Good morning! For those living under a rock, you missed some very important news over the weekend. Fitness icon Richard Simmons passed away on Saturday aged 76.

2024

🔴 Milwaukee inundated with bad haircuts this week as RNC kicks off

If you’ve ever wondered what the organizer of SlutWalk thinks about world affairs, this one’s for you. Sure, we all vote in party primaries for presidential candidates. But we don’t really nominate anyone. The real job is performed by thousands of delegates at Democratic and Republican conventions each election year.

The Republican National Convention (RNC) is in Milwaukee this week from today through Thursday. Parties often put their conventions in swing states in hopes the local attention will give them a boost come election time (political scientists disagree on whether that helps).

• Host cities can see a big positive economic impact, too. Especially in the more, ahem, risque sectors. We’re looking forward to a few new scandals in that department.

Purpose: Party conventions have been mostly beauty contests since primaries started mattering back in the 1970s (that’s right, Grandpa had no say over his party’s nominee).

• But delegates still vote to make the presidential nomination official.

• Once the nominee names a VP pick, delegates also rubber-stamp that with a vote.

The Apprentice: Trump hasn’t revealed when he’ll name his VP pick. And Saturday’s shooting may have changed that calculus. But he recently compared the selection process to a “highly sophisticated version of ‘The Apprentice.’”

MAGOA?: They're playing the hits this week. Each day will have a "Make America..." theme. Monday is “Make America Wealthy Once Again.” Tuesday is “Make America Safe Once Again.” Wednesday is “Make America Strong Once Again.” Thursday’s big finale? “Make America Great Once Again.”

Speakers: Aside from delegate votes, these things are chock-full of bad speeches from everyone who is anyone. Just about every major Republican officeholder (and candidate) has a slot.

• All the potential VPs will speak, too, as will vanquished primary opponents Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley.

• Expect the VP nominee to speak on Thursday followed by Trump on Friday.

Celebs: A few celebrities usually speak, too. This being the Republican convention, the celebs are, well, not exactly tearing up the box office.

• Wiz Khalifa’s ex, Amber Rose, will speak, as will reality star Savannah Chrisley and UFC chief Dana White. You won’t want to miss the speech from Lee Greenwood, either (the “God Bless the U.S.A.” guy).

Attendees: Most party activists, politicians, and candidates will attend. Those in left-leaning states, however, are doing their best to avoid being seen anywhere near Milwaukee this week.

Drama: Drama broke out last week after the party’s rules nerds met to write the official 2024 Republican Party platform (random, Trumpy ALL CAPS included). Nobody reads these things, but they’re viewed as representations of the party’s guiding principles.

• The new platform backs off the party’s previous calls for a federal abortion ban and gives only one passing mention to gun rights.

• You can read the full platform and an annotated version here.

Democrats will hold their big event in Chicago from August 19-22 (post-Olympics). Sometime between now and then, the DNC plans to hold a “virtual roll call” to officially make Biden the nominee. That's a big problem for anti-Biden forces.

📷 More: Take a photo tour of previous Republican conventions.

WORLD

🇺🇸 Biden addresses nation after Trump assassination attempt

On Saturday, Donald Trump proved once again that he’s a born showman. It’s difficult to imagine anyone else in politics looking cool after getting shot.

President Biden addressed the nation from the Oval Office last night. He condemned violence and urged Americans to seek unity with one another.

• The Biden campaign pulled its ads in the wake of the shooting and canceled upcoming events.

The FBI will lead the investigation into what happened. The Secret Service will assist and is looking into how on earth the gunman got as close as he did.

• Members of Congress are, to say the least, not thrilled with Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle. She'll likely be forced to testify before multiple congressional committees.

• Before taking charge in 2022, Cheatle spent 27 years in the Secret Service followed by a few heading up global security for PepsiCo.

Presidents receive Secret Service protection for life. But major candidates also get security, so Trump would’ve had a detail regardless.

• Who qualifies for that protection is up to the Secretary of Homeland Security.

• Major party nominees also receive daily intelligence briefings. That way, if elected, they can hit the ground running without asking too many dumb questions.

Candidates began receiving protection after the 1968 assassination of then-candidate Robert F. Kennedy. His son, RFK, Jr. has thus far been denied protection.

• That may soon change. Some members of the House say they’ll submit a bill to give Kennedy protection and boost security for Biden and Trump.

The Republican National Convention will still begin today as planned, albeit with stepped-up security.

• Presumably, Trump’s first appearance there will receive record-setting applause. After all, nobody wants to be the first to stop clapping and sit down.

POLITICS

🔵 Joe Biden held an energetic campaign rally in Detroit on Friday. He zeroed in on Project 2025, calling the Heritage Foundation’s plan “the biggest attack on our system of government and on our personal freedom that’s ever been proposed…”

• He also won the backing of progressive lawmakers Bernie Sanders and AOC. Biden took up Sanders's suggestion that he outline a “first 100 days” plan for his second term. Part of that plan involves “eliminating medical debt.”

🔴 Elon Musk endorsed Trump after the assassination attempt. He previously tossed a little piece of his $221 billion fortune to a Trump-supporting Super PAC. Donating to outside organizations allows donors to avoid the low donation limits campaigns have to follow. No word yet on the size of his donation.

⚪ The National Governors Association’s 2024 Summer Meeting ended on Friday. The NGA is the nonpartisan group for the governors of all 50 states and 5 territories (D.C. not included). “Sing 2” star Matthew McConaughey joined the governors at their meeting in Utah and again teased a possible run for office in Texas.

TRIVIA

The Secret Service has been part of the Department of Homeland Security since 2003 (just after DHS’s post-9/11 creation). Prior to that, the U.S. Secret Service was part of which federal executive department?

WORLD

🧊 Arctic: Three of the world’s eight Arctic countries are teaming up to ward off Russian influence in the area. Canada, Finland, and the U.S. signed a trilateral agreement called the ICE Pact. The deal has them joining forces to build the icebreaking ships that are critical to navigating the part of the world that’s, well, covered in ice.

🇵🇱 Poland: The Poles might wade further into the Russia-Ukraine war. Some Russian missiles launched at Ukraine risk crossing into Polish territory. So Poland, a NATO member, is considering shooting them down over Ukraine as a preemptive defense move. But they'll need NATO permission first.

🇺🇸 United States: Alec Baldwin's legal troubles are over. A judge dismissed the involuntary manslaughter charges "with prejudice" (aka: permanently) after prosecutors wrongly withheld gobs of crucial evidence from Baldwin's defense. He can't be criminally tried again (thanks, Fifth Amendment!). But he'll still have to deal with a civil lawsuit from the victim's family.

BRIEFS

• Call and text records of "nearly all" AT&T customers were hacked — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is investigating

• X is the first social app to be formally charged under the European Union's social content laws meant to cut back on toxic discourse

• Redbox’s parent company won approval to switch its bankruptcy from Chapter 11 (“we’re regrouping”) to Chapter 7 (“RIP our company”)

• Hamas claims an Israeli airstrike targeting Hamas’s terrorist leaders killed dozens of Palestinian civilians

• RIP — Dr. Ruth, trained Israeli sniper and TV sex therapist, passed away at 96

QUOTE

SNACKS

🍿 Watch: The first teaser trailer for “Captain America: Brave New World”

🎾 Wimbledon: Kate, the Princess of Wales, made a rare appearance yesterday to award Carlos Alcarez the men’s singles trophy. Barbora Krejčíková won the women’s game. This was the first Wimbledon since 1996 in which neither Venus nor Serena appeared.

💰 Woah: One of New York's last surviving Gilded Age mansions is for sale. All eight stories and 18,000 square feet can be yours for the low, low price of $65 million.

ANSWER

From its 1865 creation until 1901, its sole mission was investigating counterfeit currency. Since then, it’s balanced that role with its protection duties. As such, the Secret Service was part of the Treasury Department for 138 years.