Clinton highlights Biden’s handling of COVID during DNC speech: ‘He healed our sick’

CHICAGO – Former President Bill Clinton took the Democratic National Convention’s stage on Wednesday evening where he lauded President Biden as a modern-day George Washington who “healed our sick.”

“I do want to say one word about President Biden,” Clinton said towards the start of his speech in Chicago. “Remember, he had an improbable turn that made him president. And we were in the middle of a pandemic and an economic crash. He healed our sick, and put the rest of us back to work. And he strengthened our alliances for peace and security, stood up for Ukraine, trying desperately to get a ceasefire in the Middle East.”

“And then he did something it’s really hard for a politician to do: He voluntarily gave up political power. And George Washington knew that. And he did it. And he set the standard for us, serving two terms before it was mandatory. It helped his legacy, and it will enhance Joe Biden’s legacy,” Clinton added. 

Biden joined the DNC on Monday evening, where he delivered a speech touting his record in office while praising his vice president, Kamala Harris, after she rose to the top of the Democratic ticket after Biden exited the race last month. 

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“Selecting Kamala was the very first decision I made before I became when I became our nominee, and it was the best decision I made my whole career,” Biden said. 

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“We’ve not only gotten to know each other, we’ve become close friends. She’s tough, she’s experienced, and she has enormous integrity, enormous integrity. Her story represents the best American story.”

Democrats who have taken the stage across the week have praised both Biden and Harris as the newly-formed Harris-Walz ticket works to earn support from voters in the final months of the election. 

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Clinton continued in his remarks that Biden is a man of compassion and courage, before switching gears to praise Harris. 

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“I want to thank him for his courage, compassion, his class, his service, his sacrifice,” he said. “Joe Biden. Thank you. And. He kept the faith, and he’s infected a lot of the rest of us.”

Clinton lauded the vice president as a politician who will represent voters no matter their political party. 

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“Kamala Harris will work to solve our problems, seize our opportunities, ease our fears, and make sure every single American, however they vote, has a chance to chase their dreams,” he said. 

The DNC will wrap up on Thursday evening with Harris’ acceptance speech for the nomination. 

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Americans share what they think about Dems’ proposal to alter Supreme Court

A new nationwide survey highlighted in a Wall Street Journal opinion editorial found that most Americans don’t support sweeping changes to the Supreme Court, despite President Biden’s last-minute push for such a measure. 

The WSJ cited a Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy survey that found “support for the separation of powers just as many of the speakers at this week’s Democratic National Convention seek to undermine it.”

President Biden, after abruptly leaving the presidential race a month ago, endorsed legislation that would impose term limits for justices, among other things, that would drastically alter the makeup of the high court. His plan is also of questionable constitutionality.

According to the Journal, the Mason-Dixon poll found that after asking likely voters if they “support or oppose amending the U.S. Constitution to change the structure of the U.S. Supreme Court,” 52% of them oppose the idea, while 41% of likely voters support the idea of amending the constitution to change the court’s structure.

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Noting that for “over 150 years, the United States Supreme Court has had nine justices” and that court-packing “is generally defined as increasing the number of Supreme Court seats, primarily to alter the ideological balance of the court,” the poll asked respondents if they agree with “court-packing.”

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Only 34% supported such a plan, while 59% opposed and 7% of likely voters were undecided.

The poll also found that an overwhelming number of voters supported this statement: “Plans to expand the membership of the U.S. Supreme Court are primarily motivated by political objectives.”

Additionally, a full 87% of likely voters — including 84% of Democrats — agree with the following statement: “An independent judiciary is a crucial safeguard of our civil liberties.”

Democrats in Congress, in conjunction with the White House, have pushed to make radical changes to the high court.

And Democrats at the Democratic National Convention this week have already leveled attacks against the high court. 

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Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow falsely claimed that the Supreme Court made former President Trump “completely immune from prosecution” by its presidential immunity decision.

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“Sadly, such poisonous attacks on the highest court are likely to be a staple of this week’s convention,” the Wall Street Journal wrote about the comment. “Thank goodness most Americans still don’t endorse them, according to the new Mason-Dixon poll commissioned by the First Liberty Institute, which advocates for religious freedom.”

Jennifer Lopez’s athlete ex posts cryptic message online after she files for divorce

Shortly after Jennifer Lopez filed for divorce from Ben Affleck, Alex Rodriguez, who was previously engaged to the Grammy Award winner, posted a cryptic message on Instagram. 

“You either go one way or the other, you might as well be the one deciding the direction,” the quote attributed to the retired MLB player said via The Con.cept’s Instagram page. Rodriguez later reposted the image to his Instagram story, not long after the news of Lopez’s filing broke. 

While it’s unclear who the cryptic message is directed to or what it’s referencing, the post is undoubtedly timely. 

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Lopez filed for divorce Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Her petition for the dissolution of their marriage was filed on the two-year anniversary of their Georgia wedding.

Representatives for Affleck and Lopez did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment at the time. 

Rodriguez and Lopez officially ended their engagement in April 2021. The two began dating in 2017 before getting engaged in 2019. 

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At the time, the former couple issued a joint statement to “Today.” 

“We have realized we are better as friends and look forward to remaining so,” the statement said. “We will continue to work together and support each other on our shared businesses and projects. We wish the best for each other and one another’s children. Out of respect for them, the only other comment we have to say is thank you to everyone who has sent kind words and support.”

Shortly after their breakup, Lopez began dating her former fiancée, Affleck. But Rodriguez had no ill will. 

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“I had five years of an incredible life and partnership and also with my daughters, we learned so much,” Rodriguez told Entertainment Tonight in a 2021 interview. “So, I’m in a great place. I’m so grateful for where God and the light has really put me, and I’m really looking forward.”

Affleck, 52, and Lopez, 55, first said “I do” during a surprise Las Vegas wedding in 2022. One month later, the newlyweds hosted a backyard ceremony for friends and family at the $8 million Georgia mansion Affleck purchased when the couple first began dating 20 years ago.

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Whispers about the state of Affleck and Lopez’s marriage took a drastic turn when Affleck didn’t attend Lopez’s luxurious “Bridgerton”-themed 55th birthday party July 2.

“Ben didn’t come to celebrate Jennifer’s birthday because they are done,” a source told Fox News Digital last month. “Totally done. They are not getting back together.”

Earlier this year, in the documentary “The Greatest Love Story Never Told,” Affleck was shown reluctantly dealing with the public scrutiny that followed the couple when they first got together in the early 2000s.

The documentary follows Lopez as she works on not only her new album, “This is Me…Now,” but also the high-concept music film, “This is Me…Now: A Love Story.”

“Jen was really inspired by this experience, which is how artists do their work,” Affleck said. “They get inspired by their personal life. It moves you. I know as a writer and director I certainly do the same things. But things that are private I had always felt are sacred and special in part because they’re private.”

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Would-be Trump assassin had multiple foreign encrypted messaging accounts

The gunman who nearly killed former President Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last month used encrypted messaging accounts on multiple platforms based in Belgium, New Zealand and Germany, according to a House representative appointed to a congressional task force investigating the assassination attempt.

Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., a retired Green Beret appointed to the 13-member House bipartisan task force investigating the attempted assassination of Trump, told reporters about the accounts while at the Trump Hotel Chicago Wednesday.

One reporter asked Waltz what he and other members of the task force had learned during the investigation and about the encrypted messages on the shooter’s cellphone.

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“We still haven’t learned a lot. We haven’t learned that much about those overseas accounts,” he said, referring to accounts held by would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks. “We do know that they were in, if I get this correctly, Belgium, New Zealand and Germany. 

“Why does a 19-year-old kid who is a health care aide need encrypted platforms not even based in the United States, but based abroad, where most terrorist organizations know it is harder for our law enforcement to get into? That’s a question I’ve had since day one.”

The representative then turned his attention to the FBI and Secret Service, bashing them for not saying a thing until they complete their investigations months from now.

“They need to be releasing information as they come across it, because this wasn’t an isolated incident,” Waltz said. “The threats are continually Iran’s threats.”

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Waltz then cited an alleged plot that was foiled regarding a Pakistani national who paid off hitmen to kill Trump and other U.S. officials.

The New York Post reported that the FBI is scheduled to brief members of the task force on Wednesday, which Waltz said he hopes will provide insight into the “ridiculously flawed” security detail at the Trump campaign in Butler July 13, 2024.

Both the FBI and Secret Service are conducting their own investigations into the assassination attempt, as is the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General.

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On the evening of the rally, Crooks opened fire on the main stage, grazing Trump’s ear with a bullet. Crooks also killed rally attendee Corey Comperatore, 50, and wounded 57-year-old David Dutch and 54-year-old James Copenhaver.

Biden admin official mocked after trying to claim Trump was lying about job number revision

Social media users trashed President Biden’s Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo for admitting to ABC News on Wednesday that she wasn’t “familiar” with the day’s major revision to the jobs numbers.

ABC News correspondent Kayna Whitworth asked Raimondo what she thought of the jobs numbers revision by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

“I am curious as to your thoughts on today the Bureau of Labor saying that more than 800,000 fewer jobs were actually created than initially reported,” Whitworth said. 

The reporter played a clip of former President Trump talking about the report at his rally in North Carolina on Wednesday. “The administration padded the numbers with an extra – listen to this one – 818,000 jobs that don’t exist. So they said they existed and they never did exist. They built ‘em up so they could say what a wonderful job they’re doing,” Trump said. 

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Raimondo appeared to dismiss the news as Trump spreading misinformation and when asked if the revision could be a liability for Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Harris, she said no. 

“No. When I hear that, first of all, I don’t believe it because I’ve never heard Donald Trump say anything truthful,” Raimondo said. 

“It is from the Bureau of Labor,” Whitworth responded.

“I’m not familiar with that,” Raimondo said, despite the report having been released several hours earlier. 

Raimondo moved on to tout optimism around Harris’ “pro-business” economic vision for the country. Meanwhile, the presidential candidate has been dinged in recent days for proposing what critics, including from the left, described as government price controls on businesses.

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Social media users couldn’t believe that one of the government’s top economic officials wasn’t familiar with the news of the jobs report. 

National Review senior writer Charles Cooke commented, “This is the Secretary of Commerce.”

Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich wrote, “There’s only so much you can fake or hide before things come crashing down. Biden’s decline, cooking the books on the economy, redefining ‘recession,’ etc.”

“Holy hell. We are governed by idiots,” conservative commentator Ned Ryun declared.

Libs of TikTok creator Chaya Raichik wrote, “This is the Secretary of Commerce btw.”

Comedian Tim Young stated, “They think you’re stupid.”

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Pelosi claims she wanted ‘open process’ to replace Biden, says Harris ‘took advantage’

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisted in a new interview that she wanted an “open process” to replace President Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket but Vice President Kamala Harris “took advantage” of the opportunity. 

“Many of us who were concerned about the election wanted to have an open process. It was an open process, anyone could have gotten in,” Pelosi said during an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

Biden dropped out of the race in July after weeks of mounting pressure from Democrats, and quickly endorsed Harris to take his place. Pelosi has denied playing any role in forcing Biden to drop out, but she’s acknowledged in interviews that she worried about Biden’s campaign and was unimpressed with his political operation. 

Pelosi also said she relayed concerns she got from other House Democrats to the White House about their campaigns being hurt by his struggles. Harris has seemingly reinvigorated the party, but the way she snapped up the nomination despite having no actual primary votes cast in her name has stoked criticism against a party that often claims the mantle of being pro-democracy.

“[Harris] had the endorsement of the president, and she, politically astutely, took advantage of it and shut down — not shut down, but won the nomination. But anybody else could have gotten in,” Pelosi continued. 

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Pelosi threw her support behind the vice president shortly after Biden’s announcement. 

Pelosi also told the Journal that the Democratic National Convention (DNC) was different from what the Democrats initially expected.

“The convention is, of course, a different one than was envisioned one month ago, and it’s one that is going to be enthusiastically attended,” Pelosi said, adding that the credit “goes to the president.” 

“He made the decision about how we would proceed, and I respect him for the decision. His selflessness is something that the American people admire greatly, and the reaction that people have had to it, I hope, is satisfying to him in return,” she added. 

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Pelosi has been repeatedly asked to explain what went into the president’s decision to step aside from the 2024 race, and if she had anything to do with it. Pelosi told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Monday that she did what she had to do, despite also denying that she had orchestrated the pressure campaign. 

“You know what?” Pelosi said. “I had to do what I had to do. He made the decision for the country. My concern was not about the president, it was about his campaign. As he has seen with the exuberance, the excitement that has come forth in our country.”

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Biden is reportedly unhappy with how he was treated by powerful Democrats who helped push him out of the race, including Pelosi. But Pelosi doesn’t appear to have any regrets.

“I have my relationship with the president, and I just wanted to win this election. So if they’re upset, I’m sorry for them. But the country is very happy,” she told CNN on Monday.

Pelosi will address the DNC on Wednesday.

DNC speaker tells fellow Black Dems to hold themselves in check until the election’s won

A speaker at the Democratic National Convention’s Black Caucus event Wednesday told his audience they need to “act right,” at least until the election.

Rev. Mark Thompson, the host of the “Make it Plain” podcast, hosted the Black Caucus panel on Day 3 of the DNC in Chicago. 

He told his compatriots that they must hold themselves in check until the election is won. 

“We got 70 days to act right, y’all. Now, after 70 days, we can go back to acting crazy, right?” he said. 

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When somebody off camera appeared to paraphrase the DNC chant “We’re not going back,” Thompson replied, “I hope not, but for those who got to, just wait 70 days to go back, please. Be good.”

Thompson has been pictured on multiple occasions with notorious antisemite and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who has called Jewish people “termites,” praised Hitler and has become one of the most controversial religious figures in the United States due to his derogatory comments about Israel. 

“Thank you for allowing me to serve our ppl alongside you,” Thompson said in a 2015 tweet responding to a Farrakhan tweet thanking Thompson for inviting him on his show.

At the event on Wednesday, Thompson spoke about the importance of “Black men staying and being woke.”

“We know we are the most targeted on social media for disinformation and misinformation. A lot of confusion, and there’s a thing going on deliberately to pit Black men against Black women and vice versa,” he said, adding, “We gotta combat that.” 

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He asked the panel, “What are some of the things that each of you are doing to inform and educate and organize and mobilize Black men and what are some of the challenges that you think we need to all work together to overcome especially?”

That’s when he made the comment about not acting crazy for the next 70 days.

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The Trump campaign highlighted the quote as saying the “quiet part out loud at the DNC.”