The Point: Marco Rubio just dunked on himself. Bigly.

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July 29, 2021 | by Chris Cillizza and Lauren Dezenski

Marco Rubio just dunked on himself. Bigly.

In honor of tonight's NBA Draft, Marco Rubio performed a remarkable dunk on himself on Thursday.

The Florida Republican senator, who clearly has national ambitions, thought he had found an easy win when he came across a video of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arriving in the Philippines -- masked and wearing a face shield.

"Our @SecDef is vaccinated," Rubio tweeted along with the video. "But he arrives in the Philippines wearing a mask AND a face shield Embarrassing COVID theatre."

Boom. Roasted. Take that liberals and your virtue signaling!

Except that, well this -- from Politico defense editor Dave Brown:

"From the embassy: 'The Philippine government has mandated that everyone must wear full-coverage face shields together with face masks while in public places. Local governments continue to implement additional requirements to slow the virus' spread.'"

Oomph. Actually, OOMPH.

Brown just played Vince Carter to Rubio's Frédéric Weis. (If you know, you know.)

The problem here -- aside from Rubio being wrong -- is that he is desperately trying to throw red meat to the Republican base that he needs for both his 2022 reelection race and a possible 2024 presidential run.

And the way to do that -- since Trump has politicized mask-wearing (and mask not-wearing) -- is to blast a Biden Cabinet member for, uh, being careful in the face of a highly transmissible strain of a virus that has killed more than 610,000 Americans.

Which, even if Austin wasn't in keeping with the masking regulations from the Philippine government, would be a dumb argument.

But given that, Rubio's self-own is particularly painful.

The Point: Wearing a mask isn't a sign of weakness. It's a sign of concern and care for those among us who can't be vaccinated for medical reasons. Rubio, a sitting US senator, should know waaaaay better.

-- Chris

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Every American should take advantage of this miracle and get vaccinated. It's the only way we're going to defeat Covid."

-- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in a new PSA airing across 100 radio stations in Kentucky urging people to get vaccinated.

MEANWHILE, IN ARIZONA

A private company conducting a widely denounced review of ballots in Arizona's largest county says it has received more than $5.7 million in private funds to support its examination of the 2020 presidential results, reports CNN's Fredreka Schouten and Stephanie Becker.

The majority of the money has come from organizations tied to people aligned with former President Donald Trump and his false claims of a stolen election.

The review of 2.1 million ballots cast in Maricopa County has been widely disparaged. The private company, Cyber Ninjas, was not previously known for election auditing, and Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs' office has detailed a slew of security problems with the process. Jack Sellers, the Republican chairman of the Maricopa County's Board of Supervisors, has accused the state Senate of "running a grift disguised as an audit" and has called the contractors it hired incompetent.

THURSDAY'S MUST-SEE TWEETS

1. Democrats' top Senate recruit in Missouri says no

2. Truth!

3. Now we know how many House Members aren't vaccinated

4. RIP, Bob Dove

5. The story of Boris and the umbrella

6. It's getting dusty in here

7. "It's such a shame to squander that blessing."

CHRIS' GOOD READS

When big corporations began announcing back in January that they would't be donating to any of the 147 Republicans who voted to object to the electoral college results, the cynical part of me wondered how long they'd keep it up. According to The Bulwark, not very long is the answer.

I've always regarded MyPillow founder Mike Lindell as a curiosity -- the guy who just won't give up the idea that Donald Trump is going to be reinstated as president some time soon. The Atlantic's Anne Applebaum argues here that Lindell is far more dangerous than that.

This New Yorker piece about NRA head honcho Wayne LaPierre and his wife will make you really, really not like them.

Thank you, NPR, for answering the question that been bugging me for days: What is the deal with the masks the US Olympics team is wearing?

And with gymnastics dominating the news, it's worth reading this Smithsonian magazine piece on the history of the sport, which dates all the way back to ancient Greece!

MUSICAL INTERLUDE

The new album from Big Red Machine (Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Aaron Dessner of The National) isn't out until August 27. But they are putting out a few tracks in advance of the full release. The latest is "Phoenix," with guest appearances by Fleet Foxes and Anais Mitchell.

THE UNVAXXED'S ALTERNATE UNIVERSE

With the rise of the Delta variant, many vaccinated Americans tell pollsters they are still concerned about catching Covid-19-- so why is the population that's most vulnerable to the virus less worried about it?

In the latest episode of The Point, Chris examines the American "pandemic of the unvaccinated" as the country seeks to reach herd immunity in time.

If you haven't yet, subscribe to The Point on YouTube!

ONE BIG ADDED INCENTIVE 💸

$100

The Biden administration called on state and local governments to provide $100 payments for every newly vaccinated American, according to the Treasury Department. Biden later said he understands that many Americans who have already gotten vaccinated might find it unfair that people who belatedly get their shot will receive a $100 payment. But he added: "If incentives help us beat this virus, I believe we should use them."

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