RFK Jr. hosting ‘The Real Debate’ in LA while Joe Biden, Donald Trump spar in Atlanta
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
ONE-MAN, ‘REAL’ PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
While Joe Biden and Donald Trump debate in Atlanta, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will host a one-man “debate” in Los Angeles.
Calling it “The Real Debate,” the event will be streamed on X and TheRealDebate.com in front of a live studio audience beginning at 6 p.m. Pacific Time, according to a press release from his campaign. Kennedy will answer the same questions that Biden and Trump are asked.
“The American people want leaders who trust them to make up their own minds,” Kennedy said in a statement. “Instead, our last two presidents are restricting voters from choosing anyone other than themselves. Presidents Biden and Trump have sucked trillions of dollars from the pockets of working people and Americans deserve to hear from the one candidate who can hold them to account.”
Biden and Trump will debate on CNN beginning at the same hour Thursday. CNN excluded Kennedy, finding he did not meet its criteria to appear on stage, including a polling threshold and failure to appear on a sufficient number of state ballots.
Kennedy’s campaign has argued that this is unjust, that he met CNN’s published criteria and that neither Biden nor Trump are on any ballots since the Republican National Convention and Democratic National Convention haven’t occurred. The candidates are to be formally nominated at the conventions this summer.
MEETING WITH THE DALAI LAMA
Via David Lightman...
Rep. Ami Bera was part of a bipartisan congressional delegation that met last week with the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala, India.
Bera, a Sacramento Democrat, is the top Democrat on the House’s Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific.
Also in the delegation was Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco. The members of Congress reaffirmed what a Bera press release called “unwavering support for the Tibetan people.” They urged Beijing to negotiate without preconditions a way to provide lasting autonomy to the Tibetan people.
Bera, an Indian American, told the meeting that “When I look around at this audience, I see my brothers and sisters, my spiritual brothers and sisters. We share ancestry spiritually.
“So, know, brothers and sisters, that you have one of your own brothers in the United States Congress fighting for your rights, for your freedom, and for your future. We’re in this together,” he said.
The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Tibet.
SUPREME COURT RULES ON SOCIAL MEDIA ASKS
The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a case contending the Biden administration violated the First Amendment by urging social media companies to remove potentially problematic posts.
In doing so, the Supreme Court handed the Biden administration an election-year victory on Wednesday.
The 6-3 decision allows the federal government to continue communicating with companies such as Meta and X to challenge posts that might conflict with the platforms’ content-moderation policies. It struck down a lower court ruling that said otherwise.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett, authoring the opinion for the majority, wrote that the group which brought the legal challenge lacked standing to sue. She wrote the group failed to argue that social media companies’ removal of certain content resulted from federal pressure.
The case targeted Biden administration efforts to curb the spread of false information about COVID-19 vaccines and foreign interference in elections. The decision to dismiss the case comes as experts have warned about misinformation and disinformation ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
The court has a 6-3 conservative majority but the ruling did not break on ideological lines. Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch — three of the court’s conservatives — dissented.
The other Supreme Court decision released Wednesday narrows the scope of public corruption law in vacating a conviction of a former Indiana mayor. It landed 6-3 on ideological lines.
The Supreme Court will release more decisions beginning at 7 a.m. Pacific Time Thursday and Friday. Typically the court drops three to five rulings on days when it is scheduled to release them. With a dozen cases from this term unresolved, the court could schedule more days to release opinions next week.
The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, has yet to release decisions in cases that Californians are watching closely, including one on homeless encampments and another on prosecution over the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Brilliant move by Biden. Bringing in the one person in America who makes him look popular by comparison.” - Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Roseville, on X talking about California Gov. Gavin Newsom being one of the surrogates for the Biden campaign at the presidential debate in Atlanta tonight.
Best of The Bee:
Gavin Newsom heading to Atlanta to boost Joe Biden in presidential debate with Donald Trump, via Gillian Brassil
Biden-Trump debate: Here are five questions for California voters to consider, via David Lightman
Is California Gov. Gavin Newsom a national Democratic star? Why his State of the State speech could help, via David Lightman
California to spend millions on reparations programs. Do Black advocates think it’s enough? via Mathew Miranda
Controversial Capitol annex project would be exempt from environmental law under new bill, via Nicole Nixon
