🌊 The Mysterious Pennsylvania Shooter

A day that will live in in-foam-y…

Pour one out because today is the 40th anniversary of the US raising its drinking age from 18 to 21. You might wonder how it’s possible that you can die in war or start a family before you can take your first sip of Mike’s Hard. But then again all of this is just a warmup act for when you turn 25 and Hertz can finally hand you the keys to a Corolla.

–Max and Max

KEY STORY

The Shooter: Puzzle Grows

Little has been uncovered about Donald Trump’s would-be assassin

• Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, had worked in a nursing home. He graduated from a Pittsburgh-area community college this May. Crooks’ high school classmates recalled him being “shy” and frequently bullied. Crooks tried out for the school’s shooting team but was rejected for being a bad shot

• Little else has been uncovered: He has no social media footprint, no apparent social circle, and no publicly visible ideology. Authorities are combing his phone and computer for more details

Dig Deeper

• Crooks is known to have regularly gone to a shooting range outside Pittsburgh with his father, and his father had bought the rifle used in the shooting. Shooting and hunting are common activities in Western Pennsylvania. At the time of the shooting, Crooks was wearing a shirt from “Demolition Ranch,” a YouTube channel about firearms and demolition. On the day of the shooting, he told his father he was going to the shooting range

• Crooks appears to have been a registered Republican but also made a $15 donation to a progressive organization on the day of Biden’s inauguration. Nothing else about his political ideologies has been uncovered

• Authorities found explosives and a vest containing three 30-round magazines in Crooks’ car, parked near the rally, and an explosive device at his home. The findings suggest Crooks may have been planning a broader attack

KEY STORY

Menendez Convicted

A jury convicted Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ)

• Bob Menendez served as the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, making him one of the most powerful senators. Last year, he was charged for using his position to benefit Egypt and a group of Egyptian businessmen

• On Tues., a jury found him guilty of having accepted cash, gold, and a convertible in exchange for interfering with investigations, pushing for aid for Egypt, and sharing insider information. He remains an active senator, although his term ends in January, and he could resign or be removed by the Senate

Dig Deeper

• Menendez has admitted no wrongdoing and said he will appeal. Throughout the case, his lawyers claimed that the bribes were gifts from friends, not payments for political favors

• This wasn’t the first corruption case involving Menendez: In 2017, a different bribery case ended with a hung jury. That case involved Menendez allegedly taking favors from a wealthy eye doctor

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KEY STORY

India: iPhone Nation?

iPhone sales have soared in India

• Apple earned $8B in India between March 2023 and March 2024 – a 33% jump from the year prior

• The figures account for less than 10% of Apple’s China revenue and a tiny fraction of its global revenue, yet suggest that Apple’s vision is coming to fruition: Apple has long seen India – which is the world’s most populous country but where less than half the population has a smartphone – as its next frontier

• The growth comes at the same time that Apple expands its manufacturing away from China and into India, where Apple now makes 1 of every 7 iPhones

Dig Deeper

• For context, Apple’s $8B in India revenue compares to $73B earned in China and $383B globally over the same period. Yet India’s smartphone market – unlike China’s – is projected to double in size by 2032

KEY STORY

Musk All In On Trump

Elon Musk will donate $45M a month to a new pro-Trump super PAC, the WSJ reported

• Trump – who endorsed Obama in 2008 and 2012 and Clinton in 2016 – endorsed Trump minutes after the assassination attempt on Saturday

• On Monday, the WSJ reported that Musk plans to donate $45M a month to an org focused on registering voters and promoting mail-in and early voting among Republicans in swing states

• $45M a month would make for an astronomical sum: The largest known donation of this election cycle has been $50M by a banking heir to pro-Trump Super PAC

Dig Deeper

• Musk has become increasingly conservative since the pandemic. While he claims to have voted for Biden in 2020, he’s an ardent critic of wokeness – which he regularly calls a “mind virus” – and in May 2022 said he could “no longer support” the Democrats, which he called “the party of division & hate”

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

🇮🇷 The Secret Service learned weeks ago of an Iranian plot to assassinate Donald Trump, seeking revenge for Trump’s order to kill Iran’s General Qassem Soleimani. There is no evidence that the Iranian plot is linked to the assassination attempt that took place

🎸Jack Black canceled his rock band Tenacious D’s tour after his bandmate Kyle Gass joked on stage about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. During a concert on Sunday, the duo celebrated Gass’ birthday with a cake. Video footage shows Black telling Gass to “make a wish.” Gass responds, “Don’t miss Trump next time,” as he blows out the candles

🎤 Country singer Ingrid Andress, 32, announced she would check into rehab following a heavily criticized “The Star-Spangled Banner” performance at MLB’s Home Run Derby on Monday night. She struggled to hit many notes and sang off-key, prompting public criticism and viral jokes

📍Elon Musk says he’s moving SpaceX and X’s headquarters from California to Texas. He described a law signed on Monday by California Gov. Gavin Newsom – which bars school districts from requiring staff to notify parents of their child’s gender identification change – as the “final straw”

🕌Islamic State claimed responsibility for a shooting that killed at least six people and injured 28+ at a Shia mosque in the capital of Oman. Oman – a majority Muslim Gulf state – is among the world’s safest countries. The attack is the first by IS to take place there

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COMMUNITY

🧠Yesterday’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…)

🤔Today’s Question: If you could only listen to one artist for the rest of your life, who would it be? One “Nickelback” at a time please…

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

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

🍗 Rebel with a cause: Nebraska police cited a 19-year-old driver who claimed he was speeding to get chicken strips from Raising Cane’s. A deputy clocked him going nearly 120 MPH in a 65 MPH zone

⚽️ “Who do you know here?”Colombia’s soccer federation president and his son were among 27 people arrested during crowd control issues at the Copa América final between Argentina and Colombia in Miami

🛶Saving Captain Dave: The US Coast Guard rescued Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy after his boat lost power off Nantucket Island on Monday. He fired a flare gun as a distress signal and screamed for help

🖥 MrPlagiarized: Apple, Nvidia, and other tech companies have been accused of using YouTube videos from creators like MrBeast to train AI models without their knowledge

😮‍💨Breathing Bad: A suspected drug-smuggling tunnel found last week in Tijuana, Mexico, is so long that authorities haven’t been able to find the exit point without oxygen tanks

ROCA WRAP

Changing Tides

In a bar in Ambridge, Pennsylvania – a steel town 15 miles up the Ohio River from Pittsburgh – a man introduced himself to Roca not just with his name, but with his union affiliation: “Teamsters Local Union 341.”

The man had spent his life working various jobs around the region’s factories. Now, he said he – and many other Teamsters – would vote for Trump.

De-industrializing or de-industrialized towns dot the map in crucial swing states like Pennsylvania and Michigan. If Trump wins both those states, he’ll likely have 269 electoral votes – one shy of victory. He won them in 2016 (Pennsylvania by .7%; Michigan by .3%) and lost them in 2020 (Pennsylvania by 1.2%; Michigan by 2.8%).

These towns – which used to or still make steel, appliances, cars, ships, or other heavy products – were traditionally Democratic bastions. Home to many union members, they perceived the Republicans as pro-business and anti-labor and the Democrats as labor advocates.

That may now be changing: This week, the president of the Teamsters – one of the US’ largest and most historic unions – will speak at the Republican National Convention.

According to the Teamsters’ website, “The Teamsters are known as the champion of freight drivers and warehouse workers, but have organized workers in virtually every occupation imaginable.”

Just last year, that president, Sean O’Brien, made headlines for almost getting into a fight with Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R.-OK) on the Senate floor. A year prior, he campaigned with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I.-VT) at anti-“corporate greed” rallies.

But this year has been different: Since January, he’s visited Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, invited Trump to a Teamsters executive board meeting, donated $45,000 to the Republican (and Democratic) conventions, and posed for photos with Dana White, the UFC president, and a close Trump ally.

Not everyone in the Teamsters is happy about that.

“We will not allow the working-class labor movement to be destroyed by a scab masquerading as a pro-union advocate after doing everything in his power to destroy the very fabric of unions,” the head of the Teamsters National Black Caucus wrote after O’Brien announced a meeting with Trump earlier this year.

The Teamsters’ vice president at large, meanwhile, wrote, ​​“A speaking engagement at the Republican national convention by Teamster president Sean O’Brien, regardless of the message, only normalizes and makes the most anti-union party and president I’ve seen in my lifetime seem palatable.”

Biden and his supporters have repeatedly claimed that his administration has been the most pro-union of any in recent memory. They point to his bills funding infrastructure and chip factories, which contain heavy incentives for contractors to hire union workers, as well as a move by his administration to bail out failing union pension plans.

The Teamsters are yet to endorse either candidate, both of whom are courting their endorsement (O’Brien will speak at both parties’ conventions). Yet it’s clear that many union workers – including several who spoke to Roca – object to the Democrats’ social policies, support Trump’s statements on China and tariffs, and agree with his overall message that America used to be better and that the Democrats no longer represent the working class.

In the words of the Teamster in the Ambridge, PA, bar, “People are fed up with the bullshit”

Will that swing the election?

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

Seems you all wanted a break from the levity. We could barely read all of your answers to yesterday’s question about the sandwich you’d choose for the rest of your life. After our Pennsylvania trip, we’re thinking Primanti Bros…

We also appreciate all of your positive feedback about the last two newsletters. Our mission is to give you the facts and context you need to draw your own conclusions. That’s it; nothing more.

–Max and Max