Imane Khelif is a woman. She’s an Algerian boxer who has boxed on the international circuit for years. She qualified for the Olympics, and during one of her rounds, she sparred with an Italian named Angela Carini. Carini quit the fight in less than a minute and turned on the white-woman tears, claiming that Khelif punched her too hard (??). Then Carini told the international media that the IOC needed to investigate Khelif’s gender and that Khelif was not a cisgender woman. This became an Olympic culture war for the transvestigators and it was just as horrid and offensive as you would think. The IOC quickly came out in defense of Khelif and said that she is exactly who she says she is: a woman from Algeria, she was born a woman and she identifies as a woman. That didn’t stop JK Rowling, Megyn Kelly and a host of transphobic bigots from attacking Khelif online for days throughout the Olympic games. Khelif ended up winning the gold medal! To celebrate, she’s going to sue the f–k out of a lot of people.

J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk have both been named in a criminal complaint filed to French authorities over alleged “acts of aggravated cyber harassment” against Algerian boxer and newl crowned Olympic champion Imane Khelif.

Nabil Boudi, the Paris-based attorney of Khelif, confirmed to Variety that both figures were mentioned in the body of the complaint, posted to the anti-online hatred center of the Paris public prosecutor’s office on Friday.

The lawsuit was filed against X, which under French law means that it was filed against unknown persons. That “ensure[s] that the ‘prosecution has all the latitude to be able to investigate against all people,” including those who may have written hateful messages under pseudonyms, said Boudi. The complaint nevertheless mentions famously controversial figures.

[From Variety]

I hope this lady goes all-in. This is currently a criminal complaint, but I hope Khelif follows through internationally. Sue JK Rowling. Sue Megyn Kelly. Sue all of these disgusting people and get that money. Something nice: Algerians rallied behind Imane and she’s getting so much support and love back home.

Supporters of Algerian Olympic boxer Imane Khelif gathered in Algiers to celebrate after she won gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics. pic.twitter.com/eHfL4fJoN1

— DW News (@dwnews) August 12, 2024

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

We’ve linked to coverage of Tim Walz’s camouflage-heavy aesthetic before, but I’m pleased to see that Politico recently devoted a guest column to it. Derek Guy (also known as the menswear guy on Twitter) wrote the piece right after the Harris-Walz camouflage baseball caps sold out within minutes. Basically, Guy’s argument is that Walz’s average-Joe style is a huge plus for the Harris-Walz campaign and, even more than that, it works because this is just who he is authentically. He’s a hunter, he’s a fisherman, he knows his way around an engine and he probably keeps jumper cables in his trunk. He is a midwest dad archetype. Some highlights from Politico:

Vice President Kamala Harris’ announcement of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate has introduced an unexpected issue into our high-stakes political discourse: casual wear. Walz’s progressive governing record and successful deployment of the term “weird” against Republican opponents were both factors in Harris’ decision. But so was his potential appeal to working class voters in the “Blue Wall” states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

That’s where Walz has a fashionable — or perhaps helpfully unfashionable — advantage: With his flannel-lined LL Bean barn coats, scuffed work boots and woodsy camo caps, Walz is one of the few male politicians who looks normal in the kind of unpretentious clothing many voters prefer to wear themselves.

Walz’s remarkably unremarkable look displays a rare talent that few of his contemporaries share. Despite America’s long trend of dressing down, male politicians looking to earn everyman cred via casual clothing often fumble.

At a Harris rally held just a few days after Walz popularized the now viral “weird” charge against Republicans during a Morning Joe interview last month, the governor showed up in a pair of Carhartt work pants, rugged work shoes and a camouflage cap decorated with the U.S. Special Forces crest (“De Oppresso Liber,” or “To Free the Oppressed”). While touring Dutch Creek Farms in Northfield, Minnesota, with President Joe Biden, he wore a tan canvas, corduroy-collared LL Bean barn coat with blue jeans and a ball cap that read “Minnesota Grown.” At Democratic Party retreats, he sports quarter-neck zip fleeces under what appears to be a buffalo-plaid Filson Mackinaw Cruiser, a classic among Midwestern hunters and outdoorsmen.

When the Harris campaign rolled out a video shortly after the VP announcement — showing Harris and Walz engaged in an obviously orchestrated phone call — Harris was shown wearing a navy suit while Walz was dressed in a black t-shirt, tan chinos, camo cap and white sneakers. The choice to put Walz in casual wear, and introduce woodsman camo campaign merch shortly after the announcement, suggests the Harris team is keenly aware of how clothing impacts the governor’s blue-collar brand.

But beyond branding, Walz’s avuncular outfits are visually successful because they are culturally coherent — teaming workwear with workwear, rather than mixing suit jackets with jeans, as DeSantis was wont to do. They also rely on classics from American heritage labels, such as LL Bean’s barn coat, Carhartt’s utility pants, Filson’s Mackinaw and Red Wing’s work boots. But most of all, they possess a quality that style writers have spent generations trying to dissect: authenticity. Walz grew up in small town Nebraska, where his high school graduating class included about 25 students. He earned his bachelor’s degree from a small public state college before going on to serve in the Army National Guard and then working at Mankato West High School, where he taught geography and coached football. His hunting get-ups don’t look contrived because he’s an actual hunter.

[From Politico]

Yes, that’s exactly why it works – it is authentic and it comes across that way too. Walz’s clothes are clean but well-worn, as if he’s had most of those pieces for years (if not decades). His hats always look like he picked them up from the back of his pickup truck. Even the choice for VP Harris to call Walz “coach” in her speeches reflects an awareness of what it is that Walz brings to the ticket. She’s not saying “Governor Walz” or even “Tim.” She’s calling him “Coach Walz” and there’s already campaign placards with a “coach” theme. She’s going to send him to Wisconsin and Michigan in full camo with a whistle, I swear to God.

Photos courtesy of Walz’s IG.

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The 2024 Paris Olympics have shone a light on many random, fascinating things that I, for one, did not know before three weeks ago. For instance: an athlete can be sponsored by cheese; there’s a shocking lack of pagan education (or at the very least Greek mythology) in modern culture; you can get a year’s worth of medical exams for free in two weeks at the Olympic Village (but you have to be an athlete, le sigh); and the food of champions is double chocolate muffins. (Have I been paying attention to items on the periphery of what the Olympics are really about? Yes. Am I bothered by that? No.) Another odd tidbit that’s garnered a lot of attention throughout the games is that chic Paris opted to continue the trend set by Tokyo and host this year’s Olympians in… cardboard beds. Needless to say, the furnishing choice was not appreciated by the hard-working athletes. Or as bronze medal-winning British weightlifter Emily Campbell put it, “The cardboard beds are not a vibe.”

The accommodations for the more than 10,000 Olympians who traveled to Paris weren’t exactly five-star.

British bronze-medal weightlifter Emily Campbell delivered a scathing review of the sleeping arrangements that she endured in the Olympic Village.

“I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed,” Campbell told the BBC after the Olympics. “I know it sounds so… but honestly, the cardboard beds are not a vibe. I’m looking forward to going home and seeing my family because I haven’t been able to catch up with them.”

In Tokyo in 2021, Campbell put up a silver-medal performance in the women’s +87 kg event.

The beds were a central talking point going into Paris.

They were made from recycled materials and reportedly designed to help save resources for the environment, but many joked that they also stop any love-making dead in its tracks.

“I hope that Paris 2024’s efforts to reduce its impact will show that it is possible to do things differently,” said Georgina Grenon, director of environmental excellence for the organizing committee prior to the games.

[From NY Post]

Wow, looking at pictures of those cardboard bed frames took me right back to high school physics. Allow me to explain: there was one lesson on weight distribution where my teacher had us make “support beams” by rolling up pieces of flimsy printer paper, and then see how many heavy textbooks we could stack on them before the whole thing came tumbling down. It was a lot more than you’d think! So while your first thought may have been, “What is keeping those incredibly fit and muscular athletes from crashing right through the cardboard?” the answer is, science. And speaking of, bravo to Paris for being environmentally conscious with the beds, but were there really no other eco-friendly options available? I’m just trying to reckon how it can be feasible to provide extensive and gratis medical care, but not better beds. C’est un mystère.

When we were talking about hobbies a little while ago, I bragged about eating being the one I participate in with the most gusto. But I neglected to mention sleeping, which I’ve technically dedicated more hours of my life to. Though I can make do fairly well on a couch, to turn in a top notch performance I need to be on my extra-firm mattress, so I totally empathize with the athletes here. (What? Stop laughing.) I used to be a super fluffy mattress girl, but a few years ago when it was mandated by the state that I replace my ancient bed, I dutifully sampled the wares at the department store. And I was shocked I tell you, shocked to discover how good the extra-firm ones felt! It was like my back could finally relax. It was a transcendent level of support. Yes I realize that in Paris it was the frames and not the mattresses that were cardboard. But my point is that if even I need a certain standard of comfort in my physically low-intensity life, then by gosh our Olympians deserve better beds!

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Hoda Kotb turned 60 last Friday, August 9. To celebrate the big 6-0, her Today cohost, Jenna Bush Hager threw her an on-air birthday party on Monday. The celebration was really well-done, too. The audience was given shirts and party hats to set the mood. Jenna gifted Hoda a painting of her favorite photo of her and her daughters that she commissioned her dad, former President George W. Bush to paint (he signed it “43” lmao). Some of Hoda’s good friends showed up for a segment. Producers played a sequence that checked in on three different families who Hoda’s interviewed in the past that spoke about her much she’d change their lives. There were also special birthday wishes from Hoda’s mom, daughters, and none other than Sandra Bullock. Sandra, who herself turned 60 on July 26, had an inspirational and funny message for her friend. It was a really nice birthday tribute.

“I had so many brilliant and funny things prepared for you for this message that were just going to slay, but you know girl, I’m just too tired,” said Bullock, who turned 60 on Friday, July 26.

The Practical Magic star also thanked Kotb “for being so incredible to so many people.”

“What you do for a living and how you have to shape-shift every single day, how you navigate your kindness, even when that’s not what’s coming your way,” she said. “How you are to those you care about and how you keep them safe, and just who you are as a human being. We’re all pretty lucky to have you, especially your kids.”

Bullock ended the video with a personal message for Kotb.

“Happy birthday, my sweet friend. Thank you for allowing me to be in your circle,” said Bullock. “I feel very grateful. And I have your bar set up, up here, so we can look at the view. It’s pretty beautiful, but I need you up here. Happy birthday.”

Kotb, the parents of daughters Haley, 7, and Hope, 4, through adoption, got visibly emotional after watching the video message and expressed that she was inspired to become a mother after watching Bullock’s motherhood journey.

“The reason that I have Haley and Hope is because when I was looking for inspiration of somebody who was a mom at my age, Sanda Bullock popped up and I called her and I said, ‘Tell me about motherhood,’” recalled Kotb. “And she said, ‘It is the best decision I ever made.’ And from that moment forward, she led the way to these two girls.”

[From People]

That was a really sweet message from Sandra. She very rarely makes public appearances like this, which makes the whole video extra lovely. I had no idea that they were so close and had never heard that story before about Sandy being a supportive inspiration behind Hoda’s decision to adopt Haley and Hope. I must have missed it because Hoda did talk about it on-air back in 2018. How awesome is that?

As for her message, I love that Sandra is out there letting women and anyone else who needs to hear it that 60 isn’t the scary number taboo that it’s been made out to be in the past. Sure, it may not always feel great as we’re forced to embrace the changes our bodies go through as we get older, but every additional day, month, and year is a blessing. And Sandy addressed those changes with her joke about being too tired to think of a clever message. I’m only 40 and I feel that way almost every single day, ha. Happy Birthday to Hoda! May 60 be her best year yet.

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I’ve briefly alluded to this before, but I do not like needles. I am pro-science and pro-vaxx; I just don’t enjoy the process. And by “don’t enjoy,” I mean I devolve to a sniveling level of cartoonish histrionics that has only somewhat improved in adulthood. You’re stabbing me with a pointy thing — of course my knee-jerk reaction is going to be to prevent it at all costs! So I’ve always considered myself lucky that (as yet) I don’t have any allergies severe enough that require the need of an EpiPen. Well, there’s good breaking news for us trypanophobes: the FDA has just approved a nasal spray for treating anaphylaxis. Though we don’t know when it will be available to consumers, the fluffy-named Neffy spray has been given Fast Track status to speed up the process. Thank you modern medicine!

The first-ever needle-free alternative to the EpiPen and similar epinephrine autoinjectors has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat anaphylaxis.

Neffy, a nasal spray that delivers a dose of epinephrine, is the first of its kind that isn’t delivered by injection. Until Neffy’s approval, the only way to stop the life-threatening response to an allergic reaction was with an injectable like the EpiPen, which comes pre-filled with a dose of the medication.

“Anaphylaxis is life-threatening and some people, particularly children, may delay or avoid treatment due to fear of injections,” Kelly Stone, MD, PhD, Associate Director of the Division of Pulmonology, Allergy and Critical Care in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a statement.

“The availability of epinephrine nasal spray may reduce barriers to rapid treatment of anaphylaxis. As a result, Neffy provides an important treatment option and addresses an unmet need.”

As the Mayo Clinic explains, “Anaphylaxis is a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction. It can happen seconds or minutes after you’ve been exposed to something you’re allergic to. Peanuts or bee stings are examples.”

Anaphylaxis “occurs in about one in 50 Americans,” the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America states, adding, “Many believe the rate is higher than that. It is probably closer to one in 20.”

The Mayo Clinic says symptoms include skin reactions (like hives), low blood pressure, nausea, fainting — and “constriction of the airways and a swollen tongue or throat, which can cause wheezing and trouble breathing.”

Food allergies are on the rise, according to Food Allergy Research and Education, with 33 million Americans citing at least one food allergy.

“Milk, egg, peanut, tree nuts, wheat, soy, fish and crustacean shellfish were identified as responsible for at least 90 percent of the serious food allergy reactions in the U.S.,” the organization says.

Peanut allergies, specifically, are rising — and as the Mayo Clinic points out, “Peanut allergy is the most common cause of food-induced anaphylaxis.”

“Even tiny amounts of peanuts can cause a serious reaction that can even be life-threatening.”
In January, a 25-year-old with a nut allergy died of anaphylactic shock after eating cookies that didn’t list peanuts on the label, and last year, a man from Texas died after eating a taco that didn’t list peanut butter as an ingredient.

Although no details have been released about when Neffy will be available, the FDA has granted the product Fast Track status, which expedites its release to the public.

[From People]

This is such great news! I’m so relieved for all the little kids afraid of needles (who sometimes grow up to be big adults afraid of needles; hi, that’s me!) that they’ll have this equally effective, much gentler option to the EpiPen. This is such a boon for anyone who gets queasy about shots, as the article points out. Surely this new epinephrine spray will help save lives. While People reports that there’s no word on when it will be available, the Allergy and Asthma Foundation estimates that it will be released around October of this year. And not for nothing, but “Neffy” already sounds like the name of one of the stuffed animals lining a toddler’s bed, which will make it even more friendly for the kids who’ll need it. In fact, wouldn’t it be great if they drew up an animated Neffy mascot character to help make the spray approachable to kids?

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Katie Holmes still dresses like it’s the ‘90s (and I love it). This was actually a “dressed up” look circa 1994 and I would wear this whole ensemble. [Socialite Life]
An interview with Olympian Noah Lyles. [Buzzfeed]
Please take all of Jennifer Lopez’s pain and give it to Joaquin Phoenix. [LaineyGossip]
Reported couch-f–ker JD Vance has accused Democrats of bullying him! [Jezebel]
Spoilers for the ending of Cuckoo. [Pajiba]
Taylor Swift’s ex Conor Kennedy (remember that?) is engaged. [JustJared]
Vanessa Bryant revealed a “Kobe logo” for the LA Olympics. [Hollywood Life]
Californians are such pros about earthquakes. [Seriously OMG]
Blake Lively’s other premiere look. [RCFA]
Orlando Bloom stretches on the beach. [OMG Blog]

After so many years, you would think that Prince William, his palace courtiers and his friends would have some awareness about how pathetic it is to continuously mention Prince Harry. While the “mentions” are never flattering for Harry, the sheer fact that William and his allies can’t keep Harry’s name out of their mouths is more revealing of William than Harry. It’s especially funny because William tries to maintain the hilarious feint that he cannot defend himself against Harry’s “attacks,” all while William regularly trashes his brother off the record. I’ve long believed that one of the biggest issues of King Charles’s reign is that the entire family seems to base a lot of their words and actions on an audience of one: Harry. They don’t even understand how f–king bonkers they look to everyone else. Well, as we discussed, William has a vacation beard. It’s gross and it makes him look like he just crawled out of a two-week bender. The beard is a reminder that William has been on vacation for a full month and that he’ll be on vacation for two more months. But according to William’s “friend,” the audience for the beard was one person alone: Harry. William thinks that he just restarted the Beard War with his brother.

Prince William’s new vacation beard, displayed in a short clip to mark the closing of the Olympics, is being seen by friends as a “new installment of the beard wars” with Prince Harry. One friend of William’s told The Daily Beast: “It was a slight surprise to see William do a public video with the beard. It’s an unexpected new installment of the beard wars.”

The phrase refers to the bad-tempered argument about Harry’s beard between William and Harry that fed into the collapse of their relationship in the tense run-up to Harry’s wedding. In his memoir, Spare, Harry explained how he first ­­grew his beard while on an expedition in the South Pole and had come to rely on it as a “Freudian security blanket,” saying it made him feel “calmer.” Harry wrote that he asked his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, who was reputedly not overly keen on beards, for permission to keep it for his wedding to Meghan Markle, and that she “understood.” But he said that when he told his brother, William “bristled” and said it was inconsistent with military rules—relevant as he was getting married in uniform—and precedent.

Harry then said, “When I informed him that his opinion didn’t really matter, since I’d already gone to Granny and got the green light, he became livid. He raised his voice.” William accused Harry of putting Elizabeth “in an uncomfortable position,” saying she had “no choice but to say yes.” Harry said the argument “went on, in person, on the phone, for more than a week…At one point he actually ordered me, as the Heir speaking to the Spare, to shave.”

Friends of William have long disputed Harry’s characterization of many events in his book but point out that William is in no position to publicly refute Harry’s claims. The “beard wars” are no different. One source, a former courtier who worked in the palace at the time of Harry and Meghan’s wedding, told The Daily Beast: “What the courtiers got so annoyed about with Harry is that over and over again he approached his grandmother personally to get special treatment and then he would turn around and say, ‘Well, Granny said so, so there.’ He was no great respecter of the line between monarch and grandmother, between the institutional and the personal.

“The beard was a case in point. It was a ridiculous argument but ultimately, William was right, frankly; he shouldn’t have gone and put his grandmother in the position. That was why after the split, people went to great efforts to block him from seeing her, because they were terrified he would wheedle concessions out of her.”

A senior publicist who has previously worked with the royal family told The Daily Beast: “William and Kate are always very keen to present themselves as normal, and normal guys, when they go on holiday, don’t shave for a week or two. Their whole brand is about being normal, being just like us, so coming out in a craggy beard and a polo shirt while on holiday is much smarter than putting on a suit and tie. They have perfected normal as brand image.”

[From The Daily Beast]

So… does Kate also stop shaving on holiday? Does she grow out her leg hair and her pit hair? Does she grow out a ‘70s-style bush? Questions for another time, apparently. Yes, there’s nothing more normal-guy than growing out a greasy, sleazy-looking “beard” for a video supposedly praising Olympians (who you ignored throughout the games) and then immediately briefing your media allies: THIS WILL MAKE HARRY JEALOUS! Harry’s not jealous. He’s had a beard for more almost a decade. And all of this fussing over Harry’s beard at this point is hilariously out-of-touch. William shows up with a beard and suddenly everyone is… mad at Harry?? “He was no great respecter of the line between monarch and grandmother, between the institutional and the personal.” IT WAS FACIAL HAIR NOT A NUCLEAR WEAPON.

Photos courtesy of KensingtonRoyal and Avalon Red.

There was a constant stream of stories in 2022-23 about the Princess of Wales not wanting Prince George to attend Eton, the elite prep school. Kate has been visiting other boarding schools for a while, and reportedly she’s not even sold on sending George to a boarding school at all. She would prefer to have all of her kids at home for as long as possible. Reportedly, before her abdominal surgery in January, she even went to see another school for George. She has really been doing the most to show that Eton is not a sure thing. This is not an urgent problem really – it would be another two school years before George would potentially go to Eton anyway. But someone wants to keep this as a topic of conversation.

Unlike many 11-year-olds around the country, Prince George won’t be going to secondary school in September. The young royal will instead continue his education at Lambrook School, where he currently attends alongside Princess Charlotte, nine, and Prince Louis, six. The Berkshire-based prep school educates children up to the age of 13 (Year 8), meaning George will have two years before he moves on to his next school.

While the palace hasn’t confirmed his next place of education, Editor-in-Chief of Majesty Magazine Ingrid Seward claims there is a “very likely” next school for Prince George. Speaking to Fabulous, she claimed: “They [William and Kate] will have their choice of schools, and they can look at as many as they like, and they don’t actually have to make a choice nearly as early as anyone else would. So they have that advantage. They’ve looked at Eton. She [Kate] probably doesn’t want him to go to boarding school at all, and it’s possible that he won’t. But I mean, that’s what makes Eton look very likely, because it is so near to where they’re living.”

Ingrid claimed there is a key reason why Eton would be an advantage for William and Kate. She explained: “Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte will still be at their current school, and when and if George gets into Eton, which of course he will, he will just be down the road from them. Now, all this makes an enormous difference because the royals are now under such scrutiny as to how much they cost the taxpayer. The security, which is very expensive and we pay for, for these members of the Royal Family when they’re at school, is why Charlotte, Louis, and George are all at the same school at the moment. If George went to Eton, it would be quite possible to use the same string of security to look after him.”

[From The Sun]

The longer this goes on and the more of a “debate” it becomes, the more I’m convinced that this is actually something William and Kate are fighting about. I’ve long said that Kate got “her way” on the kids’ early education. I believe that the compromise was: the kids can stay at home until they’re 13, then the Windsor program commences, at least for the heir. This is all about George too – Kate will get her way on Charlotte and Louis’s education, I have no doubt. But George “belongs” to the institution and they want him to go to Eton. Kate is fighting with them about that, and they’re trying to publicly show her that she doesn’t have a choice.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images, Kensington Palace.

Vice President Kamala Harris is the cover subject for this week’s Time Magazine. “The Reintroduction of Kamala Harris” is the headline, and this does not include an interview. Harris still hasn’t given a sit-down interview on TV or print media since she became the nominee. I keep going back and forth on whether that’s a smart strategy – whenever she does give an interview, it will be huge news and everyone will examine every single word (in a way they simply refuse to do for Donald Trump). Harris has always gotten a raw deal with the political press and Beltway media, and those same people seem genuinely shocked that Harris not only landed on her feet, but she’s actually polling much better than Trump nowadays. That’s what this Time cover story is about too, how the political media underestimated Harris and they’re still trying to figure out WTF just happened over the past month. Some highlights from Time:

The vibe shift: Harris has pulled off the swiftest vibe shift in modern political history. A contest that revolved around the cognitive decline of a geriatric President has been transformed: Joe Biden is out, Harris is in, and a second Donald Trump presidency no longer seems inevitable. Democrats resigned to a “grim death march” toward certain defeat, as one national organizer put it, felt their gloom replaced by a jolt of hope. Harris smashed fundraising records, raking in $310 million in July. She packed stadiums and dominated TikTok, offering a fresh message focused on the future over the past. Volunteers signed up in droves. Trump’s widening leads across the battleground states evaporated. Over the span of a few weeks in late July and early August, Harris became a political phenomenon.

Kamala in 2020 versus 2024: Where has this Kamala Harris been all along? For years, Democratic officials questioned her political chops, pundits mocked her word salads, and her polling suggested limited appeal. Her performance in the 2020 presidential primary was wooden, and her turn as Biden’s No. 2 did little to inspire confidence. Even this summer, as party insiders chattered about possible replacements if Biden stepped aside, “it was explicit from some of the major donors that she can’t win,” says Amanda Litman, the co-founder of Run for Something, an organization that trains young Democrats to run for office. “They didn’t think people were ready to elect someone like her.”

An inherited campaign: She inherited a campaign infrastructure and policy record from her predecessor, but the energy is all hers. Picking Walz as a running mate over more conventional choices signals a belief that this race is as much about feelings as it is about fundamentals. Harris’ brand shift—the happy-warrior attitude, the viral memes, the eye roll at Republican “weirdos”—has already done what no Trump opponent has ever been able to do: snatch the spotlight away from him.

Harris believes this race is fundamentally about reproductive rights: She may seem like an overnight sensation, but Harris’ moment was years in the making. Quietly, her small team of top aides had been laying the groundwork for a future presidential run. After the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, the Vice President added reproductive rights to her portfolio. Abortion was never a comfortable issue for Biden, a devout Catholic, but it was a natural fit for his No. 2. Harris believed that with Roe gone, Republicans would turn their sights to restricting both birth control and IVF. In the months after Dobbs, she traveled the U.S., talking about abortion rights as a matter of “reproductive freedom.” As far back as the 2022 midterms, aides say, she argued for making this the core of the party’s national message, even as the White House focused on jobs and the economy.

Harris & her advisors were planning her 2028 run: During those travels, Harris’ team assembled a spreadsheet of allies, power brokers, and potential delegates to tap if and when the time came. Every photo line, every VIP invitation, every clutch with labor leaders, every meeting with key constituencies was filed away. The goal, advisers say, was to ensure there would be allies on every delegate slate in every state in the nation. “We had a list,” says one top aide, “and we checked it twice.” The list was intended for 2028. But when Biden dropped out on July 21 and quickly endorsed Harris, it was instantly pressed into service.

What she did when Biden endorsed her: The Vice President—clad in a Howard University sweatshirt, munching pizza with anchovies—spent the next 10 hours on the phone, dialing delegates and wrangling endorsements. A day later, the nomination was all but hers. Even though other presidential hopefuls had ties to swing states or big donors, “the list was the thing that we had that they didn’t,” says a top aide. “It wasn’t a fairy godmother waving a magic wand.” Harris’ ability to sew up the nomination so quickly was a triumph of work ethic and political dexterity that foreshadowed what was to come. “To consolidate the Democratic Party in a matter of hours, to do as many visible events and establish that presence without putting a foot wrong, is a feat,” says Pete Buttigieg, the Transportation Secretary who ran against Harris for the 2020 nomination and was a finalist to become her running mate. “I don’t think anybody expected her to be so flawless.”

[From Time Magazine]

Something which goes missing in Time’s analysis is that Harris is a quick learner and she’s still being mentored by President Biden. I’m sure Harris and her team picked up the football and ran, all on their own initiative, and I’m not saying Harris’s success is due to Biden altogether. Harris has absolutely put in the work and we can tell. But Harris has also been at Joe Biden’s side for four years. He’s been preparing her and putting her in the rooms where she can learn on the job. That’s what people are missing about “what happened in the past four years, why is she suddenly so good at this” talk. They’re missing Biden’s influence and his belief in her abilities.

It’s so, so smart for Harris to completely engage with choice and reproductive rights too. She was right to argue for that in Biden’s reelection campaign and she’s right to center that conversation in the last three months of the election. After Dobbs, it became a fundamental political truth: women are f–king mad. We are so pissed off and we needed a candidate who can talk about it.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images. Cover courtesy of Time.

The trailer for the live-action Snow White is out and real talk, I’m not a fan of any of these live-action remakes, so I think this looks equally bad as the other ones. The super-fast edits should tell you everything you need to know. [Seriously OMG]
Adele & Rich Paul’s love story. [Hollywood Life]
Interview with author Andrew Erdman. [Socialite Life]
Review of It Ends With Us. [LaineyGossip]
Billie Eilish performed at the Paris Olympics (sort of). [Just Jared]
It costs a lot to achieve the tradwife aesthetic. [Pajiba]
Daphne Guinness released new music. [OMG Blog]
More Olympic celebrity sightings! [Go Fug Yourself]
Naomi Ackie’s Ferragamo is a scroll-down fug. [RCFA]
What did Kelly Bensimon do on Scary Island? [Starcasm]
I loved the Olympic Closing Ceremony. [Buzzfeed]