House Speaker Mike Johnson raised concerns about what appeared to be a glaring security breach at a Pennsylvania rally where a shooter attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump. 

Johnson says he’s talked to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about law enforcement’s failure to use drones and other basic security measures to protect Trump as he spoke in Butler County on Thursday evening. 

“I asked Secretary Mayorkas last night, my first question is, ‘Were drones being used in the vicinity?’ I mean, that would be an obvious thing. You would be able to spot someone on a roof,” the GOP leader said during an interview Sunday morning on the Today Show. “He didn’t know when I asked him that question.”

Thomas Matthew Crooks reportedly aimed his rifle at a Secret Service agent who approached him, forcing the agent to retreat before Crooks turned around to fire at Trump.

Johnson said there would be consequences for officials who failed to provide maximum security for Trump. 

“Congress will conduct a full investigation of the tragedy to determine where there were lapses in security,” the speaker warned in a post on X. 

Witnesses say they saw Crooks crawling up on a roof about 400 feet from the stage where Trump stood. Observers said Crooks was carrying a rifle. The rally attendees say they warned the police and Secret Service for at least two to three minutes before Crooks opened fire on the former president.

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Johnson questioned why rally attendees called out the deadly threat while the Secret Service delayed action. 

“We need to know how an individual could be at that elevation that was seen by, apparently, bystanders on the ground,” Johnson said. “How could not that not be noticed by Secret Service? Lots more questions than answers this morning.”

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are calling for the temperature to be turned down regarding political rhetoric in the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

As Washington’s leaders made the rounds on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday morning, a common theme weaved throughout their statements — horror over the harsh rhetoric that they credit for the violence that broke out against Trump.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told NBC’s Kristen Welker that the attempt on the former president’s life didn’t shock him because of the rhetoric that critics of the former president have used against him.

“I wish I could say I was surprised, but I’ve been worried about this for a very, very long time,” Graham said. “The rhetoric is way too hot, but I was just grateful that he made it.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson called the attempted assassination “a horrific act of political violence that ought to be roundly condemned.” Johnson expressed concern over the massive security breach that occurred during Trump’s Pennsylvania rally while warning, “We cannot go on like this as a society.”

Democrats chimed in during their Sunday morning media rounds. Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) worried that the political temperature mirrored political violence in the late 1960s.

“I was a high-school senior when there was an assassination attempt at President Reagan’s life,” Coons remembered.

Ahead of the Republican Convention, which begins on Monday, Coons argued for tighter security, saying, “We need to be more concerned and more diligent than ever in ensuring that our two conventions and the rest of this presidential campaign come off safely and securely.”

Trump will attend the convention as planned this week. In a statement released Sunday morning, the former president urged the country to “stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sounded a similar note as he called for the country to gather together in unified condemnation of violence.

“We’re all Americans,” the independent presidential candidate told Newsnation Saturday evening. “We need to stop hating each other.”

Meanwhile, Coons appeared to mount a thinly veiled attack on Trump during his remarks to NBC. The Democratic senator noted that he was proud to support President Joe Biden because “his tone and leadership as President has been geared toward trying to get us together.”

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Meanwhile, the Independent senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, added his voice to the mix.

“What a democracy is about is not radical rhetoric,” Sanders warned. The senator told NBC that “politics should kind of boring,” calling for an end to the “harsh rhetoric that we have heard for the last number of years.” Sanders alleged he was familiar with political violence, recounting the fire that was started at his Burlington, Vermont, office a few months ago. Shant Michael Soghomonian’s motive for starting the fire remains unknown.

Former President Donald Trump released a statement the day after the assassination attempt against him calling for unity, and confirming that he still plans to speak in Wisconsin at the Republican National Convention.

On Sunday morning, Trump posted the update on Truth Social thanking supporters for their thoughts and prayers as it was “God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.”

“Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers yesterday, as it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening. We will FEAR NOT, but instead remain resilient in our Faith and Defiant in the face of Wickedness. Our love goes out to the other victims and their families. We pray for the recovery of those who were wounded, and hold in our hearts the memory of the citizen who was so horribly killed,” Trump wrote.

The former president urged the country to come together in the wake of the assassination attempt, saying it is “more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win.”

He continued, “I truly love our Country, and love you all, and look forward to speaking to our Great Nation this week from Wisconsin. – DJT “

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The assassination attempt occurred during Trump’s July 13 rally in Pennsylvania. Trump confirmed he was shot in the right ear, and his face was bloodied as the Secret Service rushed him from the rally stage.

On Sunday morning, the FBI identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Crooks was shot dead by the Secret Service on Saturday evening as he took shots at Trump.

As former President Donald Trump‘s campaign kicks off the dust of the Ronna McDaniel days at the Republican National Committee, it is embracing a different strategy to avoid the disaster that the GOP suffered in Arizona four years ago. From developing relationships with conservative grassroots groups to embracing Demcorats’ early ballots initiatives, Republicans are racing to cement a win in the Grand Canyon State this November that is “too big to rig.”

“Team Trump is in full force on the ground in Arizona,” Arizona GOP Chairwoman Gina Swoboda told the Washington Examiner. Her words in July came after criticism the party faced earlier this year for Arizona’s sluggish start to the 2024 election cycle.

During an April 29 episode of The Charlie Kirk Show, Turning Point Action field strategist Matthew Martinez worried the Trump campaign had “zero” election offices in Arizona. Meanwhile, the Democratic campaign had opened two election offices in Arizona, including in Maryvale, a major Latino community in Phoenix, by the end of January.

“We’ll have about 400-500 full-time ballot chasers between Wisconsin and Arizona,” Kirk said. “We should have triple that.”

On the heels of Kirk’s interview, a Washington Post report in early May indicated that the Trump campaign was trimming back campaign resources in swing states, including Arizona. Kim Owens, a Republican operative in Arizona, called the decision “a terrible mistake,” while Swoboda reportedly called Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley to complain that the state was not receiving enough resources.

By July, Swoboda was singing a different tune. “Now, things are definitely different on the ground,” Halee Dobbins, the RNC Arizona state communications director and spokeswoman for Swoboda told the Washington Examiner. The chairwoman said Arizona is equipped with “a field operation of great staff and volunteers dedicated to turning out Arizona voters” for Trump this November.

The Trump campaign is building an initiative centered on the so-called Trump Force 47. It is a grassroots ground game aimed at building out campaign election offices throughout the state, strengthening coordination efforts with the Republican National Committee, and developing an army of volunteers designed to prevent a repeat of Trump’s failed 2020 race.

The Trump campaign now has six election offices in Arizona with more to come later this summer. After having no offices in the state at the end of May, the campaign moved to open its first office in June. Now, there are offices in Casa Grande, Kingman, East Valley, Scottsdale, West Valley, and Tuscon.

At the opening of the Casa Grande office on July 2, Whatley described the effort underway to recruit 5,000 volunteer election observers across the state. In April, the RNC announced an election integrity initiative designed to have over 100,000 volunteers and attorneys across every battleground state.

Whatley’s appearance at the Casa Grande grand opening was no anomaly. The RNC and Arizona GOP have cultivated a close relationship this election cycle. McDaniel’s resignation this spring, following public criticism from Trump, marked a change between the Arizona GOP and the RNC’s strategy to swing Arizona red this November. With Whatley and co-Chairwoman Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law, at the helm, Dobbins says it was clear the two “wanted the RNC and the Trump campaign to be working together, not separately, with the goal of electing Donald Trump as the 47th President this November. Dobbins noted the RNC’s active involvement with Arizona Republicans “is pretty different than other years, where the RNC and the campaign have been kind of separate entities.”

The 2024 campaign is focusing on lessons learned from a crushing loss in 2020, which some Republicans still dispute.

Democrats were the first to realize the appeal of early voting, especially to rural voters, in 2020. Their efforts were key to getting out the vote in Arizona, where Republicans have struggled to engage their base. Four years later, Arizona’s GOP is determined not to repeat the crushing mistakes of the last election cycle.

“We learned a lot from 2020 and we learned that mail-in ballots are just the state of play now,” Dobbins said.

On May 29, the Grand Canyon Times reported that over 50% of Arizona’s registered Democrats are on the state’s Active Early Voter List, compared to 46% of Republicans. Less than two weeks later, the head of American Majority Action, a conservative nonprofit organization that trains, organizes, mobilizes, and equips grassroots infrastructure, told the Grand Canyon Times the GOP was in “an arms race with the left in regards to generating more ballots among mid-to-low propensity voters and partisan voter registration in battleground states like Arizona.”

The RNC is partnering with outside conservative grassroots groups to build a ground game. Organizations such as Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA have become vital Trump allies in smoothing his path to victory in Arizona. When the Trump campaign announced its own election integrity initiative in April, Kirk was featured in a press release announcing the new program, coming after TPUSA had hired hundreds of field staffers and pumped tens of millions into battleground states including Arizona. Through programs such as its “Chase the Vote” initiative, Turning Point has become a powerful partner in the RNC’s goal to ramp up voter turnout and advance election integrity efforts in Arizona. In June, the relationship between the RNC and Turning Point was on full display when Kirk hosted Trump at a “Chase the Vote” event in Phoenix.

During Trump’s remarks at the event, the former President urged Republicans to vote so the election would be “too big to rig.”

Kirk, the founder and executive director of Turning Point USA, backed up the former president’s strategy.

“We are going to make November too big to rig and we are going to overwhelm the ballot boxes,” Kirk said. “There is no path to the White House without Arizona.”

American Majority Action is another organization that has lent a helping hand to the Arizona Republican Party and RNC efforts to promote the mail-in ballot strategy. As early as March, the organization was hard at work, according to Arizona’s District 3 Legislative Republican Committee.

“Through both our texting and our phone calling campaigns, we were able to connect with 13,000 registered Republicans who have expressed interest in receiving mail-out ballots,” the GOP lawmakers stated on X on March 13. “Ballot Chasing with American Majority is a way to win.”

 As June waned, reports indicated that the nonprofit organization is continuing its efforts to push Republicans to vote early in the battleground state.

A good ground game certainly can’t hurt Republicans’ chances this November, but President Joe Biden’s incoherent debate performance might be helping them even more.

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A poll leaked from a Democratic polling firm that showed Biden lost 2 percentage points in Arizona after the June 27 debate. The polling, obtained and reported by Puck, also found Biden losing Arizona by 10 points. Meanwhile, the latest polling by the New York Times shows Trump leading Biden by 5 points.

In 2020, Trump lost Arizona by a razor-thin margin. Biden took the state by some 10,000 votes, flipping a state the Republican presidential candidate won in 2016.

The Democratic Party’s most influential former leaders share huge concerns about President Joe Biden’s reelection bid. 

According to CNN, multiple individuals in contact with former President Barack Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) say the two Democratic elders have spoken with each other about worries their friend is on a losing streak with little hope of winning another four years in the White House. 

Both Obama and Pelosi share a long history with Biden, and that record of deep-rooted relationships with the president could be key to convincing him to relinquish his ambitions for a second term. 

A Pelosi spokesperson did not rebut CNN’s report that Pelosi and Obama have spoken about Biden.

“There is no member of Congress who would have any knowledge of any conversation that Speaker Pelosi would have with President Obama. Anyone who says they do is not speaking the truth,” a spokesperson told the outlet. CNN says it spoke to more than a dozen members of Congress, operatives, and multiple people who have spoken to Obama and Pelosi. 

While publicly, Obama has kept his hands off any approach to herd Biden out of the presidential race, recent reports indicate the former president hasn’t done anything behind the scenes to keep the efforts from moving forward.

George Clooney wrote a scathing essay demanding Biden step out of the race that set off a new firestorm of criticism of the president. It was later reported the actor ran the piece by Obama before sending it to the New York Times. It isn’t clear whether the former president weighed in on the content of the argument, but he also didn’t appear to try and change the actor’s mind about launching the attack.

During a segment on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, host Joe Scarborough continued the allegations that Obama is at work behind the scenes, saying the White House is “deeply resentful” of the top Democrat’s work to undercut his friend’s bid for reelection. 

“What’s going on behind the scenes is the Biden campaign and many Democratic officials do believe that Barack Obama is quietly working behind the scenes to orchestrate this,” host Scarborough said Thursday of the Democratic panic. “Joe Biden is deeply resentful of his treatment under not only the Obama staff but also the way he was pushed aside for Hillary Clinton.”

Scarborough’s claims came after reports Obama raised doubts about Biden’s electability after his stumbling performance during the first presidential debate.

Meanwhile, Pelosi indicated Biden’s adamant vow to stay in the race wasn’t a final decision during a media appearance on Wednesday. 

“It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” she said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe in a less-than-enthusiastic show of support for the commander in chief. “We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short.”

The former House speaker’s words belied the president’s unequivocal decision to stay in the race. 

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Pelosi is facing upheaval within her own ranks as multiple House Democratic members have publicly called for Biden to end his campaign. After the president delivered another shaky performance during a high-stakes press conference Thursday evening, three more House Democrats urged their party leader to drop his reelection bid.

The Washington Examiner reached out to Obama and Pelosi’s teams.

Former Obama adviser David Axelrod weighed in after President Joe Biden‘s “big boy” press conference, knocking the president’s team for ostensibly shielding him from bad news.

“If what he said at the end of his presser is true, it sounds like Biden’s team has not been very candid with him about what the data is showing,” Axelrod noted in a post to X on Thursday evening. “The age issue is a huge and potentially insurmountable concern.”

At the press conference, Biden dismissed concerns about him pooling poorly against former President Donald Trump, largely due to his stumbling performance at last month’s presidential debate.

When a reporter asked him if he would cede control to Vice President Kamala Harris if his team showed him data she fairs better against Trump, he replied, “No, unless they came back and said, ‘There’s no way you can win.’ Me. No one’s saying that. No poll’s saying that.”

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However, just days ago, new polling showed the president losing six critical swing states because of his age and mental state, and Harris appears to be performing better than her boss.

The top Democratic strategist finished off comments on Biden’s remarks by warning that the president’s chances of winning a reelection bid against Trump are “very, very slim.”

The break in the Democratic Party on President Joe Biden’s bid for reelection is playing out on a major left-leaning network as the presidential election heats up in an unprecedented manner.

If the Biden White House has traditionally counted on MSNBC to be a safe haven for the president’s narrative, it is now facing a harsher reality. From congressional leaders to campaign operatives, liberal pundits, and the president himself, the network has hosted a variety of opinions as everyone tries to get through to voters ahead of the 2024 election.

While the Democrats’ political saga is playing out in front of the public from coast to coast, it has largely been on MSNBC that the biggest moments in Biden’s battle to remain on the ticket have played out.

On Monday, President Joe Biden used the network to adamantly shut down rumors he might step aside as the presumptive Democratic nominee. 

“The bottom line here is we’re not going anywhere. I’m not going anywhere,” he told MSNBC’s host Joe Scarborough during a phone call interview. “I’m not letting up, Joe. I’m not letting up even a little bit.”

Two days later, one of the country’s most prominent Democrats took to MSNBC to offer a less enthusiastic commentary on Biden’s reelection bid. During an interview on Wednesday on Morning Joe, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) appeared to give tactic permission to Democrats questioning the viability of a Biden win this November. 

“It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” she said. Pelosi continued to insinuate the president has yet to make a decision on his bid for reelection despite Biden’s fresh and unequivocal vow to stay in the race. “We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short,” she warned as the year marches toward the November 5 election. The California Democrat later rushed to reframe her words, saying her appearance had been mischaracterized. 

Biden “can win in November,” Pelosi told ABC News later in the day. 

Later that day, Nicolle Wallace, one of MSNBC’s top hosts, appeared to side with Democrats questioning the viability of a Biden win. The frequent Biden defender lent her voice to suggest a change at the top of the Democratic ticket would be best for the party. 

After worrying that the Democratic Party’s aging leader is dragging down congressional Wisconsin Democrats, the liberal political commentator implied it is time for Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place as the Democratic nominee. Harris is “magnetic,” Wallace claimed while lamenting she has “chops that don’t often get showcased.”

“Whatever happens next, the polls tell a very clear story about where the voters are on Joe Biden. I wonder what you think is possible if Kamala Harris took that top spot,” Wallace told her audience Wednesday.

MSNBC host Chris Hayes followed suit later Wednesday evening, worrying that Biden’s age “makes him increasingly likely to lose reelection to a Republican candidate,” though he remained perplexed former President Donald Trump, who is just a few years younger, isn’t put under the same scrutiny.

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Biden is set to sit down with NBC’s Lester Holt for an interview next Monday. NBC is the parent company of MSNBC.

Biden is expected to field questions surrounding his mental acuity after his performance during the first presidential debate sent his party into a panic. The president’s stammering replies, incoherent words, and frozen appearance during the June 27 debate set in motion calls for the 81-year-old to step aside and let another candidate lead the party’s bid to retain the White House.

An ex-Senate staffer has come forward with allegations that she was sexually assaulted by a former aide to onetime House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). 

A police report obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle details Zahra Hajee’s accusations against Kevin Ortiz. 

Hajee, a former aide to San Francisco City Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, has also worked for Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA). She claims Ortiz sexually assaulted her in March and April 2021. 

Ortiz denies the allegations, saying through his lawyers that the encounters were consensual. Ortiz is the co-president of the Latinx Democratic Club and was working for Pelosi when he met Hajee in early 2021. While he continues to serve as president of the political club, Ortiz left the Democratic leader’s office in 2022. In an attempt to verify his claims that the relationship was mutual, the former Pelosi aide provided screenshots of text messages that show Hajee repeatedly requesting to meet up with Ortiz. 

This isn’t the first time Ortiz has been accused of inappropriate behavior. The outlet reported that a second woman alleged that Ortiz sexually assaulted her in 2019. She has declined to reveal her identity or file a police report. 

Ortiz has rejected her accusations as well, saying the encounter was consensual and sending her a cease and desist letter, something he also did to Hajee.

In response to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment, a spokesman for Pelosi said the former House speaker’s office does not comment on confidential personnel matters.

Ortiz is one of several San Francisco Democrats who have been accused of inappropriate behavior in recent months. 

Jon Jacobo, reported to run in the same political circles as Ortiz, faces allegations that he raped Sasha Perigo. Ortiz has defended Jacobo against the Bay Area affordable housing advocate’s accusations by sending Perigo a cease and desist letter. 

The Democratic County Central Committee, which governs the city’s local Democratic Party, has become embroiled in a series of scandals. Members, such as Michela Alioto-Pier, have been criticized for supporting those accused of sexual abuse.

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As accusations rock San Francisco Democrats, the DCCC has announced an initiative to create new standards of conduct for party clubs and members. 

The Washington Examiner reached out to the DCCC for comment. 

President Joe Biden’s appearance to voters as “trustworthy” sharply declined after delivering an incoherent performance during the first presidential debate, a new survey revealed. 

Thirty-six percent of people view Biden as “honest and trustworthy,” according to a YouGov poll from this week. That number is a precipitous drop from 46% of voters who felt that way in a March Gallup poll. 

Comparisons between the two surveys show former President Donald Trump has also seen a drop in people who believe the former president is honest, in this case 4%. However, Biden’s campaign has made it a point to attack Trump as dishonest and a threat to democracy, meaning the classification could mean a lot more to the Democratic Party.

Concerns over Biden’s trustworthiness have accelerated after his stumbling presidential debate last month and his subsequent attempts to control the damage.

The YouGov survey shows a combined 58% of voters believe the Democratic Party should either replace Biden as its nominee or remain unsure of what approach the Left should take. Only 42% say they are committed to supporting Biden as the Democratic nominee. 

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As Democrats weigh alternatives to a Biden reelection bid, the YouGov poll shows one of their top replacement picks would lose to Trump in November. 

If Vice President Kamala Harris replaced Biden on the presidential ballot, the survey reports that she would lose 42% to 38%. 

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) attempted to shift the national focus to former President Donald Trump’s connections to notorious sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and away from the Democratic Party’s future.

“We hear a lot from our constituents on different issues,” Lieu said at the news conference Tuesday. “But something I’ve heard that doesn’t seem to be being covered are the Epstein files.”

On Tuesday, Lieu touted court filings alleging Trump flew with, exchanged phone calls, and took numerous photos with Epstein. The conference came as the Biden White House struggles to shut down intraparty squabbles surrounding concerns about the president’s mental acuity.

A spokesman for the Trump campaign called Lieu’s comments part of his “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

“Ted is a total degenerate and loser who continues to beclown himself,” Steven Cheung told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday. “He has let Trump Derangement Syndrome rot his brain and, instead of getting the proper care he so desperately needs, has allowed himself to be the laughingstock of all his colleagues, who secretly joke about his glaring shortcomings.”

Lieu’s press briefing came after Florida Circuit Judge Luis Delgado unsealed hundreds of documents associated with the Epstein case last week. The documents are from a 2006 court case surrounding allegations Epstein raped underage girls.

Epstein was a fixture in Palm Beach, Florida, where Trump enjoyed spending time at his Mar-a-Lago golf course for decades. Trump has long admitted he had a friendship with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s, saying “everybody in Palm Beach” knew the disgraced financier. However, the former president claims an argument between the two around 2004 ended their relationship. 

In 2019, Trump told reporters he hadn’t spoken to Epstein for 15 years due to a “falling out.” 

His words came about 17 years after he told New York Magazine he had known Epstein for 15 years. “Terrific guy,” Trump said in 2002. At the time, a spokesman for former President Bill Clinton also lauded the disgraced financier in remarks to the magazine. Clinton was also named in Epstein documents released at the beginning of 2024. 

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“Jeffrey is both a highly successful financier and a committed philanthropist with a keen sense of global markets and an in-depth knowledge of twenty-first-century science. I especially appreciated his insights and generosity during the recent trip to Africa to work on democratization, empowering the poor, citizen service, and combating HIV/AIDS,” the Clinton spokesman said in a statement to the magazine. 

After being arrested on charges of tracking minors in July 2019, Epstein died in prison a month later due to an alleged suicide. Official reports record his death as a suicide, although critics, including Epstein’s brother and then-U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, worried about “serious irregularities at this facility that are deeply concerning and demand a thorough investigation.”