CHRIS CRUCIAL: "A Day of Love" 🤯

PLUS: Secret Service stunner

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1. He said what?

Two things are true about January 6, 2021:

a) It was a direct and serious threat to American democracy

b) People outside of the Democratic base largely aren’t motivated to vote on it.

Joe Biden learned this lesson the hard way.

He organized his entire 2024 reelection bid around Donald Trump’s actions in the lead up to and on January 6. For Biden — and for me! — it was a massive moment, a time when it became clear Trump would do whatever it took to win and that the distance between order and chaos was much thinner than we realized.

But, as multiple Democratic operatives told me over the past year, that “democracy” message simply did not move swing voters. The liberal base ate it up. But the middle of the electorate? Meh.

I say all of this as a way to stipulate that I do not believe what Trump said in a Univision town hall on Wednesday night about January 6 is going to change the race in any meaningful way — or convince undecided voters to choose Kamala Harris.

But, like, I can’t not highlight what he said.

Trump was asked this by an audience member: “What happened Jan. 6 and the fact that, you know, you waited so long to take action while your supporters were attacking the Capitol. ... I'm curious how people so close to you and your administration no longer want to support you, so why would I want to support you?”

To which he responded — in part — this way:

There were no guns down there, we didn't have guns. The others had guns, but we didn't have guns. And when I say we, these are people that walked down. This was a tiny percentage of the overall, which nobody sees and nobody shows. But that was a day of love from the standpoint of the millions, it's like hundreds of thousands, it could have been the largest group I've ever spoken before. They asked me to speak, I went, and I spoke. And I used the term peacefully and patriotically.

So, a few things.

First, yes there were “guns down there.”

Second, Trump used the word “we” to describe the January 6 protesters. I am sure his allies would explain this by saying that the “we” is for the people who attended the “Stop the Steal” rally, not the people who marched on the Capitol. Uh, ok.

Third, this: “That was a day of love from the standpoint of the millions, it's like hundreds of thousands, it could have been the largest group I've ever spoken before.”

“A day of love.” Like, WHAT????

Trump has been, for months now, seeking to reframe what happened on January 6. He has described some of those convicted of crimes that day as political prisoners. He has insisted the media coverage of the event was overblown. He has tried — as he does with so many things — to create an alternate version of what actually happened, a version where he is in the right and the “elites” are in the wrong.

But, here’s the thing: We have video from that day. LOADS of it. Much of it taken from the very same people who rioted at the Capitol. There’s no debate about what happened. They didn’t like the results of the election because their guy lost. So, at his urging, they came to Washington and tried to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power.

Again. I know none of this will change undecided voters’ minds. They either don’t care about what happened on January 6 or care about other things more. That’s their right.

But, as Joe Biden (always) says, you are entitled to your own opinions but not your own facts. And the fact is that January 6, 2021 was a dark day for American democracy.

2. Secret Service gets failing grades

An independent, bipartisan panel created by President Joe Biden in the wake of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump on July 13 in Pennsylvania called for a broad overhaul of the Secret Service in a 52-page report released Thursday.

“The Secret Service must be the world’s leading governmental protective organization,” read the report. “The events at Butler on July 13 demonstrate that, currently, it is not.”

Among the changes recommended by the panel: New leadership of the Secret Service — mostly from outside the current organization — and an end to the financial crime investigations that currently fall under the agency’s purview.

The panel’s report also provided a detailed timeline of July 13 and the actions of shooter Thomas Crooks and law enforcement. Here’s how Politico recounted it:

At 4:26 p.m., a local law enforcement officer noticed that Crooks had “snuck” into the parking lot of a building called the AGR building, which was cordoned off for use by police. That officer was going off duty, and texted other officers working in the AGR building about Crooks. Over the next 90 minutes, more state and local police noticed him. Some saw that he was using a rangefinder to view the rally stage. But the Secret Service first became aware that Crooks was scoping out the stage at about 5:44 p.m. Soon after that, agents and other police began searching for Crooks.

But they didn’t get to him until 6:10 p.m., as Trump was speaking on stage.

Just over two months later, the Secret Service disrupted another assassination plot against Trump — this time at the former president’s golf course in Florida. An agent saw a gun poking through the bushes several holes ahead of Trump and fired at the man. The suspect fled but was eventually apprehended.

The two assassination attempts against Trump were the first against a president or presidential nominee since 1981 when then President Ronald Reagan was shot outside of a DC hotel.

But, violent acts against politicians are less rare. In 2011, then Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head at an event in Tucson. In 2018, Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise — and four others — were shot during a practice for the Congressional Baseball Game.

NOTABLE QUOTABLE

“Oh, you guys are at the wrong rally. I think you meant to go to the smaller one down the street.” — Kamala Harris to protesters at her rally in Wisconsin

ONE GOOD CHART

Everyone — or at least everyone who reads this newsletter! — knows by now that in 2016 and 2020 national polling averages underestimated Donald Trump’s support. But this chart — via my friend David Castagnetti — shows the polling miss going all the way back to 1988.

SONG OF THE DAY

On this day in 1962, the Beatles appeared on Granada TV — the first time the group ever appeared on television. They played “Love Me Do.”

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