The Republican National Convention lineup is heavy on Trump and light on policy, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris see their favorability rise after last week’s convention, Trump touts another unproven Covid treatment, and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testifies before Congress. Then New York Times reporter Kevin Roose talks to Tommy about Trump’s embrace of the QAnon cult.

Show notes

Republican National Convention

• CNN: Trump expected to make appearance every night of RNC this week 
• AP: Trump’s vision of American greatness at center of convention
• Axios: Trump campaign releases list of Republican convention speakers
• Politico: An Apprentice producer and a TV-obsessed president: Inside the GOP’s convention scramble
• NYT: Republicans Rush to Finalize Convention (‘Apprentice’ Producers Are Helping)
• NYT: Republicans Gear Up to Renominate Trump
• NPR: Convention Gives Trump A Chance To Explain How He’ll Make America Great Again, Again
• AP: Trump’s vision of American greatness at center of convention
• NYT: After Another Week of Setbacks, Trump Looks to Change the Story Line
• WaPo: Trump looks to Republican convention for campaign reboot
• Politico: RNC chair says GOP to pay for convention, dodges Pompeo speech report
• WaPo: As Trump prepares for GOP convention, Democrats plot their own counterprogramming

DNC Polling

• FiveThirtyEight: Latest Polls
• ABC News: Biden enjoys post-convention bump in favorability: POLL 
• Axios: Axios-SurveyMonkey poll: The Biden-Harris bounce
• Morning Consult: Biden Gets No Immediate Convention Bounce, but Still Leads Trump
• CBS News: Republicans see U.S. as better off now than 4 years ago ahead of convention — Battleground Tracker poll
• CNN: Biden gains popularity in post-convention polling
• NYT: Is the ‘Convention Bounce’ a Thing of the Past?
• Politico: Why Joe Biden’s bounce might not be coming
• WaPo: Don’t be surprised if Biden doesn’t get a convention bounce in the polls. That’s not the point.
• Politico: Dem convention spurs bump in online donors
• FiveThirtyEight: Why Counting On A Convention Bounce This Year Is Risky
• WSJ: Trump Trails Biden, but Polls Show the President Has Some Strengths

Pandemic Messaging

• Navigator: Coronavirus Live Updates: Public Opinion on Coronavirus: Navigator Update
• Politico: FDA authorizes plasma treatment despite scientists’ objections
• WaPo: Trump to announce emergency authorization of convalescent plasma as covid-19 treatment
• The Hill: Meadows: Trump coronavirus therapeutic announcement intended to put the ‘heat’ on bureaucrats
• CNN: Trump, without evidence, accuses FDA of delaying coronavirus vaccine trials and pressures agency chief
• ABC News: Trump pushes for COVID-19 treatments, claims slowdown at FDA 
• Bloomberg: Trump Unveiling Virus ‘Breakthrough’ a Day After Hitting FDA
• Politico: Biden says he’d lock down country if spread of coronavirus warranted it 
• FiveThirtyEight: How Americans View The Coronavirus Crisis And Trump’s Response
• Navigator: Coronavirus Live Updates: Public Opinion on Coronavirus: Navigator Update 
• Pew Research: Most Americans Say State Governments Have Lifted COVID-19 Restrictions Too Quickly
• NPR: Despite Mask Wars, Americans Support Aggressive Measures To Stop COVID-19, Poll Finds

Post Office Update

• New Yorker: What Was Missing from the Postmaster General’s Senate Testimony
• NPR: Senator Who Launched USPS Investigation Unsatisfied By DeJoy’s Testimony
• NYT: DeJoy Tells Senators Election Mail Will Be Delivered ‘Fully and on Time’
• WaPo: Postal Service will prioritize ballots over other mail, postmaster general testifies
• CNN: 6 takeaways from the postmaster general’s Senate hearing
• The Atlantic: The Question at the Heart of the Postal Service Crisis
• NY Mag: Delaware Senator During Postal Service Hearing: ‘F*ck, F*ck, F*ck’
• Vox: Democrats push for $25 billion for the Postal Service. The White House says it will reject it.
• CNBC: USPS chief Louis Dejoy says there’s ‘no intention to’ bring back removed mail-sorting machines
• WaPo: Here’s why the Postal Service wanted to remove hundreds of mail-sorting machines
• USA Today: USPS head has no plans to replace sorting machines or reverse other Postal Service changes, Pelosi says
• Axios: Pelosi says postmaster general won’t commit to reversing USPS changes
• CBS News: Facing public scrutiny, postmaster general halts changes blamed for delays until after election
• USPS: Postmaster General Louis DeJoy Statement
• Roll Call: House passes Postal Service funding, service standards
• WSJ: House Passes Bill Bolstering U.S. Postal Service With $25 Billion 
• NYT: House Votes to Block Postal Changes and Allocate Funds for Mail
• Politico: House passes USPS rescue in bid to thwart Trump attacks on mail-in voting
• Roll Call: Scaled-back GOP aid package would write off $10 billion postal loan
• Politico: Inside the Democratic Party’s plan to prevent vote-by-mail disaster
• Politico: How Trump, Mnuchin and DeJoy edged the Postal Service into a crisis