4 Stories You Need to Know Today

Escape the grasp of the mainstream media—and support a company that upholds your values! By tuning into Convention of States’ breaking news coverage, you not only support our efforts to deliver more stories like this to you, but you can also rely on receiving news from a perspective that champions the principles of liberty and Article V.

The past two weeks have been absolutely wild in American politics—perhaps crazier than any other two-week period on the books. As election season heats up and the nation prepares for an electrifying ride, here are four breaking stories that demand your attention.

1. Black Lives Matter slams DNC for Kamala Harris appointment

After effectively circumventing the electoral process, Democrats face intense scrutiny over what voters are calling Kamala Harris’s illiberal “coronation.” Leading the charge, Black Lives Matter (BLM) offered a scathing rebuke of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) for not giving the people — black Americans, in particular— a say in the matter, calling for the party to “host an informal, virtual snap primary across the country prior to the DNC convention in August.”

“Democratic Party elites and billionaire donors are attempting to manipulate Black voters by anointing Kamala Harris and an unknown vice president as the new Democratic ticket without a primary vote by the public,” the radical social justice group condemned in a statement. “This blatant disregard for democratic principles is unacceptable. While the potential outcome of a Harris presidency may be historic, the process to achieve it must align with true democratic values. We have no idea where Kamala Harris stands on the issues, now that she has assumed Joe Biden’s place, and we have no idea of the record of her potential vice president because we don’t even know who it is yet.”

“We do not live in a dictatorship,” they continued. “Delegates are not oligarchs. Any attempt to evade or override the will of voters in our primary system—no matter how historic the candidate—must be condemned.”

“Installing Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee and an unknown vice president without any public voting process would make the modern Democratic Party a party of hypocrites.”

2. FBI director announces new details about Trump shooter

FBI Director Christopher Wray revealed to Congress on Wednesday that Thomas Crooks, the Pennsylvania gunman who shot and nearly killed former President Donald Trump, may have operated a drone to survey the venue before Trump took the stage.

“It appears that around 3:50 P.M., 4:00, on the day of the shooting, that the shooter was flying the drone around the area,” Wray informed the House Judiciary Committee. “We think but we do not know... that he was live-streaming, viewing the footage.”

Crooks, who flew the drone for an estimated 11 minutes, opened fire roughly two hours later.

Wray also described several “crude” explosives the FBI discovered in the would-be assassin’s home and vehicle.

Watch Wray’s testimony below.


3. Benjamin Netanyahu addresses Congress as protestors burn American flags

“We meet today at a crossroads of history,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. “Our world is in upheaval. In the Middle East, Iran’s axis of terror confronts America, Israel, and our Arab friends.”

“This is not a clash between civilizations,” he insisted. “It’s a clash between barbarism and civilization. It’s a clash between those who glorify death and those who sanctify life.”

Netanyahu, who faces growing backlash in the United States over Israel’s war to destroy Hamas, urged Americans to stand steadfast in their support of Israel, noting that, together, the two allies could overcome the “appalling” “scourge of anti-Semitism,” check the spread of radical Islam, and preserve Western Civilization.

“For nearly 4,000 years, the land of Israel has been the homeland of the Jewish people,” he said. “It’s always been our home. It will always be our home.”

Meanwhile, protestors outside of Congress burned American flags and vandalized monuments with messages such as “Hamas is coming.”

Throughout his speech, Netanyahu condemned such demonstrators, particularly those on college campuses, referring to them as “Iran’s useful idiots.”

Watch the prime minister’s entire speech below.


4. Hillary Clinton says Kamala Harris will experience “sexism” as nominee

Former Democratic presidential candidate, secretary of state, and first lady, Hillary Clinton, praised Kamala Harris after she replaced Joe Biden as her party’s presumptive nominee, warning her that she may encounter “prejudice” in the race. Clinton, who lost to Donald Trump in 2016, has often blamed her failed campaign on sexual discrimination.

“I know a thing or two about how hard it can be for strong women candidates to fight through the sexism and double standards of American politics,” she wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times. “I’ve been called a witch, a ‘nasty woman’ and much worse. I was even burned in effigy. As a candidate, I sometimes shied away from talking about making history. I wasn’t sure voters were ready for that. And I wasn’t running to break a barrier; I was running because I thought I was the most qualified to do the job. While it still pains me that I couldn’t break that highest, hardest glass ceiling, I’m proud that my two presidential campaigns made it seem normal to have a woman at the top of the ticket.”

Her article, an intersectional feast of grievances, continued to lecture Americans, complaining about misogyny.

“Ms. Harris’s record and character will be distorted and disparaged by a flood of disinformation and the kind of ugly prejudice we’re already hearing from MAGA mouthpieces…. Ms. Harris will face unique additional challenges as the first Black and South Asian woman to be at the top of a major party’s ticket…. Ms. Harris is chronically underestimated, as are so many women in politics, but she is well prepared for this moment.”

Whether voters agree with Ms. Clinton remains to be seen.