Yes, the Past 30 Days Have Been Insane. Here’s a Time Line to Prove It.

Elections often come with big surprises, but if July was competing for the most hectic news cycle during campaign season, so far it would take home the Olympic gold. 

It hasn’t even been 30 days since President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump stepped foot on the debate stage at CNN studios in Atlanta on June 27.

Immediately following the Biden-Trump debate, leftist pundits on CNN and MSNBC opined that Democrats may need a new candidate for the Nov. 5 presidential election. And thus began a political whirlwind. 

Here’s a time line:

July 2: Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas becomes the first congressional Democrat to call for Biden to step aside as the party’s standard-bearer in November. 

July 10: Actor George Clooney, a major Democrat Party donor and fundraiser, publishes an op-ed in The New York Times calling for Biden to drop out of the presidential race. 

July 11: Biden introduces Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to a NATO audience as “Putin,” the name of Russia’s president. He quickly catches himself.

Within hours, Biden holds a press conference in which he refers to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump.” 

July 12: By this date, over a dozen Democrat lawmakers have called on Biden not to run for reelection. 

July 13: Trump’s right ear is grazed when a gunman opens fire from a nearby roof as Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. One rallygoer is killed and two others are wounded.

July 15: As the Republican National Convention opens in Milwaukee, Trump announces that Sen. JD Vance of Ohio is his pick for vice president. 

July 17: Biden says he will consider dropping out of the race if he is diagnosed with a “medical condition.” Later that day, Biden tests positive again for COVID-19. That night, Vance delivers his first speech as Trump’s running mate at the RNC. 

July 18: Trump formally accepts his party nomination at the GOP convention and delivers a speech that begins with his recounting details of the attempt on his life. 

July 21: Biden announces he is withdrawing from the 2024 presidential race. 

July 22: Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, testifying before a House committee, faces tough questions from both Republicans and Democrats regarding multiple security failures that led to Trump nearly being killed by an assassin. 

July 23: Cheatle resigns from the Secret Service. An Associated Press survey finds that Harris has secured enough delegates to be the Democratic Party’s nominee for president. Harris holds her first campaign rally in Milwaukee. 

July 24: Biden addresses the nation for the first time since announcing the end of his campaign. 

On this week’s edition of the “Problematic Women” podcast, we discuss the implications of Biden’s leaving the race and Cheatle’s stepping down as head of the Secret Service.

Also on today’s show, we preview the 2024 Paris Olympics and, as always, crown our Problematic Woman of the Week.

Listen to the podcast below: