1/ Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz introduced himself as Kamala Harris’ running mate during a joint rally in Philadelphia, thanking Harris for “the trust you put in me” and for “bringing back the joy.” He added: “We’ve got 91 days. We’ll sleep when we’re dead.” Walz then took aim at JD Vance as someone who doesn’t represent Middle America. “Like all regular people I grew up with in the heartland, JD studied at Yale, had his career funded by Silicon Valley billionaires and wrote a bestseller trashing that community. That’s not what middle America is. And I’ve got to tell you, I can’t wait to debate the guy — that is if he’s willing to get off the couch and show up,” Walz said, referencing the viral social media meme that suggested — falsely — that Vance once had sexual relations with a couch. [The original tweet, for reference: “can’t say for sure but he might be the first vp pick to have admitted in a ny times bestseller to fucking an inside-out latex glove shoved between two couch cushions (vance, hillbilly elegy, pp. 179-181)”]. The Associated Press then attempted to debunk the rumor in an article titled, “No, JD Vance Did Not Have Sex With a Couch,” but was then forced to retract it, claiming it had not gone through the standard editing process. In any event, earlier in the evening Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was rumored to be one of Harris’ top choices for vice presidential, took aim at Vance as he warmed up the crowd. “JD Vance – he’s not exactly off to a good start, I think we can all agree on that. But I think part of the reason why he’s not off to a good start is this – you don’t know who he is, and he’s not being honest with himself, so he can’t be honest with the American people.” The crowd responded with chants of “He’s so weird! He’s so weird!” (Salon / NBC News / Politico / Associated Press / Washington Post / New York Times / Business Insider / CNBC / CNN / Daily Beast)

2/ Trump – out of nowhere – baselessly predicted that Biden might try to “crash” the Democratic National Convention in an attempt to “take back the nomination” from Harris. In a post on his personal social network, Trump offered the following prognostication: “What are the chances that Crooked Joe Biden, the WORST president in the history of the US, whose presidency was unconstitutionally STOLEN from him by Kamabla, Barack HUSSEIN Obama, Crazy Nancy Pelosi, Shifty Adam Schiff, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer and others on the lunatic left, CRASHES the Democrat National Convention and tries to take back the nomination, beginning with challenging me to another DEBATE.” The convicted felon continued: “He feels that he made a historically tragic mistake by handing over the US presidency, a COUP, to the people in the world he most hates. And he wants it back NOW!!!” Adam Schiff responded to Trump missive on Twitter: “It’s ok to be scared.” (HuffPost / Newsweek / Rolling Stone / The Hill / New York Magazine)

  • Trump keeps losing his train of thought. Cognitive experts have theories about why. “This shifting from topic to topic, with few connections — a pattern of speech called tangentiality — is one of several disjointed and occasionally incoherent verbal habits that seem to have increased in Trump’s speech in recent years, according to interviews with experts in memory, psychology, and linguistics.” (STAT News)

3/ The Arizona grand jury that indicted 18 Trump allies on criminal charges related to their efforts to overturn the 2020 election also wanted to indict Trump. The attorney general’s office, however, asked the grand jury not to indict Trump and give a PowerPoint presentation to explain a Justice Department policy that discourages bringing state and federal cases against the same defendant. State prosecutors also told the grand jury that indicting Trump would be a “big deal” and that they weren’t sure if they had “all the evidence to prosecute it at this moment.” The grand jury ultimately indicted 18 Trump allies, including Mark Meadows and Rudy Giuliani. (New York Times / CNBC / CNN / Washington Post)

4/ An Arizona Republican who falsely claimed to be a legitimate presidential elector for Trump pleaded guilty for her role in the scheme to subvert the 2020 election. Lorraine Pellegrino is the first of 11 fake electors to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of filing a false instrument. Pellegrino will receive three years of probation and no jail time under the deal. (ABC News / Politico / New York Times / Axios)

poll/ 51% of voters would support Harris, while 48% would support Trump if the November presidential election were held today. (NPR)

  • 📅 The WTFJHT Calendar: Now until then.

  • 🫏 Aug. 19-22: Democratic National Convention.
    ⛔️ Sept. 2: Labor Day – No WTFJHT.
    📺 Sept. 4: Fox News debate (maybe?)
    📺 Sept. 10: ABC News debate (possibly?)
    ⚖️ Sept. 18: Trump is sentenced.
    📆 Oct. 6: Last day to register to vote in some states.
    ⛔️ Oct. 14: Indigenous Peoples’ Day – No WTFJHT.
    🗳️ Nov. 5: Presidential Election.
  • ✅ Get election ready: Register to vote, update your address, or request an absentee ballot at Vote.org, TurboVote, RocktheVote, or Votes From Abroad.org.

  • 📈 The WTFJHT Election Poll Tracking Tracker ™️

  • Harris 48% – Trump 47% (New York Times)
    Harris 45% – Trump 43% (538)
    Harris 45% – Trump 43% (Nate Silver)
    Harris 47% – Trump 45% (The Economist)
    Harris 47% – Trump 46% (RealClearPolitics)
    Trump 51% – Harris 48% (Polymarket)