Today’s read: 4 min 29 sec

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.

CORRECTION

In Monday’s newsletter, we said RFK’s killer was assassinated. It was actually JFK’s killer who was assassinated.

Corrections are at the top of each newsletter for transparency.

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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

🔫 The sloped roof was too big of a challenge for the Secret Service. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said the agency did not station snipers on top of the building used by the shooter because it had a sloped roof, despite counter-snipers having already been placed on a sloped roof. In fact, several counter-snipers were positioned in the building underneath the roof used by the shooter.

👩‍💼 Jill Biden’s office pushed the Secret Service chief into the role. A Democratic insider revealed that the head of the U.S. Secret Service, who formerly served on the first lady’s detail, was recommended for the role by one of Jill Biden’s senior advisors. The insider said that the advisor “has no national security or law enforcement experience” and that “he should have no influence over the selection of the USSS director.”

🏛 Biden to announce sweeping SCOTUS changes. President Biden is set to propose legislation to institute term limits for Supreme Court Justices and an ethics code for justices to abide by. Biden is even considering endorsing a constitutional amendment to eliminate the broad immunity granted to U.S. presidents, as was recently enforced by the high court.

💸 Senator Menendez was found guilty of corruption. A federal jury found Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) guilty on all charges of accepting bribes in exchange for providing services to foreign governments. In response to the decision, Menendez said he “never violated a public oath” and had “never been a foreign agent.” His sentencing will take place in October.

WHAT WE’RE HEARING

• CNN commentator Van Jones said that J.D. Vance is a “more dangerous virus” than Donald Trump.

• Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) told his donors, "I think if [President Biden] is our nominee, I think we lose.”

• Donald Trump Jr. claimed that he’s been blacklisted from appearing on Fox News, though the network says otherwise.

IN THE LOOP

• A knife-wielding homeless man was shot and killed by police outside the Republican National Convention.

• A man in a ski mask carrying a loaded pistol in his backpack was arrested near the Republican National Convention.

• RFK Jr. said he was “mortified” he leaked a private call with Trump.

• GOP Senators will host a roundtable on why the DHS failed to collect DNA samples of illegal migrants.

• High-level Democrats are split on how to proceed with Biden. Learn who wants to dump and who wants to keep him. (Member-only)

• The most clicked link in our last newsletter was the pulled BlackRock ad that briefly featured the Trump shooter.

WASHINGTON

J.D. Vance ushers in a new conservatism

• Donald Trump selected J.D. Vance because he is a capable successor

• Vance’s populist bona fides signals the end of the Reagan-era GOP

• The media portrays him as a radical despite his frequent bipartisan legislative achievements

The story

After years of speculation about a running mate, former President Trump finally chose J.D. Vance. Vance is renowned for his economic populism, Ukraine-aid skepticism, and his tendency to buck traditional Republican orthodoxies.

Trump announced his selection by praising Vance for his long and accomplished career. If one had read Vance’s bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy his difficult past and his ability to pull himself out of it would be a familiar story.

Growing up poor in a troubled family, Vance joined the U.S. Marines and was deployed to Iraq. He subsequently attended Ohio State University and Yale Law School, leading to a successful career that culminated in the publication of his memoir and its adaptation into a Hollywood movie. Vance successfully ran for Senate in 2022, and his rapid political ascent positioned him as the prospective Vice President of the United States.

Trump’s choice of J.D. Vance as his running mate reveals several interesting aspects of his vision for a second term in office. Vance is not a moderate who can necessarily sway on-the-fence independents; he is a young, articulate, whip-smart representative who can carry the post-Trump populist movement into the future.

The politics

After much speculation among conservatives about the V.P. pick, some are surprised to see Vance ascend to the post. Vance is a committed populist ideologue and a much-needed ally in the Senate.

However, most Republicans across the spectrum are celebrating. Even some foreign policy hawks in Congress are praising Vance, despite his intense opposition to funding Ukraine’s battle against Russian aggression.

Some on the right are lamenting the demise of the Reagan-era GOP — marked by free-market economics and aggressive foreign policy interventionism. J.D. Vance is as far removed from that style of Republican as is ideologically possible; in fact, his economic populism and dovishness on foreign affairs are 180 degrees opposite of Reagan-era conservatism.

The GOP seems to have officially shed its neo-liberal identity, and many on the right are learning how to reorient to a more European-style populism.

On the left, some say that Vance’s “worldview is fundamentally incompatible with basic principles of American democracy.” Defending this position in the pages of Vox, writer Zack Beauchamp asserts:

J.D. Vance is a man who believes that the current government is so corrupt that radical, even authoritarian steps, are justified in response. He sees himself as the avatar of America’s virtuous people, whose political enemies are interlopers scarcely worthy of respect. He is a man of the law who believes the president is above it.

Beyond the headlines

The press has had a field day characterizing J.D. Vance as an extreme MAGA radical, but his record during his brief tenure in the Senate paints quite the opposite picture.

Vance is such a strong defender of workers’ rights that he often crosses party lines to support legislation with progressive Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (MA). He is also one of many conservatives who supports the work of FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan, scrutinizing monopolistic business practices that, in their view, harm consumers and average Americans.

Vance cosponsored or introduced legislation with Democrat colleagues on numerous occasions; now those same colleagues are ruthlessly attacking him for running alongside Donald Trump.

Much ignored by the media, J.D. Vance marched alongside striking United Auto Workers last year — a political statement rarely risked by a Republican in recent American history. Vance’s economic priorities are far more in line with populist-left figures in American politics than they are with The Establishment, right or left.

With today's political landscape defined as simply opposing the other side's views, critiques against Vance are often just criticisms of Democrat Party postures 20 or 30 years ago. But since Vance is a traditional social conservative and a minority voice expressing opposition to funding Ukraine, he is demonized by the left as a radical, though he often aligns left.

Why it matters

The decision to overlook vice presidential candidates like Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND), and Nikki Haley (R-SC) in favor of a staunch ideologue signifies a shift for Donald Trump. Rather than opting for a moderate to appeal to independent voters, choosing J.D. Vance suggests that Trump believes he has ample breathing room and that the race is not highly competitive.

Donald Trump sought a running mate capable of carrying the torch of the post-Trump conservative movement into the future. While Trump embodies the ethos of the new populist-conservative movement, Vance is the skilled tactician and more refined orator who can truly reshape the GOP’s new identity.

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OUR QUESTION TO YOU

POLL RESULTS FROM YESTERDAY

Should the U.S. withdraw from NATO?

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 👍 Yes (374)

🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️ 👎 No (324)

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🤔 Unsure (135)