Attorney General William Barr discusses the shift in DOJ approach to support President Trump’s request to put the citizenship question on the 2020 census; also his support for Robert Mueller if the special counsel should change his mind and not testify on July 17th to the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees.

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One of the more unique aspects of having a genuine “people’s president”, are the unscripted moments when a generally invisible ordinary American is provided the opportunity to share their perspective.  Mr. Bruce Hrobak from Billy Bones Bait and Tackle of Port St. Lucie, did exactly that today in the White House.  [Watch]

[Transcript] President Trump […] And I also signed legislation authorizing $100 million to fight red tide — a big problem that some people don’t know about but, when you do know about it, that means trouble because it is bad — and other toxic algae that damages coastal areas. It’s causing tremendous havoc, and we have a way of straightening it out, and we’ll get it done.
We’re joined today by Bruce Hrobak, owner of Billy Bones Bait ‘N Tackle in Port St. Lucie — a place I know very well — Florida. His business was devastated by toxic algae from Lake Okeechobee.
Bruce, please come up and tell us about what’s happened and what we’re doing for you. Where is Bruce? (Applause.) Bruce. Hi, Bruce. Please.
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Leading from behind, democrat presidential candidate Eric Swalwell becomes the first zero percent member of the clown car to jump out of the race.  Swalwell is expected to make a formal announcement at a press conference this afternoon.
WASHINGTON – […] The Los Angeles Times reported on Monday that Swalwell, who is a close ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and a member of the House Intelligence Committee, is expected to announce he will launch a reelection bid for his fifth term in the lower chamber.
Speculation swirled over the weekend that Swalwell would be putting an end to his campaign after he canceled Independence Day events in New Hampshire last week.
A Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted June 29 to July 1 showed Swalwell polling at zero percent among Democratic primary and caucus voters. (read more)

Gordon Chang appears on Fox News with Charles Payne (filling in for Bartiromo) to discuss the downstream consequences from the G20 meeting between President Trump and Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping.
While he generally frames the picture accurately, lately Chang has been hit or miss.  He accurately outlines how a win/win trade deal is not possible from the perspective of Beijing and their zero-sum outlook; however, he misses on the issues around Huawei; misses the entire hostage dynamic with Kim Jong Un; and then hits again on Hong Kong.

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♦ On China President Trump appears to be working on a complete and total decoupling from the U.S. However, there are steps required in the interim that are in flux (EU and USMCA). Once those matters are resolved we will likely see the decoupling.
♦ On North Korea, just because DPRK state media spouts something doesn’t mean Kim Jong-Un has any control over it.  Beijing has majority influence over DPRK officials.
♦ On Hong Kong, after the Kim hostage rescue; and while the China decoupling is underway; we can expect Hong Kong to be a larger part of Trump’s Indo-Pacific initiative.
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One of the best testimonials to President Trump’s pragmatic perspective is his ability to rise above the ridiculous partisan political attacks and look at issues from a non-political solution-driven perspective.
In the latest example California Governor Gavin Newsom has been antagonizing the administration yet outlines how President Trump, a builder-in-chief, immediately called him and expressed his full commitment to helping California recover from two serious earthquakes that hit the state in two consecutive days. After Newsom toured some of the damaged areas he spoke to reporters at a press briefing.
Governor Newsom said he and President Trump talked about the challenges California has recently face, including two devastating wildfires just six months ago. “There’s no question we don’t agree on everything, but one area where there’s no politics, where we work extremely well together, is our response to emergencies”, Newsom said. “He’s committed in the long haul, the long run, to help support the rebuilding efforts” the governor said of President Trump.

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Acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Ken Cuccinelli, battles through the manipulative ‘open-border’ narrative of CBS Margaret Brennan to discuss ICE removals, border conditions, and asylum laws:

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How the heck did never-Trump leader Ken Cuccinelli end up with a position in this administration? This is the same guy who tried to lead a 2016 convention effort to change the rules and remove Donald Trump as the Republican nominee.
ADD: After thinking about it, this series of Sunday talk appearances is likely a trial run to test Cuccinelli and see if he has genuinely had a ‘come-to-MAGA‘ change in outlook.
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The latest National Quinnipiac Poll of Democrat presidential candidates reflects a significant surge by Kamala Harris, a static position for Elizabeth Warren, and a slight drop for Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.

Kamala Harris went from 7% in April to 20% in July. Elizabeth Warren went from 15% in April to 14% in July.  Joe Biden went from 24% in April to 22% in July.  Bernie Sanders went from 16% in April to 13% in July. That’s the top four.
Certainly Harris seems to be the biggest winner from the first debate; however, the biggest loser is not Joe Biden.  In April -at the time of his campaign launch- Pete Buttigieg was at 14%, now he’s down to 4%.  Buttigieg is the biggest loser.  As anticipated, all other candidates are essentially irrelevant.
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This is sad…. hopefully those around him -who care- will stop this soon; before it gets embarrassing for him.   Former Vice-President Joe Biden appears on CNN for a friendly interview about his current candidacy.  Unfortunately what follows is an exhibition in Biden’s growing cognition issues.
Mr. Biden, referencing his position that Russia was meddling in the Brexit, U.S. and EU elections in 2015 and 2016, says those examples would not have happened under his watch:

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This is only one snippet of the interview. However, even in this short snippet it’s obvious something is wrong. Candidate Biden is losing his ability to cognitively compartmentalize multiple aspects of a conversation simultaneously.
Biden will not be the presidential nominee of the 2020 Democrats. That’s clear now.
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National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow appears on Fox News to discuss the June jobs report, current Federal Reserve policy, the Trump administration’s trade negotiations with China and former Reagan Economist Art Laffer receiving the Medal of Freedom.
On the China front there’s a weird, seemingly disconnected, dynamic appearing at the surface level within China.  The position of Chairman Xi Jinping and Vice-Premier Liu He seems unusually separated from Beijing messaging (more on that later). Here’s Kudlow:

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Justin Amash, aka “Justin China”, chooses the Fourth of July to announce his political departure from the Republican party.   No big surprise here; and choosing the Washington Post as the venue for his proclamation is a cherry atop his insufferable nonsense.

Justin China is specifically at risk from the ‘America First’ trade and economic policy of President Donald Trump.  [Detailed Here]  With extensive family financial holdings dependent on Chinese manufacturing there is a specific level of transparent self interest.
Additionally, as President Trump noted in his response, Justin was likely to lose a republican primary challenge from within his district that was going to see him removed from office.  His attempt to re-position his political defense while decrying the “partisanship of politics” is the height of hypocrisy.
Good riddance.
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