Rapid Reaction: At Least One Senator Is Fighting Back Against Biden’s ‘Political Harassment’

Come for Morning Wire’s Afternoon Update’s straight news, but stay for the Rapid Reactions The following five stories, and more, can be heard on today’s Morning Wire Afternoon Update podcast. Click here to listen. 

1. More Charges For Trump

Special Counsel Jack Smith expanded the charges against former President Trump on Thursday evening in the classified documents case — adding new charges and one additional defendant. Read here.

The new “superseding indictment” accuses Trump of asking a Mar-a-Lago employee named Carlos De Oliveria to delete surveillance footage “to prevent the footage from being provided to a federal grand jury.”  The charges allege Trump, Trump aide Walter Nauta, and De Oliveira “did knowingly combine, conspire, confederate, and agree with each other and with others known and unknown to the grand jury, to engage in misleading conduct.” De Oliveira will be arraigned on Monday in Miami. 

Rapid Reaction: How did Republicans respond to this? Well, after the new superseding indictment came down, the Senate passed a defense bill that still funds abortion tourism with many Republican supporters. As rumors flew that another indictment was coming, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) tamped down expectations that he would impeach President Joe Biden anytime soon:

Kevin McCarthy on possible Biden impeachment: "If [Biden administration] do not provide the information we need, then we would go to an impeachment inquiry." @SpeakerMcCarthy pic.twitter.com/S3n4pyjSPT

— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) July 27, 2023

So in short, the GOP leadership didn’t exactly flex their political muscle in response.

There is at least one GOP senator pushing back. Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio is still pledging to block all Department of Justice nominees until Biden ends the “harassment” of his political opponents.

As Republican strategist Aaron Surabian said, “This is the way.”

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“If the Biden Administration wants to use the DOJ to target their political opponents, then blocking all of Biden’s DOJ nominations is the proper response,” he added. “Glad that there’s at least one Republican Senator who understands how to fight.”

There are other Republicans fighting the weaponization, of course, but Vance’s speech on the topic is worth the watch:

This is the way. If the Biden Administration wants to use the DOJ to target their political opponents, then blocking all of Biden’s DOJ nominations is the proper response. Glad that there’s at least one Republican Senator who understands how to fight – @JDVance1 https://t.co/3Pap2PQ2l2

— Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) July 27, 2023

2. Bud Light Laying Off 400 Workers

Anheuser Busch — the makers of Bud Light — have announced they are laying off 2% of the company’s 19,000 employees, which means nearly 400 workers. The layoffs come months after Bud Light was replaced by Modelo as America’s number one beer as measured by sales (not volume). Since Anhueuer-Busch’s collaboration with Dylan Mulvaney back in April, the corporation has lost $27 billion in market value and has taken a hit on its popularity dropping to 15th — well behind Corona, Guinness, and Samuel Adams, according to a YouGov poll.

Rapid Reaction: There’s a phenomenal Reader’s Pass piece covering how conservatives — not liberals — are the ones who effectively wield boycotts. This is more proof of that thesis. Of course, seeing somebody lose their job is never fun. But, if companies want to continue to push their political views onto the American people, there are going to be consequences to their bottom line.

3. Missouri Sued For Protecting Children

Missouri has been sued over its law that bans sex change procedures from being performed on children, making it the latest Republican-led state to face a challenge over a law shielding children from transgender procedures. The lawsuit, which was filed by left-wing legal groups, including the ACLU of Missouri and Lambda Legal, claims that Missouri’s law is discriminatory. The law prohibits procedures like double-mastectomies on girls who identify as boys, and giving children cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers.

Rapid Reaction: Leftists suing for the “right” to mutilate children. It’s sick and twisted. While supporters of sex-denial surgeries for minors love to claim that it’s about “parental rights,” they forget that those rights have limits. For example, parents cannot abuse their children by burning cigarettes on their skin and claim its discipline. These gender-rejection procedures shouldn’t be an option either.

4. Politicized De-Banking Continues

The chief executive of Coutts Bank has stepped down amid the furor surrounding populist politician Nigel Farage’s complaints that his account was closed because of his political views. CEO Peter Flavel resigned just days after Coutts owner NatWest Group parted ways with its CEO Alison Rose. Rose left after admitting that she had spoken with a reporter regarding Farage’s personal details.

Rapid Reaction: If Farage can be de-banked for his beliefs, it can happen to you. Don’t believe me? Read this story: “JPMorgan Chase Repeatedly ‘De-Banked’ Conservative And Religious Groups, Republican State Officials Say”

5. Allergic To Meat From A Tickbite? Worst Nightmare.

Hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. have developed red meat allergies since 2010 due to a strange syndrome triggered by tick bites.

According to a government report, as many as 450,000 Americans have developed the allergy, which makes it the 10th most common food allergy in the U.S. Health officials said they are not aware of any confirmed deaths, but people with the allergy have described it as bewildering and terrifying. Despite its Texas-themed name, the lone star tick is most common in the eastern and southern U.S. and about 4% of all U.S. cases have been in the eastern end of New York’s Long Island.

Rapid Reaction: This is a “worst nightmare ever scenario.” Not being able to enjoy a steak all because of a tick bite? Oh, the humanity. And on that note, make sure to buy some meat from our good friends over at Good Ranchers.

To listen to the audio version of Afternoon Update, click here. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.