We cannot escape our own history, but we can improve it

This is the June 30, 2026, edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered straight to your inbox every Monday through Friday.

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“What a loser.”

— Former President Joe Biden on President Donald Trump’s vanity projects in Washington, D.C. 

GUEST ESSAY BY MIKE BARNICLE

ON AMERICA 250

I still sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at ballgames. I still tear up walking through certain cemeteries. I still enjoy seeing an American flag flapping in the wind on a clear, sunny day.

But I also know the words “all men are created equal” were written by a slave owner. And I know that as a country, we often fail to remember what Lincoln said: We cannot escape history. 

We cannot escape our own history, but we can improve it. 

And we can celebrate it without carrying it like a millstone around our neck — even after the political activities of recent years. 

PRIDE IN AMERICA FALLS TO A LOW

From Gallup: “American national pride has never been lower in Gallup’s trend dating back to 2001. Pride has been falling for two decades, but the pace has quickened in recent years, with the latest reading down eight points from last year alone, one of the largest single-year drops in the trend. This casts some uncertainty over how Americans will engage with the country’s 250th anniversary festivities.”

Source: Gallup poll conducted June 1-15, 2026, of 1,001 U.S. adults. Margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points.

ON THIS DATE

On June 30, 1994, the U.S. Figure Skating Association stripped Tonya Harding of her national title and banned her for life for her role in the attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan. 

U.S. figure skaters Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan avoid each other during a training session in Hamar, Norway, during the 1994 Winter Olympics. 

WHAT THEY SAID

Lisa Rubin on SCOTUS election decision

“In a surprise decision, the Supreme Court shored up the integrity of the election. Honoring the laws of 18 states and territories means that mail-in balloting will remain secure for November — unless or until the president is able to legislate otherwise.”