A midsummer snapshot of an incredibly eventful month

It has been an eventful summer in America, and the last month has been incredible to witness. 

On June 27, Donald Trump and Joe Biden met in a debate; the performance of the 81-year-old president was disastrous and in the days and weeks since then, there has been a steady drip of news stories asking him to withdraw from the race. Nothing he did post-debate assured Americans that he had the energy and stamina to engage in a brutal presidential campaign and the news coverage of his age and infirmities never stopped. His opponent is just three years younger than him, but there has not been a similar avalanche of stories about his age and his infirmities. It is unclear why the age of one of the elderly men running for president is considered newsworthy, and the age of the other has been ignored for the most part. 

Jennifer Schulze, a Chicago-based journalist, did an accounting of the age-related news stories that ran in just one outlet - the New York Times - after the debate up until July 5. She counted 192 stories about Biden's age and debate performance; 13 stories unrelated to his age/debate performance; concurrently, there were 92 stories about Trump (not just about his age.) I agree with Schulze that in this era of "both-sides" coverage, the extremely large number of stories about Biden's age and performance shows unusual bias against the president. 

The unceasing news about Biden's age was interrupted on July 13, when a 20-year-old man, a registered Republican, attempted to assassinate Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. One man, a firefighter, was killed; two others were critically injured. Trump suffered an injury to his ear. (The only medical report released about his injury has come from the unlicensed doctor Ronny Jackson.) The head of the FBI, in testimony to Congress, said it was unclear if Trump was hit by a bullet or by shrapnel. That seems like it is a question that should be cleared up, but for whatever reason, no one who actually treated Trump is going on record about what happened. 

(We know that if Biden released a medical record written by an unlicensed physician who was demoted by the Navy because of his role as provider of a rather large illegal pill distribution network as the White House physician, there would be hell to pay. None of the national news media outlets that repeatedly criticized Biden for the infirmities of his age have called for a release of Trump's official post-assassination medical records. Instead, they shared Ronny Jackson's letter as if it was valid to have an unlicensed doctor who did not treat Trump at the hospital to share this information.) 

The Republican National Convention started just days after the assassination attempt. No mention of their victory over abortion. No discussion of abortion bans. Not much policy was discussed. Trump named JD Vance, newly elected senator and author of Hillbilly Elegy as his vice presidential pick. (My thoughts on Vance's memoir can be found here.) The convention culminated with a lengthy speech by the party's presidential nominee. Reviews were mixed. The Washington Post claimed it was really two speeches: powerful and perplexing. Here is a link to a transcript of Trump's convention speech.

On Sunday, July 21, Joe Biden issued a letter via social media stating that he was withdrawing from the race. Within 48 hours, his Vice President, Kamala Harris, seemingly had sewn up the support needed for her nomination for the presidential spot. 

And last night, Joe Biden made a short speech about why he has withdrawn from the race. Also last night, Donald Trump campaigned in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

Here are some excerpts from Trump's speech last night, taken from WUNC's coverage of the event:

"You know, I was supposed to be nice. They say something happened to me when I got shot — I became nice. And when you are dealing with these people, they are very dangerous people, you can’t be too nice. If you don’t mind, I'm not going to be nice."

"So now we have a new victim to defeat. Lyin' Kamala Harris."

"She is a radical left lunatic who will destroy our country if she ever gets the chance to get into office. We won’t let that happen."

And  here is where Donald Trump calls for replacing military generals with NASCAR drivers and coaches, as shared in a Daily Mail article:

The former president also provided what he thinks could be a solution to addressing national defense failures – firing U.S. Generals and putting NASCAR drivers and football coaches in charge of the Military.

'I've always said, get these guys, I have a lot of friends in this word [NASCAR],' Trump said.

'I said let me use these guys to guide our military a little bit.'

'When you can win so many races, that's O.K. You guide,' he continued. 'Same thing with coaches, you take some of the greatest football coaches, you put them at a table. 'What do you like coach?' Because in its own ways it's not so much really different.'

(You can see him talk about this here – and here is a link to the full speech in Charlotte.) 

Biden took a very different tone last night with an 11 minute speech summarizing his views of the nation and of the presidency. Here is a transcript and here are some excerpts:

"My fellow Americans, I’m speaking to you tonight from behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. In this sacred space, I’m surrounded by portraits of extraordinary American presidents. Thomas Jefferson wrote the immortal words that guide this nation. George Washington, who showed us presidents are not kings. Abraham Lincoln, who implored us to reject malice. Franklin Roosevelt, who inspired us to reject fear.

I revere this office, but I love my country more.

It’s been the honor of my life to serve as your president. But in the defense of democracy, which is at stake, I think it’s more important than any title.

I draw strength and I find joy in working for the American people, but this sacred task of perfecting our union is not about me. It’s about you, your families, your futures. It’s about we the people, and we can never forget that. And I never have.

.....

"America is going to have to choose between moving forward or backward, between hope and hate, between unity and division. We have to decide, do we still believe in honesty, decency, respect, freedom, justice and democracy? In this moment, we can see those we disagree with not as enemies, but as fellow Americans. Can we do that? Does character in public life still matter?

I believe you know the answer to these questions because I know you, the American people, and I know this, we are a great nation because we are a good people.

When you elected me to this office, I promised to always level with you, to tell you the truth. And the truth, the sacred cause of this country, is larger than any one of us, and those of us who cherish that cause cherish it so much, a cause of American democracy itself must unite to protect it." 

.....

"That’s what I’ve done. I ran for president four years ago because I believed, and still do, that the soul of America was at stake. The very nature of who we are was at stake and that’s still the case. America is an idea, an idea stronger than any army, bigger than any ocean, more powerful than any dictator or tyrant.

It’s the most powerful idea in the history of the world. That idea is that we hold these truths to be self-evident. We’re all created equal, endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. We’ve never fully lived up to it, to this sacred idea, but we’ve never walked away from it either and I do not believe the American people will walk away from it now.

In just a few months, the American people will choose the course of America’s future. I made my choice. I made my views known. I would like to thank our great Vice President Kamala Harris. She’s experienced, she’s tough, she’s capable. She’s been an incredible partner to me and a leader for our country. Now the choice is up to you, the American people." 

We are indeed at an inflection point in our history. November will bring a choice for voters. It has been an eventful month, and right now the election has been dramatically changed – the choice is no longer between two elderly men who have both been president. Now the choice is between a former president who is leading in the polls – a man who incited violence at the Capitol the last time he lost – and a younger candidate – a seasoned politician, Biden's current vice president, a biracial woman who advocates for freedom and choice.  

It will be interesting to see how voters make their choice in November.