Happy Friday! It’s Flag Day. How do you think Martha-Ann Alito is celebrating? As her husband Justice Samuel Alito has said, “my wife is fond of flying flags.” Here’s what’s happening in the news: - The Supreme Court overturned the Trump-era ban on bump stocks.
- Former President Trump had a very empathetic response to Hunter Biden’s conviction.
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President Biden is meeting with the pope during his Italy trip. Oh, and the pope invited 100+ comedians to the Vatican.
- Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi are settling their rivalry with a Netflix live hot dog eating special in September. GET EXCITED!
I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send tips, commentary, feedback and cookie recipes to cmartel@digital-release.thehill.com. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here. |
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Plot twist: Bump stocks are no longer illegal: |
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The Supreme Court ruled this morning that the Trump-era ban on bump stocks is illegal, ending the nationwide ban on the devices, which convert semi-automatic weapons to ones capable of firing hundreds of rounds per minute, reports The Hill’s Zach Schonfeld. Keep in mind: The Trump administration first put this ban into place after the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting, which was the deadliest in U.S. history. The Biden administration defended the ban in front of the Supreme Court. The decision: 6-3 along ideological lines. Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the decision, and liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor authored the dissent. Read more on the case: ‘Supreme Court invalidates Trump-era bump stock ban’ |
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The pope, Jimmy Fallon and Julia Louis-Dreyfus walk into a bar:
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World leaders have been gathered in Italy for the Group of Seven (G7) summit. In addition to the official meetings, lots of sideline meetings are happening between world leaders. President Biden has a meeting with Pope Francis. But even cooler than that, the pope hosted a group of Hollywood comedians at the Vatican, reports CNN’s Christopher Lamb and Simone McCarthy.
Who was there?: More than 100 comedians, including, Whoopi Goldberg, Jimmy Fallon, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Chris Rock, Stephen Colbert and Conan O’Brien Can you imagine being in the same room as the pope? Or can you imagine being in the same room as *just one* of these comedians? I’ve never wanted to be a fly on the wall more than right now.
The pope’s message — you unite people because everyone loves to laugh: “You manage to make people smile even while dealing with problems and events, large and small. You denounce abuses of power; you give voice to forgotten situations; you highlight abuses; you point out inappropriate behavior.” From Conan O’Brien: “We are all looking at each other thinking ‘Something’s wrong’. We are in this beautiful, beautiful space in the Vatican, and for some reason they’ve let comedians in which is always a mistake.”
Did Whoopi Goldberg ask the pope if he would appear in ‘Sister Act 3’?: “I didn’t think it was the right place to bring it up, but I’ll probably send an email,” she told reporters. (CNN) 📸 Selfie from the meeting |
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➤ SIGHTS AND SOUNDS FROM ITALY:
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📹 Watch the pope arrive in a helicopter: Or should I say “pope-mocopter.” Or is it “pope-icopter?” 🤔
^ While editing this newsletter, The Hill’s Emily Martin weighed in and thinks it would actually be a “papal-copter.” Or maybe a “heli-pope-ter.” Can you tell we’re both in a Friday mood?
Ooh, a skydiving demonstration: Bloomberg’s Josh Wingrove posted: “G7 leaders arriving for a skydiving demonstration. (The Secret Service appears to have made Biden take a golf cart instead).” 📹 Watch the footage
What a beautiful backdrop: The Daily Mail’s Emily Goodin posted photos of the press hold before Biden’s press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. It’s a bird. No, it’s a plane!: @KateBennett_DC argues that this is the best photo from the G7 summit, and I wholeheartedly agree. |
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An awkward reunion, but a reunion nonetheless:
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“Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and former President Trump made efforts to bury the hatchet and end their long-running feud Thursday as GOP confidence grows that the party could win both chambers of Congress and the White House this fall,” reports The Hill’s Alexander Bolton. They had beef, let me tellll you: McConnell broke from Trump when the former president refused to accept the results of the 2020 election. And since then, things between the two have been frosty. Trump even mocked his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, as McConnell’s “China-loving wife” and “Coco Chow.” Oof. Read more: ‘McConnell, Trump bury hatchet with eye on GOP takeover’ Keep in mind: This was Trump’s first meeting with congressional Republicans since being convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. |
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➤ LIZ CHENEY HAS SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT THAT MEETING:
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Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) slammed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for meeting with former President Trump on Thursday, calling him an “enabler.”
Excerpt: “Mitch McConnell knows Trump provoked the violent attack on our Capitol and then “watched television happily” as his mob brutally beat police officers and hunted the Vice President.” Read her full social media post — it is scathing, to say the least. ^ And be sure to check out the Trump-McConnell handshake photo in Cheney’s post. |
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➤ TIDBITS FROM CAPITOL HILL THIS WEEK:
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📸 This floor chart is the best I’ve seen all month, no, year: I’ve seen photos of this floor chart all over my X feed. NOTUS’s Matt Fuller posted, “You know, just sitting in the House gallery, editing a story, minding my business, and I see this.”
🤵 Thursday was Seersucker Day: Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) wore one to celebrate. “It’s part of a Jos. A Bank ‘buy 3 get one free’ deal, he says. His seersucker was the free suit.” (From HuffPost’s Igor Bobic)
And Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) paired his seersucker suit with custom socks showing his kids’ faces.
🍦 Rival ice cream celebrations: The Washington Post’s Dan Diamond posted a photo from what he called “the most delicious lobbying fight.” On one side of the street, the International Dairy Foods Association held an annual ice cream party. Across the street, oat milk company Oatly offered a “safe space” for “dairy deserters.”
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Well, this was a very human moment: |
In an interview with Fox News, former President Trump said he understands how President Biden feels after his son, Hunter Biden, was convicted on three felony charges related to his past drug addiction.
The quote from Trump: “I understand it pretty well because I’ve had it with people who have it in their family. … It’s a very tough situation for a father, it’s a very tough situation for a brother or sister, and it goes on and it’s not stopping, whether it’s alcohol or drugs or whatever it may be,” he continued. “It’s a tough thing, and so that’s a tough moment for the family. It’s a tough moment for any family involved in that.” Keep in mind: Trump’s brother Fred, who died in 1981, had alcoholism. |
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🍓 Celebrate: Today is National Strawberry Shortcake Day and National Bourbon Day. Sunday is National Fudge Day! Ah, the best season of the year.
🌭 Let’s GOOOO: Joey Chestnut has been banned from the July 4 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest for signing a deal with the plant-based meat company Impossible Foods. Well, Netflix jumped in and said, “hold my beer.” The streaming platform will hold a live hot dog eating competition between Chestnut and his former rival Takeru Kobayashi on Sept. 2. It’s called, “Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef.”
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The House voted this morning. The Senate is out. President Biden and Vice President Harris are in Washington. (all times Eastern) |
- 12:45 p.m.: Biden participates in the closing session of the G7 summit.
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1:30 p.m.: Harris speaks at the 100 Black Men of America Inc. 38th Annual Conference in Atlanta. She then returns to Washington. 💻 Livestream
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4:30 p.m.: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) and Vivek Ramaswamy speak at a Turning Point Action convention in Detroit. 💻 C-SPAN livestream
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4:45 p.m.: Biden leaves Italy and returns to Washington. On Saturday, he will travel to Los Angeles.
- 9:30 p.m.: Harris leaves for Zurich.
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3 p.m. Monday: The Senate returns. 📆 Monday’s agenda
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