| | | Today's read: 4 min 22 sec |
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| | First time here? I'm Ari, and this is Upward News. Every day, we scour 100s of sources to bring you need-to-know news and insights you won't see in the MSM. Sign up here. |
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| | WHAT WE'RE WATCHING | | π§ House Oversight subpoenaed White House aides over Biden's fitness. Oversight chair Rep. James Comer (R-KY) subpoenaed three influential White House aides to sit for closed-door interviews regarding President Biden's mental competence. In letters sent to each aide, Comer wrote that the committee is "concerned" that the staffers "have taken it upon themselves to run the country while the President cannot." | π A bipartisan bill aims to ban Congress from stock trading. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) joined forces with several of his Democratic colleagues to propose a ban on stock trading for members of Congress and their families, in addition to the president and vice president. Several high-profile lawmakers — most notably Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) — have been accused of profiting by leveraging insider information. | π AOC is trying to impeach Justices Alito and Thomas. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) filed articles of impeachment against Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas on Wednesday, citing their alleged "unchecked corruption." The Congresswoman elaborated, "The unchecked corruption crisis on the Supreme Court has now spiraled into a Constitutional crisis threatening American democracy writ large." | πΊπ¦ The NATO summit commenced, bringing more aid to Ukraine. With the NATO meeting in Washington D.C. kicking off this week, President Biden announced what he described as a "historic donation" of new air defense systems to help Ukraine ward off Russia's advance. Italy, Germany, and Romania have joined the U.S. in their intent to send upgraded missile systems to Ukraine. |
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| | WHAT WE'RE HEARING | Experienced neurologist Dr. Tom Pitts, though not President Biden's doctor, asserted on NBC News that the president "has the classic features of neurodegeneration." President Biden will sit down with NBC News's Lester Holt for an interview on Monday evening. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) was given a speaking slot at next week's Republican National Convention.
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| | IN THE LOOP | The U.S. will resume shipments of 500-pound bombs to Israel, but the 2,000-pound bombs are still on hold. Ben Shapiro testified before Congress regarding the alleged suppression of conservative media. Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell said that keeping interest rates too high "could unduly weaken economic activity and employment." George Clooney wrote an essay arguing that Joe Biden needs to be replaced, citing the president's rapid decline over the past several years. If you have outstanding credit card debt, getting a new 0% intro APR credit card could help ease the pressure while you pay down your balances. Our credit card experts identified top credit cards that are perfect for anyone looking to pay down debt and not add to it.*
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| | GEOPOLITICS | France's messy election yielded no clear victor | | The populist-right gained seats in France's parliamentary elections, but far fewer than expected The unexpected winners — a coalition of left-wing forces — do not have enough seats to govern Emmanuel Macron's party will have a choice: work with the left, the right, or no one
| The story | When Emmanuel Macron became President of France in 2017, he brought a new centrist party — En Marche, now called Renaissance. Macron and his party swept to victory in that year's presidential and parliamentary elections, thanks to France's election runoff system. | A runoff election consists of two rounds: top candidates from the first round advance to the second. As a centrist, Macron had an advantage. If he faced a right-wing candidate in the second round, left-leaning voters would support him. Conversely, right-leaning voters backed him if he faced a left-wing candidate. | The system gained him two solid presidential election victories and control of parliament for most of his presidency. But last week, it fell apart. | In snap elections, which Macron demanded after his party suffered an embarrassing defeat to the populist-right National Rally (RN) party in June's European Parliamentary elections, Renaissance lost 86 seats, falling to second place. | That result was not particularly shocking. What shocked observers was that the populist-right — which led in polls and was expected to gain the most seats — ended up in third place, behind Macron's party and first-place New Popular Front (NFP), a newly formed bloc of parties ranging from center-left to communist. The unexpected outcome was due to a pact between Macron's Renaissance party and the NFP. | France parliamentarians are elected in districts across the country, like the United States House of Representatives. Macron and the leftist coalition agreed that all third-place candidates, whether centrists or leftists, would drop out — thereby uniting opposition to the right. This strategy ultimately denied the right victories in hundreds of seats. | The results | Macron's party chose to side with leftists due to fears stemming from National Rally's history. Its current leader, Marine Le Pen, succeeded her father, who was infamous for Holocaust denialism. The younger Le Pen has worked to reform the party's image, but NR candidates frequently espouse anti-Semitic ideas; one was pictured in Nazi memorabilia. | No party garnered a majority; even first-place NFP fell 100 seats short. And without power to govern, the incumbent Prime Minister — Macron's hand-picked Gabriel Attal — resigned, though Macron had asked him to stay until a new government could be formed. | The victorious left is demanding that the right form a government. The NFP stated that if Macron blocks the left from running parliament (the president appoints the Prime Minister) it will "amount to betrayal of our constitution and a coup against democracy, which we will strongly oppose." | But the NFP does not have a majority — not close. They need support from Macron's party to govern, while Macron has said he would not work with the far-left to form a government. | The right-wing is predictably disappointed with the results. After the election, Le Pen told the press, "The tide is rising. It did not rise high enough this time, but it continues to rise and, consequently, our victory has only been delayed." | Beyond the headlines | Though this election was disappointing for the right, there are silver linings. For starters, RN actually won first place in the popular vote count, with over 37 percent, while the NFP garnered only 26 percent. Like America's electoral college, popular vote does not matter — but considering the RN's 17 percent share in 2022's parliamentary elections, it is clearly on the upswing. | National Rally could still declare victory by multiplying seats it gained in Parliament. Meanwhile, the French left displayed its displeasure with election results by rioting in the streets. Police attempted to keep order in cities around the country, but rioters vandalized monuments and attacked officers with Molotov cocktails. |
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| | OUR QUESTION TO YOU | π Should Republicans invoke the 25th amendment to replace Biden?Poll results will be in Monday's newsletter. | | | POLL RESULTS FROM YESTERDAY | π Do you agree with the RNC's centrist approach? | π©π©π©π©π©π© π Yes (584) | π¨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ π No (166) | ⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ π€ Unsure (60) | π Yes: "The majority of the country is moderate. If a candidate would finally figure that out and run as moderate, he'd win by a landslide! Stop trying to appease the lunatic fringe." — S.S. π Yes: "My opinion is that government does not belong in moral issues that are between you and God, so the softer stance on abortion is an improvement, but my tax dollars still should not be supporting it!" — Susie π No: "I think it's a mistake to pare down our pro-life platform... We must hold the line, because the left obviously won't." — Name π€ Unsure: "It's great for winning this election, but a move away from conservatism is a move to the left. Will we be able to bring it back after this?" — Brendan | | 810 votes |
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| | See you tomorrow |
| Today's newsletter was written by Brandon Goldman, Anthony Constantini, and Ari David. | |
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