Cockburn

Cockburn

Mischief, mayhem and Washington gossip. Send tips and party invites to cockburn@thespectator.com.

Enes Kanter Freedom exploring run for office

2024’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee is hoping to showcase the GOP’s present and future, with the vice presidential selection of Senator J.D. Vance indicating a push by Donald Trump to cement his legacy. While the convention center is filled with current candidates for offices of every kind, one attendee just told Cockburn that he’s looking at joining the GOP’s ranks in a cycle or two: former NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom, whose towering figure has already been dominant at the Fiserv Forum. Freedom told Cockburn that, while he currently lives in Washington, DC, he wants to run for office in the near future, while acknowledging that he’ll probably have to relocate somewhere in order to make that happen.

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The Biden family’s free beach banquet

Writer: kicking Biden off the ticket comparable to ‘rape culture’ At the latest count, seventeen House Democrats and one senator have made the egregious yet ruthlessly pragmatic decision to call for Joe Biden to step aside as the Democratic nominee and allow a mentally fitter candidate to run in his place. A deluge of further letters was anticipated after the end of the NATO seventy-fifth anniversary summit last night. Biden is thought to have staved off the reaper for a while with a not-entirely-awful press conference performance yesterday evening. And some online pundits have been eager to point out that Democratic primary voters should not be robbed of their agency.

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Wisconsin radio station agreed to cut interview with president at Biden campaign’s behest

Days after a radio host admitted to using the Biden campaign’s pre-selected questions in her post-debate interview with the president, another "journalist" committed credibility hari-kari. Earl Ingram, the host of Wisconsin-based radio show Civic Media, confessed to editing an interview with Joe Biden... at the request of the president’s campaign, naturally.  Ingram conducted the interview with Biden on July 3, following his disastrous performance in the presidential debate on June 27, airing the interview a day later.   The Biden campaign reportedly called the radio station right after the interview was recorded asking for two edits to be made. Civic Media did not specify who exactly made the report.

The ‘get Joe out’ movement gathers steam in Congress

Pressure is mounting on President Joe Biden to step aside in the 2024 election, as members in Congress voice their doubts about the Democratic Party's chances in November with the eighty-one-year-old at the top of the ticket. Democrat unity began to crumble last week when Lloyd Doggett became the first lawmaker to call on Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 election, launching a growing maelstrom in the House. Then on Wednesday, Vermont’s Peter Welch became the first Democratic senator to join the fray. It’s simple — for the sake of democracy, they argue, Biden must go so an unelected nominee chosen by the DNC can be jammed in his place.

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When will Trump announce his VP pick? The three options

With the Republican National Convention just around the corner, Cockburn sees only three possible options when it comes to Donald Trump announcing his VP pick. And according to the former president in an interview with Sean Hannity Monday night, he’d “love to do it during the convention," but "my people say that’s a little complicated.” Trump is hosting a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday night. With the RNC on Monday in Milwaukee, this could be prime time for Trump to make the VP announcement. Because his “people say it’s a little complicated” to do it during the convention, this would give the party a day or so to get their ducks in a row. “You know in the old days they would announce the vice president during the convention.

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Is ‘True Gretch’ pure Michigan?

Gretchen Whitmer’s memoir, True Gretch, couldn’t have been released at a more suspect time. As the Michigan governor disavows calls for Joe Biden to step down as the Democratic nominee, the book and its subsequent national tour seem to indicate that a self-interested plot is in the works. And without any disastrous revelations about shooting her dog, it could very well work.  True Gretch hides Whitmer’s national ambitions behind the facade of a relatable working mom. The memoir is divided into self-help entitled chapters, like “Be a Happy Warrior” and “Seek to Understand,” with examples of Whitmer overflowing with the eponymous virtue in each. She's real Midwestern nice, for example, and once even sent a birthday cake to a state senator who called her “batshit crazy.

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J.D. Vance a ‘GREAT GOP candidate,’ says Ron Klain

The final days of the veepstakes are upon us — and Senator J.D. Vance may have an unusual ally in his corner: his longtime business partner, who just so happens to be President Joe Biden’s former chief of staff. Ron Klain called Vance a “GREAT GOP candidate” a few years ago. While President Donald Trump’s veep pick is still unknown, it’s rumored to be down to Senators Vance and Marco Rubio, along with North Dakota’s governor, Doug Burgum. Ironically, old tweets from Klain, and not Trump, are flying around the GOP ecosystem, drudging up Vance’s awkward ties to one of Biden’s closest aides. In 2017, Vance joined Revolution, a DC-based investment firm where Klain worked as a vice president. It was run by Steve Case, the liberal billionaire founder of AOL.

House of Mouse wants Biden out

Sleepy Joe: ‘I’m tired’ Joe Biden has come out swinging against the “Sleepy Joe” allegations... by telling Democratic governors that he is not getting enough sleep. According to the New York Times, Biden said he “needs to get more sleep and work fewer hours, including curtailing events after 8 p.m.” The CNN debate on June 27, in which Biden performed disastrously, began at 9 p.m. ET. The State of the Union address in March also began at 9 p.m. ET.

Kamala prepares for power… with wince-inducing BET Awards skit

If you thought the Democrats couldn’t humiliate themselves any more, well, think again. In a cringeworthy pre-recorded skit played during the Black Entertainment Television Awards on Sunday night, Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on a phone call with host Taraji P. Henson where they both expressed their concern about the upcoming presidential election. https://twitter.com/MeghanEMurphy/status/1807896843738927469 The skit was done as a parody rap song, quoting Kendrick Lamar’s song "Not Like Us," part of the Drake-Kendrick rivalry. The song specifically mocked Drake for dating younger women, accusing him of being a pedophile. “Madam VP Harris,” Henson starts off, “I’m worried about the election.

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Joy Reid fears ‘King Trump’

It seems every MSNBC host is trembling for his or her life these days. First, Rachel Maddow feared Donald Trump would throw her in an internment camp if reelected and now, following the Supreme Court’s ruling on Donald Trump’s immunity, Joy Reid thinks her rights as a woman and a black American will be revoked. But that’s not the only thing upsetting Reid. The commentator took to TikTok to explain how Monday’s decision has made Trump America's first king.  “The Leonard Leo six on the court just declared, days before this nation celebrates its independence presumably from the British king, that the president of the United States and a former president... that they are a king,” Reid said in a lengthy TikTok video.

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Debate night at the strip club

Pole position Where did you take in last night’s car crash of a presidential debate? Cockburn was holed up in his DC townhouse, washing away the night’s many embarrassments with a glass of Macallan 15. If only he’d known he could have enhanced the viewing experience by watching at a New York gentlemen’s club — as @botticellibimbo, who writes the Strippernomics newsletter on Substack, revealed. “the worst thing about them playing the debate at the strip club rn is that neither sound nor subtitles are on so its just the vibe of the debate,” she tweeted. “the never ending loop of mindless edm playing over this... i imagine it’s what’s going inside their minds.” “ok update at our back bar they do have the sound on!

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Candace Owens: ‘France is being run by perverts’

After staking her entire career on her claim that French first lady Brigitte Macron was born a man, former Daily Wire host Candace Owens was suddenly ousted from the company. While her criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza is ostensibly what got her the boot, Cockburn is sure claiming perverts run the French government didn’t help her case. Owens, who has always reveled in controversy, does not seemed phased however. “I am finally free,” she rejoiced, including to renew her attacks on Brigitte.  https://twitter.com/realcandaceo/status/1806055079570764216 "France is being run by perverts," she declared, in a sentence that could be considered objectively true in any of the last few centuries.

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Why?! Prince Harry to get ESPY

Cockburn blinked twice when he saw that Prince Harry, the not-so-honorable Duke of Sussex will receive the Pat Tillman Award for service. At the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards, or ESPYs, Prince Harry will be granted the award for his strong connection to sports and for serving the way Pat Tillman did.  Social media reactions to this news did not disappoint: "what sport did he play professionally again" "that is absolute treason" "is this a joke?" and "profoundly unamerican move imo." Many in the comments section were quick to remind the haters that Harry founded the Invictus Games, a “community for all international wounded, injured or sick servicemen and women, serving or veteran.” Prince Harry founded the Invictus Games in 2013.

What drugs could help you debate better? Doctors weigh in

Tonight America’s oldest president takes on his loose cannon predecessor in the first presidential debate in Atlanta. Presidents Biden and Trump have faced waves of speculation regarding their respective mental conditions — and whether or not each is fit to hold office. Given their ages and stages, Biden and Trump have been accused of suffering from cognitive decline, dementia or Alzheimer’s. And this evening, both candidates’ mental states will be on full display for millions of Americans to closely watch and scrutinize. Will the two even make it through the ninety-minute debate without shouting at each other and endless rambling? The odds are low.

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Where will Melania Trump live in her husband’s potential second term?

Melania Trump might not return to DC full-time for Trump’s possible second term, according to Axios. The article is predicated on a survey of a “handful of Melania-ologists,” because a spokesperson for Melania didn’t respond to Axios’s request for comment. As the article mentioned: “Melania does what Melania wants” — and Cockburn doesn’t blame her one bit. In February, when asked if Melania would be on the campaign trail much, Donald Trump said: “She was a very successful model, very, very successful, and yet she was a private person. She’s going to be out a lot. Not because she likes doing it, but she likes the results.” The former first lady, however, has not been in attendance at most of Trump’s campaign events.

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Hillary Clinton offers unsolicited debate advice

It's that time of year again: Hillary Clinton has surfaced from her Chappaqua estate to weigh in on politics with vindictive fury. This time she’s billing herself as the expert for Thursday’s presidential debate in a New York Times op-ed. Since Clinton is the only person to have debated both candidates — Joe Biden during the 2008 Democratic primary and Donald Trump during the 2016 election — she reasons she has the unique credentials to analyze the match. Given that she failed to win both races, however, Cockburn thinks it’s a bit rich for Clinton to be offering advice. Ever the ruling class elite trying to seem relatable, Clinton began her op-ed recounting the “time of her life” she had at the Tony Awards last week.

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Is Washington’s war on Zyn ‘election interference?’

A touching tale The anti-porn crusade is claiming more territory. Kentucky lost access to Pornhub earlier this month, with Indiana, Idaho and Kansas to join them a week from today and Nebraska to miss out from July 17.Those states join seven others — Arkansas, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia — where residents can’t access the world’s thirteenth most visited website, as they have passed or are passing laws that mandate age verification through uploading a government ID. Pornhub pulls access to locations that pass these laws in protest, as the company feels that on-device age verification is “the only effective solution for protecting minors and adults alike,” whereas uploading a government ID opens up users to the risk of data breaches.

Why did Nathan Wade agree to this Daily Show interview, also?

Cockburn was left scratching his head last week after former Donald Trump prosecutor Nathan Wade’s disaster sit down with reporter Kaitlan Collins. Not having learned his lesson, Wade decided to double down and appeared on The Daily Show on Wednesday for a racy interview that highlighted the dazzling prudence of the Fulton County courthouse.  Comedian Marlon Wayans, who plays the Daily Show character ’Quon, grilled Wade on his affair with Georgia district attorney Fani Willis, even mimicking several sex positions. After his media team interrupted the CNN interview to dodge a question about his affair, it's almost inexplicable that Wade would place himself in such a raunchy situation — except that he’s clearly enjoying his five minutes of fame.

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The Washington Post is digging its own grave

It takes a master to untangle the web of drama being spun at the Washington Post these days. Fortunately, Cockburn knows a thing or two.  The recent drama concerns Sir William Lewis’s appointment as CEO, handpicked by owner Jeff Bezos, and the subsequent attempt by Lewis to dissuade journalists from covering his role in a long-running British phone hacking scandal (he denies any involvement), which supposedly contributed to the recent and abrupt departure of former editor Sally Buzbee. Add that to the earlier stories of Cameron Barr stepping down in 2023 as managing editor after nineteen years and the lawsuit filed by former Post journalist Felicia Sonmez in 2021, who went ham on her colleagues on Twitter and was subsequently fired.

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Trump’s crush on Debra Messing

Long before he called Taylor Swift “unusually beautiful,” it was Debra Messing who had Trump utterly entranced. According to a new book giving a behind the scenes look at The Apprentice, Messing’s “beautiful red hair” captivated Trump since they first met in the early 2000s and still continues to due so. A longtime critic of the former president, the Will & Grace star now has Trump caught between bitter resentment and desire. Apprentice in Wonderland: How Donald Trump and Mark Burnett Took America Through the Looking Glass, written by Variety co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh, chronicles Trump’s complex feelings for the actress.