247-word story on the recent elections in Venezuela is available in the members-only version of TMD.

Worth Your Time

• How is the U.S. national debt looking? Just scroll through this shocking graph in Reason magazine for the answer. “Paradoxically, the faster government debt escalates toward an inevitable debt crisis, the less politicians and voters seem to care,” Brian Riedl wrote. “In the 1980s and 1990s, more modest deficits dominated economic policy debates and prompted six major deficit reduction deals that balanced the budget from 1998 through 2001. That era is long gone. In the past eight years, President Donald Trump and then Biden enacted $12 trillion in deficit-expanding legislation even as Social Security and Medicare shortfalls drove baseline deficits higher. … In the 1980s and ‘90s, lawmakers could tweak their way to deficit reduction. Nearly half of federal spending was discretionary, and the Cold War victory brought vast military savings that minimized the need for austerity elsewhere. … The political payoff of a balanced budget was worth these modest reforms. Today’s deficits of $2 trillion—headed toward $3 trillion or even $4 trillion—cannot be tweaked away. Balancing the budget is virtually impossible, and even stabilizing the long-term debt at today’s 100 percent of GDP requires wildly unpopular changes to Social Security and Medicare (and will likely take broad-based taxes). Other reforms are necessary but far from sufficient.”

Presented Without Comment

New York Times: Lara Trump Compares Harris to a Fashion Designer’s Faux ‘Trash Bag’ 

“It reminds me of—there was this bag that a very famous designer designed—this was several years ago,” she said. “And it literally was a trash bag, but they sold this thing for like $2,000, thinking that people would actually buy it. It’s a similar situation with Kamala Harris.”

Also Presented Without Comment 

Fox News: Project 2025 Leader Steps Down Amid Criticism From Trump

In the (Olympic) Zeitgeist

Watch the last two minutes of the U.S. women’s rugby sevens bronze medal match against Australia and revel in that extra hardware in today’s medal counter:

Toeing the Company Line

• Who’s the most intimidating member of The Dispatch staff? What was the defining news event of the interns’ lifetime? What is it like being an intern at The Dispatch? Interns Leah, Cole, Grant, Max, and Aayush joined Michael and Wendy to discuss all that and more on Dispatch Live (🔒). Members who missed the conversation can catch a rerun—either video or audio-only—by clicking here. 
• In the newsletters: Nick dove into (🔒) Harris’ recent flip-flopping on a number of key issues.
• On the podcasts: Jonah is joined on The Remnant by Will Inboden, the director of the Alexander Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida, to discuss higher education reform and foreign policy.
• On the site: Keith Whittington wonders where the principle of judicial independence factors into Biden’s proposed court reforms, Kevin argues “debanking” is a tax on dissent and a bad precedent, and Jonah marvels at Trump’s ability to make even good ideas unpopular.