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How did everyone spend their Friday night?
An international sampling:
President Zelensky: EXORTING
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine directly asked Ukrainians to help the nation’s war effort even from within the occupied territory….
Mr. Zelensky, in his nightly address on Friday, asked those living in regions under partial Russian control — Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizka and Kherson — to avoid Russian mobilization efforts “by any means” and to try to make it to Ukraine-held lands. (New York Times)
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Albert Pujols: MAKING HISTORY
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Elton John: PERFORMING AND CRYING
White House pool report:
Sir Elton John began with some quick remarks at 8:36 pm. Music followed. Opening track was “Your Song,” then “Tiny Dancer,” “Rocketman,” “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” “Crocodile Rock.” He closed with “I’m Still Standing.”
Wrapped at 9:15 pm.
Biden then went up on stage and announced he was giving Elton John the National humanities medal. “I’m never flabbergasted but I’m flabbergasted,” John said. He got teary while thanking the president.
The Bidens then waved and left the stage.
During the concert, the crowd stood up and clapped and cheered after every song. Pool was too far back to have an eye on POTUS during the concert.
Elton John spoke about AIDS funding in between songs and ending AIDS by 2030. He thanked former President George W. Bush and Laura Bush (who was in attendance) for their work on the issue and recalled a story in which he talked to Bush backstage at an event who told him he needed the French “to give more (F-ing) money.”
“I just wish America could be more bipartisan,”he said.
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Donald Trump: GIVING HIS USUAL STUMP SPEECH (WITH THE NEW Q-Y MUSIC)
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A group of Washington Post reporters: TRYING TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THE NEW TRUMP Q-Y MUSIC
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Matt Gaetz: VICTORY LAPPING
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Gavin Newsom: PACKING
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Another group of Washington Post reporters: TRYING TO REACH FORMER TOP AIDES TO MIKE PENCE
Lawyers for former president Donald Trump have entered a high-stakes legal battle seeking to limit the scope of former top White House aides’ testimony to a federal grand jury that is investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 elections…
Efforts to reach representatives for Short or Jacobs were not immediately successful Friday night.
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Canadians: BATTENING DOWN HATCHES
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Roger Federer: PLAYING AND CRYING
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Tudor Dixon: JOKING
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ESSENTIAL READING
The Washington Post sprinkles in some interesting stuff amidst an otherwise run-of-the-mill look at Trump-DeSantis ’24:
Trump and his advisers widely expect DeSantis to take him on in 2024, multiple people in the former president’s orbit said….
Some Trump donors have said that, after donating to DeSantis, they got displeased phone calls from Trump urging them to stop supporting the governor and saying he may run against Trump, according to a person who works with donors. The person also said some Trump donors seeking a relationship with DeSantis prefer him as a presidential candidate…..
Republican operatives and donors who have interacted with DeSantis said he sometimes struggles to connect with people, and his speeches are often didactic — not dazzling the crowd. It is unclear how his insular orbit would exist in a sprawling presidential operation, some of the operatives and donors said. And some of Trump’s advisers said they expect him to lose his political luster over time.
Trump’s advisers said they see weaknesses in DeSantis that could inform their strategy against him, should they be pitted against one another in 2024. They argue that he’s not tested on a national stage and that he is not a compelling speaker. Some people who have met DeSantis earlier this year described the governor as a poor conversationalist with donors.