Biden Calls Kamala ‘Vice President Trump’ at Presser

The speculation is about to get louder. “President Joe Biden stunned journalists Thursday by confusing Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump at a closely-watched press conference – shortly after he mixed up Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky at a different event,” The New York Post reports. “‘Look, I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president if I think she’s not qualified to be president,’ the 81-year-old said to gasps and groans from journalists at the annual NATO summit,” the paper relates.

Making It Worse: “Biden spoke with a soft, raspy voice, frequently paused to cough, and at points lost his train of thought at what his aides had promoted as a ‘big boy press conference’ at Washington’s Convention Center. The event had been called to dispel mounting Democratic clamor for Biden to step aside after a confused June 27 debate against Trump – but the commander in chief ended up compounding those concerns by making contradictory remarks, forgetting questions and giving rambling answers that didn’t directly address the subject he had been asked about.” Related: Joe Biden’s ‘big boy’ presser …

Liberty Nation Today: A Sneak Peek

Trump Petitions Judge to Toss Hush Money Conviction

The pressure is on the judicial system now. “Former President Donald Trump has asked a New York judge to dismiss his criminal hush money case and vacate his conviction on 34 felony counts by arguing the trial was ‘tainted’ by evidence and testimony that the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on presidential immunity now makes off-limits,” ABC News reports. “In a 52-page filing made public on the same day the former president was originally scheduled to be sentenced, Trump’s lawyers argued that prosecutors violated the Supreme Court’s immunity doctrine by using evidence related to official acts – including testimony from former White House aides – to fill ‘glaring holes in their case,’” the network states.

‘Structural Error’: “‘Because of the implications for the institution of the Presidency, the use of official-acts evidence was a structural error under the federal Constitution that tainted [the District Attorney’s] grand jury proceedings as well as the trial,’ defense lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote. Defense lawyers argued that the case overall presents an ‘affront to, among other things, core constitutional interests central to the functioning of the federal government’ that irreparably encroached on a president’s official actions.” Related: Time to start thinking about the Electoral College totals…

NATO Chief Slams China’s Alignment With Russia

Global military powers are getting dangerously close to one another. “NATO boss Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday upped the ante against China’s alignment with Russia, criticizing Beijing for ‘oppressing its own people’ and threatening Taiwan,” Politico reports. “Speaking at the closing press conference after the NATO summit, Stoltenberg doubled down on NATO’s latest labeling of China as a ‘decisive enabler’ of Russia’s war against Ukraine, which was amplified in the NATO leaders’ declaration a day ago,” the news site details.

Too Close For Comfort: “When asked about China’s ongoing military exercise with Belarus, Stoltenberg said: ‘The Chinese exercise together with Belarusian forces… just confirms how authoritarian regimes are aligning more and more, and also how China is coming closer to NATO, in Europe, in Africa and the Arctic and elsewhere.’ The Chinese-Belarusian anti-terrorism exercises, conducted not far from the border with NATO ally Poland, coincide with the NATO summit.” Related: Weapons for Kyiv key topic at NATO summit…

Texas Grocery Features Ammo Vending Machine

Fruits, vegetables and… bullets? “A Canyon Lake, Texas, supermarket has a new vending machine, but rather than selling candy, drinks or potato chips, it dispenses ammunition,” Fox Business reports. “Lowe’s Market in Canyon Lake was the recent recipient of the first ammunition vending machine in the state. While recent trends across the US have seen vending machines used to sell sandwiches from places like Subway, marijuana products, candied bacon and even crack pipes, they are now being used to sell ammunition,” the network notes.

Coming to a Store Near You? “While some may be concerned selling ammunition from a vending machine could lead to bullets in the hands of criminals or even children, the company behind the latest trend, American Rounds, claims its machines offer the highest standards and state-of-the-art security. American Rounds CEO Grant Magers told Fox News his company was established last summer. Since then, it has installed ammunition vending machines at eight locations. The first machine was installed at a Fresh Value supermarket in Pell City, Alabama. American Rounds also has four machines in Oklahoma at Super C Marts located in Noble, Lindsay, Wetumka and Kingston.” Related: Survey says: Nearly half of Americans think it’s too easy to buy a gun…

Actress Shelley Duvall Dies at 75

She’ll always be remembered by horror film fans for her baseball bat in The Shining. “Shelley Duvall, the big-eyed, waifish performer who won the Cannes actress award for Robert Altman‘s 3 Women and endured Stanley Kubrick’s intense directing techniques to star in The Shining, died of diabetes complications on Thursday in Blanco, Texas,” Variety reports. She was 75. “In 1977, Duvall played a Rolling Stone journalist in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall, and met Paul Simon on the set. They dated for two years. Duvall starred as Olive Oyl in Altman’s Popeye in 1980, a role that she seemed born to play, with her giant eyes,” the Hollywood trade publication writes.

Torturous Role: Kubrick chose her for the role of Wendy Torrance, “the wife of Jack Nicholson’s character in The Shining, based on the Stephen King novel. The Shining required more than a year of shooting, and throughout, the legendarily demanding director pushed Duvall to her limit. Some of her scenes required more than 100 takes.” Related: In defense of old movies…