The last six weeks in American politics have been more tumultuous than anything I can remember in my lifetime. If you have been napping, here’s a rundown of the headline events.
On June 27, Donald Trump debated Joe Biden on live television. The debate was disastrous for Biden. It showed that he’s not mentally sharp enough to run for re-election. Less than 12 hours after the debate, the Supreme Court issued its decision in the Loper Bright case, which effectively ended Chevron deference and will thus weaken the power of the administrative state.
On July 13, in Butler, Pennsylvania, Trump was shot in the ear, narrowly escaping an assassin’s bullet. On July 21, in a message posted on Twitter — not on the White House website — Biden announced he was dropping out of the presidential race.
On July 24, Biden addressed the country from the Oval Office to say he won’t seek re-election. But he didn’t explain why he was quitting. He did say he will keep “speaking out to protect our kids from gun violence, our planet from the climate crisis. It is the existential threat.”
On July 26, former president Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, endorsed Harris for president. It appears the Obamas were behind what journalist Oliver Wiseman at The Free Press dubbed “the great Democratic switcheroo” and what others have called “a quiet coup.” With their endorsement, it became clear that Vice President Kamala Harris would be the Democratic nominee for president, even though not a single American voted for her to get that spot during the primaries.
August 5, the Democratic Party closed its pre-convention online voting by party delegates. The voting makes the upcoming Democratic Convention in Chicago little more than a formality and cements Harris’ position as the nominee to run against Trump. And, of course, all of this tumult has occurred against the backdrop of Russia’s war of attrition in Ukraine, Israel’s bitter war against Hamas in Gaza, the threat of a broader war that could include Iran and Lebanon, and just last week, a plunging stock market and the specter of a major recession.
Even though Harris has not released a climate platform, she has already garnered the support of the big climate NGOs, including the League of Conservation Voters, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Clean Energy for America, Friends of the Earth, Center for Biological Diversity, Food and Water Watch, Clean Water Action, and Climate Hawks Vote.
Read the rest of this piece at Robert Bryce Substack.
Robert Bryce is a Texas-based author, journalist, film producer, and podcaster. His articles have appeared in a myriad of publications including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Forbes, Time, Austin Chronicle, and Sydney Morning Herald.
Photo: The White House via Flickr under U.S. Government Work.
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