In terms of increasing votes, Trump's pick of JD Vance doesn't make much sense. He's a senator from a currently red state (where he didn't perform as well as much of his cohort). He's extreme on issues like abortion where Trump is trying to soften the message. He's been strikingly critical of Trump in the past. He once called him a ‘moral disaster,’ and possibly ‘America’s Hitler.' As I said yesterday, with the pick of JD Vance, Trump locks up the already committed angry white males who have nothing to be angry about vote. So what gives? Dan Pfeiffer explains what goes into picking a VP candidate and why Trump (with a big push from his top funders) chose this one. It's not about running the election. It's about running the country. "Donald Trump does not give two shits about governing. He’d likely struggle to explain how a bill becomes a law or distinguish between an executive order and a presidential memorandum. His knowledge of the responsibilities of the cabinet agencies under his administration would likely be lacking as well. However, Trump picked Vance for the same reasons George W. Bush picked Cheney — someone who has the smarts and know-how to implement the MAGA agenda. Trump may not even know this is why he picked Vance, but it’s why so many people behind Project 2025 supported Vance’s appointment." Trump Picked Vance to Make Project 2025 a Reality.

+ The growing economic divide has created a fertile environment for a troubling but familiar political reality. Those at the top are able to use their breathtaking spending power to fire up feverish populism among those who feel they've been disregarded (or worse) by the elite. (Never mind that the inciting messages are coming from the elitest of the elite.) In the moments after Saturday's shooting, Elon Musk endorsed Donald Trump (maybe the least surprising news of the decade). Now we've learned that he's "planning on supporting Trump’s presidential campaign by committing $45 million a month to a new super PAC backing the former president." Another one of the original Pay Pal Mafia is Vance's biggest backer and influencer. "Peter Thiel, the billionaire tech investor turned digital defense contractor, enabled his entire political career." Tech mega-VCs Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz are also making big donations to Trump PACs. Welcome to American politics, where you have to hope your billionaires are willing to spend as much as the other guy's billionaires.

+ "Vance is, in some ways, a case study of Republican loyalty after January 6th, in which those who backed Trump after the insurrection at the Capitol have tended to go all in—their careers and reputations have become inextricably tied to the former President. But plenty of Republicans are diehard Trump loyalists. Vance’s rise has also depended on his populism." The New Yorker: Why Donald Trump Picked J. D. Vance for Vice-President. "He is an attack dog for Trump, but he is also something more emergent and interesting: he is the fuse that Trump lit."

+ "We chatted for a bit about the connections between right-wing movements across the world, and what American conservatives could learn from foreign peers. He was friendly, thoughtful, and smart — much smarter than the average politician I’ve interviewed. Yet his worldview is fundamentally incompatible with the basic principles of American democracy." What J.D. Vance really believes.

+ "I got to be honest with you, I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another." Politico: 55 Things to Know About J.D. Vance.

2

Cord Cutting

"Doctors rarely use cord blood anymore, thanks to advances that have made it easier to transplant adult stem cells. And the few parents who try to withdraw cord blood samples often find that they are unusable — either because their volume is too low or they have been contaminated with microbe." But those facts don't stop Cord Blood Banks from marketing to expecting parents. They convinced me nearly two decades ago and I only just recently got the company to stop hounding me for payments. NYT (Gift Article): Promised Cures, Tainted Cells: How Cord Blood Banks Mislead Parents.

3

Breaking News and Nervous Breakdowns

"The basic facts held attention for only so long before being supplanted by wild speculation—people were eager to post about the identity of the shooter, his possible motives, the political ramifications of the event, the specter of more violence. It may be human nature to react this way in traumatic moments—to desperately attempt to fill an information void—but the online platforms so many of us frequent have monetized and gamified this instinct, rewarding those who create the most compelling stories." Charlie Warzel in The Atlantic (Gift Article): This Is What Happens When News Breaks. (Interestingly enough, I wrote a book on this topic! Please Scream Inside Your Heart: Breaking News and Nervous Breakdowns in the Year That Wouldn't End.)

4

And the Horse You Flew In On

"While swimmers can shove a Speedo in a back pocket and runners can stash a pair of track spikes in a backpack, other Paris-bound athletes face an Olympian challenge in getting their equipment — from boats to guns to horses — overseas for these Summer Games." WaPo (Gift Article): Horses, guns and swords: How cumbersome equipment gets to the Olympics.

5

Extra, Extra

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Menendez: The legal system still works (at least for people not named Trump). "A jury on Tuesday found Sen. Bob Menendez guilty on all counts in his federal corruption trial, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer swiftly called on his Democratic colleague to resign."

+ Security Breach: We continue to learn more (and more disturbing) details from the security failure at Trump's Butler rally. Police warned Secret Service of a suspicious person at Trump rally before gunman opened fire. And police were stationed in building Trump gunman shot from. (Did the Secret Service cede too much responsibility to local police?) Meanwhile, The Onion nails the broader story: Investigation Finds Secret Service Failed To Account For Nation’s 393 Million Guns.

+ Feeling Down Ballot: As the Trump news cycle accelerates, the Dem infighting about Biden continues. NYT: Schiff Warned of Wipeout for Democrats if Biden Remains in Race.

+ The Bobby Lobby: "When you feed a baby, Bobby, a vaccination that is like 38 different vaccines, and it looks like it’s meant for a horse, not a, you know, 10lb or 20lb baby, it looks like you’re giving, you should be giving a horse this thing, and do you ever see the size of it? It’s massive and then you see the baby all of a sudden starting to change radically. I’ve seen it too many times." Donald Trump Woos (and Whoas) RFK Jr.

+ Rock Bottom Line: Did I mention the concentration of wealth in today's lead item? "Assets managed by BlackRock hit a record $10.65 trillion in the second quarter."

+ Backpact: "More than a simple school bag, the randoseru is a unique Japanese symbol, reflecting the conformity and consistency that is deeply rooted in the culture." NYT (Gift Article): The Book Bag That Binds Japanese Society. (This is refreshing change from experiencing a society bound by brandname water bottles.)

6

Bottom of the News

This drone video shows what it’s like to climb to Mount Everest’s summit. (I watched the whole thing without the help of supplementary oxygen.)

+ You Don't Need to Tap That: The Two-Finger Rule Farmers Swear by to Pick the Best Watermelon. Holy moly, does this work?