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 7 p.m. ET show. Subscribe to War Notes here.
How Can They Convict?
Both sides rested in the Donald Trump business records case. In the least surprising news of 2024, Trump did not testify.
- For a few hours next week, the 12 Trump jurors will be the most important people in American politics.
- They’ve listened to weeks of testimony that reasonable people can agree:
- Proved Trump and Stormy Daniels had sex.
- Daniels got $130,000 to keep quiet about the sex.
- Trump routinely paid people to keep quiet.
- Former Trump fixer Michael Cohen is now an admitted thief in addition to perjurer and felon.
- What Cohen testified to:
- Trump personally signed off on the payment.
- Trump ordered people to falsify the business records.
- The payment to Daniels was solely for campaign purposes.
- In short: To convict Trump, the jury must believe Cohen whole cloth.
- So, how can the jury convict?
- Twelve people can do anything.
- They’ve listened to weeks of testimony that reasonable people can agree:
Watch tonight: Former assistant district attorney in New York City Michael Discioarro will speak to the law, and jury consultant Robert Swafford will talk about the dynamics of deliberation.
The politics:
- Alvin Bragg’s prosecution of Trump was, is and remains a political, not legal, exercise.
- The optics and precedent now worry New York Times columnist David French, who delivers a terrifying warning:
- “If Trump is convicted, his conviction could well survive on appeal. The alternative, however, is dreadful. Imagine a scenario in which Trump is convicted at the trial, Biden condemns him as a felon and the Biden campaign runs ads mocking him as a convict. If Biden wins a narrow victory but then an appeals court tosses out the conviction, this case could well undermine faith in our democracy and the rule of law.”
- The optics and precedent now worry New York Times columnist David French, who delivers a terrifying warning:
Who will stop it: Trump firebrand Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, said the quiet part out loud: “They fear what’s gonna happen if Trump becomes president again. And I tell you, they should fear.”
- He then went on to threaten the prosecutors going after Trump.
Be fair: You can’t argue Trump’s prosecution is bad for America (it is) without arguing someone needs to stop the insane promises of retribution from Trump.
Kids These Days
Gen Z (born 1997-2012)
- Ranked 62 in worldwide happiness
- 31 percent say their sympathies lie mostly or entirely with the Palestinians vs. 14% saying their sympathies lie mostly or entirely with the Israelis
- They are the least likely to vote
- They view socialism more positively (44%) than capitalism (40%)
- Just 32% say patriotism is very important
- Only 33% say America is the best place to live
You can find more on these stats from Bruce Mehlman’s “6-Chart Sunday” newsletter.
Yes, but every generation bemoans “kids these days.”
This generation is different:
- In the late 1960s, smoking pot and anti-war protests represented “counterculture.”
- Now, supporting terrorists and having no gender is mainstream for America’s youth.
- In the 1960s, people burned their draft cards and had to leave the country, whereas at Princeton University, pro-Palestinian types went on a hunger strike and stopped after 10 days because they were HUNGRY!
It’s our fault: Gen Z was coddled in ways too numerous to count
- Want longer on tests? Get a diagnosis
- Overweight? Body positivity
- Bad at sports? Participation trophies
- Stressed at school? Take a Xanax
Bonus reading: The coddling of Gen Z came from progressive tendencies and values. Martin Gurri writes in The Free Press that is changing with the “revenge of the (populist) normies.”
Look forward: Baby boomers, Gen X and Millennials will all count on Gen Z for Social Security, Medicare, and national defense.
- As President Joe Biden would say, “Lots of luck in your senior year.”
Trump’s United Reich
Bottom line: If Trump loses in November, he will have no one but himself to blame.
Just last night on “On Balance”, Hugh Hewitt said something along the lines of “if Trump doesn’t screw it up.” At about that time, Trump’s social media account shared a video referencing a “united reich” if he wins.
- Be fair: Is Trump a Nazi or Nazi sympathizer? No.
- Be fair: Is Trump reckless in sharing social media and unable to not “like” people who like him regardless of their fringe beliefs? Yes.
Look forward: It’s a HUGE problem.
- On what should have been a good day, the former president and the media spent hours talking about his affinity for all things Nazi.
- Never mind Team Biden’s actual coziness with the pro-Hamas types.
- Speaking of Team Biden, they went all in on putting Trump center stage.
- The Biden campaign’s statement said, “Donald Trump thinks Adolf Hitler did ‘some good things,’ that neo-Nazis who chant ‘Jews will not replace us’ are ‘very fine people,’ and now dreams of a ‘unified Reich’ if he wins.”
- And they sent out a fundraising email saying, “Trump is trying to take America to a very dark place.”
- Speaking of Team Biden, they went all in on putting Trump center stage.
Political reality: The media is unfair to Trump, and when running for leader of the free world, complaining about it doesn’t help.
Two explanations: Trump’s lack of discipline has two, and only two, explanations
- He actually enjoys flirting with this stuff and thinks the media blowback helps him with his base. YUCK!
- He, and by extension his campaign, is still completely undisciplined ten years in. WOOF!
But wait, there’s more: In response to a question from KDKA CBS Pittsburgh on whether he supports restrictions on contraception, Trump said, “Well, we’re looking at that, and I’m going to have a policy on that very shortly. … And I think it’s something that you’ll find interesting.”
- Headlines coming: Trump leaves open restrictions on contraception
- A fair summary of what he said
- Not a fair summary of what will happen
- Cue another media freak-out and Biden fundraising emails.
Newsom Watch
With a “friend” like California Governor Gavin Newsom, Biden doesn’t need enemies.
The Wall Street Journal lays out a devastating case detailing how Newsom’s war on fossil fuels (particularly gasoline) raises gas prices significantly in the swing states of Arizona and Nevada:
- “Here’s the rub: California refineries supply nearly 90% of Nevada’s gasoline and half of Arizona’s. Gasoline prices in Nevada ($4.38 a gallon) and Arizona ($3.90) tend to rise in tandem with those in California. Hence the economic fallout from Sacramento’s unrelenting assault on the oil industry also harms Arizonans and Nevadans.”
Arizona and Nevada are among seven states that will decide this year’s presidential election, and their voters rank inflation and the economy as the No. 1 or No. 2 issue.
As we learned from “Putin’s price hike,” raising gas prices raises ALL prices, including groceries, labor, fast food and construction materials.
The closing argument from the Wall Street Journal:
- “Arizona and Nevada are increasingly trending in Mr. Trump’s direction as working-class Hispanics bear the brunt of the Biden administration’s policies. Many migrated from California—and like America’s émigrés from socialist countries, they don’t want to relive the misery from their former lands.”
Zoom out: Biden faces a similar problem to Newsom, where climate orthodoxy requires policies that crush working-class voters.
Tune into “On Balance with Leland Vittert” weeknights at 7/6C on NewsNation. Find your channel here.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.