Kamala Harris’ Veepstakes Heat Up

Happy Tuesday! After one of Kamala Harris’ campaign accounts changed its banner to a theme referencing something called a “brat summer,” there was much discussion on The Dispatch’s editorial call yesterday—and indeed, in other newsrooms—about what exactly that is. One well-informed intern explained it to us, but we’re still not sure we get it—and we’d bet good money that Harris doesn’t either. 

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

• Democratic lawmakers continued to rally behind Vice President Kamala Harris to replace President Joe Biden atop the Democratic presidential ticket on Monday, one day after Biden withdrew from the race. The Executive Committee of the Association of State Democratic Committees (ASDC)—a group that represents 57 state Democratic Party chapters—endorsed Harris on Sunday, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who was widely considered a potential alternative to Harris atop the ticket, endorsed the vice president’s White House bid and announced she would co-chair Harris’ campaign, adding that she is uninterested in becoming the new vice presidential nominee. Other potential rivals—including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and others—have also endorsed Harris’ presidential campaign, as did former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, one of the most coveted endorsements in the party. “With immense pride and limitless optimism for our country’s future, I endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for President of the United States,” Pelosi said. “I have full confidence that she will lead us to victory in November.” An Associated Press survey of Democratic National Convention delegates found last night that Harris had secured enough support to officially become her party’s nominee next month.
• Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testified before the House Oversight Committee on Monday to answer lawmakers’ questions about the agency’s mishandling of security at the Butler County, Pennsylvania, event earlier this month where a would-be assassin shot former President Donald Trump and killed a rally participant. Cheatle, who has thus far ignored bipartisan calls for her resignation in the aftermath of the shooting, frustrated committee members with testimony that many of them found incomplete. She acknowledged that the attack on Trump was “the most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades” and that the Secret Service had been informed several times about a potentially suspicious person spotted before the rally. However, she dodged questions about whether there were agents covering the roof where the shooter fired. Though the Secret Service admitted over the weekend that it had denied some requests for additional security from Trump’s detail at times during the campaign, Cheatle said there were no requests for extra support at the Butler event. Her obfuscations renewed bipartisan calls for her resignation, including from the committee’s chair, GOP Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, and ranking member, Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland. “Today, you failed to provide answers to basic questions regarding that stunning operational failure and to reassure the American people that the Secret Service has learned its lessons and begun to correct its systemic blunders and failures,” the pair wrote after the hearing. 
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in the U.S. on Monday ahead of a planned address to Congress on Wednesday. President Joe Biden was still in Delaware recovering from COVID-19 upon Netanyahu’s arrival, though he is slated to meet with his Israeli counterpart this week, as is Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris will not preside over Netanyahu’s address to Congress, instead addressing a black sorority in Indianapolis. Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will sit on the dais with House Speaker Mike Johnson. Netanyahu has also reportedly requested to meet with former President Donald Trump, though Trump has not responded. J.D. Vance will not attend Netanyahu’s address to Congress on Wednesday, with a Trump campaign aide saying he has “duties to fulfill as the Republican nominee for Vice President.”
• A Russian court sentenced Evan Gershkovich—the Wall Street Journal reporter detained in Russia since his arrest on evidence-free espionage charges 15 months ago—to 16 years imprisonment in an unidentified penal colony prison system on Friday, following a trial described by State Department spokesman Vedant Patel as a “fake, sham legal process.” “We have been clear from the start that Evan has done nothing wrong and never should have been arrested in the first place,” the U.S. embassy in Russia said in a statement. “His case is not about evidence, procedural norms, or the rule of law. It is about the Kremlin using American citizens to achieve its political objectives.” It’s possible his conviction and sentencing could clear the way for a prisoner exchange.
• Meanwhile, on the same day, Alsu Kurmasheva—a journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and a dual U.S.-Russia citizen—was sentenced to six-and-a-half years imprisonment after a secret trial that convicted Kurmasheva of “spreading false information” regarding Russia’s military. Kurmasheva was first arrested in October 2023 after visiting Russia to care for her mother. “This secret trial and conviction make a mockery of justice,” RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus said in a statement. “The only just outcome is for Alsu to be immediately released from prison by her Russian captors.” 
• President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, dropped his lawsuit against Fox News—a mere three weeks after filing it—according to a dismissal request his legal team filed on Sunday. Though neither the president’s son nor his legal team offered a reason for the lawsuit’s withdrawal, the notice was filed the same day the president ended his reelection bid. Biden had sued the cable news network over a miniseries aired on its streaming platform in 2022 that featured nude images of the younger Biden, a violation of New York’s so-called “revenge porn” law, the lawsuit argued. However, in response to the lawsuit, Fox News contended its content is protected under the First Amendment.
• Leaders of the House Homeland Security Committee on Monday called on CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz to testify as the logistical fallout from Friday’s worldwide IT outages—caused by a flawed anti-malware update by the cybersecurity firm—continued into this week. Kurtz has not yet confirmed whether he’ll testify. The debacle saw some 7,000 U.S. flights canceled in total over the weekend after an error in the update crashed 8.5 million Microsoft Windows devices, and Delta Air Lines canceled more than 800 flights scheduled for Monday. While the IT outage was accidental, CrowdStrike warned of cybersecurity risks in the recovery process: On Saturday, the company identified a malicious file presented as a recovery update by likely hackers.

Dems Fall in Line Behind Harris 

To exist on the internet in the last 48 hours is to be inundated with clips from the hit HBO series Veep. This weekend’s political events—which reflected one of the show’s main plotlines—seemed to be conclusive evidence, once and for all, that it is the reigning fictionalization of Washington, D.C. (Especially after West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin floated the bonkers idea this weekend that Democrats should nominate Republican Sen. Mitt Romney to replace President Joe Biden.)

One day after Biden relinquished his claim to the Democratic nomination for president, Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he endorsed, is the runaway favorite to succeed him at the top of the ticket. Now the question becomes: Who will be the Kamala to her Joe?

As we reported yesterday, Democrats overwhelmingly coalesced around Harris in a matter of hours after Biden endorsed her upon withdrawing from the race on Sunday. Support for her among Democrats only grew on Monday, as she received perhaps the most coveted endorsement of all—from former House Speaker and all-around kingmaker, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California. “Today, it is with immense pride and limitless optimism for our country’s future that I endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for President of the United States,” Pelosi—who herself has been compared online in recent days to a bene gesserit from the Dune series—said in a statement. “My enthusiastic support for Kamala Harris for President is official, personal and political.” Pelosi had reportedly favored a more open process for selecting a nominee after Biden withdrew, making her endorsement of Harris far from a sure thing.

And while Harris’ place at the top of the ticket is itself not yet a sure thing, the Associated Press reported Monday that she has locked down a sufficient number of the 4,000 Democratic delegates to secure the nomination on the first ballot. No one has challenged her for the nod, either. Indeed, the stable of Democratic governors perhaps best placed to do so have …

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Worth Your Time

• As your Morning Dispatchers look forward to the start of the Summer Olympics in Paris this Friday, The Atlantic looked back an entire century to the last Olympiad in the City of Love. As modern-day American superstars like gymnast Simone Biles and swimmer Katie Ledecky prepare to go for gold, more than 30 photographs from Paris’ 1924 turn at hosting the games provide an illuminating glimpse at how much the sporting world has changed. We particularly enjoyed the photo of the tandem cycling final and the tennis outfits that looked rather difficult to play in.
• Why did Kenyans download Zello—an app that allows mobile phones to function as walkie-talkies—to an eye-popping 40,000 devices in a one week-span last month? In Rest of World, Stephanie Wangari detailed how the normally little-used app was pivotal in organizing the anti-tax protests against Kenya’s government last month. “Zello was largely unknown in Kenya until the protests broke out, but it gained such popularity that on July 2, President William Ruto acknowledged its role in the events,” she wrote. “Kenyan protesters ‘needed to move and coordinate things quickly and that’s exactly why they used the app,’ Moses Kemibaro, CEO of Nairobi-based digital strategy firm Dotsavvy Africa, said.” One 21-year-old university graduate explained why the protesters needed reliable communication. “‘Every time police officers lobbed tear-gas at protesters, we would go in different directions, losing sight of our friends during the protests,’ said Mercy, requesting to be identified by a pseudonym as she feared police intimidation. ‘A group we had created on Zello helped us locate each other.’”

Presented Without Comment

The Hill: [GOP Rep. Nancy] Mace Tells Secret Service Director: ‘You’re Full of Sh—’

Also Presented Without Comment

New York Times: Trump Donated to Kamala Harris’s Campaigns for California Attorney General

Also Also Presented Without Comment

Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance, talking about voter ID at a rally in Middletown, Ohio:

Democrats say that it is racist to believe—well, they say it’s racist to do anything. I had a Diet Mountain Dew yesterday and one today. I’m sure they’re gonna call that racist, too. It’s good. I love you guys.

In the Zeitgeist

Paging David French, again and again: HBO has released the latest trailer for the upcoming Dune: Prophecy television series set to come out in November. The series is a prequel to the Dune two-part movie series—based on Frank Herbert’s famous sci-fi novels of the same title—and will take place 10,000 years prior to those events. We’re sure David will say it’s “GLORIOUS.” 

Toeing the Company Line

• In the newsletters: Kevin urged Democrats (🔒) to dump Kamala Harris from the presidential ticket too, the Dispatch Politics team provided a look into Harris’ attempts to shore up Democratic support for her latent presidential campaign, and Nick warned (🔒) against wishful thinking clouding analysts’ view of Harris’ chances.
• On the site: Chris explains why Republicans are immune to the kind of media pressure that led to Biden’s ouster, John Gustavsson pans Biden’s recent rent control proposal, and John Hood dives into the complexity of the intra-movement divides among conservatives—and why J.D. Vance shouldn’t be called “ultraconservative.”