Inside the Beltway: Trump, Vance to hit the ice in Minnesota as campaign rallies from shooting

NEWS AND OPINION:

They are right back on schedule. Former President Donald Trump and vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance will host a rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota, on Saturday — two weeks to the day after a gunman shot Mr. Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania.

But it’s on to Minnesota. The city of St. Cloud is 65 miles northwest of Minneapolis-St. Paul; the event will take place at a 6,000-seat hockey arena located on the south campus of St. Cloud State University.

“Why is St. Cloud important in this election? The Trump rally shooting could impact Minnesota politics and St. Cloud is in the center of it,” wrote Corey Schmidt, who covers local government affairs for the St. Cloud Times.

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“Trump’s visit to St. Cloud comes as the region could decide Minnesota’s political atmosphere. St. Cloud has several key elections this cycle that could flip Minnesota’s House of Representatives, and political experts say Trump’s assassination attempt could bolster turnout among St. Cloud Republicans, possibly helping Republican candidates across the ballot,” Mr. Schmidt said.

“The city’s role is really public safety and security,” St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis told the St. Cloud Times.

“Obviously, in a situation where you have a presidential candidate and a former president, [the] Secret Service is the detail that really leads that security piece, and they collaborate and cooperate with all of the jurisdictions along where the venue is held and where the route is,” he said.

VANCE’S BOOK ADVANCES

A run for the White House has its benefits.

“Before former president Donald Trump tapped Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) as his running mate, sales of the trade paperback edition of Vance’s memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, had sold just under 10,000 copies this year through July 13 at outlets that report to Circana BookScan. It was a respectable number for a backlist title first published in hardcover more than eight years ago,” Publishers Weekly reported.

Circana BookScan tracks weekly sales in the publishing market.

“That sales trajectory changed radically after the Republican National Convention, where Trump picked Vance to run for the vice-presidency. According to BookScan’s new figures, sales of Hillbilly Elegy skyrocketed to more than 197,000 copies in the week ended July 20, making it the bestselling book of the week. The book has been number one at Amazon for days, is in the top spot on the New York Times paperback nonfiction list, and even hit the American Booksellers Association’s adult nonfiction trade paperback list,” Publishers Weekly said.

A representative of HarperCollins, which published “Hillbilly Elegy,” also reported a “huge consumer demand for the book” since July 15 — and estimates it has sold over  650,000 copies and is now printing “hundreds of thousands of copies” to fill the demand, the publication added.

NO MORE ‘FAILURES’

Rep. Mike Kelly has introduced H. Res. 1367 — which establishes a formal Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump.

“The goals of my legislation and of this task force are simple: to investigate, detail, and explain the shooting and security breakdowns that tragically killed one person, injured two others, and nearly claimed President Trump’s life. We must never let something like this happen again,” the Pennsylvania Republican said in a statement.

 “It’s important that we don’t jump to any conclusions as we begin these investigations,” he said.

“We must never allow something like this to happen again. It is vital that we understand exactly how our country was almost thrown into chaos, and what steps must be taken to address the systematic security failures that endangered one of the most protected people in America. House Republicans are bringing forward legislation to assemble a task force to investigate this attempted assassination, evaluate the security failures that led to it, and ensure no such failures occur in the future,” Mr. Kelly concluded.

HANG IT UP

Sens. Mitt Romney, Utah Republican, and Chris Murphy, Connecticut Democrat, have introduced the Smart Kids Not Smartphones Act, aimed at reducing the usage of smartphones by children in the classroom. The legislation would establish a noncompetitive, nonmonetary recognition award program — administered by the Department of Education — to highlight and celebrate any school that has and enforces a policy prohibiting the use of smartphones during instructional hours.

“There is no question that smartphones are a major distraction to students in the classroom. They also contribute to deteriorating mental health, social isolation, and cyberbullying among our youth. Our bill would encourage schools to institute policies which would prohibit the use of smartphones during class time, while still allowing for reasonable exceptions for emergencies, educational activities, and students with exceptional needs,” Mr. Romney said in a statement.

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POLL DU JOUR

• 42% of registered U.S. voters would vote for Donald Trump if the presidential election were held today; 89% of Republicans, 35% of independents and 7% of Democrats agree.

• 42% overall would vote for Kamala Harris; 5% of Republicans, 28% of independents and 83% of Democrats agree.

• 7% overall would vote for independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr..; 2% of Republicans, 19% of independents and 4% of Democrats agree.

• 6% overall are undecided; 2% of Republicans, 12% of independents and 6% of Democrats agree.

• 1% overall would vote for independent candidate Cornel West; 0% of Republicans, 0% of independents and 4% of Democrats agree.

•1% overall would vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein; 1% of Republicans, 1% of independents and 0% of Democrats agree.

• 1% overall would vote for Libertarian Chase Oliver; 0% of Republicans, 1% of independents and 0% of Democrats agree.

Source: An NPR/PBS News/Marist Poll of 1,117 registered U.S. voters conducted online on July 22.

• Follow Jennifer Harper on X @HarperBulletin, on Facebook @Harper Universe.