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The Biden administration is yet again trying to do a solid for consumers. From Ticketmaster to the travel industry, they’ve been trying to get big companies to eliminate junk fees and be transparent about hidden fees up front. Under Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the Department of Transportation has been coming hard for airlines and their greedy practices. They’ve fined them for keeping passengers on board too long during delays and held them accountable to give automatic refunds for long-delayed or canceled flights. Just last week, they announced that they’re investigating Delta as a result of how they handled the system outages that caused massive cancellations two weeks ago.

There are a lot of frustrating things about air travel in America, but one of the most infuriating practices is that you’re charged if you want to pick a seat. This is especially awful for families traveling together. If you’re a parent traveling with kids, you either have to bite the bullet and pay up front to ensure you sit together, or roll the dice and hope you and your kids are assigned seats together. Last year, Sec. Pete urged the bigwig airlines to abandon this cash grab and ban them from charging more for “family seating.” Some complied, while most didn’t. After nicely asking for everyone to do the right thing, Secretary Pete now means business. The DOT just proposed a rule banning airlines from charging parents fees to sit next to their children ages 13 and under.

Parents shouldn’t have to pay a fee to sit next to their children when flying, according to the White House, which is moving to ban airlines from charging families extra to be seated together. Under a rule proposed Thursday by the Department of Transportation, airlines would be required to seat parents and kids 13 and younger together free of charge when adjacent seating is available at booking.

The idea of seating adults with their younger children “is common sense and also seems like something that should be standard practice,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said at a news briefing on Wednesday. “As someone who has personally experienced flying with toddlers,” Buttigieg said he knew first-hand that families traveling with little ones do not need added difficulties.

The extra cost can be the difference in whether families can afford flights for vacations or to see friends and relatives, the administration argued, noting its proposal would save a family of four up to $200 roundtrip if seat fees are $25 each.

For children too young to fasten their own seatbelts or feed themselves, being seated next to a parent is crucial, yet those that don’t want to pay more often end up pleading with other passengers to switch seats. If passengers opt not to swap seats, they may end up next to an unsupervised child, stressing out the youngster, parent, flight attendants and travelers, DOT said.

President Biden called on Congress to ban family seating and other so-called “junk” fees early last year, with Buttigieg then urging the 10 largest airlines to voluntarily ban the fees. Four complied: Alaska, American, Frontier and JetBlue.

Congress gave the DOT explicit authority to propose its rule as part of the bipartisan FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, the transportation secretary noted. “We are confident that we are well-founded in our authority, but it helps to get reassurances from Congress,” Buttigieg noted in answering a question about whether the proposal might be challenged in court.

In addition to banning airlines from charging fees to seat those 13 or under next to a parent or accompanying adult, the proposal would require that airlines seat parents next to their kids within 48 hours of booking when adjacent seats are available.

If adjacent seats are not available, carriers would be required to provide passengers with full refunds or the option of waiting to see if family seating frees up. If not, airlines would have to offer the option to rebook for free or stay on the flight in nonadjacent seats.

[From Yahoo! News]

Speaking from personal experience, that extra cost *is* a lot. I generally don’t like flying on Southwest but at least they pretty much guarantee that you’ll end up sitting with your kids. (My issue with them is that they claim to be a budget airline when 95% of the time, they are much more expensive than other airlines.) This is another reason why everyone needs to get involved and vote Democrat in November! It’s so expensive to fly, and airlines want to unfairly charge you for having the audacity to travel as a family with children. Someone needs to get JD Vance involved, here. After all, that dude is all about giving preferential treatment to parents with children, no? I’ll say it louder for the CEOs in the back: Parents should not have to pay a fee to sit next to their children. Just because a company can charge someone extra for something doesn’t mean that they should.

Our new proposed rule would ban airlines from charging parents a fee just to sit next to their children. pic.twitter.com/r4qpNusrmp

— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) August 1, 2024

Families should be able to sit together on a flight without paying more.

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration continues our work to lower costs and fight price gouging by proposing a ban on airlines charging those fees — saving families as much as $200 for roundtrip flights.

— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) August 1, 2024

The law is clear: if your flight gets cancelled or significantly delayed, you get a refund.

We’re reminding U.S. airlines of their responsibilities, and the rules that we enforce. pic.twitter.com/uTl8ZwaQPp

— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) August 2, 2024

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Photos credit: POOL via CNP/INSTARimages.com, Getty and via Instagram and Twitter

Thursday was the Olympic Gymnastics women’s individual all-around. The Paris Olympics have been scheduling the biggest events/tickets for the evening sessions, which means all of the best gymnastics stuff has been happening in the afternoon here on the east coast. Which means I’ve been watching a lot of the gymnastics at the gym! I love it. I nearly screamed on my treadmill several times during the competition, especially when a handful of the ladies wiped out. It was awful. And yet… it turned out to be so competitive, as the top three ladies – Simone Biles, Rebeca Andrade and Sunisa Lee all had to nail their final event, their floor routines. First Suni, then Rebeca, then Simone. Each woman nailed their floor, so for a second, Suni was in the gold-medal position. Then Rebeca. Then Simone stepped out as the last one and she killed it – her degree of difficulty is INSANE and while she had a couple of jumpy landings, all of the technical stuff was amazing. That ended up being the descending order of the medals. Simone won gold, then Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade won silver, then Sunisa won Bronze.

Simone Biles and Suni Lee are taking home some new hardware! Biles, the most decorated U.S. gymnast in Olympic history, added another victory to her resumé with a gold medal in the women’s all-around final at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Thursday, Aug. 1. Her Team USA teammate Lee came in third with a bronze medal, just two days after the pair won gold in the team finals. The match-up was a highly anticipated one, as Lee, 21, was the reigning gold medalist in the event from Tokyo in 2021 (Biles, 27, won the gold in Rio in 2016).

Biles started off strong on the vault, scoring an impressive 15.766. Though she struggled on the uneven bars, falling to third place after she flubbed her transition from the upper bar to the lower, Biles returned to form with a solid performance on the balance beam, and excelled on the floor to lead her way to victory.

Rebeca Andrade of Brazil, Biles’ friend and close competitor, won the silver medal.

Stars like Kendall Jenner, Tony Hawk, Stephen Curry, Martha Stewart and Seth Rogen were all in attendance to cheer on the star gymnasts.

The victory comes two days after Biles, Lee and their teammates Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera dominated for gold in the team final. Biles’ gold medal came with the support of her family, as husband Jonathan Owens and parents Nellie and Ronald Biles were in the crowd at Bercy Arena to cheer her on.

[From People]

Incredible, and they’re not joking about all of the stars who came out for gymnastics. They weren’t only there for Simone either – Suni and Rebeca had a lot of support from the crowd, and the three ladies were very supportive of each other. Rebeca and Simone are apparently good friends. Anyway, gymnastics isn’t over! Individual events are coming up next. Do you want the breakdown? Saturday is vault, Sunday is uneven bars, Monday is balance beam and floor. Simone is competing in all except uneven bars (Suni is the only American doing that).

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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I remember watching season 14 of Drag Race and thinking were it not for Willow Pill, Angeria Paris VanMichaels would be taking the crown. She has the grace and finesse of the pageant world she hails from, but also da-YUM is she funny. Well folks, here we are two years later and Ms. Angeria has finally snatched her crown on All Stars season 9. Condragulations, you’re a winner baby! This year’s season featured eight queens and no eliminations until the finale, which aired last Friday after a very special introduction by Madame VP Kamala Harris. This season also had a new twist in that the queens were playing for charities, so Angeria’s $200,000 prize will be going to her chosen organization, the National Black Justice Coalition. EW caught up with Angeria shortly after her crowning:

What do you want people watching at home to see in your victory and your journey to this point?

I want people to know that it doesn’t matter where you come from. This journey, it started all the way from Sparta, Ga. I grew up in a town where I was one of four gay people, openly. Getting on Drag Race was already a big thing, and now winning is crazy. This is something that I don’t think me or my family could’ve seen coming. It sends a message that it doesn’t matter where you come from or how big your surroundings are; your dreams are even bigger, and you should always chase them.

You cited Disney’s Beauty and the Beast as a reference for your finale look at a time that there’s a debate over which spaces drag is “acceptable” in. Can you elaborate on that?

I love Disney, and that’s always been one of my favorites. Growing up in the South, I feel like every little gay boy wanted to be a Disney princess. Every little queer kid that grows up with that Disney princess in their head. That’s what I felt like on the runway. I was living for every single moment in my life, and I wanted to be myself and accepted for what I always felt was in me. I felt like the prettiest little princess that there was, in my big ball gown.

People said that you were delusional, but you were killing the competition, at the same time. How do you respond to that?

If this is being delusional, obviously delusional wins you a crown, a scepter, and $200,000 for a cause you believe in. To everyone out there: If people around you are calling you delusional, keep being delusional, because obviously it will lead to success, okay? [Laughs]

On the note of acting, Ru said on the finale that he had high hopes for you as an actor. You booked high-profile gigs before the show, but now, what do you have lined up?

I will say: Stay tuned. Definitely stay tuned. In terms of things that I’m doing, you can find me on the All Stars 9 tour, starting very soon and you get to see not only me, but all of the girls from All Star 9. We’ll relive some of our best moments and runways throughout the season.

Is there a dream role or genre you’d like to do?

There’s so much that I want to do. I want to do more TV. I want to be on shows, sitcoms, reality TV, I want to be in movies. I’m a big drama, horror, thriller type of person. I’d also love to be in comedies, because we know she’s a funny girl. I foresee a lot of acting coming my way. I want it, and I’ll accept it with open arms.

[From EW]

I’m not crying hearing Angeria describe being the prettiest little Disney princess of her Southern gay boy’s dreams, you are! That finale ball gown was stunning. At first I didn’t pick up on a Beauty and the Beast reference, but looking at it now, yeah, I can buy it as the sartorial interpretation of, “If Lumière and Plumette had a bébé.” Oh, Miss Angie; she’s got a honey-warm Southern accent that immediately transports you to sipping sweet tea on a humid porch while you fan yourself by hand. And she’s not just a beauty queen — she’s a funny girl, as she put it. I particularly enjoyed her welcoming and volleying back each time RuPaul would say, “Angeria? You know there’s an ointment for that.” And how she’d play up her fabulous facial expressions and decadent Georgia twang. She’s self-aware, and uses it to maximum effect all to entertain us. If that’s delusional, keep being delusional!

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Photos credit: IMAGO/Dave Starbuck / Avalon, Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon, IMAGO/Zoonar.com/Lumeimages.com / Avalon

Blake Lively is launching a haircare line called Blake Brown. Will Blake get the September issue of Vogue to promote it? Eh. [LaineyGossip]
Carrie Underwood will replace Katy Perry on American Idol? [JustJared]
Floridians overwhelmingly support abortion rights AND Donald Trump. [Jezebel]
Blake Lively’s promotional tour for It Ends With Us has begun. [RCFA]
Review of Gasoline Rainbow. [Pajiba]
TikTok dude is exposing the common lies of men. [Buzzfeed]
Phaedra Parks is returning to RHOA. [Socialite Life]
Shawn Mendes has a new album. [Hollywood Life]
The new season of Squid Game comes out on December 26th. [Seriously OMG]
Charli XCX is brat. [OMG Blog]

Republicans are currently expressing a great deal of shock and surprise that a woman can be both Indian and Black. There are a lot of white people who have never heard of being biracial. Those same white people will obviously tell you all about their 23andMe results which show that they’re 17% Irish and 4% Italian. But that’s different! How can Kamala Harris have an Indian mother AND a Jamaican father? How can Kamala Harris be both Indian AND Black? Why hasn’t she embraced both sides fully at every single minute of every single day of her entire life, reminding everyone at all times that she’s both Indian and Black? How can she exist as BOTH? This is literally what those racist dumbf–ks sound like, and they’ve been at it since Donald Trump’s tantrum at the NABJ conference on Wednesday. In case you thought that Trump was just being Trump and going off-script, here’s what JD Vance said when asked about Trump’s racist bullsh-t:

Sen. JD Vance told reporters it’s “hysterical how much the media is overreacting” to his running mate Donald Trump’s comments questioning whether Vice President Kamala Harris is Black.

“The president doesn’t do scripted BS stuff,” Vance told a group of reporters aboard his plane during his campaign swing Wednesday night. “He actually goes into hostile audiences, he answers tough questions, he pushes back against them, but he actually answers them, and how nice it is to have an American leader who’s not afraid to go into hostile places and actually answer some tough questions.”

Trump questioned Harris’ racial identity during a panel interview at the National Association of Black Journalists’ conference in Chicago on Wednesday. “She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage,” Trump said of Harris, who attended an HBCU and identifies as both Indian and Black. “I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black. I respect either one but she obviously doesn’t.”

Both Harris’ campaign and the White House quickly condemned Trump’s remarks, with second gentleman Doug Emhoff saying it showed “a worse version of an already horrible person.”

Vance told reporters it was overblown and suggested Harris is being slippery. “So what he said, I thought it was hysterical,” Vance said. “I think he pointed out the fundamental chameleon-like nature of Kamala Harris. And you guys saw yesterday, she was in Georgia, and she put on a southern accent for a Georgia audience. She grew up in Vancouver. What the hell is going on here? She is not who she pretends to be.”

When asked by a reporter explicitly if he questions whether Harris is Black, Vance said, “What I question is why she presents a different posture depending on which audience that she’s in front of.”

[From Notus]

“What I question is why she presents a different posture depending on which audience that she’s in front of.” Kind of like JD Vance growing up in suburban Ohio and pretending to be a hillbilly? Kind of like Donald Trump inheriting millions, losing it all and pretending to be a brilliant businessman? Vance’s comments say, to me, that this is the Trump campaign’s big strategy for dealing with Kamala Harris: lying about her racial identity, lying about her Blackness, lying about her accomplishments and achievements, denigrating her as a “DEI hire.”

This afternoon, Donald Trump spoke to the National Association of Black Journalists.

It was the same old show.

Let me just say: The American people deserve better than Donald Trump’s divisiveness and disrespect.

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 1, 2024

Pop Quiz for dumb MAGAs! Are JD Vance kids Caucasian, Indian, or both?

Apply the same logic to Kamala Harris. pic.twitter.com/xPqN3v4T6v

— Alex Cole (@acnewsitics) August 1, 2024

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

The Duchess of Sussex flew to the Hamptons late last week. She apparently hitched a ride on Jamie Kern Lima’s private plane, because Lima spoke at the event. The event? The G9 Ventures Summit, a sort of business/networking event hosted by “power broker” Amy Griffin at her Hamptons home. This is one of the things that kills me about the British media’s attempts to paint Meghan as friendless and shunned by A-listers. Meghan and Harry both show the world that they are very good at networking and making associations with powerful, well-connected and rich people. People are attracted to the Sussexes because of their personal narratives and because they’re charismatic and bright. They’re really good at this. Well, in case anyone thought that Meghan was just some random plus-one at this event, Page Six had some gossip about Meghan’s three-hour dinner with several powerful people:

After jetting into the Hamptons to attend the G9 Ventures Summer Summit — an event aimed at elite business women hosted by power broker Amy Griffin at her home — Meghan Markle took in the scene out East. Several spies saw the Duchess of Sussex at Zero Bond owner Scott Sartiano’s hip new spot at the Hedges Inn in East Hampton, Sartiano’s. Sources tell Page Six that the former “Suits,” star was with her BFF, fashion designer Misha Noonoo and her hubby, energy guru Mike Hess.

“Meghan arrived solo, and walked to the maitre’d herself through the crowded restaurant,” says a source. “They were there for three hours.”

Another spy tells us the former royal moved about the room without security and that she was seen chatting with NewsNation anchor Chris Cuomo and socialite Andrew Warren. The room was full of recognizable names including Sartiano himself, influencer Ruby Saracino, Greg Bello and publicist Alison Brod, says a spy.

Markle — who is launching lifestyle business American Riviera Orchard — was in town to powwow with other female founders. The one-day summit drew make-up icon Bobbi Brown, Missy Robbins, the chef behind Williamsburg hotspots Lillia and Misi, Weight Watchers CEO Sima Sistani, Spanx founder Sara Blakely and cosmetics entrepreneur Victoria Jackson. Goop gal Gwyneth Paltrow was also believed to have attended, along with Katie Couric and Laura Dern. The event was held at Griffin’s $13 million estate, which she shares with her husband, billionaire hedge funder John Griffin.

[From Page Six]

“Walked to the maitre’d herself through the crowded restaurant…” Why was the maitre’d on the other side of the restaurant? Why couldn’t Meghan speak to the hostess or whatever? And did people think that Meghan would demand to be carried through the restaurant like Cleopatra? These people are so weird. Anyway, I’m glad Meghan got a chance to catch up with her friend Misha Noonoo while simultaneously checking out a Hamptons hotspot. I bet a lot of eyes were following Meghan as she made her way through the room.

Photos courtesy of Jamie Kern Lima/Instagram and Bobbi Brown/Instagram.

OMG! Remember how the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s quasi-royal tour of Nigeria was a huge success? Remember how their Archewell team worked perfectly with the Nigerian government to highlight veterans’ issues and local charities, all while highlighting Nigeria’s investment in the Invictus community? Well, as we saw in real time, the Nigerian tour was the blueprint for the Sussexes and for other countries who want that Sussex sparkle. Now Colombia has made plans for the Sussexes to go on a tour! South American Sussex Tour!!

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are headed to Colombia! “As the Vice President of Colombia and Minister of Equality and Equity, I am pleased to announce that Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have kindly accepted my invitation to visit our beautiful country,” the Vice President of Colombia, Francia Márquez, said in a statement this morning.

During their time in Colombia, Harry and Meghan will visit Bogotá, Cartagena, and Cali with Márquez. “In these vibrant locations, they will have the exceptional opportunity to engage with leaders, youth, and women who embody the aspirations and voices of Colombians committed to progress,” she wrote. “In addition to these meaningful interactions, The Duke and Duchess will experience the rich heritage of Colombia.”

While no specific date has been shared yet, Prince Harry and Meghan’s visit will come before the first Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children, which will be held in Colombia this November. Therefore, their trip could take place anytime in the next three months.

Per Márquez, “The Archewell Foundation, founded by The Duke and Duchess, is renowned for its global leadership in fostering a safer online environment. The forthcoming conference will unveil a comprehensive framework for creating safer physical and digital spaces, tackling issues such as cyberbullying, online exploitation, and the mental health impacts of these threats. It will offer actionable solutions and commitments for countries around the world. During their visit, The Duke and Duchess, as well as The Archewell Foundation, will engage in several activities related to this important topic.”

She concluded, “We are confident that their visit will further illuminate Colombia’s role as a beacon of culture and innovation.”

[From Town & Country]

No, I love this so much. It’s not even specifically related to Invictus. Colombia just saw the Nigerian tour and said “we should invite them and get all of that international media coverage too.” I assume that Colombia will pick up the security costs, just as Nigeria did, and the government will largely set the agenda, with input from the Archewell team. I cannot wait!!!

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

For the past two months, the vibes have been horrendous when it comes to Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. Initially, it seemed like they were having issues and they just needed a break from each other, or maybe they just needed to reconnect and work on their marriage. Then Jennifer flew to the Hamptons and Ben stayed in LA. Rumors abound that their marriage “has been over for months” and they have “deeper issues” beyond Ben’s discomfort with J.Lo’s fame. Then on J.Lo’s birthday last week, Ben stayed away. Not only that, but he closed escrow on his new bachelor pad ON her birthday. As I’ve said throughout the week, I truly believe a divorce announcement will happen soon. The Daily Mail believes the same:

Jennifer Lopez’s love may not cost a thing, but her divorce to Ben Affleck sure will. Friends have claimed to DailyMail.com the 51-year-old ‘Last Duel’ actor and the superstar singer, 55, are once again pushing ahead with divorce after a final attempt at reconciliation in recent weeks failed.

The couple’s divorce documents ‘are finalized, but not yet turned in’, multiple sources have claimed.

The news follows Affleck buying a new $20.5 million ‘bachelor pad’ mansion in the Pacific Palisades on Wednesday, July 24, the day Lopez turned 55. Friends of Lopez’s claimed Affleck’s sudden bachelor pad purchase on her birthday had been a ‘stab to the heart’.

July 24 also marked the day Lopez also finalized the sale of her four-bedroom New York City penthouse for $23 million, People reported.

‘They finalized the divorce papers with her a month ago, but are waiting for the right time to drop them,’ one source close to the duo claimed. ‘At that time, they will release a joint statement that will say how they have much love for each other and how they fought to make it work, but couldn’t. Honestly, in the end they could not come to a compromise. What they had before is gone and they have both accepted it,’ another source claimed.

[From The Daily Mail]

Oh god, what if Ben told Jennifer that she can announce their divorce in her On The JLo newsletter? What if she’s been putting it off because she still believes they can reconcile? I don’t know. I hate to say it, but I actually think the Mail is correct – I think Ben and Jen have already worked out everything behind the scenes and they’re just waiting for the right moment to drop the news. I think their marriage really is over. It’s really sad. Jennifer must be devastated, honestly. I hate to do this, but I’m once again using the photos from the This Is Me… Now premiere in February, which is where many of us got our first inkling that Ben had checked out of this marriage big-time.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.

I’ve seen a lot of angst from the Sussex Squad about People Magazine’s cover story this week. For what it’s worth, my reading of the story is that it’s not a hit job on the Sussexes OR the Windsors. While People Mag is trying to play both sides, they make it pretty clear that King Charles does have the power to ensure the Sussexes’ security. People’s sources also make the Sussexes’ case for why they left the UK, why they signed onto commercial deals and what Harry’s legal cases have been about. My read: this is part of the Sussexes’ pushback on Buckingham Palace’s flagrant campaign to position Harry as “refusing to bring his children to the UK to see Charles.” The details about Charles refusing to speak to Harry on the phone and refusing to answer Harry’s letters? Those details come from a son who is sick of his father’s bullsh-t. Now, this part of the story? Who even knows.

Prince Harry’s relationship with the royal family is at a breaking point. Sources tell PEOPLE in this week’s exclusive cover story that while calls and letters to his father, King Charles, go unanswered, Harry’s attempts to connect with his brother, Prince William — through texts, calls, and messages — are similarly ignored.

The rift with Prince William is “very bad,” says a royal insider, but it’s not “irreparable.”

William, 42, and Harry, 39, last presented a united front with their wives, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, when they met mourners outside Windsor Castle after Queen Elizabeth’s death in September 2022.

In May 2023, Harry stayed on the sidelines at the coronation of King Charles and sat two rows behind his brother William and his family. Meghan remained in the U.S. for Prince Archie’s birthday.

It’s been widely reported that the brothers’ rift began in 2016 when William expressed concerns about how quickly Harry’s relationship with Meghan was moving. In his memoir Spare, Harry revealed the complexities of his relationship with William, which, despite a public image of closeness, was marked by tension. Harry described William as both his “beloved brother and arch nemesis,” recounting instances of verbal and even physical altercations between them.

[From People]

I don’t buy that Harry is constantly trying to contact William, but Harry probably tried to get in touch (via text, my guess) when the Princess of Wales’s cancer video came out. Don’t confuse “texting an angry egg” with “reconciliation attempts” though. Harry said s-p-a-c-e and he meant it. Besides, William has spent the past two years rage-briefing that he never wants to see or speak to Harry again and that he’ll only speak to Harry at their father’s funeral.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Every single day, some new controversy or bonkers statement comes out about J.D.Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate. It’s a cursed position, to be Trump’s running mate. The last guy barely escaped with his life… after Trump sent his goons to hang the guy. Before I get into the latest “uncovered” statements from Vance, let me put this piece of hilarious Republican gossip in front of you. Apparently, the people inside Trumpworld are upset that Vance has such a lengthy history of saying creepy, weird and gross things. Instead of taking it out on Vance, people within the campaign are now convinced that this whole situation has been a whisper campaign initiated by none other than Kellyanne Conway. The Bulwark did a story about it and they even spoke to Kellyanne, who obviously denied it. But Conway did say that she is receiving a lot of worried calls from Trump insiders who are second-guessing the Vance pick. Conway said: “The calls are coming in, not going out. I’m not calling them and saying this is bad. People are asking me. They’re not just asking me. They’re asking lots of people.” Amazing.

What’s also pretty funny is that Kamala Harris’s HQ has wasted no time with parceling out their opposition research on Vance. The man has loved to hear himself talk for years, and he has several topics he returns to, over and over again, like an itch he has to scratch. The main topic for Vance is his visceral hatred of childfree people and his belief that people who are not parents are subhuman and that their citizenship should be in question. Not only that, in a newly unearthed video, Vance said Republicans need to “go to war” against childfree people.

Unearthed video: JD Vance says he and Trump will “go to war against” childless people, who he calls “sad, lonely, and pathetic”: “They should feel like their life is inadequate” pic.twitter.com/dcLZ2wNxyd

— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) July 31, 2024

One observation I’ll make is that Vance feels the need to barge into women’s business constantly. It’s not like he’s simply a vocal advocate for parents or families. He’s mad that women share their experiences with other women, that women have conversations online about their regrets in all directions around motherhood. He’s mad that women simply can’t be forced into being breeders for the state. He’s mad that some/many women wonder if they could or should find fulfillment and meaning outside of marriage and motherhood. He’s mad that women have the freedom to explore all kinds of adventures, experiences, careers and family structures.

Also: this is what Trump thinks of Vance.

Q: Is JD Vance ready on day one?

Trump: What?

Q: Is he ready on day one?

Trump: Well, the Vice President does not have any impact pic.twitter.com/J2sMAu1Y9k

— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) July 31, 2024

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.