RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard Endorse Trump

Your weekly News Memo - a more human way to engage with the news.

In this week’s memo:

• RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard Endorse Trump 

• Telegram App Founder Arrested in France

• GetSmart: 🏋️ The Wife Carrying World Championship

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Newsbites

• Stranded Astronauts to Wait for SpaceX: The two astronauts currently stuck in space will return to earth in February via a SpaceX rocket rather than the Boeing spacecraft they used to get there. Butch Wilmar and Suni Williams left on June 5 for an estimated 8-day mission. Five of the spacecraft’s thrusters, which help it maneuver, cut out as it approached the station. Boeing had repeatedly said it had confidence the Starliner can return safely, but NASA decided to wait for the next SpaceX mission in Feb 2025. NASA says the astronauts are beginning to develop a daily schedule at the International Space Station by doing research and required maintenance tasks.
  
  More: Here is the press conference Wilmar and Williams gave just before launching.

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• Mark Zuckerberg admitted this week that the FBI and government officials pressured him and Meta to censor content on Facebook, saying, “In 2021, senior officials from the Biden Administration, including the White House, repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire.” He added that later “the FBI warned us about a potential Russian disinformation operation about the Biden family and Burisma in the lead up to the 2020 election.” Facebook then demoted the Hunter Biden Laptop scandal until it was “fact checked” by government agencies. Zuckerberg continued in the statement to say, “It's since been made clear that the reporting was not Russian disinformation, and in retrospect, we shouldn't have demoted the story.” (full statement)

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• Sicily Yacht Investigation: James Cutfield, the captain of the yacht that mysteriously sank on Aug. 19 off the coast of Sicily, is being investigated for manslaughter and causing the wreck. During initial questioning on Tuesday, Cutfield did not respond to prosecutors’ questions, with his legal team saying they need more time to build the defense case. The yacht belonged to UK billionare Mike Lynch, who died in the shipwreck, along with his 18-year-old daughter. How the yacht sank so quickly remains unclear. The boat was built by famed Italian shipmaker, Perini Navi, and was considered the gold standard for stability.

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• Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz sat down for an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on Thursday night. It’s the first time she has answered questions from the media since she began her campaign over a month ago. You can listen to the full interview here (25 min).

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• Trump Abortion Tone Changing: Former President Trump recently said that he would not sign a federal ban on abortion if it came to his desk as president. Trump argues that the overturning of Roe v. Wade was a success in bringing the issue back to the states and says he would let the Democratic process playout as to how those laws are set. He also posted on his Truth Social account saying, “My Administration will be great for women and their reproductive rights,” frustrating some in the pro-life movement. In an interview with NBC News on Thursday, Trump also said that IVF treatments would be covered by insurance or the government, if he is elected.

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• Trump & JFK Files: At his rally in Dallas this week, Trump promised to release the remaining JFK files if he is elected (video). He also said he would establish an independent presidential commission on assassination attempts and put RFK Jr. in charge. Although 99% of the JFK files have been released, a few thousand remain secret. The 1992 JFK Assassination Records Collection Act mandated all the files be released by 2017, unless the president determines the release would bring “(1) identifiable harm to the military defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement, or conduct of foreign relations; and (2) the identifiable harm is of such gravity that it outweighs the public interest in disclosure.” Trump had promised to release the remaining files when he was president in 2016, but did not. President Biden has also delayed the full release.

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• Trump Assassination Attempt Whistleblower: A whistleblower has alleged that officials at Secret Service headquarters told agents working at the rally where Trump was shot not to request additional security manpower for the event, and that any such requests would be denied. The information was revealed in a letter published by Senator Josh Hawley that was sent to the acting director of the Secret Service, Ronald Rowe. Hawley said the document contradicts Rowe’s testimony before the Senate on July 30.

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• Stat of the week

  The F-150 Ford truck bed has shrunk considerably (27%) since the 1970s. 

  

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Main Stories

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RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard Endorse Trump 

“Our polling consistently showed that by staying on the ballot in the battleground states, I would likely hand the election over to the Democrats, with whom I disagree on the most existential issues: censorship, war, and chronic disease.” - RFK Jr.

What happened?
Donald Trump’s campaign received a boost this week following endorsements from RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard, two former Democrats. RFK Jr. is the nephew of JFK and the son of former U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy Sr. His working career was primarily spent as an environmental lawyer. Tulsi Gabbard is a military veteran and former U.S. House Representative from Hawaii.

RFK Jr.’s support of Trump could make a measurable impact in the election given he was consistently receiving 5-6% in recent national polls and as high as 15%+ a few months ago. 

• While RFK Jr. will remain on the ballot in non-battleground states, he will remove his name from the ballot in states where the outcome will be tight.

More: RFK Jr’s press conference (video) (written transcript)

What were the reasons for RFK’s endorsement of Trump?

1. RFK Jr. said he left the Democratic party because it abandoned the things it used to stand for when he was young and when it was the party of his uncle (JFK) and father (RFK Sr.).

“[In the 1960s], the Democrats stood against authoritarianism, against censorship, against colonialism, against imperialism, and against unjust wars. We were the party of labor, of the working class. The Democrats were the party of government transparency and the champion of the environment. Our party was the bulwark against big money interests and corporate power. True to its name, it was the party of democracy. 

As you know, I left that party in October because it had departed so dramatically from the core values that I grew up with. It had become the party of war, censorship, corruption, big pharma, big tech, big AG, and big money.”

2. RFK said that despite still having “very serious differences” with Trump, they are aligned on the three issues that matter most to him: free speech / censorship, chronic health disease (especially among children), and anti-war.

“Three great causes drove me to enter this race in the first place, primarily. And these are the principal causes that persuaded me to leave the Democratic Party and run as an independent, and now to throw my support to President Trump. The causes were: free speech, the war in Ukraine, and the war on our children” (referring to chronic health diseases such as diabetes).

• Addressing chronic health disease, especially among children in the U.S., is RFK Jr.’s number one priority. He pointed to the fact that “74% of Americans are now overweight or obese, including 50% of our children.” He cited another study that found 77% of Americans aged 17-24 are unfit to serve in the U.S. military, with the largest single reason being overweight.

RFK said that after the assassination attempt on Trump, the two had a phone conversation and then subsequent meetings in which they discussed core issues and a possible collaboration. After the phone call with Trump, RFK said he “tried unsuccessfully to open similar discussions with Vice President Harris. Vice President Harris declined to meet or even to speak with me.”

A new political front forming?
RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard’s endorsements come a few weeks after the endorsement of Trump by Elon Musk, also a former Democrat. While these figures have disagreements with Trump, they have come to agree on a few issues, which generally include free speech / censorship, reducing the U.S.’ involvement with foreign wars, and a brand of environmentalism focused on healthy food and anti- big pharmaceutical companies.

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Telegram App Founder Arrested in France

Why it matters: Should government agencies have access to private messaging apps in order to stop crime and illegal activity?