Trump calls bluff of critics in July 4th speech  —  (CNN)President Donald Trump was as good as his word Thursday: He saluted America.  —  In one of the least polarizing speeches of his presidency, Trump paid tribute to America's armed forces at a July Fourth appearance before the Lincoln Memorial …

CNN Exclusive: Joe Biden says he wasn't prepared for Kamala Harris to confront him the way she did  —  Des Moines, Iowa (CNN)Former Vice President Joe Biden said in an exclusive interview with CNN airing Friday that he wasn't prepared for California Sen. Kamala Harris to confront him on issues …

Donald Trump trips up on history in 4th of July speech, mentions airports during Revolutionary War  —  President Donald Trump celebrated America as “the most exceptional nation in the history of the world” in a Fourth of July commemoration before a soggy, cheering crowd of spectators.

Trump administration scrambles to save citizenship question on census  —  Spurred on by President Trump, government lawyers scrambled Thursday to find a legal path to add a controversial citizenship question to the 2020 Census, despite their conclusions in recent days that no such avenue exists.

Trump's Not-Crazy Speech Just Highlighted Norms He's Crushed  —  It was a speech that had all the excitement of an excerpt from one of Bill O'Reilly's YA history books.  —  It was a triumph of low expectations.  —  Donald Trump's “Salute to America” speech could have easily devolved into chants of …

More about that Fourth of July parade  —  Phillip Kennicott, a lefty critic for the Washington Post, begins his column about the Fourth of July parade this way: … Really?  What about those enraged feminists who marched up and down the Mall wearing pussy hats?  They didn't seem conciliatory to me.

When do struggling 2020 candidates have to bail to run for another office?  —  The 2020 Democratic presidential race is still wide open, but candidates who have yet to break through have to decide how long they want to ride it out.  In some cases, their ambitions for political Plan B will force …

The Deepening Crisis in Evangelical Christianity  —  Support for Trump comes at a high cost for Christian witness.  —  Last week, Ralph Reed, the Faith and Freedom Coalition's founder and chairman, told the group, “There has never been anyone who has defended us and who has fought for us, who we have loved more than Donald J. Trump.

Ordered Deported, Then Sent a $497,777 Fine From ICE  —  Edith Espinal spends her days praying, reading and, when feeling brave, taking short accompanied walks outside the Mennonite church in Columbus, Ohio, where she has been living for 21 months.  Church leaders have been protecting Ms. Espinal …

Anchorage Has Never Reached 90 Degrees.  That Could Change This Week.  —  In more than 100 years of Anchorage history, weather stations have never recorded a single 90-degree reading.  If current forecasts hold, it could happen multiple times in the coming days.

Former Rio de Janeiro governor tells judge he paid $2 million bribe to host 2016 Olympics  —  RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - The former governor of Rio de Janeiro state said in court testimony on Thursday that he paid $2 million (1.59 million pounds) to buy votes to ensure the sprawling Brazilian seaside city …

Trump's Cherry-Picked Polls Still Show More than Half The Country Doesn't Approve  —  The president has tweeted out 28 polls during his time in office.  The average approval rating of those show him at about 49% approval.  —  As he departed on a flight last week to Japan to attend the G20 summit …

Nike's pathetic Colin Kaepernick bungle turned Betsy Ross flag into racist symbol  —  Nike is doing it wrong.  —  I don't mean the shoemaking, though that thing with Zion Williamson was pretty bad, I have to say.  —  No, Nike is doing it wrong because it managed to do something that all the neo-Nazis …

How the Supreme Court will upend 2020  —  The Supreme Court is already poised to drop some big political bombshells right into the heat of the 2020 campaign.  And there are even more waiting in the wings.  —  Why it matters: The court will likely hand down rulings on some of the most contentious issues …