Welcome back in for Al’s Afternoon Tea.

Our first thoughts today, of course, are for those in Texas being impacted by Hurricane Beryl as it makes its way inland. Beryl came ashore early this morning near the coastal town of Madagorda, Texas, about 85 miles south-southwest of Houston as a Category One, with winds of 80 miles an hour. Around 2.7 million homes lost power. We pray for those in Beryl’s path and our first responders. 

Biden Watch: Capitol Hill

Congress returned after the Independence Day break with Democrats sweating the Biden dilemma like it was 95% humidity. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries held a private call with top House Democrats Sunday. According to Politico, numerous Democrats, most notably Rep. Jerry Nadler (NY) were among those arguing most forcibly for Biden to step aside. The question is whether Jeffries will push Democrats to hold the line or urge his caucus to push Biden out.

On the other side of the Capitol, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia was set to gather senators to discuss the Biden problem and a way forward. However, that meeting was reportedly scrapped once word of it became public.

In a letter Monday to Congressional Democrats, Biden insisted he’s not going anywhere.  “I want you to know that despite all the speculation in the press and elsewhere, I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end, and to beating Donald Trump.”

This morning, I sent a letter to my fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill. In it, I shared my thoughts about this moment in our campaign.

It’s time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/ABtAaJrr0n

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 8, 2024

It’s an interesting read. You have to wonder who wrote it. And what makes it interesting? Nowhere in it does Biden address his health or mental condition. Expect to read more about this letter and whether it moves the needle on tomorrow morning’s Brew. 

Biden Watch: What’s Up, Doc?

This morning on The Brew, we reported that the the House Oversight Committee uncovered White House doctor Kevin O’Connor business ties to the Biden family. While O’Connor seems to have disappeared into the witness protection program since that news broke, former colleagues on the White House medical staff tell the Washington Post:

Three of O’Connor’s former colleagues in the White House medical unit, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe confidential relationships, said Biden’s debate performance suggested to them that the president should undergo cognitive screening.

Just the debate performance? Axios got hold of a template Biden staffers used to map out the events for the president. It includes such simple instructions as “Walk to Podium” along with photos to show the way.  

From senators to White House staffers to Biden associates, why are so many sources on the this story staying anonymous? Is Jill Biden that scary?

On Sunday, Biden made an appearance at a church in Philadelphia. Please tell us the American president and commander-in-chief does not need to have anyone to explain to him how to put money into a church offering. This is mind-numbing. 

Oh Lordy!🤣🤣🤣

The pastor had to give $100 and explain to Biden that he has to put it in the collection box. 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/SsjOTr94C1

— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) July 7, 2024

Maybe the pastor had to tell him the money was not meant for his reelection campaign.

If anyone has another explanation for this, we’re all ears.

Meanwhile, someone else has lost her job over the Biden situation.

Radio Host Who Admitted White House Sent Her Scripted Interview Questions Is Canned

Radio host Andrea Lawful-Sanders of WURD in Philadelphia landed the first interview with Joe Biden after the June 27 presidential debate. That’s the interview in which he mumbled something about being the “first black vice president.” The real bombshell was when Lawful-Sanders admitted that her questions for Biden came directly from the White House staff.

Is anyone surprised to hear that Biden’s interviews are scripted? His rare press conferences certainly are. How often does he say something like, “I’m supposed to call on so-and-so first,” and how often do the cameras catch a glimpse of the card with the questions on it in his hand? Heck, as we just learned in the news item above, he can’t even walk out to a podium without a script. 

However, Lawful-Sanders committed the terrible crime of going public about this. WURD announced Sunday that it has parted ways with the radio host for violating station policy on using scripted questions. “WURD is not a mouthpiece for the Biden or any other administration,” administrators said. 

Update: WURD, which had Biden’s first interview post debate but used q’s drafted by the Biden team, says they have parted ways w/ the host.
Adds: “practice of de-legitimizing Black voices continues today. WURD Radio is not a mouthpiece for the Biden or any other Admin” pic.twitter.com/FvMen8Pp7a

— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) July 7, 2024

The White House says it will end its practice of providing questions to interviewers. At the close of the NATO gathering in Washington this Thursday, Biden is expected to answer questions from the press.

Election Integrity Under Attack

With the Biden campaign — and candidate — remain on the verge of disintegrating and polls are showing Trump is not only in reach of victory, but a winning in landslide, the Democrats are pulling out all the stops to maintain power by any means necessary. Several blows to election integrity have been in the news in recent days.

House Dems Maneuver to Block GOP Bill to Require Proof of U.S. Citizenship to Vote in Federal Elections

This week, the House is set to vote on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which will require “documentary proof” of U.S. citizenship to vote in federal elections. Axios reports that House Democratic leaders are putting on a full court press to convince members to vote NO on it.

Since one needs to be a U.S. citizen to vote in federal elections, why would Democrats be opposed to voters proving they are indeed U.S. citizens?

Perhaps a hint can be found in North Carolina.

Heritage Oversight Project: 10% of Noncitizens Surveyed in North Carolina Admit to Being Registered to Vote

Noncitizens can’t vote in federal elections, yet a survey by the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project has revealed a “staggering” 10% of noncitizens in North Carolina admitted they are already registered to vote.

WATCH their report here:

https://twitter.com/OversightPR/status/1808873149745803642

Earlier this year, the Oversight Project reported that NGOs in Mexico have been distributing fliers instructing illegal immigrants to vote for Joe Biden. More than 10 million illegal immigrants have come into this nation under Biden’s watch. Operatives have clearly been figuring out ways to illicitly register them to vote; the next step is just to eliminate as many barriers to voter verification as possible. (Even if the illegal immigrants themselves don’t vote, others can use their registrations to fill out ballots, as we saw in 2020.) Suddenly, the guy whose approval rating is lower than the Mariana Trench, who can’t even convince his staff that he can figure out how to walk onto a stage without help, is garnering (let’s just throw out a random number) 81 million votes. 

All you need in this scenario is a good place to drop off the ballots. 

Wisconsin Newly Liberal Supreme Court Reverses Ban on Mail-In Ballot Boxes

If you wanted to fix an election, one of the surest ways to do that would be to install unsupervised drop-off ballot boxes and voting by mail. As was demonstrated in 2020 (and documented in the movie 2000 Mules), one can pump hundreds of thousands of illegally harvested ballots into an election through this method. Add to it a dramatic reduction in signature verification and mail-in ballot rejection, and the job becomes just that much easier.

In 2020, Wisconsin’s Secretary of State ignored state law and used COVID as an excuse to implement mail-in voting. Nearly two million Wisconsin voters used mail-in ballots, double the number in 2016. The percentage that was rejected? A mere 0.2%. Meanwhile, the average mail-in ballot rejection rate nationwide in 2016 was 1.0% (or five times greater). 

Biden “won” Wisconsin by less than 21,000 votes.

In 2022, the Wisconsin Supreme Court banned the use of mail-in ballots in the state. But here is why you have to get out and vote: A recent state election flipped the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and what happened? By a 4-3 vote, the new justices reversed the ban on mail-in ballots.

Let the envelope stuffing begin.

On the Stream Menu

John Zmirak starts the week off with “The Left Wins Almost Total Power in Britain. What Will This Mean? Is There Any Coming Back?”

Meanwhile, Stream contributor David Marshall offers “Summertime … and the Livin’ Is Rife with Climate-Change Hysteria.”

Al Perrotta is The Stream’s Washington bureau chief, coauthor with John Zmirak of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration, and coauthor of the counterterrorism memoir Hostile Intent: Protecting Yourself Against Terrorism.