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Al’s Afternoon Tea: Former Trump Rivals Sing High Praises, While Musk Puts California in Rearview Mirror

Plus former Never Trumper-turned-Trump running mate J.D. Vance delivers his acceptance speech.

By Al Perrotta Published on July 17, 2024 •

Al Perrotta

Welcome back in for Al’s Afternoon Tea as we serve up and sample some of the latest headlines.

RNC: Former Foes Sing Trump’s Praises

Night Two of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee featured regular people telling the gut-wrenching stories of how the Biden administration’s indifference to crime and the border has shattered their lives.

It also demonstrated the party’s newfound unity behind Donald Trump, as the former president was, in The Associated Press’s words “feted by his former rivals.” Who doesn’t want to be feted? (What a fun word.)

 Nikki Haley, who brutalized Trump only months ago during the primary season, declared in that schoolteacher cadence of hers, “I fully endorse Donald Trump. Period.” She strongly urged her supporters still suspicious of him to climb aboard the Trump Train. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who a year or so ago was widely thought to be destined to topple Trump for the nomination, was singing his praises with more enthusiasm than he sang his own during the campaign.

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Old bitter rivals are now friends. Sen. Marco Rubio, whom Trump in 2016 dubbed “Little Marco,” paid emotional tribute to him. And then there’s Sen. Ted Cruz, whose 2016 battle with Trump became so bruising that he refused to endorse Trump even at the convention. Remember the rancor that night? Cruz certainly sang a different tune last night.

Which gets to tonight’s big speech: GOP Vice Presidential Nominee J.D. Vance. Eight years ago, Vance was as vocal a Never Trumper as you could find on the Republican side of the aisle. Tonight, he speaks as Donald Trump’s running mate and heir apparent.

It’s not quite as big a transformation as Bruce Jenner to Caitlin Jenner, but close.

Who knows? The way it’s going, by the end of Trump’s second term even the ladies of The View might be wishing him a tearful adieu.

Assassination Attempt Update

Turns out would-be assassin Thomas Crooks didn’t like Trump or politicians. A former classmate recalls Crooks mocking him for being a Hispanic who supported Trump. “Well, that’s kind of stupid.” Vincent Taomina told Fox News Digital. Crooks “did not like our politicians,” was passionate about politics, and was a “know it all.” “He would say it in a tone like, ‘I’m better than you.’”

More ominously, Taomina says Crooks ran with a crowd thought to be behind a threat to shoot up their school, and suspects Crooks himself was leading the way. He also believes someone in Crooks’s circle must have had some idea what he was planning.

The Department of Homeland Security Inspector General is now investigating the Secret Service’s colossal failure Saturday. It’s all well and good, but a real investigation has to be conducted by an independent, impartial body. And I’m not talking about Joe Biden’s idea of an “independent” review.  The Republican Congress is also going to investigate, with House Speaker Mike Johnson calling today on Fox News for Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign. He also announced the creation of a special task force.

The U.S. Senate was scheduled to receive an unclassified briefing on the shooting from the FBI and Secret Service today at the request of Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

We hope the first question will be: “The roof was too slanted? Really?!?!”

Joe Biden Wants to Reshape the Supreme Court and Convince the NAACP He’s Black

In what even MSNBC’s Chuck Todd says reeks of “desperation,” Joe Biden vowed yesterday to try to reshape the Supreme Court. Or to put it more bluntly, change Article III of the Constitution. He didn’t outright call for packing the court, but wants to install term limits, institute ethics reforms for the Court, and push for a constitutional amendment to overturn its recent decision on presidential immunity.

Probably not the smartest idea for a president who’s been running a human- and child-smuggling operation and whose ignoring of immigration law has led directly to the deaths of Americans — but nobody ever accused Biden of being the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Biden also displayed his incredible lack of self-awareness. “It’s time for an important conversation in this country,” he told the NAACP. “Our politics has gotten too heated.” And then proceeded to yell about and slander Trump — for example, accusing him of wanting to sic the National Guard on peaceful George Floyd protesters. He was deliberately evoking the image of police going after Civil Rights marchers in the 1960s.

At almost the identical time Biden was talking about politics being too heated, his campaign director insisted the Biden campaign’s own rhetoric isn’t changing. 

Incidentally, it is nearly impossible for Biden to speak publicly without inventing some portion of his biography to try to develop rapport with listeners. Yesterday, before the NAACP, he repeated another of his fables: Claiming he started college at Delaware State. Delaware State is a historically black university. The school says there’s no record of him having attended. 

I wonder, when he hangs out on the sand near his Rehoboth Beach pad, does he claim to be seagull?

Let’s close this.

All MY X’s Live in Texas

Elon Musk announced he is moving X and SpaceX operations out of California to the Lone Star State. SpaceX is heading to Starbase, Texas, while X is moving its headquarters to Austin.

Musk ain’t heading to the Lone Star State for the barbecue. He says the “final straw” was California Gov. Gavin Newsom signing a new law that prohibits local school districts from passing rules requiring administrators to inform parents if their child wants to transition genders. Newsom quietly signed the law while the nation’s attention was focused on the Trump assassination attempt.

The entrepreneurial titan listed another reason he’s loading up the ol’ U-Haul.

On the Stream Menu

Nancy Flory’s new edition of “Ripple Effects” is out: “Faith Leaders Call for Unity and Prayer After Assassination Attempt on Trump.”

Did you catch Wanda Alger’s “God’s Message to President Trump”? A huge number of our social media followers have.

 

Al Perrotta is The Stream’s Washington bureau chief, coauthor with John Zmirak of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration, and coauthor of the counterterrorism memoir Hostile Intent: Protecting Yourself Against Terrorism.

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