Let’s get the easy stuff out of the way. The Vice President slapped Bret Baier at Ohtani distance and I don’t think he’s playable anymore. Recall that Tim Walz landed his knockout blow late in his debate when J. Divan Vance refused to say whether he believed the former president* had lost the 2020 election. (Incidentally, he answered “no” on Wednesday.) The vice president did the same to Baier when he tried – with the help of a shorn videotape – to downplay the “enemy within” poison that the Republican candidacy harbors last month scooped. The vice president called him out on this sleight of hand with the tape and then sent him flying at a considerable launch angle.

“Bret, I’m sorry, and with all due respect, that clip was not what he said about the enemy within, what he repeated. When he talks about the American people, you haven’t exactly shown that,” she said. “He has repeated it many times, and you and I both know it. And you and I both know that he has talked about using the American military against the American people. He has talked about persecuting people who protest peacefully. He’s talked about locking people up because they don’t agree with him.

“This is a democracy! And in a democracy, the President of the United States of America should be willing to deal with criticism without saying he would lock people up for it. And that’s exactly what it’s about. That’s why you have someone like the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff saying what Mark Milley said, that Donald Trump is a threat to the United States of America.”

That seems like a long-winded way of saying, “Look, this was a farce and you’re an unmitigated idiot, so let me take away your last shred of professional dignity and go back to the hotel,” but that’s just me.

Now to the real core of the election campaign on Thursday. El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago hosted two meet-the-voters appearances, one as a “women’s event” and one on Univision to “reach out” to Hispanic voters. On both occasions, he provided further evidence that he is not worthy of clearing out the White House’s fluff traps.

The “women’s event” was hosted by Fox host Harris Faulkner and featured an audience of screaming MAGA scarves and Republican activists. Faulkner pointed out that the family of Amber Thurman, the woman who died because of the Supreme Court decision he is so proud of, had a press briefing with the vice president. And this is what the Republican presidential candidate responded: