Editor Daily Rundown: Dem Rep Says Biden Shouldn’t Run In 2024 And Chinese Army Tells Citizens To ‘Prepare For War’

Vince CoglianeseJuly 29, 2022

Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips became one of the first elected Democrats to say President Joe Biden should not run for reelection in 2024, calling for a “generational change” within the party.

“No, I don’t” think Biden should run again, Phillips told Minneapolis-based radio host Chad Hartman on Thursday, adding that he thinks “most of my colleagues feel the same way.” Saying that he has “respect” for Biden, Phillips nevertheless noted that the president has made “some mistakes and some missteps.”

“I think the country would be well-served by a new generation of compelling, well-prepared, dynamic Democrats to step up,” the second-term representative explained.

Chinese Army Tells Citizens To ‘Prepare For War’ Amid Warnings To US Over Pelosi’s Taiwan Trip

The Chinese Army urged citizens to “prepare for war” in a social media post Friday that garnered thousands of thumbs-up, according to the state-sponsored Global Times.

Chinese officials have issued stark warnings of possible conflict should House Speaker Nancy Pelosi follow through with her promise to visit Taiwan in August, pledging a “forceful” response. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) 80th Group Army’s post received over 300,000 thumbs-up on China’s social media platform Weibo within 12 hours “amid high morale among Chinese soldiers,” the Global Times said.

Twitter, Elon Musk 5-Day Trial Is Set for Week of Oct. 17 in Delaware Chancery Court … WSJ

The judge overseeing Twitter Inc.’s TWTR 1.16%▲ lawsuit against Elon Musk over their stalled $44 billion merger set the week of Oct. 17 for a trial in Delaware Chancery Court.

Last week, Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick, Chancery’s chief judge, granted Twitter’s request to fast-track the lawsuit and ordered a five-day trial in October, over Mr. Musk’s objections. Chancellor McCormick said the case should be resolved quickly, agreeing with Twitter’s claim that it could be harmed by uncertainty about its future as a public company.

FDA clears the way for additional monkeypox vaccines to arrive in the U.S., the first of which will be made available today. — The first cosmetic regulation in nearly a century could be lost in an ongoing user fee spat. — FDA’s chief tobacco scientist to leave for Philip Morris International.

Exxon XOM 4.56%▲ Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. CVX 8.77%▲ and Shell PLC, SHEL 3.23%▲ the three largest Western oil companies, banked a record $46 billion in collective profits in the second quarter, fueled by the highest energy prices in over a decade and lucrative oil-refining margins.

Exxon, the largest U.S. oil company, said Friday its second-quarter profit rose to $17.9 billion, its highest ever and nearly four times as much as the same period a year ago, citing rising oil and fuel production, higher energy prices and cost cuts. Rival Chevron also posted a record profit Friday of $11.6 billion, up from $3.1 billion in the same period last year.

Congresswoman Who Gave GOP Dugout The Middle Finger Says She Reacted To ‘Offensive And Misogynistic’ Comment

Democratic California Rep. Linda T. Sanchez said Friday that she gave the middle finger to Republican lawmakers during the yearly Congressional baseball game because she “heard an offensive and misogynistic comment” from their side.

Sanchez was seen on video flipping off the GOP dugout during the sixth inning of Thursday’s game. She told the Daily Caller in a statement that she reacted “in the heat of the moment” after hearing a remark from the Republican side.

Former President Trump on Friday criticized Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) planned trip to Taiwan, which has been condemned by China but generally praised by congressional Republicans.

Beijing has warned Pelosi against visiting the island, saying it would challenge a “red line” and will be met with “resolute countermeasures.” The Chinese government has stepped up military drills near Taiwan, which it claims sovereignty over, in the past few months.

Pelosi to depart on Asia trip as world watches for possible Taiwan stop … FOX NEWS

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to depart for Asia on Friday, beginning a diplomatic trip with the potential of upsetting the Chinese Communist Party.

Pelosi is scheduled to visit several allied Asian countries during her multi-day tour of the continent.

One possible destination with major ramifications is Taiwan — officially known as the Republic of China. The island has been expecting a visit from Pelosi, but recent threats from the People’s Republic of China have drawn global attention to the potential visit.

House Dems focus on assault weapons ban after policing deal sparks drama … POLITICO

House Democrats will vote Friday on a historic bill to ban so-called assault weapons in response to a spate of mass shootings this year — a sudden strategy shift after party leaders failed to land the votes for a broader slate of public safety bills also slated for floor action.

The assault weapons vote, a huge party priority, will mark the first time in nearly three decades that lawmakers attempt to reinstate the long-expired ban on semiautomatic firearms. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who announced the decision Friday morning, called it a “a crucial step in our ongoing fight against the deadly epidemic of gun violence in our nation.”

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied the White House’s claim that President Biden addressed “genocide” and “forced labor” on a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday told the media that the president raised ethical concerns over forced labor and ethnic genocide in China.

The Chinese MFA denied the alleged conversation entirely, saying, “According to White House Press Secretary, ‘genocide’ & ‘forced labor’ came up in last night’s call between Chinese & US Presidents. That is disinformation.”

Joe Manchin Says He Was ‘Ostracized’ And ‘Victimized’ Over Killing Build Back Better

Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin said Thursday he was “ostracized” and “victimized” after killing President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan.

In a local radio interview with “Talkline with Hoppy Kercheval,” the senator said the $2 trillion legislation was a “bad bill” for the economy and the country, and therefore strongly opposed it.

“Nobody in their right mind, after I’d been ostracized for how long and victimized, if you will, because I killed the BBB because the BBB was, I think, a bad bill for our economy, it was a bad bill for our country and [would] change the trajectory of who we are as people,” Manchin said. “So I was totally opposed to that and everyone kept saying ‘build back better small,’ there was no such thing as ‘build back better.’”

“I’m going to take the border to President Biden,” Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott announced in April, foreshadowing a viable immigration gambit that now has the Left squirming with discomfort.

Republican governors are adopting a new tactic to deal with record illegal crossings of the United States southern border — send the migrants to the doorstep of President Joe Biden himself, and the cities which describe themselves as “sanctuary cities.” So far, 4,000 migrants have arrived in buses from border states to DC, and 2,800 have arrived in New York City. Both these cities describe themselves as sanctuary cities.

A California man has been sentenced to six months of home confinement for making a death threat to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) just days after the storming of the Capitol last year.

Eugene Huelsman, 59, pleaded guilty in October to a felony interstate threats charge for leaving a threatening voicemail message at Gaetz’s district office in Pensacola, Fla., and was sentenced by a federal judge there Thursday to a half-year of house arrest.

Schumer-aligned group injects more than $25M in anonymous donations into midterms for Senate Democrats … FOX NEWS

A dark money group aligned with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has funneled more than $25 million in secretive contributions into the 2022 elections to benefit Senate Democrats, federal filings show.

Majority Forward, a nonprofit that hides its funders, has provided the Senate Majority PAC, which works to elect and maintain Democrats in Congress’s upper chamber, with $27.3 million in donations for the midterms, according to a Fox News Digital review of campaign finance records.

Majority Forward is the largest donor to the Senate Majority PAC, meaning the individuals behind its primary funding source for the 2022 elections are unknown.

Farmers in the Netherlands set hay ablaze and dumped manure on major highways Wednesday in their ongoing protests against the government’s planned climate regulations.

The farmers caused the disruptions to voice opposition to The Hague’s plans to reduce emissions produced from livestock by 2030, Politico reported. The protests have spread across Europe: in Germany farmers blocked the Netherlands’ border, protesting an amendment set to increase reliance on renewable energy to 100% by 2025.

Actor Will Smith shared an emotional video to his YouTube channel Friday in which he apologized for slapping comedian Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars.

The video, titled “It’s been a minute…” opened with text claiming Smith had spent much of the last few months “doing a lot of thinking and personal work.” While he used the video to apologize to Rock, he also took the time to answer a number of questions from fans regarding the incident.