AP Photo/Susan Walsh

Despite a torrent of calls for him to step aside in the media, “serious” discussions (according to Rep. Jamie Raskin) going on within the party, and disastrous new polling showing 72 percent of Americans believe he should not be running in the 2024 election, President Joe Biden’s family is reportedly urging him to stay the course.

According to The New York Times, Biden’s family wants the president to remain in the race — with Hunter Biden being one of the “strongest voices” in support of the president standing pat.

“One of the strongest voices imploring Mr. Biden to resist pressure to drop out was his son Hunter Biden, whom the president has long leaned on for advice, said one of the people informed about the discussions, who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to share internal deliberations,” wrote Times reporters Katie Rogers and Peter Baker. “Hunter Biden wants Americans to see the version of his father that he knows — scrappy and in command of the facts — rather than the stumbling, aging president Americans saw on Thursday night.”

The Biden family is also reportedly chucking campaign staff under the bus for the president’s performance in Thursday night’s debate. Specifically, the Biden family was said to be focused on longtime allies Anita Dunn, Bob Bauer and Ron Klain — questioning everything about their debate strategy from their emphasis on statistics to the president’s appearance.

From the report:

Members of Mr. Biden’s family were likewise said to be focused on the president’s staff, including Ms. Dunn, a White House senior adviser, and her husband, Mr. Bauer, the president’s personal attorney, who played Mr. Trump during debate rehearsals.

They were asking why Mr. Klain, the former White House chief of staff who ran the preparations, would in their view allow him to be overloaded with statistics, and they were angry that Mr. Biden, who arrived for the debate in Atlanta with a summer tan, was made up to look pale and pallid, said one of the people, who has been in touch with several members of the family.

The new article from the Times comes on the heels of NBC’s report that Biden planned to consult with his family during Sunday’s visit to Camp David (which was scheduled prior to Thursday’s debate). In a sharp contrast from the Joe Biden who visited an Atlanta-area Waffle House after the debate, the president reportedly participated in a photo shoot with celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz during his Sunday sojourn to the secluded presidential retreat.

CBS’ Margaret Brennan cut off Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) after he attacked the media during an interview on Sunday.

Speaking with the Ohio Senator and VP hopeful on Face the Nation, Brennan called out false claims made by former President Donald Trump during Thursday’s debate.

“Mr. Trump falsely claimed states are passing legislation to execute babies,” Brennan said. “I think you know that killing people is illegal in every state. He falsely claimed that the Speaker of the House at the time turned down 10,000 soldiers that he had offered to keep the peace ahead of January 6 — something his own Acting Secretary of Defense testified to Congress did not happen. If he has such a strong platform, why make false claims?”

Vance, in response, went after the fourth estate.

“I think the media is running interference on a lot of this stuff,” Vance said. “We all know, and Nancy Pelosi herself has admitted on camera, that she could have requested more National Guard troops, she bears some responsibility for the fact that they weren’t there at the Capitol. We know that the multiple Democratic governors and states and even some Democratic senators and congressmen have tried to pass laws that would effectively legalize abortion up until the moment of birth. And most importantly, we know that the media seems totally uninterested, in fact-checking Joe Biden from any of the number of false claims that he made–”

Brennan cut off Vance’s broadsides against the media.

“You know, I lost track, sir,” Brennan said bluntly. “I’ve been told the media is on every single side of this and everything’s our fault.”

The Face the Nation moderator tried to shift gears, but Vance reiterated his criticism of the the press.

“Joe Biden made multiple statements of falsehood during the debate,” Vance said. “And a lot of folks in the media, yes, seemed totally uninterested in fact-checking him.”

The senator added, “we’ve trained this new media cycle where folks are trying to run cover. Look, the American people saw what they saw. Trump can do the job, Biden can’t.”

Brennan noted that she challenged Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) — a Biden surrogate — during the previous segment.

Watch above, via CBS.

MSNBC host Jen Psaki defended her old boss President Joe Biden during the opening monologue of her Sunday show but noted that questions about replacing him are “valid.”

During Sunday’s Inside With Jen Psaki, the former White House press secretary conceded that calls for the president to bow out of the race are not “going away.”

Media pundits and some Democrats have called on Biden to step away from the 2024 race against Donald Trump based on his performance at CNN’s debate earlier this week. Biden struggled to give coherent answers on important policy issues and appeared confused during parts of the debate.

Psaki deemed the calls for the president to be “valid” but added that his campaign “seem to quite invested in the fight to keep going.”

Joe Biden had a very bad night on Thursday. There is no one that Democratic lawmakers, not Biden campaign officials, not Joe Biden himself, who would tell you that he had a good night or they shouldn’t tell you that. And remember, the biggest concern about the president from the moment this reelection campaign started was about his age and his ability to campaign effectively. The campaign wanted to have a debate early to shake up the race and silence those concerns. Instead, the president made them much louder, and his performance, or lack thereof, at many moments, also completely overshadowed what was a complete torrent of lies from Donald Trump, but some crazy language.

So no, not a good night for the Biden campaign. And what came next was a full scale freakout inside several factions of the Democratic Party. My old boss, David Plouffe, who I’m going to talk to in just a minute, and is one of the smartest political minds in the country, called it a Defcon 1 moment that night. And he was right. It was. I mean, within the first 10 minutes of that debate, the question was being asked here in Washington and Capitol Hill, offices and group chats all over my phone and editorial meetings across the country: Whether Joe Biden should carry on as the Democratic nominee.

And our job is not to ignore those questions because they are real, they are valid, and they aren’t going away. Today, the president is at Camp David with his family for a photo shoot. The trip was pre-planned and announced a week ago, and honestly did not raise any alarm bells to me. But its existence has fueled a lot of speculation about what they might discuss, given how close his family and how important his family’s to him. And the speculation is not going to stop anytime soon. But right now, it’s also important to remember there is no real indication that Joe Biden plans to step aside, and he and the campaign seem to be quite invested in the fight to keep going.

Watch the clip above via MSNBC.

A prominent House Democrat told MSNBC there is a “serious conversation” ongoing among Democrats about replacing President Joe Biden as the party’s presidential nominee.

Appearing on MSNBC’s Velshi on Sunday, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) revealed there are discussions taking place about the status of the presumptive Democratic nominee.

“Obviously, there was a big problem with Joe Biden’s debate performance, and there is also just a tremendous reservoir of love for Joe Biden in our party,” Raskin said. “So this makes it a difficult situation for everybody, but there are very honest and serious and rigorous conversations happening at every level of our party, because it is a political party and we have differences in point of view.”

The congressman added, “we’re having a serious conversation about what to do.”

Later on in his response, Raskin elaborated specifically on the possibility of President Biden not being the party’s standard bearer.

“One thing I can tell you is that regardless of what President Biden decides, our party is going to be unified, and our party also needs him at the very center of our deliberations and our campaign,” Raskin said. “And so whether he’s the candidate or someone else is the candidate, he is going to be the keynote speaker at our convention. He will be the figure that we rally around to move forward, and beat the forces of authoritarianism and reaction in the country.”

Watch above, via MSNBC.

X.com/@JenniferJJacobs

President Joe Biden met with campaign advisers while in the Hamptons for two fundraisers on Saturday, CNN reported, and his motorcade was met with calls for his exit from the campaign, as a group of people held signs when the motorcade passed by, according to pool reports.

Biden has faced continual fallout within his own party since Thursday’s CNN debate with Donald Trump, many in the party and in left-leaning media calling for him to step aside, including the New York Times editorial board and longtime Democratic strategist James Carville, who said that Biden “won’t” be the nominee.

Washington Post reporter Tyler Pager reported for the pool on Saturday that, as the motorcade as making its way from stop to stop in the Hamptons it passed “a group of people holding signs” calling for him to leave the race.

Among the reported signs were ones that read, “Please drop out for U.S.”, “Thank you next”, “Step down for democracy”, and “We love you but it’s time.”

UPDATE: Photos have now been posted on social media showing some of the signs.

"Step down for DEMOCRACY!"
“THANK YOU! NEXT…"
"PLEASE DROP OUT FOR U.S."
"WE LOVE YOU BUT IT'S TiME"

Photo by @AmandaGordon along Biden motorcade route in the Hamptons pic.twitter.com/WyyRxHOAWC

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) June 29, 2024

CNN’s Ariette Saenz, in her report for CNN Newsroom With Fredricka Whitfield on Saturday, also reported that the president had a “campaign meeting with his campaign co-chair” as the DNC separately held a strategy meeting that was added to the schedule on Friday amid fallout from the debate.

That call was not open for Q&A and had the Zoom chat function turned off, according to some who were on the call, and ended without any breaking news or any reported shift in strategy or focus for the Democrats in 2024 or regarding the presidential campaign in particular, despite the growing discontent among many top Democratic pundits and strategists. And, CNN reported, fears spreading among top Democratic donors about Biden’s ability to get the job done and win against Trump in November.

Watch the clip above via CNN.

AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

Former President Donald Trump complained that President Joe Biden’s “poor performance” at this week’s CNN presidential debate overshadowed his “fantastic” showing.

Biden received heavy criticism from members of his own party due to his debate performance, leading to many Democrats publicly and privately calling for him to step back from the race. During the debate, the president struggled to answer questions coherently and had a horsed voice.

The New York Times editorial board on Friday called for Biden to step aside from the race and let another Democrat run against Trump before the DNC convention. The former president took a victory lap on Truth Social over Biden’s debate struggles, but noted that it overshadowed his own “fantastic” performance.

Trump wrote, “Strange things happen in big time politics, and believe me, this is big time politics! During my debate on Thursday night with Crooked Joe Biden, the worst President in the history of our Country, and the person that is illegally, and strictly for political gain, trying to put me in jail, I watched a man, first hand, ‘CHOKE’ under tremendous pressure, the likes of which he has never seen before.”

He added, “The strain of the illegality being used by his ‘Injustice’ Department, the FBI, local Attorney Generals, and D.A.’s, have put an additional strain on him. FAKE NEWS CNN just announced that, at 51,300,000 viewers, it was the highest rated show in the history of CNN – and that doesn’t include other places it was shown”

In a follow-up post, Trump claimed that his performance was heralded by media pundits, claiming he “had had the greatest debate performance” in the history of presidential debates.

“As I walked off the stage on Thursday night, at the end of the highly anticipated ‘Debate,’ anchors, political reports and all screamed that I had had the greatest debate performance in the long and stories history of Presidential Debates,” Trump continued. “The all said, effectively, “Trump was fantastic!'”

“But by Friday evening it was all about the poor performance of Crooked Joe and now so much about how well I did,” he noted. “Oh well, that’s the way it is but, importantly the result is the same!!!”

President Joe Biden’s campaign trolled James Carville on Saturday after the Democratic strategist predicted Biden will not be on the ballot in November.

The president made a poor showing in Thursday’s presidential debate with Donald Trump, with Biden tripping over his words several times while also declaring, “We finally beat Medicare.” Biden’s performance was so bad, that liberal cable news pundits suggested he be replaced. The New York Times even called for him to drop out.

In a report published by Axios on Saturday, Carville predicted Biden will not be on the Democratic ticket.

“I never thought this was a nifty idea,” he said. “He doesn’t have advisers. He has employees.”

Paraphrasing a famous economist, he added, “That which can’t continue… won’t.”

The Biden campaign responded by texting supporters with a note purporting to be from Carville.

“Hi, it’s James Carville,” it began. “I need you and Democrats everywhere to make a contribution to the Biden-Harris campaign ASAP. Help them defeat Donald Trump.”

The text included a link to a fundraising webpage.

Tyler Pager of the Washington Post reached out to Carville about the message to ask for his reaction.

“Of all the glitches they made, I guess this is pretty minor. It didn’t bother me as much as the debate,” he said. “It’s kind of weird to see your name go out to half a million people.”

Carville has made no secret of the fact that he thinks Biden should not have run again.

“It isn’t the choice I was crazy about,” he said earlier this month. “I thought that President Biden should not run for re-election…But he did — it’s him and Trump — and that’s where I am.”

CNN’s Scott Jennings compared Joe Biden’s reelection campaign to the Titanic and David Axelrod, an ex-Obama operative, wondered how a decision to stay in the presidential race might affect his legacy during a panel discussion on Friday.

“I don’t think they’re [Democrats] going to replace him [Biden. I was thinking, I didn’t sleep much last night because I’m so worried about the president,” began Jennings. “And I’m worried about what we’ve been told about the president by the White House, the White House press secretary, his campaign. We’ve been told a lot of lies by a lot of Democrats and a lot of people on the government payroll about his fitness for office.”

Then he dove into his analogy:

I was staying up overnight thinking about the movie Titanic and specifically the string quartet that was playing on the deck. They’re going to ride it out, and they’re going to play the music, the people around him, and this ship is going to sink, and they’re going to have no one to blame for Donald Trump coming back but themselves. It is squarely on their shoulders.

Axelrod nodded along as Jennings spoke, adding that maybe the Jaws theme would be even more appropriate.

Then he suggested that Biden’s legacy might depend on his forthcoming decision about whether to stay in the race.

“I think this is something he needs to consider and those around him need to consider: What does he want his legacy to be? He has a record he’s proud of, I think justifiably so. He did save the country back in 2020 from Trump, and we saw what happened in the aftermath that underscored how important that was,” argued Axelrod. “But the question is: If he then becomes a vehicle by which a very unpopular Donald Trump, who, by the way, did not do particularly well last night, becomes president again, what does that do to his legacy?

Watch above via CNN.

Every year, my stone fruit trees sprout a comforting number of cherries, plums, and peaches. But by the time I should be harvesting, 90% of it is gone. It’s as if I can hear the birds laughing at me. For every perfect strawberry, there are four that have gotten hit by pill bugs before they ripened. Our fruit is highly susceptible to local foraging wildlife, bugs, and even sunburn. Here are all the ways you can protect your fruit so it’s there for you when it’s time to harvest. 

Gauze your plants

In order to get fruit, you need pollination. But once that pollination occurs, and you have unripened fruit on your trees or shrubs, you can cover it to protect it. If it’s an entire tree, you can shroud it with a veil, but for individual fruits, you can also use gauze bags specifically for this purpose. The gauze allows light through, but not bugs or birds. I prefer the bags because they’re less likely to trap pollinators or birds. I have started using the bags on my grapes because I found it made them far easier to harvest. You simply plucked the bags away, with the grapes already contained. You can protect your perfect figs or apples, too, using this method. So far, I’ve been highly pleased with the success rate and at the end of the season, I wash the bags. 

Kaolin clay on your fruit trees

You can make a slurry of kaolin (a benign powder of refined clay) and spray your fruit trees with it. The clay coats the fruit in a harmless coating that deters pests by disguising the fruit. Smart bugs who can still find the fruit are going to become more occupied with grooming those clay particles off of themselves and will eventually give up and leave. The benefits don’t end there: The kaolin protects the fruit from sunburn, too. This method is more labor intensive, because you have to spray once a week to build up a suitable layer of clay. Since this method can deter the apple maggot, plum curculio, codling moth, European apple sawfly, cucumber beetle, oriental fruit moth, tufted apple bud moth, white apple leafhopper, and pear psylla, I’m going to try it for the first time next year on the apple and pear trees that bear too much fruit to sleeve in gauze. 

Distract and deter for strawberries

When bugs aren’t trying to worm into strawberries from below, birds are trying to get to them from above. The birds are easily distracted by red rocks the size of strawberries, painted the same color red, spread around your berry patch. I’m amazed each year at how effective this low-effort method is. Deterring bugs, however, is a little harder. Pill bugs can be deterred by diatomaceous earth (a finely crushed plankton)—but although it’s organic, I try to avoid using it because it can harm beneficial insects in the soil, too. I’ve resorted to elevating the berries to eliminate the problem. Every spring, as soon as the berries start to produce runners, I add a hefty amount of straw to the berry bed, so the berries will sit on top of the straw once they ripen. I’ve also started to plant most of my berries in vertical planters, so they hang, rather than sit on the ground. These two methods have greatly increased my fruit yields. 

Shade cloth to avoid sunburn

Sunburn has become a bigger problem in recent years due to heat domes and plants that are not prepared for that kind of prolonged direct sunlight and heat. The most effective way to protect plants is to create an overstory and understory, so your berries (the understory) are protected by trees overhead (overstory). If you can’t do this, it’s time to create some trellises or temporary structures from which to hang shade cloth. This UV-blocking fabric allows airflow but blocks out a percentage of the UV from the sun (it comes in varying degrees of UV blocking). It doesn’t harm the fruit in any way, so long as it’s not on the fruit, but hung above it, creating shade. 

Plant sacrificial fruit

Though I have many blueberry bushes, I started with one large one, and I made an agreement with the birds. “You get the top; I get everything else." Now I have enough berry plants around the property that there’s plenty to share. Planting pollination stations with native berries will be a distraction for the local wildlife population. 

Traps and beneficial insects

Each kind of fruit has natural predators, and they likely make traps for those insects. Check your nursery for them—they’re usually cardboard and sticky, and come with a specific pheromone. They can be hung in the area of your fruit and be changed out every so often. You can also consider beneficial insects, where you purchase the predators of the problem pest, introduce them to your garden and hope they want to stay. 

MSNBC is set to host a live political event shortly after Labor Day, and if imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery, then Fox News should be red-faced with gratitude for how closely this strategy—and tagline—mirrors its own.

News broke earlier this week that MSNBC will host a live event at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on September 7th, allowing obsessive viewers of the progressive-leaning channel to see their favorite network stars in person. And if the event, billed as Democracy 2024, sounds familiar, it’s because Fox News has been using that precise tagline for its general election coverage, evidenced by the promo embedded above.

Mediaite’s write-up of the MSNBC press release includes the following details:

The network is hosting an interactive event in Brooklyn on Sept. 7 that will feature MSNBC’s biggest names discussing November’s presidential election for attendees. The event will take place at the Brooklyn Academy of Music at 7 p.m.

MSNBC Live creative director Luke Russert, the son of Tim Russert, will moderate two sessions focused on the election. The first will feature MSNBC stars Jen Psaki, Chris Hayes, Joy Reid, Alex Wagner, Andrea Mitchell, and Katy Tur leading a discussion on the election and the “critical stretch of the campaign.”

Steve Kornacki will also be at the first session breaking down the latest polling data for the audience as he does on the network, always with an election map and stacks upon stacks of paper accompanying him.

Now, the idea of being in a large theater in Downtown Brooklyn filled with MSNBC obsessives is every bit as freaky to me as going to The Villages for a live taping of Fox Nation’s Patriot Awards, though I admit to becoming misanthropic in a large crowd of precisely like-minded people.

And while there are few terms to work with that sum up the political year that we are in better than “Democracy” and the year that we are in, taking a long-established tagline used by a competitor is a pretty clumsy move, sure to borrow mockery and complaints from said competitor. To wit, a Fox News insider ridiculed the move, saying, “This reeks of MSNBC’s usual desperation but sadly not surprising given they’re incapable of having an original thought.”

Of course, it’s newsworthy that MSNBC is leveraging their most adulated talent into a live event. However, the strategy reeks a little of the “conference revenue stream” tactic intended to save magazines with newfound revenue. (It did not.) Fox News started hosting live events five years ago in 2019, and it appears to have successfully launched its sponsor-friendly Patriot Award franchise. One can see what MSNBC is getting at here as cable news ratings continue declining, even if it is a rip-off.

However, MSNBC’s apparent flouting of any respect for a long-established tagline by a competitor for their own game suggests that programming executives are bereft of original ideas and are left to copy the homework of their more successful competitors.

Imagine if Fox News launched a new morning show hosted by former House Republican turned contributor Jason Chaffetz called “Morning Chafe” as a direct competitor to Morning Joe. That would receive deserved mockery (outside the talcum powder industry), and for good reason! It’s a stolen idea, not unlike Mac and Me being a McDonald’s sponsored rip-off of E.T.

Bread is the one food that never lets me down. It’s always filling, delicious, and the variety offered around the globe always keeps it interesting. One of my favorite breads is the pudgy gua bao bun, and if you haven’t already, you should definitely add this one to your weekly rotation.

What are gua bao (buns)?

The gua bao (additionally transliterated as koah-pau, gua-pao, or simply called a bao bun) is a small wheat flour-based bread originating from China. The word “bao” already means “bun,” so similar to "chai tea," adding the redundant word “bun” at the end is more to help English speakers recall what it is. You might notice other types of buns or dumplings with the word “bao” on restaurant menus with or without the follow up of “bun.”

The special thing about it, in my fanatical bread-eating opinion, is its shape and cooking method. Gua bao are made from fairly typical bread ingredients: wheat flour, yeast, baking powder, sugar, salt, and milk. But instead of baking them at an aggressive 400 F to 500 F in a dry environment like a lot of Western breads, they steam at a much gentler temperature of 212 F. As far as shape is concerned, instead of a round ball like a dinner roll, gua bao are flattened into a long oval shape that’s then folded in half. What you see looks kind of like the face of a sock puppet. But fluffier, of course, and far more appetizing.

Where can you get gua bao?

While you can absolutely make them at home, I usually don't. Not because it’s hard to do, but because it’s easy for me to buy them pre-made. (But if you’d like to take a crack at it, here’s a recipe you can try.) I buy them frozen from Asian grocery stores. They’re affordable, and taste great. 

To reheat them, follow the package directions first and foremost. If there are no instructions, or it’s in a language you can’t read, you can technically re-steam them on the stove, but I usually just use the microwave. Pop one or two of the buns on a microwave-safe plate, and cover it with a damp paper towel. Microwave it in 15 second bursts, checking on it in between. It’ll only take 30 seconds or less.

How to eat gua bao

The steam creates a special sort of texture for a roll. It develops a shiny, slightly tacky skin, and the interior crumb is tight and airy. Gua bao are mild in flavor, making them the perfect vehicle for a wide array of flavors, and the soft texture invites a little bit of crunch in the fillings. The resulting morsel is the perfect size for picking up with one hand and scarfing down in three or four bites. 

Usually you’ll see them at restaurants stuffed with succulent braised meat, julienned carrots, cucumber, and a sprinkle of crushed peanuts. This is definitely something worth replicating at home. However, if that’s not an enticing option, they’re very versatile. You can stuff them with anything, sweet or savory. Try the gua bao as an alternative hot dog bun, scoop in some cheesy scrambled eggs, or sandwich in some crisp nutritional yeast-coated tofu. Stuff it with barbecued pulled pork, fried chicken, or Thai fried bananas. Put any unused buns in a container and store them in the freezer, because just like most breads, gua bao freeze spectacularly well. 

(File Photo by: zz/Dennis Van Tine/STAR MAX/IPx)

Nate Silver, the elections guru and statistical expert who founded FiveThirtyEight, has come out with his forecasting model for the 2024 presidential election, which suggests that former President and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is favored to beat President Joe Biden in a rematch of their showdown four years ago.

“The model is ready,” announced Silver on X. “And here’s our headline: the presidential election isn’t a toss-up.”

According to Silver, his model is largely the same as the one he built for FiveThirtyEight and used for the 2020 election, but adjusting for “turnout dynamics,” factoring in the increased relevance of third-party candidates such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this time around, and without “Covid-specific assumptions.”

Before revealing his model’s conclusion, Silver notes the inherent problems with building such models:

Statistical modeling requires making a lot of choices. And election forecasting is a hard problem. Even choices as seemingly straightforward as how to calculate a “polling average” involve any number of parameters: which polls to include, how to weight them, how much to prioritize the most recent ones, and so on. This is even more of an issue once we start to consider “fundamental” factors such as incumbency or “the economy”. Even if we can agree that it’s a good idea to incorporate these things, there are basically infinite “researcher degrees of freedom” in exactly how you do it.

All that said, Silver doesn’t mince words in expressing who he believes is the favorite right now.

“The candidate who I honest-to-God think has a better chance (Trump) isn’t the candidate I’d rather have win (Biden),” he declared. That conclusion is backed up by his model which found “that Trump was favored by a slightly larger degree” than Silver had anticipated.

“If the Electoral College/popular vote gap looks anything like it did in 2016 or 2020, you’d expect Biden to be in deep trouble if the popular vote is roughly tied,” he added. “So if we’re being honest, pundits who obsess over whether Biden is 1 point ahead in national polls are kind of missing the point.”

Nate Silver’s first forecast of this election season gives Donald Trump a 66% chance of winning at the moment.https://t.co/kMOSPZSDRO pic.twitter.com/Zf2674lqx8

— Jesse Singal (@jessesingal) June 26, 2024

Eventually, Silver gets around to unveiling his model, which suggests, based on 40,000 simulations run by his model, that Trump has a 65.7% chance of winning the Electoral College by an average margin of 287.2 electoral votes to Biden’s 250.4.

The model also predicts that Biden is more likely (51%) to win the popular vote, but only by a razor-thin, 47.2%-47.1% margin.

Silver’s model diverges from FiveThirtyEight’s, which suggests that Biden is narrowly favored (51%) to win the Electoral College over Trump.

The CDC issued a health advisory Tuesday, warning healthcare providers and the general public that the United States is at an increased risk of dengue infections. Dengue is a mosquito-borne disease that can be pretty brutal—severe cases are sometimes known as “breakbone fever”—but some of us can relax a little: the mosquitoes that transmit it only live in some parts of the U.S. 

What is dengue? 

Dengue is a viral illness, and the virus is transmitted by mosquitoes—specifically Aedes species. (Yes, there are different species of mosquitoes.) It is mainly found in tropical and subtropical regions.

There are four types of dengue, numbered simply 1, 2, 3, and 4. If you contract and recover from one of them, you’ll be immune to that type, but remain susceptible to the others. Getting a second dengue infection, of a different type than the first, increases the risk that your illness will be more severe. 

The symptoms of a mild case of dengue include high fever, body aches, and often a rash. You may also experience nausea and vomiting, and a headache and/or pain behind the eyes. Most people recover in 1 to 2 weeks, the World Health Organization says. 

In severe cases of dengue, more symptoms may appear after the fever has gone away. The WHO lists these as including severe abdominal pain, bleeding gums or nose, blood in the vomit or stool, and feelings of extreme fatigue, thirst, and weakness. Dengue is the world’s most common insect-transmitted disease.

There is no antiviral treatment for dengue, only supportive care. There was a vaccine for it, available for children in areas where dengue is endemic, but the manufacturer discontinued it due to lack of demand, the CDC said in its health advisory. Puerto Rico declared a dengue epidemic earlier this year, and they are using their remaining available doses before they expire.

Most cases of dengue in the continental U.S. are from travelers, but we do have some local transmission

With the CDC’s advisory making headlines, it’s important to keep in mind where dengue is being transmitted right now. Most of the continental U.S. does not have local transmission of dengue; you can’t walk outside and catch it right now. 

So why the advisory? Well, many of the places you can catch dengue are popular vacation destinations. There are also several U.S. territories and freely associated states that have “frequent or continuous” dengue transmission, according to the CDC:

• Puerto Rico

• American Samoa

• U.S. Virgin Islands

• Federated States of Micronesia

• Marshall islands

• Palau

In the continental U.S., it is possible to contract dengue locally, but so far there aren’t many of these cases. Florida, Hawaii, Texas, Arizona, and California have all had locally transmitted dengue cases. 

So far this year, there have been 1,498 cases in Puerto Rico, and 745 travel-related cases in the U.S. (meaning that somebody traveled to an area with dengue, then brought the virus back with them). A travel case can turn into a local outbreak, although this isn't common. Say your neighbor just got back from a vacation in Puerto Rico, and you both live in Florida. It's possible for a mosquito to bite that person, and then to bite you. Therefore, the CDC is asking healthcare providers to keep in mind that a person who hasn't traveled might still have contracted dengue locally, if they live in an area with the right kind of mosquitoes.

Where do dengue-carrying mosquitoes live? 

Dengue is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, especially Aedes aegypti, but sometimes Aedes albopictus. These mosquitoes are small and have black and white patterns (if you look closely), and they bite during the day, not just dusk and dawn. They can also breed in very small containers of standing water, like the saucers underneath flowerpots. 

These differences separate them from Culex mosquitoes, which are the more common type in much of the U.S. Culex mosquitoes aren’t considered “competent” vectors of dengue, so if your area only has Culex, you only have to worry about travel cases, not (likely) local ones.

So where are Aedes mosquitoes? The CDC’s most recent maps are from 2017, but here they are. A. aegypti is “very likely” to thrive in most of the south, from Florida to Texas and up into Kentucky and parts of Oklahoma and Missouri. There are also “very likely” areas in Texas, Arizona, and California.

Credit: CDC

Aedes albopictus can live and reproduce in many of the same areas, but are less likely to thrive in Arizona and California. On the other hand, the northernmost part of their range extends a bit further, up into Ohio, New Jersey, and parts of Pennsylvania.

In the seven years since these maps were published, it’s possible that the mosquitoes’ range has grown. Aedes mosquitoes like warm temperatures, and climate change has given us more of those. Dengue is also transmitted more readily in warmer and wetter parts of the year, and we’ve been getting more of those as well. 

How can I protect myself from dengue? 

The CDC recommends that we all take steps to protect ourselves from mosquito bites. This includes using EPA-registered repellents on your skin. I like Cutter Skinsations (7% DEET, good enough for my backyard) but there’s also Repel 100 if you want very strong protection. 

Air conditioning, window screens, and loose-fitting, long-sleeved clothing also make the CDC’s top mosquito bite prevention tips. If you’re traveling to a warm or tropical area, the CDC wants you to make sure to prevent bites while you’re there, too. Large bottles of insect repellent, since it’s a liquid, will have to go in your checked baggage, but I like prepackaged repellent wipes like these for your carry-on. 

The CDC also wants you to seek medical care if you get symptoms that may be dengue and if you are in an area that is known to have dengue transmission. The incubation period is seven to 10 days, so it’s possible you may not start to show symptoms until after you get home. The CDC has a list and map here of locations outside the U.S. where dengue risk is high.

(Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Hillary Clinton offered President Joe Biden some advice ahead of Thursday’s CNN debate, warning him that fact checking former President Donald Trump is a “waste of time.”

Clinton penned an op-ed for The New York Times, published on Tuesday, in which she drew on her own experience debating Trump to offer words of wisdom to Biden. Clinton claimed Trump only offers “nonsense” and “blather” on a debate stage. Thursday’s debate will run for 90 minutes and there will be no audience.

“In our three debates in 2016, he unleashed a blizzard of interruptions, insults and lies that overwhelmed the moderators and did a disservice to the voters who tuned in to learn about our visions for the country — including a record 84 million viewers for our first debate,” Clinton wrote about her experience debating Trump.

She claimed that the former president is the one with a low expectation bar on Thursday, declaring he’ll be praised as “presidential” by supporters even if all he manages to do is not set himself on fire.

“Expectations for him are so low that if he doesn’t literally light himself on fire on Thursday evening, some will say he was downright presidential,” she wrote.

According to Clinton, it’s a “waste of time” to directly respond to Trump’s attacks, saying the former president simply “interrupts” and “bullies.”

“It is a waste of time to try to refute Mr. Trump’s arguments like in a normal debate,” she wrote. “It’s nearly impossible to identify what his arguments even are. He starts with nonsense and then digresses into blather. This has gotten only worse in the years since we debated.”

Clinton argued Trump has only gotten “angrier” and more “unhinged” in the years since their face-offs. Clinton told Biden to be “direct and forceful” as he was in his State of the Union address.

“This election is between a convicted criminal out for revenge and a president who delivers results for the American people,” she wrote. “No matter what happens in the debate, that’s an easy choice.”

There are a million apps and services out there that will let you pay bills and move money around, but you still need a bank account. Yes, banks can be kind of crappy, but there’s a reason less than 5% of the population is unbanked: It makes everything more costly, and more difficult.

But despite the crucial importance of a bank account, you don’t actually have a right to one. Banks can refuse to let you open an account in the first place, refuse to accept a check for deposit at their discretion, and can close out your accounts and send you—and your money—packing any time they want, for a wide variety of reasons. And they do just that, all the time, usually without any explanation. Add in the prevalence of bank fraud and the real possibility that you won’t get your money back even if it was clearly stolen and you did nothing wrong, and it's clear that while not having an account isn't an option, having one can be a nightmare.

Instead of trying to live a cash-only life or moving to the wilderness to live off of berries, there’s one thing you can do to protect yourself: Have a backup bank.

How you bank can screw you over

It’s a nightmarish scenario: You have a checking account with Bank A, where your paychecks are directly deposited and from which you pay all of your bills. One morning you wake up to a long list of bounced checks, failed debits, and late fees—and a note from Bank A that your account has been closed due to “suspicious activity,” or some other vague reason.

The bank is required to return any funds still in the account to you, but this is often in the form of a check that can take some time to reach you. In the meantime, you don’t have access to your funds and you can’t pay your bills easily—and your job has nowhere to send your paychecks. Once you get that check you can open up a new account at Bank B, of course, then switch everything over there. But in the meantime, it’s chaos.

The benefits of a backup bank account

But if you already have an account at Bank B, you can jump straight to redirecting all of your debits and deposits (including your paycheck) to that account. Suddenly, the surprise closing of your account at Bank A is just an inconvenience instead of a financial crisis. If you’re someone who has almost all of their bills paid via a points-earning credit card, you might need to visit just two websites to get your finances back on track in the wake of an account closure—your credit card and your job’s HR department.

A backup bank account can also act as quasi-emergency fund. A checking account at Bank B likely won’t be earning much interest, but it will also likely sit undisturbed, and since it’s not directly connected to your daily spending, you won’t be regularly tempted to dip into it.

Additionally, money in bank accounts is federally insured up to $250,000—but that limit applies to banks, not your overall net worth, so if you have substantial savings, having money in separate accounts allows you to have more funds protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Finally, if you choose to have your backup account at a local bank as opposed to an online behemoth, you might enjoy better customer service and perks like the ability to easily cash checks or talk to an actual human being, in person, if you have problems or questions.

The downside of using a backup bank

On the other hand, having multiple bank accounts increases the amount of work you have to do to keep track of everything. If you’re not careful, your second account could end up costing you in terms of fees if you don’t maintain a required minimum balance, and for maximum efficiency you’ll need to make a note of all the account information so you can quickly switch payments and deposits to the backup bank should anything go wrong with your primary bank.

I've been covering Blink deals on Amazon for some time now, and have seen some good bundle deals before, but none compare to this one.

Right now, you can get a Blink Video Doorbell ($59.99 when bought by itself), a Blink Outdoor 4 camera ($99.99 purchased separately), and a Sync Module 2 ($49.99 purchased separately) for $59.99 with this Blink bundle. This is the lowest price the package deal has reached—by a long shot—according to price-checking tools.

Video Doorbell, one Outdoor 4 camera, one Sync Module 2, 4 AA lithium batteries, two mounting kits.

Blink Bundle with 1 Blink Outdoor 4

$159.98 at Amazon

Get Deal

Get Deal

$159.98 at Amazon

Video Doorbell, two Outdoor 4 cameras, one Sync Module 2, six AA lithium batteries, 3 mounting kits.

Blink Bundle with 2 Blink Outdoor 4

$94.99 at Amazon

$239.98 Save $144.99

Get Deal

Get Deal

$94.99 at Amazon

$239.98 Save $144.99

Video Doorbell, three Outdoor 4 cameras, one Sync Module 2, eight AA lithium batteries.

Blink Bundle with 3 Blink Outdoor 4

$119.99 at Amazon

$319.98 Save $199.99

Get Deal

Get Deal

$119.99 at Amazon

$319.98 Save $199.99

SEE 0 MORE

You can also expand your coverage by adding two or three Blink Outdoor 4 cameras and still get a very good discount. This sale is part of Amazon's official early Prime Day deals, according to its press release, which also served as the official announcement that Prime Day 2024 will take place July 16-17.

This bundle has all the basics you need to set up your Blink security system. The Blink Video Doorbell has two-way audio so that you can communicate with guests from your phone, 1080p resolution, and infrared night vision. The Blink Outdoor 4 is the latest Blink outdoor camera and a great budget option that competes well with other outdoor cameras. The Sync Module 2 lets you use local storage for your video files instead of paying for cloud storage.

Note that you will need a Blink subscription to use all of this bundle's features. The Blink subscription plan starts at $30 a year for Blink Basic. For $100/year, you can get Blink Plus, which offers more features, including support for an unlimited number of devices.

Director of the White House Gender Policy Council Jennifer Klein smacked down false claims from ex-President Donald Trump about President Joe Biden’s positions on abortion rights.

Trump and other Republicans have spent years telling the lie that Democrats favor the legalized killings of infants after they’re born, loosely based on then-Gov. Ralph Northam’s (D-VA) comments about medical decisions in catastrophic cases. They’ve also claimed Democrats support abortion right up until the “moment of birth.”

At a Zoom briefing on the anniversary of the Dobbs decision — and days before the earliest general election presidential debate ever — Mediaite asked Klein how President Biden will respond to those attacks:

TOMMY CHRISTOPHER – MEDIAITE: Yeah, I have a question. It’s sort of a dual question. There have been a pair of false attacks on abortion that I’d like you to respond to.

The one, first one is the one that Donald Trump keeps saying that Democrats believe in, aborting the child after birth — murdering children after they’re born. Based on something Ralph Northam said a few years ago.

And then there’s another one where they say Democrats support abortion up to, the ninth month because there’s no specific number of weeks in the viability framework.

So I’m wondering how the president can respond to simply and clearly to both of those attacks.

JENNIFER KLEIN: Thank you. First and foremost, the president and the vice president do not support abortion up until the time of birth.

Nor do they support abortion after birth. In fact, that’s not abortion!

Second of all, you know, both the president, the vice president, this entire administration has been quite clear and unequivocal that we support restoring the protections of Roe in federal law, and we’re not proposing something new.

Roe protected women’s health and safety for nearly 50 years. And again, the president has been quite clear that a federal law is the only way to ensure reproductive rights for every woman, woman in every state.

And I think the rhetoric that you pointed to is really a blatant effort to distract from the extremist agenda and the ultimate goal of enacting a national abortion ban.

And again, the president and vice president have been clear and unequivocal that what they support is restoring the protections of Roe in federal law.

Watch above via Mediaite.

If you carry a balance on your credit card, you're paying interest charges. First things first: Figure out how to avoid being charged that interest in the first place. Otherwise, the easiest way to reduce your credit card interest payments is surprisingly simple: just ask. Many cardholders overlook this straightforward approach, potentially leaving money on the table. Here's how to go about lowering your interest rate, so you have a better shot of getting on top of your credit card debt.

Evaluate your current situation

Before making any moves, it's important to understand your current financial position. Start by reviewing your credit score and payment history, as these factors significantly influence your negotiating power. Next, compare your current interest rate to what's available in the market for similar credit profiles. This research will give you a realistic idea of what you might qualify for. Finally, calculate how much you could potentially save with a lower rate. This figure will not only motivate you but also provide a concrete goal for your negotiations.

Prepare before calling

Preparation is key to any successful negotiation. Begin by gathering information on competitor offers, especially those you've recently received in the mail or online. These can serve as leverage during your conversation. Make a mental note of your positive account history, including how long you've been a customer and your record of on-time payments. Be ready to discuss your loyalty as a customer, highlighting any other accounts or services you have with the same institution.

Making the call

When you're ready to negotiate, contact your card issuer's customer service line. Ask to speak with a representative specifically about lowering your interest rate. Remember to be polite but firm in your request. Your demeanor can significantly impact the outcome of the conversation. Approach the call with confidence, knowing you've done your homework and have a strong case for a rate reduction.

What to say on the phone

During the conversation, focus on highlighting your good payment history and loyalty to the company. Mention any better offers you've received from competitors, using them as a point of comparison. Be specific about the rate you're seeking, based on your research of current market offers. Remember, the representative may not agree to your first request, so be prepared to negotiate.

If they don't agree

If the representative doesn't agree to lower your rate, don't give up. Ask to speak with a supervisor who may have more authority to adjust rates. Inquire about temporary promotional rates that could provide short-term relief. If all else fails, consider a balance transfer to a card with a lower rate, but be sure to factor in any balance transfer fees when calculating potential savings. Remember, even if you don't succeed on your first attempt, you can always try again in a few months, especially if your credit score improves or your financial situation changes.

How much you can save

There are no guarantees your credit card company will approve a decreased interest rate, but the potential savings make it worth trying. According to LendingTree, the average reduction that people receive is 6.3 percentage points. Not only that, but more than three in every four cardholders who asked for a lower interest rate on one of their credit cards got one, according to that same 2023 survey.

Depending on your circumstances, that type of decrease could save you $500 or more in interest. Let's say a cardholder has $5,000 credit card balance and pays $250 per month.

• A 6.3-percentage point reduction from 23.84% to 17.54% saves $478 and two months worth of payments. That adds up to $1,436 over 26 months (versus $958 over 24 months).

• A 6.3-percentage-point reduction from 27.00% to 20.70% saves $532 and two months worth of payments. That adds up to $1,717 over 26 months (versus $1,185 over 24 months).

Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) went on a rant slamming the American Israel Public Affairs Committee during a Get Out The Vote rally on Saturday.

The New York lawmaker joined other progressive colleagues, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), at a rally in South Bronx to speak out against American policy towards supporting Israel amid in the current war with Hamas in Gaza.

Recently, AIPAC has a launched a $14 million campaign into defeating Bowman this November, the most any interest group has ever spent on a single House race. Later at the rally, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) endorsed Bowman — telling the audience they must vote “against oligarchy.”

“We are gonna show f*cking AIPAC the power of the motherf*cking South Bronx!” Bowman screamed into a microphone during his speech. He claimed that U.S. money is being used to kill innocent civilians in Gaza, which has been a common criticism levied at the Biden administration in recent months.

“We are not gonna stay silent while the U.S. tax dollar kills babies and women and children. My opponent supports genocide. My opponent and AIPAC are the ones destroying our democracy,” he added.

Bowman continued “And it is on us, it is on all of us to save our democracy and save our collective humanity. Because this race is about our collective humanity.”

Westchester County Executive George Latimer, a moderate Democrat, is attempting to unseat the progressive lawmaker in one of the expensive House primary races. Recent polling from New York’s Pix11 indicates that Latimer is leading Bowman ahead of the June 25 primary election.

Watch the clip above via Forbes.

@merissahamilton/X

A Republican elections official was showered with boos for saying he does not believe the 2020 presidential was rigged against former President Donald Trump.

Trump narrowly lost Arizona and ultimately the election, which he has falsely claimed was stolen. In the weeks after losing the contest, Trump tried to pressure Republican officials in states he lost to overturn the results. The former president is under criminal indictment in two jurisdictions due to these efforts.

Maricopa County Election Recorder Stephen Richer, who oversees elections in Arizona’s most populous county, has been critical of Trump’s election lies and has repeatedly said so on cable news.

On Saturday, Richer attended a gathering of the Sun City West Republican Club, where he was asked about the 2020 election and the integrity of the upcoming election in the county.

“There are many who believe the 2020 election was stolen,” an event host told him, appearing to relay a question from the crowd. “Do you believe that and what will you do to ensure future elections are safe, secure, and accurately reflect the vote of the people who are legitimately registered voters?”

“I do not believe the 2020 election was stolen,” Richer replied.

The attendees – consisting mainly of older White people – booed loudly, according to a video posted on social media by Merissa Hamilton.

“Booooooooo!”

MARICOPA COUNTY RECORDER RACE UPDATE

In the 2nd forum with all three candidates, Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer gets booed AGAIN at the Sun City West Republicans event by a crowd of about 500 active Republican voters

Stephen Richer:

“I do not believe the 2020… pic.twitter.com/X1egQAzvaK

— Merissa Hamilton (@merissahamilton) June 22, 2024

President Joe Biden won Arizona by just over 10,000 votes in 2020. Weeks later, when Republican Governor Doug Ducey certified his state’s results, Trump put him on blast.

“Why is he rushing to put a Democrat in office, especially when so many horrible things concerning voter fraud are being revealed at the hearing going on right now,” he tweeted at the time. “Republicans will long remember!”