🌊 Drop The E... Just D and I

Happy Guinea Pig Appreciation Day to all who celebrate.

Guinea pigs crawl under the radar in the “best pets” conversation. America’s sixth most popular pet is also relatively new to the pet game. They didn’t really become pets until the late 1500s when European traders brought them over from the New World. Queen Elizabeth I was apparently a huge fan. And to the commoners, they were the hottest new thing since bathing. Show a guinea pig some love today!

–Max and Max

ROCA WRAP

The Hillbilly President

In 2016, when liberal Americans wanted to know how Trump could have become president, they turned to JD Vance.

Vance had recently published Hillbilly Elegy, a memoir of his life growing up in Appalachian Ohio, and Kentucky.

The book captured both the pride and history of “forgotten America” and its plights: Poverty, opioid addiction, broken families, and alcoholism.

Raised by his grandparents, Vance had managed to break the cycle by graduating from high school and enlisting in the Marines.

After serving as a military reporter in Iraq, he graduated at the top of his class from Ohio State University and then attended Yale Law, the US’ top-ranked law school.

Vance landed a job at one of the US’ most prestigious law firms before becoming a venture capitalist working with Peter Thiel, Facebook’s first backer, and a prominent conservative.  

Then in 2016, Vance published his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy.

The book came out at the right time.

The Washington Post declared Vance the “Voice of the Rust Belt,” and The New York Times listed Hillbilly Elegy as “one of the six best books to help understand Trump's win.”

"You will not read a more important book about America this year,” The Economist wrote.

When Trump first ran, Vance was a fierce critic and a self-described “Never-Trumper.”

Two years later, though, Vance described Trump as “one of the few political leaders in America that recognizes the frustration that exists in large parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky, and so forth.”

Around that time, Vance began publicly considering a Senate run.

In 2021, Peter Thiel – a major Trump backer – gave $10M to support that. Vance then won Trump’s endorsement and, in 2022, was elected a US senator from Ohio.

Vance has since become a leader of Trump’s populist, anti-elite political movement. He’s called for tariffs, a border wall, and providing support to families while cutting spending on Ukraine, environmental, and other policies. 

He’s repeatedly defended Trump and stood by his claims, including of voter fraud in 2020.

On Monday, Trump picked Vance to be his VP.

“I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio,” Trump wrote. 

After describing Vance’s resume, Trump concluded: “J.D. has had a very successful business career in Technology and Finance, and now, during the Campaign, will be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond….”

What do you think about JD Vance and Trump’s pick? Respond to this email to share your thoughts.

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KEY STORY

Drop The “E,” Just “D&I”

SHRM, the top US HR lobby, is moving away from the “equity” portion of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)

• SHRM is the most powerful human-resources lobbying and advocacy group in the US. The group, over 340,000 members strong, advocates for the rights and benefits of HR workers across the country

• Last week, SHRM announced it would adopt the acronym “D&I” to label its approach to diversity and inclusion. It said it wanted to avoid preferential treatment for certain demographic groups and said there was a “societal backlash” toward the term “equity”

Dig Deeper

• SHRM's announcement, which it posted on LinkedIn, was met with an overwhelmingly negative response from commenters

• The top reply claimed the move was an acquiescence to "bad faith actors" coming out against DEI. Others accused the group of posturing, given it will still pursue equity initiatives

• Several members threatened to cancel their membership and join other HR groups

KEY STORY

Classified Docs Case Dropped

A federal judge dropped the classified documents case against Trump

• Attorney General Merrick Garland had appointed Jack Smith special counsel to conduct independent investigations of Trump. Last June, Smith charged Trump with keeping classified information about the US’ defense and foreign policies

• The Biden Administration had appointed Smith. However, Trump’s lawyers had argued that a prosecutor with such power had to be approved by Congress, which Smith was not

• The judge agreed, writing that the Constitution doesn’t give “the Attorney General broad inferior-officer appointing power or [bestow] upon him the right to appoint a federal officer with the kind of prosecutorial power wielded by Special Counsel Smith”

Dig Deeper

• The decision boosts Trump’s legal fortunes, although the Biden Administration could appeal

• It may also impact other cases against Trump, including one brought by Smith that accuses Trump of attempting to interfere with the 2020 election result

• Trump said of the ruling, “As we move forward in Uniting our Nation after the horrific events on Saturday, this dismissal of the Lawless Indictment in Florida should be just the first step, followed quickly by the dismissal of ALL the Witch Hunts”

KEY STORY

No Ordinary RNC

The Republican National Convention (RNC) kicked off Monday in Milwaukee

• On day one, the party formally adopted a new platform whose first plank reads: “Seal the border, and stop the migrant invasion”

• On Thursday evening, Trump will give his acceptance speech, which he has reportedly rewritten in the wake of Butler, PA, to be more “unifying”

• Other speakers include Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, and Amber Rose

Dig Deeper

• On Sunday, Trump told reporters in his first interview since the assassination attempt, “I’m not supposed to be here. I’m supposed to be dead”

• He later revealed that he scrapped his original speech – which took shots at Biden and his policies – and will instead deliver one that's more unifying

• He sees his speech as “a chance to bring the whole country, even the whole world, together,” per the Washington Examiner, a conservative outlet

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

🎯 In an interview with NBC, President Biden said, “It was a mistake to use the word [bullseye],” a reference to his statement last week that it's “time to put Trump in the bullseye”

🇺🇸 Biden also said in the NBC interview that Trump’s VP pick, JD Vance, is “a clone of Trump on the issues.” The Democratic Party, meanwhile, said Vance “embodies MAGA – with an out-of-touch extreme agenda”

⚖️ The judge presiding over rapper Young Thug’s RICO case in Georgia has been removed after Thug’s attorneys accused the judge of holding an improper meeting with a witness and prosecutors

⭐ President Biden ordered Secret Service protection for RFK Jr., whose father and uncle were assassinated in the 1960s. RFK had been calling for protection since launching his bid but repeatedly had his requests denied

🎮 EA Sports released College Football 25, its first college football game in 11 years. The video game series is a fan favorite but was shelved a decade ago after multiple legal battles

COMMUNITY

🧠 Yesterday’s question: Where were you when Trump got shot? What was your reaction?

🤔 Today’s Question: If you could only eat one sandwich for the rest of your life, what are you taking? (Yes, we’re lightening things up…)

Reply to this email to let us know what you think!

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

☕️ Tesla gets mugged: A Tesla factory in Germany is missing 65,000 coffee mugs. A plant manager revealed this figure to his staff, saying he’s tired of approving new coffee mug orders

⚽️ No Ragrets: A 29-year-old England soccer fan who had “Euro 2024 Winners” tattooed on his leg before the final said he would not cover it up and has no regrets

🚔 Not nice! UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones faces two misdemeanor charges following a March incident with a drug testing agent. Jones told the agent, “Do you know what happens to people who come to my house? They end up dead”

🏆 Twitch King: A Spanish Twitch streamer set a new Twitch record with 3.85M concurrent viewers for an event that featured a Will Smith performance and six boxing matches between content creators

🎈 Thanks, but no thanks: Three startups are planning to bring tourists to the stratosphere using pressurized capsules and large gas-filled balloons. The balloon rides will reach heights of 15 to 19 miles above Earth

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

With all this bleakness in the news cycle, let’s be positive for a minute: One, fall is not that far away now. Two, the Olympics start in ten days. And three, Nationwide is on your side.

Also, thanks for sharing your stories about where you were and what you thought when Trump was shot. We got quite a range of responses…

–Max and Max