Democrats were panicking. Donors were despondent. And some elected officials were privately questioning whether their leader should step aside.
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Less money spent on women’s Final Four teams than men
Being good hasn’t been adequate to get equitable sources for the ladies’s basketball groups taking part in within the Ultimate 4 this weekend.
Each public faculty with a group nonetheless competing on this 12 months’s NCAA girls’s event has traditionally spent much less cash on its feminine basketball gamers than it did on its male gamers who did not advance this far.
The identical is true of the colleges that performed within the Elite Eight in each the boys’s and ladies’s event this 12 months, as girls’s groups have gotten fewer sources than the boys’s groups at their house faculties.
A primary-of-its-kind evaluation by USA TODAY examined spending throughout three classes – tools, recruiting and journey – at 107 public faculties within the NCAA’s Division I Soccer Bowl Subdivision. The evaluation, executed in collaboration with the Knight Newhouse Information Undertaking at Syracuse College, used NCAA income and expense studies for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.
‘Learn extra: They’ve had 50 years to determine it out’ –Title IX disparities in main faculty sports activities haven’t gone away
Of the 16 groups that made it to this 12 months’s males’s and ladies’s Elite Eight, 10 hailed from public faculties whose spending information have been included within the evaluation.
Collectively, these 10 public faculties spent $14.2 million – or 67% – extra on their males’s groups than their girls’s groups over the 2 seasons.
“It is actually disappointing, and it is actually discouraging to assume that fifty years after Title IX, a federal regulation, that the regulation, primary, just isn’t being enforced,” mentioned Stanford girls’s coach Tara VanDerveer. Information was not accessible at her faculty as a result of it’s non-public.
“All of us have both sisters, daughters, nieces, girls which are struggling as a result of they are not getting the sources or they are not getting the assist that they deserve. I name it scorching canine for the ladies and steak for the boys. Will probably be a good time when you do not want Title IX. However sadly in our world, there’s discrimination nonetheless in opposition to folks, girls, and we have to hold battling.”
Title IX is the landmark regulation that bans intercourse discrimination in training. Handed in 1972, it opened extra alternatives for girls in lecturers and athletics.
At among the high faculties, the massive gaps stay.
Six of them spent $1 million extra on their males’s group than their girls’s. Certainly, all however South Carolina had spending gaps of greater than $750,000.
Kansas’s males’s group greater than doubled the spending of its girls’s group. So did N.C. State, the place the ladies are perennial contenders and have been a No. 1 seed on this 12 months’s event earlier than falling to UConn in double time beyond regulation in a de facto house recreation for the Huskies within the Elite Eight.
DAN WOLKEN:Combining the boys’s and ladies’s Ultimate 4 is an thought price making an attempt
“We’re nicely taken care of, that’s all I do know,” mentioned N.C. State girls’s coach Wes Moore. “I’ve no clue what the boys have or are getting. What I care about is that our girls are nicely taken care of, and handled first-class, and they’re.
“I’m undecided what different stuff may be lacking.”
These spending gaps have been in step with the broader evaluation of all 107 faculties, which discovered that for each greenback faculties spent on males’s basketball groups, they spent 63 cents on girls in journey, tools and recruiting.
The image can be worse save for one outlier – South Carolina.
The Gamecocks’ girls’s group, which gained the 2017 nationwide championship and is in its fourth Ultimate 4 beneath coach Daybreak Staley, was considered one of a handful of groups to return near parity with its males’s group.
“At South Carolina, our success has allowed us to in all probability hit the price range a little bit bit greater than most, and our directors are for giving our student-athletes an unbelievable expertise,” Staley mentioned. “Plenty of occasions I do not know what the price range is for the boys. I do know that we want sure issues. It will not be equal to the boys. It is equitable, however we do not actually really feel it that a lot at South Carolina.”
The remainder of the image amongst high groups was bleak. As a result of three non-public faculties made the Ultimate 4, USA TODAY expanded its look to the Elite Eight groups vying to make the event’s last weekend to get a broader understanding of therapy on the highest degree.
To make sure, faculties are obligated to adjust to Title IX and guarantee fairness whatever the competitiveness of groups, so federal tips dictate that they shouldn’t be shortchanging girls whether or not they miss the postseason or win a nationwide championship.
But when the most effective girls’s groups face these sorts of disparities, ones that may be purple flags for noncompliance with the 50-year-old regulation, it’s telling for the general therapy of ladies of their sport.
It’s a harsh actuality among the girls’s coaches say they will’t ignore – getting sources is less complicated the higher their information are.
“It is all around the nation. One, you have to win,” Staley mentioned, with a grimace. “Successful will assist some. … In the event you want your job, you need to discover methods to forge relationships with people who make these selections.
“And extra occasions than not, when you’re profitable, you realize your directors will discover a means.”
Journey made up the most important distinction between the Elite Eight faculties, with the ten spending 69% extra on their males’s group than their girls’s for a disparity of $10.6 million.
All however one faculty – South Carolina – spent extra on tools for the boys’s group. Whereas Houston doubled up on spending for its males’s group, none got here near Louisville.
In a two-season span, the Cardinals spent 13 occasions as a lot on tools for the boys – although some tools is shared. The $2,500 it spent in a single buy of socks for the boys’s group represents greater than 10% of the ladies’s group’s complete tools spending.
In recruiting, North Carolina and South Carolina have been the one faculties that spent extra on the ladies’s group. Total, faculties spent $2.5 million, or 69%, extra on their males’s groups.
The Texas girls, who fell to defending champion Stanford within the Elite Eight, noticed their faculty spend greater than triple the quantity on males’s recruiting.
Arkansas and Kansas, which made the Elite Eight within the males’s area, greater than doubled up the recruiting spending on their faculty’s girls’s applications.
“I’ve completely no thought what anyone else does,” mentioned Kansas males’s coach Invoice Self. “It is my understanding, based mostly on what I have been advised, that the ladies are doing all the pieces top quality and the identical issues that we do.”
UConn girls’s coach Geno Auriemma mentioned the college offers his program with no matter he asks.
But the Huskies’ males’s group spent extra in each class, led by $800,000 extra on journey and $285,000 extra on recruiting. Auriemma mentioned the boys journey with extra folks than he needs and take extra recruiting journeys than he wants.
However Auriemma is in a novel place. With 11 nationwide championships and two of the longest profitable streaks in NCAA Division I basketball, he has clout at UConn that different coaches don’t.
“Every faculty has to decide how they wish to spend the cash that they’ve, and you’ll mandate all of it you need,” Auriemma mentioned. “Till the folks at these universities resolve to speculate, we’re at all times going to have this challenge. Little by little, they will be compelled to do it.
“With the sum of money that soccer brings in and the sum of money that the conferences get and that they provide every faculty, it actually can be – you could not discover a reputable cause why they would not do it. So I am stunned that these faculties aren’t doing it, to be sincere with you.”
Contributing: Nancy Armour and Lindsay Schnell in Minneapolis, Scott Gleeson in New Orleans
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Analysis | In private, Democrats panic. For the Biden campaign, everything is fine.
Campaign officials touted their record fundraising on debate day. White House officials promised that Biden would bounce back at his upcoming North Carolina rally. And Jen O’Malley Dillon, the campaign chair, told nervous donors at the Ritz-Carlton in Atlanta on Friday that “nothing fundamentally changed in the race.”
By Tuesday, however, the business-as-usual calm the Biden team sought to impose had backfired, with some Democrats complaining of being gaslit.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.) became the first Democratic member of Congress to defect, calling for Biden to drop out of the race, and other Democrats publicly urged Biden to more seriously address his fitness for the job. Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) opened the door to a post-Biden election, saying on MSNBC that he would support Vice President Harris were Biden to step aside.
The public developments represented a striking contrast from the four days after Biden’s halting 2024 debate debut, when his inner circle and campaign team publicly emitted a steady stream of denialism and don’t-believe-your-lying-eyes happy talk, arguing that the 81-year-old president — noticeably slower and physically aged than four years ago — is still the best candidate to defeat Trump in November.
“Joe isn’t just the right person for the job,” first lady Jill Biden said at a fundraiser Saturday in East Hampton, N.Y. “He’s the only person for the job.”
Officials said his post-debate swing re-energized donors and voters, pointing to his $38 million fundraising haul in the days after and his packed rally in Raleigh. They also noted Biden’s top aides made a flurry of private calls to top elected Democrats and donors, to stave off defections and reiterate that Biden had no plans to exit the race.
“We’ve always said this was going to be a close race and a tough campaign, and we’re working incredibly hard to earn every single vote, and taking nothing for granted,” Lauren Hitt, a spokeswoman for the campaign, said in a statement.
But during the four-state swing after the debate — during which he inaugurated a visitor center at the Stonewall National Monument and attended three fundraisers — Biden’s traveling entourage operated with a breezy, nothing-to-see-here attitude, as if pantomiming a thriving campaign not in the midst of an existential crisis.
A top aide to the first lady danced as Diana Ross blared on the tarmac in Raleigh, , N.C. in the wee hours of Friday. Mike Donilon, a longtime confidant to the president and chief strategist of his campaign, eschewed a suit for casual summer wear: seersucker short-sleeve, button-down shirt and suede, horsebit loafers. And aides scoffed at reporters when they asked the president whether he planned to drop out.
Two of Biden’s granddaughters joined him for the final day of the swing, before they reunited with the rest of the Biden clan ahead of a scheduled family photo shoot with Annie Leibovitz at Camp David — a tableau that, as party leaders privately fretted about a second Trump term ushering in the end of American democracy, had echoes of Nero fiddling while Rome burned.
But as Democratic strategists, elected officials and liberal pundits publicly and privately called for — at the very least — a serious discussion about whether Biden should step aside, he and his campaign instead offered business-as-usual spin.
“It’s a familiar story: Following Thursday night’s debate, the Beltway class is counting Joe Biden out,” Dillon wrote in an email blasted out Saturday evening. “The data in the battleground states, though, tells a different story.”
But a sentence about polling later in Dillon’s memo belied her studied nonchalance, seeming to acknowledge that Biden might very well drop in the polls as voters continue to process Biden’s debate stage performance: “If we do see changes in polling in the coming weeks, it will not be the first time that overblown media narratives have driven temporary dips in the polls,” she wrote.
Shortly after Dillon’s memo, deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty also sent out an email full of “helpful” responses to help calm nervous Democrats.
“If you’re like me, you’re getting lots of texts or calls from folks about the state of the race after Thursday. Maybe it was your panicked aunt, your MAGA uncle, or some self-important Podcasters,” Flaherty wrote, before offering such suggested talking points as “the long-term impact of debates is overstated anyway” and “90 minutes does not negate 3-½ years of results.”
The Biden operation appears to think it has no choice but to proceed as if his meandering debate performance — his voice was frail, his thoughts were garbled, and he failed to meaningfully fact check Trump — was merely an aberration.
To even entertain the criticism ricocheting around their party would be to tacitly acknowledge what many Democratic voters have long feared and what some officials and strategists have long whispered: That Biden is too old to run for a second term, and that he should have kept his promise to serve as a “bridge” to the next generation and bowed out in time for a vigorous Democratic primary.
Now, however, Biden’s team finds itself taking what Democratic critics point to as hubris and selfishness and repackaging it as resilience.
Inside Biden’s inner circle, the latest round of criticism — particularly from editorial boards and pundits — is being dismissed as the standard underestimation of Biden’s ability. Aides have been quick to remind anxious allies and donors of when Democrats said Biden needed to drop out of the Democratic primary in 2020 after losing badly in Iowa and New Hampshire before going on to win the nomination and defeat Trump. And they have also noted that Biden, who has suffered great personal tragedy, has weathered much tougher times and will bounce back.
As evidence, they pointed to his boisterous rally in Raleigh the day after the debate — where an adoring crowd of more than 2,000 people cheered for him and Biden delivered a fierce defense of his ability to serve as president.
“I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to. But I know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth,” Biden said. “I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done.”
The Biden campaign is also trying to stay focused on their original theory of the case — that this election needs to be a referendum on the former president, not the sitting one.
During the debate itself, for instance, almost three-quarters of Biden’s social media posts mentioned Trump, while other left-wing political influencers posted more frequently about how old Biden appeared and critiqued his performance, according to a Washington Post analysis of social media posts, podcasts and other public statements.
In the days after the debate, the trend continued. More than half of Biden’s social media posts about the debate focused on Trump and his performance, while only a few addressed Biden’s own age.
The Biden strategy of happy talk, however, comes with risks, making the president and his team seem out of touch with reality.
Hilary Rosen, a longtime Democratic strategist, said she thinks the Biden operation “would have been better off sticking with honesty.”
“You can’t tell people they didn’t see what they saw,” Rosen said. ” To try to turn this around and try to make it be everybody else’s fault — it’s not only offensive, it just isn’t going to fly.”
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SCOTUS immunity ruling helps Trump, angers Democrats. Plus, July 4th travel tips
Today’s top stories
The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that former President Donald Trump has broad immunity from federal prosecution. In a 6-3 opinion along ideological lines, the justices said a former president is entitled to a presumption of immunity for his official acts but lacks immunity for unofficial acts. The court sent the case back to the judge in Trump’s election case to determine whether any of Trump’s actions were part of his official duties. President Biden said the ruling sets a “dangerous precedent” and “undermines the rule of law” in remarks from the White House.
- 🎧 The timing of the court’s decision means there’s “no chance” voters will have a verdict in Trump’s Jan. 6 case before the November election, NPR’s Domenico Montanaro tells Up First. Trust in the court has nosedived due to controversial decisions and ethics issues, according to an NPR poll. The next president could potentially nominate three new justices, as Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Sonya Sotomayor are all above 70. If Trump wins the presidency and is able to appoint younger, conservative justices, it could “set Democrats back another 20 years,” Domenico says.
Hurricane Beryl strengthened to a Category 5 storm yesterday after it made landfall on Grenada’s Carriacou Island in the Caribbean. It’s the earliest Atlantic hurricane to reach this strength on record due partly to record-high ocean temperatures.
- 🎧 The speed at which Beryl grew is something climate scientists have been expecting, NPR’s Michael Copley says. Though climate change is still an active area of research, Copley says it’s clear hotter temperatures are strengthening hurricanes. Coastal communities will see the biggest risk from storm surges, which are walls of water that get pushed on shore. Hurricanes can also hold a large amount of water vapor, causing torrential rains and floods that threaten inland communities, even if they’re not in the storm’s path.
- ➡️ Experts are expecting an extremely active Atlantic hurricane season. The best time to prepare is before a storm forms. Learn how to pack a go bag, an essential tool during natural disasters.
Longevity researchers have their eyes on a generic drug that they think could help extend people’s lives. The FDA first approved rapamycin in the 1990s for transplant patients to suppress the immune system and prevent transplant rejection. At lower doses, it helps decrease inflammation. Now, the FDA has approved rapamycin testing in patients with gum disease — a common condition that tends to accelerate with age. Jonathan An, the doctor leading this research, gum disease is the “canary in the coalmine” of age-related diseases, as it’s linked to a higher risk of heart disease and dementia.
Life advice
Nearly 71 million Americans are expected to travel for the Fourth of July this week, the AAA predicts. It could be the busiest Independence Day travel season on record — both in the air and on the roads. Here’s what to know and how to avoid slowdowns if you’re planning a trip this week:
- ✈️ It’s vital to get to the airport well before your departure time, says Gerardo Spero, the TSA’s federal security director at Philadelphia International Airport. Travel volumes are up at many airports, so allow extra time for parking,, checking your bags and security.
- 🚗 Drivers in metro areas can expect the worst traffic tomorrow. If you haven’t hit the road already, the best time to start is before 10:00 a.m.
- ☀️ High temperatures and thunderstorms may slow trains and planes. Traveling in the morning or evening can offset these risks.
- 🚫 If a flight is canceled, airlines must offer travelers a refund or book another flight. But the rules for flight delays are more complicated. Check your airline’s policy on the Transportation Department website.
Picture show
A pack of pelicans, a snowed-in village and a wrestling match: these are some finalists for the 2024 Siena Drone Photo Awards. Thanks to technological advancements, drone photography has evolved over the years. Drones can fly faster, secure better-quality images, and move more precisely, allowing photographers to capture stunning aerial shots. Emanuela Ascoli, one of the judges, says she’ll consider each photograph’s “emotional and aesthetic impact” and how well it captures “the perfect moment.”
3 things to know before you go
- Carlos Acutis, a teen tech whiz who died of leukemia at age 15, will be canonized as the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint. Acutis is fondly remembered as “God’s influencer” and the “patron saint of the internet” for his work cataloging Eucharistic miracles worldwide.
- Naomi Osaka won her first Wimbledon match in six years yesterday. In 2021, she took a short hiatus from tennis for mental health reasons. She’s been vocal about her struggles on the court
- Celebrity stingray Charlotte, who was declared pregnant without a male mate earlier this year, has died. The North Carolina aquarium where she lived previously announced she had a “rare reproductive disease.”
This newsletter was edited by Majd Al-Waheidi.
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