July 27, 2024

Saturday, July 27, 2024. Annette’s News Roundup.

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Kerstin Emhoff with her daughter, Ella Emhoff, in 2022. Kerstin Emhoff said that as a stepmother, Vice President Kamala Harris was “loving, nurturing, fiercely protective and always present.”

In a 2021 interview with Fox News, JD Vance lamented that the United States was being run by “childless cat ladies” like Vice President Kamala Harris, women who he claimed had no “direct stake” in the country’s future.

This week, Ms. Harris received a powerful gesture of support from one of her biggest advocates: the mother of her stepchildren.

“For over 10 years, since Cole and Ella were teenagers, Kamala has been a co-parent with Doug and I,” Kerstin Emhoff said in a statement released by the office of the second gentleman, Doug Emhoff. “She is loving, nurturing, fiercely protective and always present. I love our blended family and am grateful to have her in it.”

On Thursday morning, Ella Emhoff chimed in as well: “How can you be ‘childless’ when you have cutie pie kids like Cole and I,” she wrote on Instagram, urging her mother to “say it louder for the people in the back.”

Although the comments by Mr. Vance are several years old, dating to when he was running for the Senate, they are landing differently in a new political climate.

Mr. Vance is now former President Donald J. Trump’s running mate, and his words have resurfaced at a moment when many women, in polls and at the ballot box, are defending their right to make their own choices — about abortion, birth control, access to fertility services or not having children at all.

In the Fox interview, Mr. Vance said Ms. Harris and other Democrats, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, “don’t really have a direct stake” in the future because they are “people without children.” (Mr. Buttigieg and his husband, Chasten Buttigieg, welcomed twins in August 2021.)

Mr. Vance said the country is run by “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made.”

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment on the remarks, which re-emerged earlier this week. But Mr. Vance’s sister, Lindsay Lewis, called the criticism a machination of the media and the Democratic Party.

“JD was raised by some of the strongest women I know and went on to marry an incredibly strong woman in Usha,” Ms. Lewis said in a statement sent through her brother’s office. “JD is a testament to the women in his life, and the attacks from the media and Democrats that assume anything otherwise is vile.”

Ms. Harris married Mr. Emhoff in 2014, when Cole and Ella were teenagers. Ms. Harris, whose parents had filed for divorce by the time she was eight, wrote in Elle magazine in 2019 that she was initially wary of being a “temporary fixture” in the children’s lives.

She said they built the relationship over time. “I was already hooked on Doug, but I believe it was Cole and Ella who reeled me in,” she wrote. Years later, the trio decided on a name for Ms. Harris that sounded warmer than the term “stepmom.” They came up with “Momala.”

Senator Maggie Hassan, a Democrat of New Hampshire who gave advice to Ms. Harris on balancing work and parenting when the vice president was a senator, called Mr. Vance’s comments “inane” and “insidious.”

“Vice President Harris’s children already know how strong, warm, loving and talented she is,” Ms. Hassan said.

The outrage over Mr. Vance’s remarks has been bipartisan.

“I’ve followed JD Vance’s evolution over the last few years and knew of the comment and was repulsed by it then and now,” said Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former Republican strategist and Trump administration official who now co-hosts “The View.” “But so many women in my life — left, right, and center — are just discovering it and couldn’t be more turned off. To suggest women without kids have less value in society is offensive.”

Meghan McCain, a conservative commentator and the daughter of Senator John McCain, wrote on social media that Mr. Vance’s comments would have a ripple effect, angering families who have had to turn to fertility procedures to have children — or people who don’t want their reproductive status commented on or judged at all.

“I have been trying to warn every conservative man I know,” she said. “These JD comments are activating women across all sides, including my most conservative Trump-supporting friends. These comments have caused real pain and are just innately unchristian. This is not who we are.”

Reproductive rights have fueled Democratic victories across the country in the nearly two years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion.

Ms. Harris has emerged as the most outspoken defender of abortion rights in the Biden administration, while Mr. Vance, who has described himself as “100 percent pro-life,” has supported a federal abortion ban and opposed exceptions for rape and incest.

Now, as a vice-presidential candidate, Mr. Vance has tried to modify his past views.

“You have to believe in reasonable exceptions because that’s where the American people are,” Mr. Vance told Fox News this week. Americans say at record levels that they support at least some access to abortion.

Ms. Harris and other Democrats have said the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade had consequences that could also affect access to fertility treatments like in vitro fertilization.

Earlier this year in Alabama, the state’s Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos could be considered “extrauterine children” under state law, prompting several fertility clinics in the state to suspend I.V.F. treatments. The governor had to sign an emergency order protecting the practice.

Mr. Vance signed onto a letter in June supporting access to in vitro fertilization.

On Thursday afternoon, the Harris campaign sent an email to supporters, wishing a “Happy World IVF Day to Everyone Except JD Vance.”

According to Centers for Disease Control data on fertility clinic success rates, in 2021 there were about 167,689 egg or embryo-banking cycles performed in which all the eggs or embryos were frozen for future use. Approximately 2.3 percent of all infants born in the United States every year are conceived using assisted reproductive technology.

Ms. Farah Griffin said that questioning women’s choices about motherhood is a losing political strategy.

“If I were the Harris campaign,” Ms. Farah Griffin said. “I would air that clip in suburban media markets in swing states from now until Election Day.” (New York Times).

One more thing.

Another brilliant opinion by Trump’s running mate.

Did they even vet this genius?

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President Obama and Michelle endorsed Kamala.

It’s fun to listen to the Obamas’ call with her, so I am posting it twice, one with Michelle, one with the former President.

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POTUS and the Vice President both met with Netanyahu.

The Vice President scored a foreign policy coup this week, finessing a complicated situation involving Israel, Palestinian supporters in DC and Netanyahu.

#Harris on Israel Gaza war, Palestinian suffering: 'I will not be silent'

KEY POINTS
Vice President Kamala Harris said “Israel has a right to defend itself ... and how it does so matters.”
Harris’ remarks followed a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“It is time for this war to end, and end in a way where Israel is secure, all the hostages are released and the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza ends,” said Harris.

Vice President Kamala Harris said “Israel has a right to defend itself ... and how it does so matters.” Harris’ remarks followed a meeting she held with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington Thursday.

“It is time for this war to end and end in a way where Israel is secure, all the hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity and self determination,” said Harris.

Since Harris launched her campaign on Sunday, the de facto Democratic presidential nominee has been under pressure to further define her position on the Israeli war with Hamas in Gaza, now in its tenth month.

Harris said her conversation with Netanyahu was “frank,” and she pressed him to continue making headway on a multi-stage plan to scale back the warfare in densely populated Gaza, to release hostages and to permit Palestinians in Gaza to resume their daily lives.

“There has been hopeful movement and the talks to secure an agreement on this deal,” she said. “And as I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done.”

“So to everyone who has been calling for a ceasefire. And to everyone who yearns for peace. I see you and I hear you....Let’s bring the hostages home. And let’s provide much needed relief to the Palestinian people.”

The White House later said that Harris and Netanyahu also discussed the administration’s “work to ensure Israel can defend itself from threats from Iran and Iranian-backed terrorist groups, including Hamas, Lebanese Hezbollah, and the Houthis, and the importance of combatting the rise in Antisemitism globally.”

The meeting came amid a polarizing visit to Washington by Netanyahu and the Israeli delegation.

While Netanyahu spoke to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the U.S. Capitol to protest his visit and America’s support for Israel. The protesters vandalized statues and burned American flags, replacing them with Palestinian flags.

“I condemn any individuals associating with the brutal terrorist organization Hamas, which has vowed to annihilate the State of Israel and kill Jews,” Harris said in a statement on the protests earlier Thursday. “Pro-Hamas graffiti and rhetoric is abhorrent and we must not tolerate it in our nation.”

“Let us all condemn terrorism and violence,” Harris said after meeting with Netanyahu Thursday. “Let us all do what we can to prevent the suffering of innocent civilians. And let us condemn anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and hate of any kind. And let us work to unite our country.”

Biden and Netanyahu held a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office earlier in the day, after which the two heads of state met with the families of American hostages.

“We feel probably more optimistic than we have since the first round of releases in late November, early December, where a little over 100 of Israel’s hostages were released,” Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose son Sagui is currently being held hostage in Gaza, said. (CNBC).

One more thing.

At Mar-a-Largo yesterday. Trump doesn’t seem to know private citizens are not supposed to conduct foreign policy. Logan Act.

Anything to see here? How quickly do bullet wounds heal?

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Skeptical that Trump was hit by a bullet?

There is no medical report and Trump is a notorious liar (is his mouth moving? He’s lying).

The Times, not particularly known for its ability to assess the cause of wounds, says Trump was hit by a bullet.

The FBI isn’t so sure.

Yesterday [Thursday], FBI director Christopher Wray told Congress that it is not clear whether Trump was “grazed” by a bullet or by shrapnel, words that former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance called “FBI speak for, ‘it’s unlikely it was a bullet.’”

CNN chief medical consultant Dr. Sanjay Gupta noted last week that the people need a real medical evaluation of Trump’s injuries, explaining that “gunshot blasts near the head can cause injuries that aren’t immediately noticeable, such as bleeding in or on the brain, damage to the inner ear or even psychological trauma.” But, as Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo has noted, much of the press has kept mum about the story.

Media outlets have reported Wray’s testimony, though, and in a social media post today, Trump called on Wray, whom he appointed to head the FBI, to resign from his post for “LYING TO CONGRESS.” Tonight, he reiterated that “it was…a bullet that hit my ear, and hit it hard.” (Letters from an American, Heather Cox Richardson).

Then Friday this happened.

The F.B.I. said on Friday that Donald J. Trump had been struck by a “bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces,” providing the most definitive explanation to date about what injured the former president’s ear during an assassination attempt this month.

Ambiguity about Mr. Trump’s injury turned into a political firestorm as the former president and his political allies attacked the F.B.I. director, Christopher A. Wray, for comments he made on Wednesday before Congress.

“With respect to former President Trump, there’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear,” Mr. Wray told the House Judiciary Committee.

One more thing from Heather Cox Richardson.

Perhaps eager to get back to their districts, House Republicans canceled their expected votes on appropriations bills scheduled for next week and left town today for their August recess. The House will not reconvene until early September. The government’s fiscal year 2025 begins on October 1.

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Nikki Halley continues to amaze.

How pathetic can one person be.

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Calls Organizing for Kamala.

UPDATED: Women for Harris National Organizing Call.

NEW DATE: To accommodate the unprecedented demand, we are now moving the Sunday call to Monday, July 29th at 7:00 PM ET. We are committed to ensuring that all women can be a part of this moment.

It is clear that we are fired up and ready to elect Kamala! We will see you Monday for a call with special guests!

During this call, you will have the opportunity to hear from extraordinary women, both outside and on the campaign. We will provide the latest updates from HQ and details on how you can get involved with our efforts to mobilize women voters ahead of November. Please sign up for our call BELOW and share it with anyone you know who might be interested.

We are going to win this election — together.

UPDATED: Women for Harris National Organizing Call · The Democratic National Committee

NEW DATE: To accommodate the unprecedented demand, we are now moving the Sunday call to Monday, July 29th at 7:00 PM ET. We are committed to ensuring that all women can be a part of this moment.
It is clear that we are fired up and ready to elect Kamala! We will see you Monday for a call with special guests!
During this call, you will have the opportunity to hear from extraordinary women, both outside and on the campaign. We will provide the latest updates from HQ and details on how you can g...

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The Games did begin.

The N.B.A. star LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers and the tennis star Coco Gauff were chosen by their peers to be flag bearers for the United States on Friday night at the Paris Olympics’ opening ceremony (source. NY Times).

Touch to watch the flag bearers on what
carrying the flag means to them. Bottom
right square.👇

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Your Daily Reminder.

Trump is a convicted felon.

On May 30th, he was found guilty on 34 felony counts by the unanimous vote of 12 ordinary citizens.

The Convicted Felon Donald J. Trump was scheduled to be sentenced on July 11. He will now be sentenced sometime around September 18th.

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