One thing to look out for today: President Biden gives an update on the state of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign at 1:15 p.m. Eastern.
1. HERE WE GO AGAIN: Former President Trump doesn't just believe in the false claim that he won the presidential election. He is now reportedly telling allies that he expects to return to office by August, a completely outlandish outcome that would be laughed out of any room ... if not for the fact that the same voices whose lies fed the deadly Capitol riot have been pushing this claim for months.
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The latest: "Trump has been telling a number of people he's in contact with that he expects he will get reinstated by August (no that isn't how it works but simply sharing the information)," The New York Times' Maggie Haberman tweeted.
Flynn appeared to call for a violent coup: "It should happen here," Flynn said in response to a question at a QAnon conference in Dallas on why a violent military-led coup like the one in Myanmar "can't happen" in the US. (Flynn now claims he's never encouraged a violent overthrow of the government. Here's the video.)
"I don't think anyone is questioning the legitimacy of the presidential election," House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters last month. It was clear then and remains clear now that is simply not true. Trump, the "titular head" of the GOP, continues to claim the election was stolen from him.
3. Politicians are abandoning a bogus fundraising gimmick: Out of more than 150 political committee solicitations Insider reviewed in late May, only a handful still used "match" gimmicks. Just a month before, at least three dozen of the same committees did. The promise to match donations came under scrutiny after the Justice Department called out a political scam artist's use of the ploy. There are still some holdouts, including fundraising messages tied to Trump and another to Michelle Obama.
5. Harris tasked with leading voting-rights efforts: Biden tasked Vice President Kamala Harris to lead efforts to pass federal voting rights legislation. Democrats' sweeping legislation, known as HR 1, has stalled in the Senate along with another proposal named after the late Rep. John Lewis that would restore parts of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Harris' portfolio of issues continues to expand.
Here's how a former Pence aide responded to the news:
8. Democrats easily hold House seat in New Mexico election: State Rep. Melanie Stansbury defeated a fellow state lawmaker in a special election to replace Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the AP reports. Stansbury's victory was never really in doubt as Biden carried the district by 23 points and Haaland by 16 points last November. Her victory means Democrats' slim majority remains unchanged.
9. Fauci was freaked out by his overnight fandom: "Our society is totally nuts," Dr. Anthony Fauci wrote in an email last year after being forwarded an article called "'Cuomo Crush' and 'Fauci Fever' - Sexualization of These Men Is a Real Thing on the Internet." Thousands of Fauci's emails were published by The Washington Post and BuzzFeed after records requests, providing insight into the disease expert's personal and professional actions during the pandemic.
10. Eating out might cost more than it used to: Small-restaurant owners nationwide have had to increase their prices because of labor shortages, higher wages, and rising costs of staple foods - including chicken wings and cooking oil. Some owners have had to pass these increased costs onto customers, bumping up the cost of eating out.
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