good evening, and welcome to "politicsnation." we're following a busy evening of breaking news from the 2024 presidential race. former president donald trump and his newly minted vice presidential running mate jd vance are about to take the stage in the swing state of michigan for their first joint campaign rally as a presidential ticket and, for trump, his first rally since surviving an assassination attempt. on the other side, vice president kamala harris was in massachusetts this afternoon speaking at a major democratic fundraiser just hours ago. president biden, meanwhile, is is vowing to return to the campaign trail next week as he

spends the weekend in delaware recovering from covid and facing calls from lawmakers in his own party to teardrop out of the race. first let's go to grand rapids, michigan, where former president trump and his running mate, ohio senator jd vance, are holding their first rally together. vaurn hillyard is covering the event, vaughn, what do you expect to hear once they take the stage? >> reporter: reverend sharpton, this is going to be the first appearance outside of the convention for these two men. of course, michigan is a battleground state here, and jd vance, part of the calculation for putting him on this ticket, much like donald trump did with mike pence, were his midwest roots here. and when you're looking at the map, michigan, wisconsin, ohio, pennsylvania, the campaign, according to a senior advisor i was just talking to, feels like jd vance is going to be able to

help them here. this is, of course, the first time he appears at a rally with thousands, more than 10,000 inside this arena in grand rapids before the attempted assassination one week ago. i can tell you from conversations with dozens of folk folks here that came within hours of grand rapids to be here that the enthusiasm and the almost -- the level of inevitability belief that they believe that their nominee will win the white house in just over 100 days is higher than i have felt at, frankly, any point since donald trump has been a presidential candidate here. and this is a moment here where we're going to see donald trump take the stage, and of course, from the convention, there are two trumps, one telling the harrowing story of being shot at and losing part of his ear as well as one of the rally goers losing his life. but then there was the rest of the speech, which was very much of an echo of the maga agenda that donald trump has been touting for the last 18 months of his 2024 bid but also

throughout his last nine years. and so there is little reason based off of conversations with those around him and from his own words on the convention stage in milwaukee to suggest that he has any intent of moderating or changing his political calculus in terms of his messaging on the issues. >> let me ask you this, vaughn, you mentioned this is trump's first rally since the assassination attempt, have you noticed any extra security? >> reporter: we have noticed that local law enforcement as well as secret service -- i should note we're at a downtown location here. and of course, it's an indoor a'that, not an outdoor event, but when the thousands were waiting outside to get into the event, we saw law enforcement personnel, federal and local, from atop parking fwrajs, from atop buildings here with a much better vantage point as to the activities going on. there is quite a bit of fencing around the venue lot. cal law enforcement on horseback, on

bikes. it was definitely -- we are used to a high law enforcement presence at these rallies, but today was a strengthened effort. i was speaking to a senior advisor for donald trump a few moments ago who noted they wanted to continue with these rallies and that shooting is not going to stop them. and in talking with the rally goers here, they say there was little hesitation or anxiety around coming here. >> all right, thank, you nbc's vaughn hillyard in michigan, we'll come back to you if needed. now on to rehoboth beach, delaware, where president biden is spending the weekend. nbc's ali rafah is joining us. ali we learned that bill clinton and hillary clinton have privately been supportive of

president biden's decision to stay in the race. meanwhile, more than a dozen congressional democrats have joined those calling for the president to step aside. what's the latest you're hearing on that front? >> reporter: yeah, that's right. as we see these growing calls from lawmakers for the president to step aside in the 2024 presidential race, we're also seeing new signs of support from prominent democrats. you have some joining the biden campaign and trying to quiet these growing calls from these other lawmakers, these doubts about the president's candidacy, and you mentioned the clintons there, their private support of the president's decision to stay in this race. and we also know from sources familiar with the clintons thinking that they have also been in touch with donors, encouraging donors to continue backing the president. they've also been in touch with the white house trying to offer as much support as they can during this time. and remember, the biden campaign is continuing to stress that the

president is continuing to stay in this race to win it. we even heard from the president himself yesterday saying in a statement that he is looking forward to returning to the campaign trail when he recovers from covid as he continues recovering from covid in rehoboth beach at his beach house, but privately we know the conversations within the president's circle are different. we're told that sources familiar with these conversations say the president feels betrayed, sad about this growing democratic pressure campaign for him to step aside. we also know from sources familiar with the conversations happening within the biden family that they are discussing what the president stepping down, what that might look like. they say that they're considering several factors with that, considering how that will affect the stability of the country, the democratic party, and who would be best positioned to pass the torch on to and keep

democrats -- >> we're going to talk about that in the show with some of our guests, but allie, president biden is still recovering, as you said, from covid, and just a few hours ago his doctor released a statement saying that the president's is symptoms and condition, quote, continues to improve steadily. when can we expect the president to return to the trail? >> reporter: well, the biden campaign isn't announcing anything official as the president continues his recovery, but we do know that they have some plans in place for the rest of this month. we heard from the biden campaign spokesperson kevin munoz earlier today. he previewed some of the travel that is going to happen late they are month by the president. he confirmed that he'll go to a fundraiser in massachusetts with david letterman at the end of the month. also a fundraiser in chicago by the end of july. we also know that vice president harris will be in milwaukee next week, of course, right after the

republican national convention that also happened in milwaukee. and the biden campaign is saying that they are planning more events in key battleground states up until the end of july, so again, stressing that the president is remaining in this race, stressing that they are having no conversations about a backup option. >> all right, thank you, nbc's allie raffa. now joining me is spokesperson for the biden/harris 2024 campaign, thank you for joining us again, miss elrod. the president is still self-isolating with a covid infection that has kept him off the campaign trail this week. what can you tell us about how he's recuperating and have you had the chance to talk with him? >> thank you so much for having me, rev. there was a statement put out by his doctor yesterday making it clear that he is doing well. and i know for a fact that he is

ready to get back out there on the campaign trail, talking directly to voters, taking his message out to the people in this country that. is where his support is. that is where we have seen him really be able to make that contrast. and there's so much at stake, rev. we obviously have been talking a lot this past week about the republican convention and some of the divisive, dangerous rhetoric that has come out of nouts of some of the speakers. you mentioned there was a rally tonight with donald trump and jd vance, his vice presidential choice. jd is essentially the poster boy of project 2025. he is somebody who has made it clear he supports a national abortion ban. he is someone who has made it clear he does not support the rights of women. this is a very dangerous ticket, and president biden is looking forward to getting back on the campaign trail. >> now, we mentioned at the top of the show that former president bill clinton and

former secretary of state hillary clinton are supporting biden and urging donors to do the same, but you have nearly three dozen house democrats and four senate democrats calling on biden to drop out of the race, among them sherrod brown and marc veasey, who's the first defection from the congressional black caucus. the entire caucus other than him have urged the president to stay in the race so far, and many of us in the civil rights community -- i talked to the president a week ago on monday and he was determined he was staying in. i'm willing to support whatever he decides, but how is he reacting to these latest calls on him to step down? >> well, a couple of thing, rev. first of all, the clintons have been supportive to president both in the 2020 campaign and also, obviously, this campaign

cycle too. i just went to a fundraiser not too long ago at former virginia governor tara's house. they've been longtime supporters. no surprise they're obviously still very much with president biden. but look, i want to make a point here. i mean, president biden has made it very clear -- and i think something that kind of got a little lost at the very end of the press conference he held a couple weeks ago during the very end of nato -- he made it clear that, look, if there are members of congress who need to run against him, they're going to perform better if they run against the president, if they want to run with him, he doesn't care. as long as they win, as long as they do what they need to do, that is what matters. and what matters to president biden, of course, is beating donald trump. they share those same worries that we have to beat trump. that is why president biden is excited to get back on the campaign trail, taking his message directly to voters and proving time and time again that he is the best candidate to take

on donald trump. he beat him in 2020, he's going to beat him again. and by the way, rev, you know this very well because you and i have talked about this a lot on your show and on morning joe, we've talked a lot about what president biden has done for the american people. he's created over 15 million jobs, put the first black woman on the supreme court, relieved student loan debt for millions of americans. the list goes on and on. he has done a lot for the american people, and those are proof points to make it clear he will get a lot done in a second term for the american people. and he wants to get back out there on the campaign trail and make that case directly to voters. >> and that is a concern of a lot of people, including me, he has done a lot, but how to you preserve that and move forward because there's still more work to be done and how that's best done is the only discussion, i think, that is credible rather than all of this back and forth.

but with president biden sidelined from campaigning this week, vice president kamala harris has been on the trail talking earlier with donors in massachusetts and raising $2 million, according to the campaign. can you talk about the role the vice president is playing right now? >> yeah, she's playing the same role, rev, that she's played this entire time. they have such a great partnership. she's been an incredible surrogate on the campaign trail traveling across battleground states. and she'll continue to be doing that. she's in p-town. excited crowd there. i've been talking to campaign staffers who are there, and they say the energy is electric in the room for biden/harris ticket. this is what the vice president's been doing. they have such a great partnership, such a great friendship, you can't imagine really a better duo out there together on the campaign trail. and also a better duo to really take the message directly to the voters about what's at stake in this election, how dangerous project 2025 is. you know, the limitations that would be put on women if donald

trump stepped one foot back in that white house. it's terrifying to really think about. and the vice president is an incredibly effective messenger. she's continuing to do what she's done all along, make the case directly to voters. that's what you're going to keep seeing her do. >> i want to go back to something you referred to. trump has distanced himself from the controversial conservative plan known as project 2025, but the platform assembled in part was from his own former white house staffers, trump's white house staffers. and it plays like a wish list for trump's potential second term, including the desolation of government agencies and the replacement of federal workers with trump loyalists. meanwhile this week, president biden laid out new proposals to curb rent increases and expand

the supreme court. your thoughts on the contrast between what trump's people are putting out and pushing, and i might say, jd vance is a big proponent of project 2025, and what president biden is putting out this week in terms of rent and other things that affect people in the country. >> you've heard me say this a number of times on your show that the contrast could not be more clear that joe biden is fighting for working families and making their lives better, versus donald trump who is fighting to seek political retribution and keep himself out of jail. he's a convicted felon 34 times. that was not the case in 2020. he is making it clear where his priorities stand. that is one of the reasons why he's running for president again. but when it comes back to project 2025, i mean, i think this is why we're talking about it so much on the campaign, because it really would, if

implemented, even if part of the agenda were implemented it would have dangerous effects on the american people. it's essentially gutting the federal government and putting people in the federal government that would do donald trump's bidding. you know, one of the great parts of living under a democracy is having a system of checks and balances in government. >> yeah. >> project 2025 is set up so there wouldn't be a checks and balances. so donald trump could literally do whatever he wants to do in the white house. we have to make it clear there is a very decent chance the next president of the united states will be able to pick two supreme court justices on the court a couple justices retire. that is something we have to keep in mind. >> yeah. >> if we think the court is weighted against the american people now, think about how much more it would be weighted if two more conservative justices were put on this court, especially young justices, they could serve 40 or 50 years potentially on the court. there's a lot at stake here. joe biden, as you mentioned, his

putting out policies to reduce rent for people, he's always thinking about ways he can make the lives of working class people in america better. that's what joe biden is all about. there's a lot of people who know him as president biden. a lot of people know him as joe biden who's fighting for me. that's why he can't wait to get on the campaign trail and make that contrast and take this message to voters. >> i have to ask you this, i'm out of time, but as i mentioned former president trump and jd vance are about to take the stage. in fact, here's vance live on that stage right now in grand rapids, michigan, for their first rally as a presidential ticket. and while the trump campaign continue what is it considers minority outreach, one thing that vance does not bring to the ticket is diversity. can these two right wing white men speak to the future of all america? >> no, they can't. and i thought it was so silly

the first night of the convention there was so much talk there's a woman of color up there, a union worker up there, this is the new makeup of the republican parsy is what some pundits were saying. unions are on our side. workers are on our side. people of color are on the side of president joe biden, why? because he's gotten a lot done for them. unemployment's been at a record low among black americans. small businesses among black americans has been at a record high under president biden. he actually doesn't just go out there and talk the talk, rev, he has the accomplishments to back it up. that is something donald trump and jd vance cannot say. >> adrienne elrod, thank you for being with us again. still to come, the trump campaign courts black voters with as little effort as possible, hawking tacky sneakers and calling on barely famous rappers for clout. the latest on trump's cynical play for black votes just ahead. play for black votes just ahead.

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right now i want to go take a moment -- i want to go live to grand rapids, michigan. former president trump and his new running mate, ohio senator jd vance, just took the stage at a rally there in grand rapids. let's take a look at it. >> -- your extraordinary outpouring of love and support in the wake of the horrific last saturday event. >> boo. >> now, when you think of it, it was exactly one week ago today almost to the hour, even to the minute. incredible. what a day it was. as i said earlier this week, i stand before you only by the

grace of almighty god, that's true. i shouldn't be here. i shouldn't be here. maybe jd or somebody else would be here, but i shouldn't be here right now. but something very -- something very special happened, let's face it. something happened. i want to thank butler memorial hospital in pennsylvania for the incredible job they did and service they gave, and all of the great citizens of butler, pennsylvania, and the surrounding area and everyone else for the job they did and the love that they showed us all. it was incredible, actually. what a time that was. what a time that was. nobody's seen anything like it. and hopefully they never will again. and they had cameras blazing. i guess it was different in that way too, because we were right in the middle of -- see, look at

all the news back there. they were all blazing. they were going. no, no, no, they covered it fairly. they couldn't believe what they were seeing either. they did. you did cover it fairly. let me also thank congressman ronnie jackson from texas. you know congressman ronnie jackson for the care and treatment he gave me as an outstanding doctor -- which he is, he's an amazing guy. where's ronnie? doc ronnie is here some place. thank you, ronnie. thank you very much. great doctor. he was a great admiral, a great doctor. he's a white house doctor for bush, obama, and a guy named trump. and they said who was the healthiest of the three, he said not even a question, trump. and i said i love that guy. i love that guy.

>> all right, that was former president trump rallying in grand rapids, and even though i am very much opposed to a lot of his policies, i do -- i am glad he is recovered. i see he doesn't even have the bandage on, and i wish him a full recovery healthwise. we cannot become like those that we are opposed to. we must fight our politics with ballots, not bullets. joining me now is congresswoman robin kelly, democrat of illinois. congresswoman, let's start with the trump/vance ticket. republicans are reportedly hoping that senator vance can win over voters in mid western areas like grand rapids where the rally's being held right now. do you think people will find his message appealing? >> not anyone that i know will find his message appealing. i mean, he's speaking the typical maga talk so people that are attracted to that, yes, they

might feel it appealing, but he's very scary to me when i think about things that he stands for. he would just further take away the rights that we know and have, but again, i would be really worried about our democracy under the trump/vance administration. >> now, we all watched the republican convention this week in milwaukee where we saw video of white college students mocking a black woman at a protest. and a speech from a former professional wrestler with a history of using the n-word. and we also witnessed an appearance from a biracial model who is famous in large part for dating black rappers. despite having said that, she does not consider herself a black woman. watching all of this, congresswoman, how serious are republicans about growing a big tent that includes black voters? >> they are not serious at all.

and it was almost embarrassing to me for some of my colleague, my black colleagues, that are republican that were just marched out. i guess that was black day where they marched my black republican colleagues out on the stage and others. they are not serious at all, and i wish that black voters that are thinking about voting for trump really think about what they're doing, because the biden/harris administration has done so much. much was promised, and much has been delivered when you look at what they've done for our folks. and people really need to do their homework. >> yeah, i'm still trying to figure out what a black job is according to donald trump who said that migrants were taking the black jobs. i think president biden today said a black job today is vice president is one and supreme court is another. but we've heard the calls for president biden to drop out of

the race over his age. nearly three dozen house democrats and four senate democrats now. however, there are also many lawmakers standing by the president, including in the black and progressive caucuses. where are you on this issue, and are you concerned about how having this debate out in public will impact this race? >> well, i am definitely standing with joe biden. he has been an excellent president. he is an excellent president. and it's, yes, many of cbc members, progressive caucus, ball pack came out for him, there's many members that are still with president joe biden and kamala harris to serve another four years. and i'm frustrated that so much has been in the public. i don't know why people felt they had to go through the press and leaks and things like that. we need to stop worry, get to work to make sure we deliver

biden/harris for the next four years. this is the most consequential election of my lifetime for sure, and we have to make sure that they win. >> now, congresswoman, i'd be remiss if i didn't offer our sincere condolences here at "politicsnation" over the loss of congresswoman sheila jackson lee, who passed away yesterday at the age of 74. i'd known the congresswoman for decades, and i'll say a few words in her memory at the end of this show. but how do you describe what she brought to the caucus, to her houston constituents, and to the nation that she served for decades. how do you remember her? >> sheila was a fierce, dedicated, determined, and brilliant, brilliant congresswoman. brilliant person. she really, really cared. she was always so kind to me. i will never forget her

kindness. and she will be such a big loss not only to houston but to congress and to our country, dare i say globally she'll be a loss. that woman was brilliant, involved in so many pieces of legislation when it came to civil rights and just so many things. she made so many contributions. >> yes, and i'm sure she'll be missed more than we could ever say. thank you for being with us. i want to go live to grand rapids, michigan, where former president trump and his running mate, ohio senator jd vance, just took the stage at a rally. let's listen in. >> -- although i'd rather be with you than sitting on some gorgeous beach watching boring waives coming in. no, i would ratser be. actually, i would. you know that. i think that's one of the reasons we've been so successful together, you know i mean that too. but we're going to make our

country more successful than ever before. yet even as we gather this evening, we will -- and take a look, still, the democratic nominee, we're going to find out shortly maybe, i don't know. let's do this. let's do a poll. you know, i love doing polls, right? like i do a poll, i do lots of polls. like do you like make america great again or do you like america first or do you like them both? i like them both, right? but let's do a poll on candidates. ready? so i'll go -- we're going to do a poll on a few -- the press will like this because they won't have to pay for the poll. you know, you do these crazy polls and they charge you $250 -- look, there's mr. wall. this guy is the greatest guy. this guy. he must have a lot of money, because he's at so many different rallies. and he was at the one -- that

was a tough one -- wasn't he? you saw that. who's your favorite candidate? who would you like? let's do it who would you most like to run against, because you know, you can say who's the best candidate, we're saying who would you like to -- we'll start with kamala harris and then -- >> boo. >> -- and then we'll go -- and then we'll go to crooked joe biden. and then we could possibly discuss -- so who would you like to most run against if you're us, if we want to win, ready? kamala harris -- >> let's bring in our political panel. joining me now is former republican congressman david jolly of florida and former democratic governor steve bullock of montana. he is also a former 2020 presidential candidate. david, what are your thoughts on

what we're seeing? the first joint -- with trump -- an appearance with trump and vance since the convention. >> yeah, i think donald trump the entertainer is back. i wouldn't suspect he speaks much about policy, but probably what we heard the night of the convention that the election was rigged and he insults democratic leaders, much like he's asking the crowd to do right there. i think it also tells us that the trump campaign is wrestling with what are the different options that they might be facing in a ticket should joe biden personally make a decision. this is a campaign that would quickly have to pivot. but at the core of the trump campaign, it has not been changed by vance. it has not been changed by the assassination attempt. nothing has changed. he is a criminally convicted nominee of the republican party who tried to disrupt our democracy on january 6, 2021, and remains somebody unfit for the presidency. there is nothing that donald trump or jd vance can to to

change that, nor are those facts changed by whether joe biden stays in this race or not. >> let me ask you the same question, mr. bullock. >> yeah, rev, i actually agree with david. look, things could have changed over the last week. this notion of unity. when jd vance got up to accept the nomination and immediately said they shot him, as an example. there's no effort to actually expand or bring people together, and the same donald trump and now the trump/vance ticket that we saw before, that's exactly what we're going to see now. and that's a ticket that actually is a threat to this 250-year experiment called representative democracy. it's a threat to social security and medicare. it's a threat to women having access to reproductive healthcare wherever they might live. and that's what this election's going to come down to. >> now, david, what does the

trump/vance ticket suggest about the direction of the gop to you? >> look, i think the transformation of the party is complete. traditional conservatism is done, this is now a party of angry, grievanced, white populism. you're seeing that in much of the rhetoric. but the notion that he tapped jd vance this go around says they are fine with angry white populism and there is no need for conservative ideology. rev, donald trump this time around didn't need his mike pence. he didn't even need a marco rubio. he didn't even need a doug burgum. he could go all the way down to jd vance, who represents the edge of the sphere, if you will, for today's republican politics. which is this angry populism that is devoid of any conservative principles. now, that is a party and a candidate with a ceiling of about 48% of the country, and nothing they do gets them above that, which is why the notion of

the blue wall states, the three to five states in the midwest and rust belt, are going to be so critical. you'll see donald trump focused on those as joe biden has. >> now, steve, the trump campaign, talking about that, is hoping that jd vance can help win midwestern states like michigan, ohio, wisconsin, pennsylvania by particularly appealing to men in those states. the gop has also pinned their hopes on vance attracting the youth vote to the republican ticket. given what we know about his report and his beliefs, do you think that strategy will work? >> yeah, rev, i don't think that dog hunts. look, he may be from appalachia, but his policies are from mar-a-lago and wall street. his whole political career was based off of republican financier peter thiel. you look at what he said a couple nights ago when he said, look, we're the party of working

people, not the millionaires. that was the day after donald trump talked about an $800 million tax cut for businesses and the wealthy. so i don't think it'll go too far. i mean, it's not where you're from, it's actually what you're going to do. and what we've seen in the past, by both jd vance and by donald trump, is that they're not worried about the working folks. >> and let's remember when we first heard in the public about jd vance he wrote a book about growing up in appalachia, among other things, in the book hillbilly elegy, and it was the opposite. i mean, he was talking about how people like trump had abandoned whites in appalachia and said that donald trump was like america's hitler. david -- >> look, yeah. oh, sorry, but yeah, that's america's hitler, or he said trump is cultural heroin. he basically blamed -- saying

what trump was saying was part of the whole problem, rev. and like what a quick turnaround just to try to get on this ticket. >> now, david, while president biden is recovering in rehoboth, delaware, after his covid diagnosis, the new york times is reporting biden is stewing at ally's pressure to drop out of the race, which has now grown to over three dozen democrats publicly asking him to step aside. meanwhile, vance is saying today that if biden were to stop running, he would also need to resign the presidency as well. this is what vance said. now, trump didn't say too much about biden's age in this convention speech, he's only three years younger, but how should trump and the gop be responding to the fight playing out within the democratic party right now? >> i think, listen, they've been given a gift, and they've largely just let democrats have this public argument amongst themselves and sink their own

ticket. it's really unbelievable that democrats have spent three weeks prosecuting a case against joe biden and not against donald trump. so there's very little that needs to be done by donald trump and joe biden on this front. i mean, joe biden should be angry. i mean, that reporting about him being angry, he's a very successful president who last friday presented a view for the country in detroit, michigan, to a resounding audience that wanting joe biden and yet washington democrats have said you're not good enough for us, it's time to go. i've made my view clear. once biden said he's in, i think biden's the guy that should receive the nomination and be the candidate. whatever democrats decide, here's my greatest fear, rev, my greatest fear. not a democrat, so democrats can decide what they want to decide, but the coliths that showed up in '18 and '20 and '22 is a pro-democracy, anti-trump coalition led by democrats, by it is not all democrats. and i fear they're about to

crack that co-democracy coalition. not because of lack of support for the vice president or another governor but simply because enough of that coalition are not democratic voters. >> and you're not a democrat -- you're not a democrat. i want people to understand that. >> i'm not. i'm unaffiliated. i'm not a republican. my only point is this, many of the voters in that coalition hate party politics. they've allied with the democratic party. but they've being asked to go through this ugly vortex of machine politics and come out on the other side with democrats just as enthused as they were last month about the biden coalition, my fear -- and hopefully i'm wrong -- is that this coalition does not automatically transfer to the next nominee picked by the democratic party. whether that's harris, who i think it should be if it's not biden, whomever it is, i'm not sure this coalition transfer, and i'm afraid the democratic

party is risking, risking, really risking cracking the coalition in half if they push out their popular president. >> steve, you and i both know what it's like to be a presidential candidate. you ran in the primaries against biden in 2020, i ran in '24 -- 2004, what should people understand about what it's like to be a candidate confronted with a difficult decision as president biden is facing right now. and to have so much outside advice and feedback while you're just trying to decide what's best, not only for yourself but what's best for the country. >> yeah, rev, and i've -- look, i've known president biden throughout my career in public service. beau and i served together as attorney generals. we were friends. and i hope what president biden's really thinking about is the most important thing that the can happen is that we defeat donald trump in november.

because this isn't just about president biden, right? this is about making sure that women have access to reproductive healthcare, that everyone has a fair shot, not necessarily all about tax cuts for the wealthy and large corporations. as david said, this really is about this 250-year experiment called representative democracy. i think what president biden has to say is if we're in the strongest possible position come november, is he the person to do it? will he keep that coalition together? to make sure we can focus on what trump will do? i hope that's what he's thinking through right now. >> david, we've been listening in on trump's speech, and he's told the crowd there in grand rapids that he took a bullet for democracy. and he says the dnc has no idea who their candidate is.

is this the unifying tone we've been hearing about in. >> rev, donald trump is unqualified to be president of the united states specifically because he tried to interrupt democracy on january 6, 2021. he tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power. he has been charged with defrauding the american people and trying to take away the vote that they exercise, their franchise. donald trump's view of unity is not around a cause, it's not around freedom of democracy, it's around a candidate, himself. he thinks that the nation should unify behind him and the way to do that in trump's words is to drop the charges against him. we cannot have unity in this country without having accountability. donald trump faces the accountability of the justice system and of the voters. he is masquerading as a unifier, but he remains as dividing of a figure as we've ever seen in american politics. >> steve, your thoughts on that? >> you know, i agree, rev, that there hasn't been anything that

donald trump has changed. it really is about him. even when this convention that was supposed to be unified, when his son says no one trusts elections anymore, and nobody trusts the judicial system, the only ones that don't trust them is donald trump and his followers. and we are in that precarious point, right? like a third -- 170 members of congress from 37 states, a third, still won't even acknowledge the results of the 2020 election. donald trump didn't necessarily say he'll accept the 2024 election. jd vance said that if he were mike pence he would have actually taken alternate slates of electors as well. so this is a time where, look, every time i ran for office i said this is the most important election of our lifetime, this is probably the most important election of our lifetime, and we have to make sure we get it right. >> you know, david, when you were talking about january 6th, i thought about when we see jd vance, one of the callers on my

radio said that he's changed vice presidential candidates, whereas biden and harris remain in tact, we have a new candidate now because the last vice president he had some of his followers was calling for him to be hanged. i mean, and here we are, it's only been a week since the attempt on trump's life almost to the hour, we've had the convention and a debate about the top of the democratic ticket. as momentous as these seven days have been, do you think these events will still be the same ones on the minds of voters come november? >> i do in some respects. i mean, i think this is a challenge for democrats running against donald trump. it's a tough bear to wrestle. you do have to speak to deserving democracy, even if that doesn't always poll as the number one issue along with economy and immigration and healthcare. but there's a responsibility to the country to do it. and i think donald trump leans into the lack of fitness.

the jd vance pick is interesting, because he's entirely unfit to be president of the united states. he lacks the experience to be president and therefore vice president. but he's also unfit because substantively, he would have done what mike pence wouldn't do on that day. he would have taken the final act to disenfranchise the american people from their vote and to disrupt democracy. jd vance would have done what mike pence would not have done, that is a very scary moment. so i think for democrats you have to keep a focus on protecting democracy here at home, but what does that mean? a safe democracy does protect your reproductive freedom, it does protect an economy for all people, access to healthcare and education, robust infrastructure laws, protecting the right to vote not just for every individual but particularly for communities of color, the benefits of a protected democracy is what people really want to know about. but you only get there by defeating donald trump and jd vance at the ballot box. >> same question to you, steve, will people be remembering this

seven days that we've gone through in november? how will that be? will that be front and center in their minds voting time? >> i think people will be remembering that there's talk of a national abortion ban and jd vance even wants to, at the end of the day, use the comstock act so you couldn't even ship products across state lines. i think they'll be remembering what they see in project 2025. working at the end of the day for cuts for social security and medicare. eliminating the department of education. i think they'll be saying that, look, this is a choice of which direction that we want to go as a country and when we look at who's actually going to fight for us, i don't think the last week is going to be what's definitive. i think that they'll be remembering -- and hopefully they'll remember a lot of the chaos that donald trump was last

time he was in and say that this isn't a place that we want to go back to. >> david jolly and steve bullock, thank you both for being with me. up next, my final thoughts. stay with us. next, my final thoughts stay with us

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before we go, i want to acknowledge the passing of a familiar face to viewers of this program. the great congresswoman sheila jackson lee of texas. congresswoman lee was born and raised in queens, new york, as the granddaughter of jamaican immigrants. before embarking on a career in politics representing the people of inner city houston, texas, in congress for nearly 30 years. throughout that time she fought hard for human rights, civil rights, criminal justice reform. she was the lead sponsor of the bill that made juneteenth a

federal holiday and introduced the bill that reauthorized the violence against women act. in a statement, president biden described congresswoman lee as a fareless and unrelenting leader, and i could not agree more. she was a true friend and an ally in the struggle. to say she will be missed is an understatement. i will never forget just a few days ago her son called me and said, mom can't speak, but i want to put the cellphone to her ear so you can say a prayer for her. and i did, not knowing that i was saying good-bye to a gallant fighter and a friend. whether it was fighting for reparations or standing with us with the george floyd family, she was always there. to say she'll be missed is like saying you'll miss something that you always knew would be

there, but let's thank god for the time that she was with us and that she used her time to improve us all. this is a better nation and a better country and we are better people because of congresswoman sheila jackson lee. that does it for me. thanks for watching, i'll see you back here tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. eastern for another live hour of "politicsnation." the saturday show with jonathan starts at the top of the hour. ts at the top of the hour. hidden fees, surcharges... who knows what to expect! turn shipping to your advantage. keep it simple...with clear, upfront pricing. with usps ground advantage®. ♪♪ power outages can be unpredictable, inconvenient, and disruptive to your life, posing a real threat to your family's comfort and safety. when the power goes out, you have no lights, no refrigeration, no heating or air conditioning. the winds are not letting up at all here.

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critical moment on the campaign trail. donald trump holds his first rally since an attempt on his life at another rally exactly one week ago, tonight. and president biden promises he will return to the campaign trail even as pressure mounts within his own party for him to step aside. congress one woman jennifer mcclellan a member of the biden- harris national advisory board is here to discuss what happens next. j.d. who? why the vice presidential nominee may be more radical than trump on everything, from abortion to foreign policy. i'll discuss his record with today's guests. read the fine print. what project 2025 could