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Daily Kos https://www.dailykos.com News Community Action Copyright - Kos Media, LLC Tue, 14 Apr 2026 11:37:21 +0000 Tue, 14 Apr 2026 11:37:21 +0000 rsshelp@dailykos.helpscoutapp.com rsshelp@dailykos.helpscoutapp.com What happens to California’s governor race without Eric Swalwell? https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/13/2377697/-What-happens-to-California-s-governor-race-without-Eric-Swalwell?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= Rep. Eric Swalwell's California gubernatorial campaign—<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/13/2377730/-Rep-Eric-Swalwell-of-California-says-he-will-resign-from-Congress-after-sexual-assault-allegations" target="_blank">and career in Congress</a>—appear to be over after the Democratic lawmaker<a href="https://x.com/ericswalwell/status/2043488502327972096" target="_blank"> suspended his campaign</a> and announced his resignation following a spate of <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/10/us/eric-swalwell-sexual-misconduct-allegations-invs" target="_blank">disturbing sexual assault allegations</a> from multiple women and <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/eric-swalwell-allegations-22198271.php" target="_blank">former aides</a>. Given that Swalwell had been the front-runner in the contest, his exit from the race upends what has so far been a messy affair, with more than a half-dozen Democrats vying for the chance to replace term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom. <figure class="image-captioned align-right"><img alt="California gubernatorial candidate Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., listens to a question from the audience during a town hall meeting in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1544131/large/AP26098146999528.jpg?1776093078" title="California gubernatorial candidate Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., listens to a question from the audience during a town hall meeting in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)"> <figcaption>Rep. Eric Swalwell’s run for governor is over.</figcaption> </figure> Until now, the big fear in Democratic circles was that <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/12/14/2357626/-A-Republican-governor-in-California-It-s-possible" target="_blank">the party could blow the race entirely</a>, as the crowded primary field risked locking Democrats out of the general election altogether. That's because California has a jungle primary, in which all candidates regardless of party ID run on the same ballot. And with the Democratic vote getting cut in so many different ways, two Republicans could have advanced to the general. But with Swalwell out, the odds of a Democratic lockout have dropped—especially given that President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/6/2376637/-Trump-s-Fox-News-fixation-could-cost-the-GOP-this-major-race" target="_blank">endorsed one of the two GOP candidates</a>, former Fox News host Steve Hilton, likely consolidating the Republican vote behind his chosen nominee. The biggest question that remains now is which Democratic candidate stands to benefit from Swalwell's exit. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/polls/california-governor-election-polls-2026.html" target="_blank">Polls</a> before Swalwell's scandal showed that billionaire philanthropist Tom Steyer and former Rep. Katie Porter were neck-in-neck to be the second-place Democrat in the race. <figure class="image-captioned align-right"><img alt="FILE - U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., smiles as she prepares to address supporters at an election night party, March 5, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1486252/large/AP25281771324449.jpg?1760022104" title="FILE - U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., smiles as she prepares to address supporters at an election night party, March 5, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)"> <figcaption>Former Rep. Katie Porter.</figcaption> </figure> Steyer, for his part, has the advantage of money. And given that California is the largest state in the country, as well as one of the most expensive to run a statewide campaign thanks to its vast size and expensive media markets, that is not a factor to discount.  Steyer has already <a href="https://x.com/rpyers/status/2042432834892411211?s=20" target="_blank">given $121 million</a> to his campaign, <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/california-governor-candidate-campaigning-according-120000687.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAF7iC7zef6E1txrroY7H7LgRnWn3Ko6MF6FljJLCOeSvC6xs2SSnR8YbjtyMCH5cmyWcus8a63glYakrQ4vaf8yC2quiytxKmf66l7i4ObGxOXZeWvO9QUUCIb2uuTcTnqbfLzrOn0eTuf1GqLE_7SYraxK3MibOZY19-KmyMZE0" target="_blank">$90 million</a> of which he spent on television advertising. That could absolutely boost him to victory in the June 2 primary. Porter is more of a known name in California politics, having represented an Orange County-based House seat for three terms, and running a statewide race for Senate in 2024—which she ultimately lost in the primary to now-Sen. Adam Schiff.  However, she has struggled to raise money this time around, taking in roughly $6 million in donations from July through December, <a href="https://theballotbook.com/blog/california-governor-2026-fundraising-breakdown-money-donors-and-geography" target="_blank">according</a> to the BallotBook. While that sounds like a lot, it's a pittance in California, where television ads cost a fortune in expensive media markets like Los Angeles and San Francisco. What’s more, Porter has her own baggage. Early on in her gubernatorial bid, she was exposed as a nasty boss who <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/08/katie-porter-tears-into-staffer-new-video-00598942" target="_blank" title="">berated employees in her congressional office</a>. She also <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/08/katie-porter-tv-interview-00597571" target="_blank" title="">showed her temper in an interview</a> with a local television reporter, threatening to end an on-camera interview over a dumb yet otherwise benign question.  <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-right"><img alt="Cartoon by Jack Ohman" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1541976/large/20260405edohc-a.jpg?1775491647" title="Cartoon by Jack Ohman"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> Something to watch is what the many congressional Democrats who had <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/04/11/eric-swalwell-endorsements-sexual-misconduct" target="_blank">endorsed Swalwell's campaign will do now</a>. Do they coalesce behind one of the Democratic candidates in the race, helping build momentum for that person? Do they splinter, watering down their impact? Or do they sit out altogether? Meanwhile, a <a href="https://x.com/DarwinBondGraha/status/2043431004338364478" target="_blank">poll</a> also circulated after the Swalwell scandal broke asking if voters would be open to former Vice President Kamala Harris running a write-in gubernatorial campaign. There’s no sign that Harris herself was behind the survey, nor that she would embark on a difficult write-in campaign. But it’s something people are talking about. Ultimately, a lot can happen in the seven weeks between now and the primary. But Steyer's money gives him an advantage that makes him a difficult candidate to beat.  rss@dailykos.com (Emily Singer) 2026election 2026midterms CA-Gov DonaldTrump EricSwalwell GavinNewsom KamalaHarris KatiePorter TomSteyer _2377697 Tue, 14 Apr 2026 00:01:02 +0000 JD Vance is cursed, and the pope won’t stand for Trump’s sh-t https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/13/2377716/-JD-Vance-is-cursed-and-the-pope-won-t-stand-for-Trump-s-sh-t?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= A daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know. <hr> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/13/2377630/-Everything-JD-Vance-touches-turns-to-sh-t?pm_source=ICYMI&pm_campaign=ICYMI04132026" title="" target="_blank">Everything JD Vance touches turns to sh-t</a> His anti-Midas touch has really ramped up this past week. <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/13/2377642/-Pope-Leo-swats-away-Trump-s-blasphemous-meltdown?pm_source=ICYMI&pm_campaign=ICYMI04132026" title="" target="_blank">Pope Leo swats away Trump's blasphemous meltdown</a> In the battle of Trump vs. pope, only Trump can lose. <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/13/2377293/-Hang-up-What-ever-happened-to-Trump-phones?pm_source=ICYMI&pm_campaign=ICYMI04132026" title="" target="_blank">Hang up: What ever happened to Trump phones?</a> D.T. phone no? <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/13/2377336/-Trump-s-size-envy-finds-new-tacky-outlet?pm_source=ICYMI&pm_campaign=ICYMI04132026" title="" target="_blank">Trump's size envy finds new, tacky outlet</a> Surprisingly, no mentions of Arnold Palmer’s impressive equipment. <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/13/2377151/-Mean-tweets?pm_source=ICYMI&pm_campaign=ICYMI04132026" title="" target="_blank">Mean tweets</a> Just take the phone away! <figure class="image-captioned width-xl"><img alt="" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1542985/large/20260410edshe-b.jpg?1775756236"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/13/2377652/-GOP-stoops-to-new-racist-low-to-defend-Trump-s-war?pm_source=ICYMI&pm_campaign=ICYMI04132026" title="" target="_blank">GOP stoops to new racist low to defend Trump’s war</a> One House Republican dusts off a vintage slur. <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/13/2377663/-How-Trump-s-sloppy-moves-could-cost-Republicans-the-Senate?pm_source=ICYMI&pm_campaign=ICYMI04132026" title="" target="_blank">How Trump’s sloppy moves could cost Republicans the Senate</a> Unironically—thank you, Donald Trump. <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/13/2377678/-GOP-lawmaker-wants-to-hang-predators-if-they-re-Democrats?pm_source=ICYMI&pm_campaign=ICYMI04132026" title="" target="_blank">GOP lawmaker wants to ‘hang’ predators—if they’re Democrats</a> Wonder what inspired that carveout …   <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/blogs/Comics?pm_source=ICYMI&pm_campaign=ICYMI04132026" target="_blank">Click here to see more cartoons.</a> rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos Staff) DonaldTrump JDVance Senate TheRecap _2377716 Mon, 13 Apr 2026 20:38:40 +0000 The Iran talks https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/13/2377672/-The-Iran-talks?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= Consider supporting my work so I can continue creating it: Substack: <a href="https://nickanderson.substack.com/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1ASCzmncqLcsb43rp30uhwTGbmxWWtSLNypA2-4QklrKitQlpXTfOgUsg_aem_3NSZZ4Wc5GSegoZ_-bnUnA" target="_blank">https://nickanderson.substack.com/</a> Patreon: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/c/editorialcartoons?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2NHXIIRUW3TBTPXvTXa7Kv4vpBmhmZO7jICFAiQ5TgKNsywALtwFRepo8_aem_5ye0OR3TGbicoKorigXyxw" target="_blank">https://www.patreon.com/c/editorialcartoons</a> Ko-Fi: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/c/editorialcartoons?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2LbcLmJOb6SvwZfUCz8R1LbsUqkbx7Urn_j5MmBZNlwU-heuB6bcdVCoA_aem_SUdm1_RV72Y-uTf7YYUipg" target="_blank">https://www.patreon.com/c/editorialcartoonsCartoon</a> <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/13/2377630/-Everything-JD-Vance-touches-turns-to-sh-t" target="_blank">Everything JD Vance touches turns to sh-t</a> <hr> rss@dailykos.com (Nick Anderson) Cartoon DonaldTrump Iran JDVance NickAnderson Oil War _2377672 Mon, 13 Apr 2026 23:59:03 +0000 Melania Trump emerges from the shadows—with nothing to offer https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/13/2377703/-Melania-Trump-emerges-from-the-shadows-with-nothing-to-offer?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= It’s tough to divine what’s going on in the mind of first lady Melania Trump.  While she doesn’t<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/10/2/2346604/-Melania-Trump-pushes-creepy-AI-video-to-remind-you-she-s-a-crypto-grifter" target="_blank"> miss an opportunity</a> to get in on the <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/1/16/2363787/-Eric-Trump-gets-to-build-a-big-dumb-ballroom-just-like-daddy" target="_blank">family grift</a>, Melania Trump also seems to have convinced herself that she is the new and vital voice of her husband’s political priorities—and that she deserves all the attention and money coming her way. She is dabbling in foreign policy, artificial intelligence, and foster care while promoting all her hagiographic media efforts.  So, as we<a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/5829033-melania-trump-foster-care-capitol-hill/" target="_blank"> breathlessly</a> await her appearance on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, where she is slated to talk about how she will improve foster care, let’s run down her recent attempts to remind us she exists and convince us she is important.  First, Melania might have wanted to check in with Donald before scheduling her little foster care jamboree, given his efforts to harm that system. In January, he <a href="https://firstfocus.org/update/the-trump-administrations-freeze-on-funding-for-child-care-and-other-services-punishes-americas-children/" target="_blank">tried</a> to freeze Social Services Block Grants to blue states he was accusing of fraud. Those grants support foster care funding and placement, so trying to block that doesn’t exactly indicate a great care for the foster care system.  But maybe Melania doesn’t want to talk to her hubby that much. How else do you explain her<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/10/2377314/-WTF-is-going-on-with-Melania" target="_blank"> bizarre</a>, unexpected presser last week about accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein? During that, she spoke out about the “individuals lying about me” who are “devoid of ethical standards, humility, and respect,” and how she was never close to Epstein or his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, and besides, how dare you! This seems to have been undertaken <a href="https://x.com/JaxAlemany/status/2042335011253162426?s=20" title="" target="_blank">without briefing her husband</a> about the contents of her speech—and it served only to vault Epstein stories back into the news.  Melania also clearly wants some recognition as a key mover and shaker who can hobnob with elected officials worldwide while promoting Trump’s initiatives. She was given a makework job to make her feel<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/24/2374530/-Oh-boy-Melania-has-another-pretend-job" target="_blank"> special</a>, leading the “Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition Summit.” This was somehow supposed to help youth worldwide, though it seemed to actually be just a way to get Big Tech in the room with foreign leaders to push their AI wares.  <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-right"><img alt="First lady Melania Trump arrives, accompanied by a robot, to attend the "Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition Summit," with other first spouses, at the White House, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1538241/large/AP26084659667964.jpg?1774479997" title="First lady Melania Trump arrives, accompanied by a robot, to attend the "Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition Summit," with other first spouses, at the White House, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)"> <figcaption>First lady Melania Trump arrives, accompanied by a robot, to attend the "Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition Summit," with other first spouses, at the White House, on March 25.</figcaption> </figure> But she couldn’t even keep it together to do her fake job, showing up for <a href="https://people.com/melania-trump-attends-day-1-of-global-summit-in-washington-for-7-minutes-11933090" target="_blank">a whopping 7 minutes</a> on the first day. On the second day, she made it about an hour but only in the<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/25/2374783/-White-House-graced-by-weird-android-devoid-of-human-emotion-and-a-robot" target="_blank"> company</a> of her robot friend. And then there are her media efforts, which she seems to believe were bestowed upon her because people are genuinely interested in her deep thoughts. This requires her to ignore that her<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/1/29/2366178/-It-s-hard-to-look-away-from-the-impending-Melania-movie-flop" target="_blank"> documentary</a> amounted to nothing but a $75 million bribe to Trump by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. Melania nonetheless rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange the day before the film’s premiere, <a href="https://abcnews.com/GMA/Culture/melania-trump-documentary-melania-premiere-kennedy-center-ahead/story?id=129667776" target="_blank">bragging</a> that it was a “window” into history: “For the first time in history, people will witness the 20 days leading up to the inauguration, through the eyes of an incoming first lady.” To be fair, Melania had to be the one to promote the movie because Amazon didn’t release<a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/01/29/nx-s1-5689040/big-budget-melania-trump-documentary-premieres-with-splashy-rollout" target="_blank"> advance</a> screeners and canceled public advance screenings, perhaps because advance sales sucked.  Then there was her<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/5/22/2323812/-Melania-Trump-thinks-you-ll-pay-to-hear-a-robot-read-her-lousy-book" target="_blank"> memoir</a>, for which she had an AI version of her voice read the audiobook. Though she declared this was “A NEW ERA IN PUBLISHING,” it more so represented the fact that she couldn’t even be bothered to read her own book out loud.  You can now get a<a href="https://www.melaniatrump.com/products/collectors-edition?variant=44321797931203" target="_blank"> “collector’s edition”</a> of the book for a mere $250, which she introduced with a <a href="https://x.com/MELANIATRUMP/status/1831663511639851414" target="_blank">sizzle reel</a> explaining how “as a private person,” she needed to “clarify the facts.” However, the trailer was mostly pictures of Melania in various outfits interspersed with a few scenes of her surrounded by children.  All of this is a long way from her pushing tacky<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/12/6/2290539/-Fox-News-morphs-into-QVC-when-Melania-Trump-has-products-to-sell" title="" target="_blank"> Christmas ornaments</a> on Fox News.  Even the GOP is probably hoping she keeps Wednesday’s Hill visit to the 7 minutes she allowed for “Fostering the Future.” No one can honestly believe she’ll say something of substance.  Or maybe she can just send <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/3/25/2374783/-White-House-graced-by-weird-android-devoid-of-human-emotion-and-a-robot" target="_blank">the robot</a> in her stead? It might stick around a little longer, and Lord knows it might have more to say. rss@dailykos.com (Lisa Needham) FosteringTheFuture JeffreyEpstein MelaniaTrump _2377703 Mon, 13 Apr 2026 23:30:18 +0000 GOP lawmaker announces 'retirement' after admitting to affair with staffer https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/13/2377732/-GOP-lawmaker-announces-retirement-after-admitting-to-affair-with-staffer?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas said Monday he will retire from Congress amid bipartisan calls to expel him. Gonzales had already said <a href="https://apnews.com/article/house-gonzales-affair-reelection-ethics-aide-leadership-5379bb257c2a3d041cb8dbb8ead307a6" target="_blank">he would not seek reelection</a> after admitting to an affair with a staff member who later died by suicide. His announcement came just hours after <a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-ethics-swalwell-california-governor-a1626c5f4dbcc16c85f4313a8d7e5464" target="_blank">Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell</a> of California said he would be resigning from Congress as he also confronted allegations of sexual misconduct. <figure class="image-captioned align-right"><img alt="Swalwell-2.jpg" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1307743/large/Swalwell-2.jpg?1717524163" title="Swalwell-2.jpg"> <figcaption>Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, who also announced his resignation from Congress amid sexual assault allegations.</figcaption> </figure> House Republican leaders had already called on the three-term Gonzales to not seek reelection, and the House Ethics Committee had initiated an investigation. Under House ethics rules, lawmakers may not engage in a sexual relationship with any employee of the House under their supervision. “There is a season for everything, and God has a plan for us all,” Gonzales said in a social media post. “When Congress returns tomorrow, I will file my retirement from office.” He said it has been a privilege “to serve the great people of Texas.” He gave no further details on his plans to step down. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/13/2377679/-Oops-This-Republican-just-realized-she-s-a-massive-hypocrite" target="_blank">Oops: This Republican just realized she’s a massive hypocrite</a> <hr> rss@dailykos.com (Associated Press) Congress Elections SexualAssault Texas TonyGonzales _2377732 Mon, 13 Apr 2026 23:01:08 +0000 Swalwell’s downfall: Inside the onetime rising star's political implosion https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/13/2377721/-Swalwell-s-downfall-Inside-the-onetime-rising-star-s-political-implosion?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= “I am suspending my campaign for Governor,” Rep. Eric Swalwell of California <a href="https://x.com/ericswalwell/status/2043488502327972096?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet" target="_blank">wrote on X Sunday.</a> “To my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past.” <figure class="image-captioned align-right"><img alt="California gubernatorial candidate Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., talks with reporters after holding a town hall meeting in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1544134/large/AP26098160405376.jpg?1776093080" title="California gubernatorial candidate Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., talks with reporters after holding a town hall meeting in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)"> <figcaption>California gubernatorial candidate Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., talks with reporters after holding a town hall meeting in Sacramento on April 7.</figcaption> </figure> That was followed by a Monday <a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-ethics-swalwell-california-governor-a1626c5f4dbcc16c85f4313a8d7e5464" target="_blank">announcement</a> that he was resigning from Congress altogether, a stunning turn of events as multiple sexual assault accusations felled his once-promising bid to lead the Golden State. But while the state of California’s gubernatorial race is <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5828908-swalwell-california-governors-race/" target="_blank">up in the air</a>, there’s still a bit of whiplash from how Swalwell’s political career went from what appeared to be an upward trajectory to a conceded pile of ash in a matter of days.  Here’s some help understanding how it all went down, for those of you who managed to stay remotely offline and need a recap.  This all started on Friday when—within hours of each other—both <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/eric-swalwell-allegations-22198271.php" target="_blank">the San Francisco Chronicle</a> and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/10/us/eric-swalwell-sexual-misconduct-allegations-invs" target="_blank">CNN</a> released exclusive stories detailing claims that Swalwell, a married father of three, had assaulted women.  Four women claimed that Swalwell sent sexually explicit images to them via Snapchat, a messaging service where images and messages are automatically deleted after a certain period of time.  Some of these relationships began through Swalwell reaching out via social media.  One former staffer alleged that Swalwell raped her in 2024 after a night of drinking. Recalling the night, she said was “heavily toxicated,” physically injured, and repeatedly told him to stop. The assault reportedly left her with bruises, cuts, and bleeding to her body.  In another instance while working for Swalwell, the woman claims she woke up from a night of drinking in 2019 naked in a hotel room with the congressman. According to the outlet, she has no memory of the night’s events, but could feel physically that something happened. On Saturday, a day after the news reports broke, prosecutors in New York City <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/04/11/swalwell-investigation-manhattan-district-attorney/" target="_blank">launched a criminal investigation</a>.  <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/13/2377730/-Rep-Eric-Swalwell-of-California-says-he-will-resign-from-Congress-after-sexual-assault-allegations" target="_blank" title="">Rep. Eric Swalwell says he will resign from Congress after sexual assault allegations</a> <hr> Similarly, the House Ethics Committee <a href="https://ethics.house.gov/press-releases/statement-of-the-chairman-and-ranking-member-of-the-committee-on-ethics-regarding-representative-eric-swalwell/" target="_blank" title="">announced Monday </a>that it had opened an investigation into the congressman “with respect to allegations that he may have engaged in sexual misconduct, including towards an employee working under his supervision.” <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-instagram-content="&lt;blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXGAa5aiLjC/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; 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Staffers dropped out en masse and top institutions and political groups pulled their endorsements. Lawmakers who were previous allies called for Swalwell to be investigated. House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who will <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/11/6/2352429/--We-have-made-history-Speaker-Emerita-Nancy-Pelosi-to-retire" target="_blank">make her exit</a> from her long-held seat this year, was one of them. <figure class="image-captioned align-left"><img alt="House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, smiles as she turns to Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., left, joined by Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., right, and Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., far right, after being selected by the Democratic Caucus to be speaker of the House when her party takes the majority in the new Congress in January, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1544253/large/AP18332734408374.jpg?1776119563" title="House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, smiles as she turns to Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., left, joined by Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., right, and Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., far right, after being selected by the Democratic Caucus to be speaker of the House when her party takes the majority in the new Congress in January, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)"> <figcaption>House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California and Rep. Eric Swalwell speak to Rep. John Lewis on Nov. 28, 2018.</figcaption> </figure> “This extremely sensitive matter must be appropriately investigated with full transparency and accountability,” she said in a statement <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/10/eric-swalwell-house-democrats-00867951" target="_blank">obtained by Politico</a>. “As I discussed with Congressman Swalwell, it is clear that is best done outside of a gubernatorial campaign.” But in a curveball moment, a day after the stories hit the newsstands and home pages, what appeared to be damning videos of Swalwell began circulating as well.  On Saturday, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/05/19/1100019063/pharma-bro-martin-shkreli-been-released-from-prison" target="_blank">former pharma bro Martin Shkreli</a>—yes, that Martin Shkreli—<a href="https://x.com/MartinShkreli/status/2043011574504235484" target="_blank">tweeted</a> what may or may not be a real video of the congressman kissing a young woman in a hotel room. Soon after, a<a href="https://x.com/MartinShkreli/status/2043129918309966075" target="_blank"> second video </a>was released from the same night. In a very 2026 dilemma, it’s unclear whether or not this video is genuine or if it was generated by artificial intelligence. Swalwell has not spoken to the legitimacy of the footage.  In the comments, Shkreli says that he “knows the photographer” in a bid to push back against AI claims, but it’s still unclear if the content is legitimate.  Regardless of the video’s origins, Swalwell is facing a mountain of accusations and damage control. And as California’s jungle primary <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/6/2376637/-Trump-s-Fox-News-fixation-could-cost-the-GOP-this-major-race" target="_blank">quickly approaches</a> with Swalwell’s name still on the ballot, the full repercussions of the East Bay lawmaker’s sordid actions remain to be seen. rss@dailykos.com (Alix Breeden) California Congress EricSwalwell NancyPelosi _2377721 Mon, 13 Apr 2026 22:30:20 +0000 Rep. Eric Swalwell says he will resign from Congress after sexual assault allegations https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/13/2377730/-Rep-Eric-Swalwell-of-California-says-he-will-resign-from-Congress-after-sexual-assault-allegations?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= <div> <div> <div> <div id="P_body"> Democratic Rep. <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/eric-swalwell" target="_blank">Eric Swalwell</a> of California announced Monday he will resign from Congress following multiple sexual assault allegations that prompted <a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-governor-eric-swalwell-assault-allegations-aa1d13afe441be38d1d16f648e06d503" target="_blank">loud bipartisan</a> calls for him to step down. The decision caps a swift political fall for the seven-term lawmaker, who had been seen as a frontrunner in California’s <a href="https://apnews.com/article/swalwell-democrats-california-governor-campaign-allegations-congress-8b60b0c226f93c691633231053d5ddf9" target="_blank">gubernatorial race</a> before dropping out as the allegations surfaced, claims he has continued to deny. <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content="&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p lang="zxx" dir="ltr"&gt;&lt;a href="https://t.co/JbKgSORgu4"&gt;pic.twitter.com/JbKgSORgu4&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/RepSwalwell/status/2043802702971359521?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 13, 2026&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; "><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://t.co/JbKgSORgu4">pic.twitter.com/JbKgSORgu4</a>— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepSwalwell/status/2043802702971359521?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 13, 2026</a></blockquote> </div> The San Francisco Chronicle, followed by CNN, first reported allegations that Swalwell had sexually assaulted a woman twice, including when she worked for him. CNN also reported that three other women alleged various kinds of sexual misconduct by Swalwell—including sending them unsolicited explicit messages or nude photos. “I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past,” Swalwell said on social media. “I will fight the serious false allegation made against me. However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make.” The House Ethics Committee had begun an investigation into whether Swalwell engaged in sexual misconduct toward an employee working under his supervision, the panel announced Monday. The announcement came one day after <a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-govenror-eric-swalwell-donald-trump-gavin-newsom-4967d90612894e5a58e438edfa5c37a2" target="_blank">Swalwell suspended his campaign for California governor</a>.s <figure class="image-captioned align-right"><img alt="California gubernatorial candidate Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., speaks at a town hall meeting in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1544133/large/AP26098147994096.jpg?1776093079" title="California gubernatorial candidate Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., speaks at a town hall meeting in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)"> <figcaption>Rep. Eric Swalwell speaks at a town hall on April 7 in Sacramento, Calif.</figcaption> </figure> Several Democrats had called on him to step aside. Swalwell wrote in a statement posted to social media that he was “aware of efforts to bring an immediate expulsion vote” and that it was “wrong” without due process. “But it's also wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties. Therefore, I plan to resign my seat in Congress,” Swalwell wrote. Swalwell’s planned departure will trigger a special election in his district, located outside San Francisco, which he won by over 30 percentage points in 2024. In California, the governor is responsible for calling a special election, which he must do “within 14 calendar days of the occurrence of the vacancy,” according to state election law. The Ethics Committee said the mere fact that it is investigating these allegations, and publicly disclosing its review, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred. </div> </div> </div> </div> rss@dailykos.com (Associated Press) CA-14 California Congress Democrats EricSwalwell _2377730 Mon, 13 Apr 2026 22:17:14 +0000 Not lovin' it: Trump's latest McDonald's stunt was a big miss https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/13/2377696/-Not-lovin-it-Trump-s-latest-McDonald-s-stunt-was-a-big-miss?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2026/04/13/trump-gets-mcdonalds-delivered-to-the-white-house-heres-why/89593991007/" target="_blank">staged</a> another bizarre press event outside of the White House on Monday to promote the GOP’s “<a href="https://www.epi.org/blog/no-tax-on-tips-will-harm-more-workers-than-it-helps-proposals-in-congress-and-now-20-states-could-encourage-harmful-employer-practices-and-lead-to-tip-requests-in-virtually-every-co/" target="_blank">no tax on tips</a>” budget, beginning with “DoorDash grandma” Sharon Simmons delivering him McDonald’s. <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-bluesky-content="&lt;blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:5o6k7jvowuyaquloafzn3cfw/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjfeki7p6s2e" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreiea4j7xvbh6z6m24mpaoaw64izhfohaq5hjnmlpmxyhffzcql4c3y"&gt;&lt;p lang="en"&gt;TRUMP: “I think you voted for me?” DOOR DASH GRANDMA: “Uhhh… maybe.”😬&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; &lt;a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:5o6k7jvowuyaquloafzn3cfw?ref_src=embed"&gt;The Tennessee Holler (@thetnholler.bsky.social)&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:5o6k7jvowuyaquloafzn3cfw/post/3mjfeki7p6s2e?ref_src=embed"&gt;2026-04-13T17:15:25.136Z&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;script async src="https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;"><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:5o6k7jvowuyaquloafzn3cfw/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjfeki7p6s2e" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreiea4j7xvbh6z6m24mpaoaw64izhfohaq5hjnmlpmxyhffzcql4c3y">TRUMP: “I think you voted for me?” DOOR DASH GRANDMA: “Uhhh… maybe.”😬— <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:5o6k7jvowuyaquloafzn3cfw?ref_src=embed" target="_blank">The Tennessee Holler (@thetnholler.bsky.social)</a> <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:5o6k7jvowuyaquloafzn3cfw/post/3mjfeki7p6s2e?ref_src=embed" target="_blank">2026-04-13T17:15:25.136Z</a></blockquote></div> Following his little stunt, Trump fielded questions about his <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/ericmgarcia.bsky.social/post/3mjdrvxft4k2s" target="_blank">decision to post</a>—and then <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/13/trump-ai-image-christ-like-figure-backlash" target="_blank">delete</a>—an AI-generated picture of himself as Jesus on Truth Social. “I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do with Red Cross,” he said. “Only the fake news could come up with that one.”  <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content"><a class="new_iframe_placeholder" href="#">x</a></div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=fS5HXMHScOY" data-frameborder="0" data-height="281" data-src="//www.youtube.com/embed/fS5HXMHScOY" data-width="500">YouTube Video</a></div> </div> Trump added, “It's supposed to be me as a doctor making people better, and I do make people better. I make people a lot better.”  Meanwhile, the GOP’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” which <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/4/2371434/-Medicaid-is-paying-for-more-dental-care-GOP-cuts-threaten-to-reverse-the-trend" target="_blank">slashes</a> hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicaid and <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/1/2/2361065/-Health-care-costs-skyrocket-courtesy-of-cruel-Republicans" target="_blank" title="">drives up</a> health care costs, suggests that the <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/12/2377285/-States-face-another-challenge-with-Medicaid-work-rules-Staffing-shortages" target="_blank" title="">opposite is true</a>. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/21/2278315/-Trump-stages-elaborate-McDonald-s-photo-op-to-push-absurd-Harris-lie" target="_blank">Trump stages elaborate McDonald’s photo op to push absurd lie about Harris</a> <hr> Trump was then asked about conservative Catholic <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/opinion/ncr-voices/word-extinguished-bishop-barrons-digital-silence" target="_blank" title="">Bishop Robert Barron</a>, who dared to <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-robert-barron-pope-leo-apology-11821606" target="_blank" title="">call on Trump</a> to apologize for <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/13/2377642/-Pope-Leo-swats-away-Trump-s-blasphemous-meltdown" target="_blank" title="">attacking Pope Leo XIV</a> on social media. “Pope Leo said things that are wrong,” Trump said. “I'm just responding to Pope Leo, and you know his brother is a big MAGA person, and he's a great guy—Louis. And I said, ‘I like Louis better than I like the Pope.’” <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content"><a class="new_iframe_placeholder" href="#">x</a></div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=FHaIy16lcm4" data-frameborder="0" data-height="281" data-src="//www.youtube.com/embed/FHaIy16lcm4" data-width="500">YouTube Video</a></div> </div> “There's nothing to apologize for—he's wrong,” he added. A lightly humorous moment came when Trump tried to pull Simmons into <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/9/8/2342391/-Trump-can-t-stop-obsessing-over-trans-athletes" target="_blank">bashing transgender athletes</a>. “They want to have men playing in women's sports,” he said. “Do you think that men should play in women's sports?”  “I really don't have an opinion on that,” she responded. “You don't?” Trump responded. “I'll bet you do.”  “No,” Simmons answered more firmly. “I'm here about ‘no tax on tips.’”  <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content"><a class="new_iframe_placeholder" href="#">x</a></div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=WI21Cr9HOpY" data-frameborder="0" data-height="281" data-src="//www.youtube.com/embed/WI21Cr9HOpY" data-width="500">YouTube Video</a></div> </div> It turns out that a grandmother delivering fast food to brag about a few thousand dollars in savings—which was likely wiped out by <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/6/5/2326154/-Yet-another-out-of-touch-Republican-spins-losing-Medicaid-as-a-good-thing" target="_blank">health care costs</a>—and refusing to play along with Trump’s dumb culture war made for one of the White House’s most honest events in recent memory. rss@dailykos.com (Walter Einenkel) DonaldTrump Economy HealthCare LGBTQ PopeLeo Taxes Transgender _2377696 Mon, 13 Apr 2026 22:00:06 +0000 Trump’s lame defamation lawsuit gets laughed out of court https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/13/2377704/-Trump-s-lame-defamation-lawsuit-gets-laughed-out-of-court?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal, filed after the conservative publication reported on his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein,<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/13/media/trump-wsj-lawsuit-epstein-dismissed-judge" title="" target="_blank"> was thrown out</a> of federal court Monday. U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles ruled that Trump failed to meet the legal standard for the allegation that the paper had acted with “actual malice”—knowingly publishing false information with reckless disregard for the truth—when it released the original story. <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-right"><img alt="Video from Nov. 1992, showing Donald Trump socializing with Jeffrey Epstein at Mar-A-Lago." class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/856693/large/ScreenShot2020-09-15at11.33.58AM.png?1600194898" title="Video from Nov. 1992, showing Donald Trump socializing with Jeffrey Epstein at Mar-A-Lago."> <figcaption>President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein are seen socializing at Mar-a-Lago in November 1992.</figcaption> </figure> Gayles slammed Trump and his lawyers for relying on “formulaic” malice claims and said that the suit came “nowhere close” to meeting the high standards required for a public figure to claim defamation. He also noted that the Journal sought comment from Trump and spoke to Justice Department and FBI officials for the story. Trump’s lawyers have said that they will refile the case. Trump<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/7/18/2334116/-Trump-sues-Wall-Street-Journal-and-media-mogul-Rupert-Murdoch-over-reporting-on-Epstein-ties" target="_blank"> sued the Journal</a> last July after it reported on a letter that he sent to Epstein, which included<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/9/8/2342467/-Trump-s-birthday-card-to-Epstein-is-real-and-it-will-give-you-the-ick" target="_blank"> a lewd drawing</a> of a woman’s body and referenced a “wonderful secret” that they shared. Trump has<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/11/18/2354401/-Epstein-isn-t-the-only-sex-trafficker-with-alleged-ties-to-Trump" target="_blank"> admitted</a> to committing sexual assault and<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/9/8/2342389/-Court-upholds-E-Jean-Carroll-s-83M-defamation-win-against-Trump" target="_blank"> was found liable</a> for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll. The Journal’s report emerged as the Trump administration was furiously fighting bipartisan<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/12/23/2358198/-27-times-Trump-and-the-GOP-covered-up-the-Epstein-files" target="_blank"> efforts to disclose</a> the Epstein files. While campaigning, Trump promised that he would release the files, but he and former Attorney General Pam Bondi tried to keep them hidden. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/2/11/2368299/-Trump-dines-with-Rupert-Murdoch-as-Fox-News-rejects-anti-ICE-ad" target="_blank">Trump dines with Rupert Murdoch as Fox News rejects anti-ICE ad</a> <hr> Despite his efforts to bury the story, details have continued to emerge. Most recently, first lady Melania Trump<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/10/2377314/-WTF-is-going-on-with-Melania" target="_blank"> gave a bizarre statement</a> Friday where she, unprompted, denied having any connections to Epstein. Trump’s suit against the Journal doesn’t appear to have impacted<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/2/11/2368299/-Trump-dines-with-Rupert-Murdoch-as-Fox-News-rejects-anti-ICE-ad" target="_blank"> his relationship</a> with its owner, billionaire Rupert Murdoch. The two have dined with each other on multiple occasions, and Trump remains the beneficiary of laudatory coverage from Fox News, which is also owned by Murdoch. Trump’s attempts to intimidate the Journal are part of his <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/13/2372904/-A-new-low-Trump-team-says-First-Amendment-doesn-t-apply-to-journalism" target="_blank">fight against</a> the First Amendment. But despite the many lawsuits,<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/5/2371826/-How-CBS-owner-is-trying-to-gaslight-America" title="" target="_blank"> media consolidation</a> to give GOP donors more power, and frequent thug tactics against reporters, Trump continues to lose this battle. rss@dailykos.com (Oliver Willis) DonaldTrump FirstAmendment Journalism Media RupertMurdoch WallStreetJournal _2377704 Mon, 13 Apr 2026 21:00:02 +0000 Oops: This Republican just realized she’s a massive hypocrite https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/13/2377679/-Oops-This-Republican-just-realized-she-s-a-massive-hypocrite?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida has always been a jack-of-all-trades type when it comes to calling for the harsh discipline of Democrats and any of President Donald Trump’s other foes.  So it wasn’t surprising that Luna <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5828460-swalwell-expulsion-wrongdoing-house/amp/" target="_blank">declared</a> on Saturday that she’s filing a motion to expel Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California over multiple allegations of sexual assault.  Luna isn’t wrong to call for the expulsion of Swalwell, who has <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5828460-swalwell-expulsion-wrongdoing-house/amp/" title="" target="_blank">withdrawn</a> from the California gubernatorial race. But her alacrity in doing so really highlights the difference between Luna’s willingness to gun for Democrats while moving with tender care and deliberation to protect people like GOP Rep. <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/2/24/2370196/-House-speaker-protects-skeevy-GOP-lawmaker-to-save-his-majority" title="" target="_blank">Tony Gonzales</a> of Texas.  <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-right"><img alt="WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 28: Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., walks up the House steps for a vote in the Capitol on Thursday, September 28, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1442686/large/AP23271753130523.jpg?1749591612" title="WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 28: Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., walks up the House steps for a vote in the Capitol on Thursday, September 28, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)"> <figcaption>Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, who was accused of sexually assaulting multiple women.</figcaption> </figure> It’s becoming clear that Luna is realizing how bad this looks, so now she’s trying to thread the needle. “I will be inquiring in the morning with the house parliamentarian to see if I can pair my motion to expel Eric Swalwell with Rep Tony Gonzalez [sic],” she <a href="https://x.com/RepLuna/status/2043354820447191055?s=20" target="_blank">wrote on X</a> Sunday. “Both NEED to go.” Luna’s insistence that Gonzales must be expelled—rather than face a lesser punishment—is brand new, and it’s pretty clear that she realized her former stance on Gonzales was going to run headlong not just into her toughness on Democrats like Swalwell. When <a href="https://x.com/juliegraceb/status/2025887797949637095" title="" target="_blank">news broke</a> that Gonzales sexually harassed an aide who later died by suicide, Luna<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/2/24/2370196/-House-speaker-protects-skeevy-GOP-lawmaker-to-save-his-majority" title="" target="_blank"> waited 10 days</a> to muster up a weak resolution to<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-resolution/1102/text" target="_blank"> remove</a> Gonzalez from his committee assignments.  After even more came to light, Luna did say that she <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5820339-tony-gonzales-explicit-texts-staffer/" title="" target="_blank">would support</a> a resolution to expel him—but she paired it with Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida, who was found to have violated House Ethics Committee rules. “NO means NO. I’d vote to expel both him and Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick. Both need to go,” Luna said at the time. Then when the Swalwell allegations came out shortly thereafter, Luna <a href="https://www.aol.com/articles/rep-anna-paulina-luna-moving-225722994.html" target="_blank">sprinted</a> to Fox News, whining that it was “completely inappropriate” that Democrats had not yet demanded Swalwell’s removal—despite the fact that multiple Democrats swiftly called for him to step down.  <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-left"><img alt="Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, speaks during a news conference about school safety enhancements at North East Independent School District in front of the new Wilshire Safety Training Center Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (Blaine Young/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1532746/large/AP26061746904379.jpg?1772740198" title="Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, speaks during a news conference about school safety enhancements at North East Independent School District in front of the new Wilshire Safety Training Center Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (Blaine Young/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)"> <figcaption>GOP Rep. Tony Gonzalez of Texas, who demanded nude photos from a former aide who later died by suicide.</figcaption> </figure> Former Rep. Katie Porter<a href="https://www.wglt.org/2026-04-12/fighting-assault-allegations-eric-swalwell-suspends-his-bid-for-california-governor" title="" target="_blank"> urged</a> Swalwell to resign on Friday, and Rep. Jared Huffman did the same on Saturday. By Sunday—48 hours after the news broke—Reps. Ro Khanna, Sam Liccardo, Teresa Leger Fernández, and Pramila Jayapal also <a href="https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/politics/2026/04/12/fellow-democrats-urge-swalwell-to-quit-california-governors-race-and-resign-from-congress/" target="_blank">called for him to resign</a>. It appears that Luna realized just how bad this made her look, but she still can’t bring herself to simply call for Gonzales’ expulsion with the vim and vigor she has for Swalwell. That’s why she’s falling back on pretending that only the parliamentarian can green-light Gonzales’ expulsion. Luna has always banged the drum to punish Democrats and any of Trump’s perceived enemies. She<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/republican-led-house-poised-to-censure-schiff-over-trump-russia-investigations" target="_blank"> called</a> for Sen. Adam Schiff of California to be censured for investigating Trump, <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4724813-gop-rep-says-house-sergeant-at-arms-should-take-garland-into-custody/mlite/" title="" target="_blank">demanded</a> Merrick Garland be arrested for not answering a subpoena the way the GOP wanted, and <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-21/gop-s-luna-refers-powell-perjury-claim-to-justice-department" title="" target="_blank">referred a perjury charge</a> to the Justice Department for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.  Swalwell’s actions are indefensible, but Luna is being an opportunist here—not someone who is genuinely outraged by powerful men abusing women. rss@dailykos.com (Lisa Needham) AnnaPaulinaLuna Congress DonaldTrump EricSwalwell SexualAssault TonyGonzales _2377679 Mon, 13 Apr 2026 20:00:21 +0000 All's fake in elections and war https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/13/2377156/-All-s-fake-in-elections-and-war?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= A cartoon by Clay Bennett. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/8/2376971/-Trump-declares-victory-after-making-Iran-more-powerful-than-ever" target="_blank">Trump declares victory after making Iran more powerful than ever</a> <hr> rss@dailykos.com (Clay Bennett) Cartoon ClayBennett DonaldTrump Elections Iran War _2377156 Mon, 13 Apr 2026 19:59:03 +0000 How Trump’s sloppy moves could cost Republicans the Senate https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/13/2377663/-How-Trump-s-sloppy-moves-could-cost-Republicans-the-Senate?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= When the 2026 midterm cycle began, even Democratic operatives would have laughed in your face if you said that control of the Senate was up for grabs. But now, less than seven months from Election Day, Democrats' odds of wresting control from Republicans have grown as President Donald Trump's sagging popularity—spurred by Americans’ anger <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/9/2377112/-Anxious-Republicans-worry-Trump-s-Iran-mess-has-already-cost-them-the-midterms" title="" target="_blank">over his war</a> and its <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/10/2377234/-Inflation-surges-as-Iran-war-spirals" title="" target="_blank">negative impacts on the economy</a>—imperils the GOP. <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-right"><img alt="FILE - North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper speaks at a campaign event in Charlotte, N.C., Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond, File)" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1464439/large/AP25200645780001.jpg?1754421327" title="FILE - North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper speaks at a campaign event in Charlotte, N.C., Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond, File)"> <figcaption>Roy Cooper, former governor of North Carolina and Democratic Senate candidate, seems poised to defeat GOP candidate Michael Whatley.</figcaption> </figure> On Monday, the Cook Political Report <a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/analysis/senate/senate-overview/democratic-odds-taking-senate-increase-four-ratings-shift-their" target="_blank">moved</a> four Senate race ratings toward Democrats, saying that the midterm cycle is proving to be tough for the GOP. "With an increasingly sour national environment for Republicans, the Senate battlefield is shifting. We are shifting four ratings, all in Democrats’ favor," Cook editor Jessica Taylor wrote. The most eye-popping change was in North Carolina's <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/6/30/2330927/-Trump-s-tax-bill-forces-key-GOP-senator-to-bail-on-reelection" target="_blank">open-seat race</a>, which Cook now predicts will flip in favor of Democrats—making it the only seat that’s projected to switch hands at this stage. Democratic nominee and former Gov. Roy Cooper <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/polls/north-carolina-us-senate-election-polls-2026.html" target="_blank">seems poised</a> to defeat GOP candidate Michael Whatley in a state that Trump won by <a href="https://www.politico.com/2024-election/results/north-carolina/" target="_blank">more than 3 points</a> in 2024.   But other changes are also shocking, as even the notion that Republicans could lose some of these seats was unfathomable when Trump first returned to office. Cook now says that the Senate contest in Ohio is a toss-up, even though Trump won the state <a href="https://www.politico.com/2024-election/results/ohio/" title="" target="_blank">by nearly 12 points</a> in 2024.  Indeed, a super PAC with ties to Senate Majority Leader John Thune is set to <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/6/2376630/-This-is-how-we-know-Republicans-are-terrified-they-ll-lose-the-Senate" target="_blank">spend the most money</a> of any Senate race on Ohio—a major sign that even Republicans know that Trump's tariffs and Iran war have hit states hard. Meanwhile, Cook shifted the Senate race in Georgia to lean Democrat, as Sen. Jon Ossoff seems to be in a strong position to defend his seat.  <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-left"><img alt="FILE - Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., speaks during a Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/John McDonnell, File)" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1502506/large/AP25080733483682.jpg?1764178118" title="FILE - Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., speaks during a Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/John McDonnell, File)"> <figcaption>Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia is projected to be the more likely candidate to win in his race.</figcaption> </figure> To think that a state like Ohio would be more competitive than Georgia—which Trump carried <a href="https://www.politico.com/2024-election/results/georgia/" title="" target="_blank">by only 2 points</a> in 2024—is a truly shocking development. The last race that shifted was in Nebraska, where Cook moved it from a safe GOP seat to just likely Republican, as Sen. Pete Ricketts faces a serious challenge from independent Dan Osborn.  In fact, we know that Republicans are worried about this seat because they initially <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/30/2375519/-Another-state-another-Senate-election-Republicans-try-to-rig" title="" target="_blank">played dirty</a>, trying to sneak a spoiler candidate into the race to boost Ricketts' chances. But now that their shameful actions failed, Ricketts' path to victory is more perilous. With the new ratings changes, Cook says that Democrats are poised to gain between one to three Senate seats. That wouldn't be enough for a majority, but—given that Trump continues to <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376650/-Donald-Trump-has-completely-lost-his-political-mind" target="_blank">show no signs</a> of being able to fix the economy that <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/6/2371932/-Yes-Trump-s-economy-really-is-as-bad-as-it-seems?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_1&pm_medium=web" title="" target="_blank">he broke</a>—there’s still plenty of time for things to get even bleaker for the GOP.  Thanks to Trump’s idiocy, control of the Senate is now very much up for grabs.  rss@dailykos.com (Emily Singer) Congress DonaldTrump Elections Iran Midterms Senate Tariffs _2377663 Mon, 13 Apr 2026 19:00:14 +0000 GOP lawmaker wants to ‘hang’ predators—if they’re Democrats https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/13/2377678/-GOP-lawmaker-wants-to-hang-predators-if-they-re-Democrats?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= GOP Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee gave an unhinged interview on “The Benny Johnson Show” right-wing podcast Monday.  When asked about the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/swalwell-democrats-california-governor-campaign-allegations-congress-8b60b0c226f93c691633231053d5ddf9" target="_blank">sexual misconduct allegations</a> against Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, Ogles jumped to endorse capital punishment against <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/1/7/2361839/-Dominant-predator-Republican-makes-wild-case-for-Greenland-takeover" target="_blank">predators</a>. “Look, consenting adults is one thing, but when you're targeting, and you're a predator, and you're raping young women—let's hang them,” Ogles said. “Rapists should be hung, period. No questions.”  <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-bluesky-content="&lt;blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjfaxtxbgk2k" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreiddvs4l7z5mlxgkgfbfhoecada3dxz5wdk43djhgnfnzks75tirmi"&gt;&lt;p lang="en"&gt;Rep. Andy Ogles on Eric Swalwell: &amp;#34;Let&amp;#39;s hang him. Rapists should be hung, period.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; &lt;a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc?ref_src=embed"&gt;Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/post/3mjfaxtxbgk2k?ref_src=embed"&gt;2026-04-13T16:11:18.683Z&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;script async src="https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;"><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjfaxtxbgk2k" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreiddvs4l7z5mlxgkgfbfhoecada3dxz5wdk43djhgnfnzks75tirmi">Rep. Andy Ogles on Eric Swalwell: "Let's hang him. Rapists should be hung, period."— <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc?ref_src=embed" target="_blank">Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)</a> <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/post/3mjfaxtxbgk2k?ref_src=embed" target="_blank">2026-04-13T16:11:18.683Z</a></blockquote></div> The fact that President Donald Trump is <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/2/3/2367008/-Trump-must-be-investigated-over-Epstein-files-allegations-says-Democrat" target="_blank" title="">referenced</a> more than 5,300 times in the Epstein files—or that he was <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/9/8/2342389/-Court-upholds-E-Jean-Carroll-s-83M-defamation-win-against-Trump" target="_blank" title="">found</a> liable for sexually abusing journalist E. Jean Carroll—clearly missed Ogles’ radar.  Swalwell has not yet been charged, tried in a court of law, or found guilty of sexual assault. On the other hand, Trump <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/11/11/2353300/-Trump-asks-Supreme-Court-to-make-sexual-abuse-verdict-disappear" target="_blank" title="">owes millions of dollars</a> to Carroll, for what U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.590045/gov.uscourts.nysd.590045.212.0.pdf" target="_blank">said</a> could be described as rape.  <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/2/13/2368567/-Everyone-is-paying-for-their-Epstein-ties-except-Trump" target="_blank" title="">Everyone is paying for their Epstein ties—except Trump</a> <hr> The conversation then pivoted to Ogles’ desire to denaturalize U.S. citizens he doesn’t like, including Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. “The next bill we're working with the White House on is to put more teeth in the denaturalization process so that we can start denaturalizing these people like Mamdani who came into the country under false pretense, and kick them out of the country,” Ogles said. <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-bluesky-content="&lt;blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjfbkqp2bc25" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreiekotbp46gtqrbn3r2aoiiujdikexthl3mhuga3m4t5kn4u4pmdai"&gt;&lt;p lang="en"&gt;Rep. Ogles: &amp;#34;The next bill we&amp;#39;re working with the White House on is to put more teeth in the denaturalization process so that we can start denaturalizing these people like Mamdani who came into the country under false pretense, and kick them out of the country&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; &lt;a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc?ref_src=embed"&gt;Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/post/3mjfbkqp2bc25?ref_src=embed"&gt;2026-04-13T16:21:52.801Z&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;script async src="https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;"><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjfbkqp2bc25" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreiekotbp46gtqrbn3r2aoiiujdikexthl3mhuga3m4t5kn4u4pmdai">Rep. Ogles: "The next bill we're working with the White House on is to put more teeth in the denaturalization process so that we can start denaturalizing these people like Mamdani who came into the country under false pretense, and kick them out of the country"— <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc?ref_src=embed" target="_blank">Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)</a> <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/post/3mjfbkqp2bc25?ref_src=embed" target="_blank">2026-04-13T16:21:52.801Z</a></blockquote></div> Meanwhile, Ogles, who <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/1/9/2216423/-Watchdog-group-files-ethics-complaint-against-GOP-Rep-Andy-Ogles" target="_blank">has lied</a> about being an “economist” and “a former member of law enforcement,” is <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/15/2158458/-Tennessee-Republican-raised-24-000-for-children-s-burial-garden-refuses-to-say-where-money-went" target="_blank" title="">alleged to have stolen</a> money that he purportedly raised for a children’s “burial garden.” Correction: A previous version of this story misstated findings of a trial regarding Donald Trump and E. Jean Carroll. He was not found to have sexually assaulted her. Rather, he was found liable for sexually abusing her. rss@dailykos.com (Walter Einenkel) AndyOgles BennyJohnson DonaldTrump EricSwalwell Racism SexualAssault _2377678 Mon, 13 Apr 2026 18:55:11 +0000 Trump's size envy finds new, tacky outlet https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/13/2377336/-Trump-s-size-envy-finds-new-tacky-outlet?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= We’re learning more about the monument Trump wants to build in honor of himself, a giant arch that American taxplayers happen to be<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376843/-You-re-paying-for-Trump-s-megalomaniac-monument-to-himself" target="_blank"> paying for</a>, although now no one is sure how much the thing will cost. There are finally some<a href="https://www.cfa.gov/system/files/meeting-materials/1-CFA-16APR26-1-EOP_DOI_Arch-pres%20%5BApr9%5D.pdf" title="" target="_blank"> drawings</a>, and man, this thing is ugly, even by Trump standards.  <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-right"><img alt="President Donald Trump's motorcade drives onto Arlington Memorial Bridge, the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol seen in the background, after slowly circling Memorial Circle, where Trump has proposed building an arch to commemorate the United States' 250th anniversary, Sunday, April 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1544176/large/AP26095532186620.jpg?1776101686" title="President Donald Trump's motorcade drives onto Arlington Memorial Bridge, the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol seen in the background, after slowly circling Memorial Circle, where Trump has proposed building an arch to commemorate the United States' 250th anniversary, Sunday, April 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)"> <figcaption>Trump's motorcade drives onto Arlington Memorial Bridge, the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol seen in the background, where Trump has proposed building an arch to commemorate the United States' 250th anniversary.</figcaption> </figure> Originally, the arch was supposed to be 165 feet tall, but thanks to the<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/10/trump-triumphal-arch-commission-plan-00867401" title="" target="_blank"> addition</a> of the terrifyingly huge, golden 24-foot eagles and a 60-foot-tall Lady Liberty, it’s now going to be 250 feet tall at the highest point, dwarfing the 99-foot-high Lincoln Memorial. But wait! There’s more gold. Four golden lions, to be precise, and “One Nation Under God” inscribed in gold. Though Trump has previously said that the arch is literally for him, one of his spokespeople is now saying that the arch will be “a visual reminder of the noble sacrifices borne by so many American heroes throughout our 250-year history so we can enjoy our freedoms today.” Yeah, not so much. Turns out the giant gross arch destroys a core part of 1902’s McMillan Plan, which<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/03/23/trump-washington-architecture-ballroom-arch/" title="" target="_blank"> redesigned</a> the capital city after the Civil War, creating the National Mall and the core of Washington. As WaPo’s architecture critic Philip Kennicott explains, it was a “vision of national healing and reconciliation that symbolically reconnected the North and the South by a bridge across the Potomac.” From the Lincoln Memorial, you can see all the way to the one for Ulysses S. Grant, and those who lost their lives in the war were honored by the Arlington Memorial Bridge that leads to the cemetery. Now, that sight line will be<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/04/10/trump-arch-criticism/" target="_blank"> blocked</a> by the arch. A group of veterans already<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.289572/gov.uscourts.dcd.289572.1.0_1.pdf" target="_blank"> sued</a>, saying Trump didn’t obtain the required congressional approval under the<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/40/8901" title="" target="_blank"> Commemorative Works Act</a> of 1986, which was passed specifically to preserve the integrity of the Miller plan. Trump’s predictable legal response was<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.289572/gov.uscourts.dcd.289572.12.0.pdf" title="" target="_blank"> to argue</a> that the plaintiffs have not suffered any harm because he has not yet built the arch.  The notion that plaintiffs must wait until Trump builds the arch to sue over it flies in the face of the argument the administration is currently making to let Trump keep building his ballroom. There, he just argued that it wasn’t fair to try to stop him now that he’s obliterated the East Wing and started construction because the plaintiffs had “a great deal of time for them to object, long before the start of construction.” Got it. So you can’t sue before construction starts, and you can’t sue after it starts. And as far as congressional authorization? Per Trump, Congress already<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.289572/gov.uscourts.dcd.289572.16.0.pdf" title="" target="_blank"> authorized</a> it when it approved a design set out in a report from the Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission back in 1925, and Congress gave that commission the authority to change the design.  So, Trump’s atrocious arch is just a little design revision, no biggie, and also now he doesn’t have to follow the Commemorative Works Act at all. Except that the bridge<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.289572/gov.uscourts.dcd.289572.13.0.pdf" target="_blank"> was finished</a> in 1932, Franklin Delano Roosevelt abolished the commission in 1933, and those congressional funds are long gone.  <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-right"><img alt="Cartoon by Mike Luckovich" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1491478/large/lk102325dAPR.jpg?1761164597" title="Cartoon by Mike Luckovich"> <figcaption>“It doubles as a ballroom” by Mike Luckovich</figcaption> </figure> As the plaintiffs put it, “It borders on the absurd to suggest that a statute directing a now-dissolved commission to undertake a specific, now-completed project with a designated set of funds provides authorization for Defendants to undertake a different project—funded by private donations.” In both the arch and ballroom cases, Trump continually shifts arguments about which government entity is building it and under what authority. In the ballroom case, the administration<a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/judge-denies-effort-to-halt-white-house-ballroom-construction/" title="" target="_blank"> initially prevailed</a> by saying that no federal agency was responsible for the ballroom, so plaintiffs couldn’t sue under the Administrative Procedure Act.  Instead, he argued, a mishmash of federal statutes allowed him to build the ballroom without congressional approval. But when plaintiffs brought a claim that Trump was exceeding his authority under the statute, suddenly the Department of Justice floated the National Park Service—an agency!—<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.287645/gov.uscourts.dcd.287645.60.0_3.pdf" title="" target="_blank">might</a> actually be in charge after all. This is happening in the arch case too. There, the administration says that the plaintiffs can’t win because the NPS is in charge, and under the APA, the plaintiffs can’t sue until the NPS takes a final, formal action.  In a really galling move, the DOJ also<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.289572/gov.uscourts.dcd.289572.12.0.pdf" title="" target="_blank"> whined</a> that the veterans were proceeding “upon the unfounded assumption that construction will begin without further reviews and approvals.” <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/6/2376632/-It-sure-seems-like-Trump-is-writing-the-DOJ-s-legal-briefs-now" title="" target="_blank">It sure seems like Trump is writing the DOJ's legal briefs now</a> <hr> Trump literally tore down the East Wing with no approvals, is insisting he gets to keep building the ballroom despite a court order, and filed a truly unhinged<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/6/2376632/-It-sure-seems-like-Trump-is-writing-the-DOJ-s-legal-briefs-now" title="" target="_blank"> screed</a> to the appellate court that honestly appears to have been partially written by Trump. You see, the ballroom now has to be built because once it is, Trump and his family will be more secure. Therefore, the president’s safety and national security require the court to allow Trump to build a 90,000-sq.-ft. ballroom. The ballroom will<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cadc.42993/gov.uscourts.cadc.42993.01208838959.0_1.pdf" target="_blank"> now have</a> “missile-resistant steel columns, beams, drone-proof roofing materials, and bullet, ballistic, and blast-proof glass windows.” Also, bomb shelters, a hospital, and a top-secret military installation.  In both of these cases, Trump is not making any real legal argument. The DOJ is hastily and sloppily<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-ballroom-national-security-necessity-vital-first-family-safety-rcna267482" target="_blank"> throwing</a> together some statutes, and if he doesn’t get his way, he’ll go to the Supreme Court. Of course, for both the ballroom and the arch, Trump could build them if he got congressional approval, a thing he refuses to seek. But since Congress is essentially a dead letter, we have to look to the six conservatives on the Supreme Court, who have given Trump nearly everything he wants, to save us from Trump turning Washington, D.C., into tacky, gold monuments to his ego. That’s a pretty slender reed to cling to, but it’s what we’ve got.  rss@dailykos.com (Lisa Needham) Arch ballroom DonaldTrump WashingtonDC _2377336 Mon, 13 Apr 2026 17:37:12 +0000 GOP stoops to new racist low to defend Trump’s war https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/13/2377652/-GOP-stoops-to-new-racist-low-to-defend-Trump-s-war?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= Republicans Sen. <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/10/3/1703717/-How-much-cash-does-your-representative-receive-from-the-NRA-to-stick-their-heads-in-the-sand" title="" target="_blank">John Barrasso</a> of Wyoming and Rep. <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/9/29/2346035/-GOP-jackass-salivates-over-Trump-s-shutdown-fight-with-Democrats" title="" target="_blank">Mark Alford</a> of Missouri made the rounds on right-wing media Monday to <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376773/-GOP-cowards-race-to-defend-Trump-s-insane-Iran-war-crime-threats" title="" target="_blank">defend</a> President Donald Trump’s disastrous Iran war. “Democrats like high gas prices because of their radical climate agenda,” Barrasso told Fox News. “So people understand what the president is doing, agree with him, and know that we need peace and stability and need to protect America long term from the threat of Iran.” <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content"><a class="new_iframe_placeholder" href="#">x</a></div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=nsLL_9KxDWo" title="" data-frameborder="0" data-height="281" data-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nsLL_9KxDWo" data-width="500">YouTube Video</a></div> </div> Meanwhile, Alford decided to <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/12/2377166/-Republicans-hate-Trump-s-Iran-ceasefire-but-only-off-the-record" target="_blank">skip all pretense</a> and insisted that everything is going according to “plan.” “We’re seeing a temporary bump in those fuel prices—I know that's tough on our farmers, it's tough on people trying to get to work,” he told Newsmax. “But this is a short-term pain for a long-term gain so that we make sure that we don't get nuked in the United States of America by Islamic dirtbags.”  <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content"><a class="new_iframe_placeholder" href="#">x</a></div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=15uN9HAEKRg" title="" data-frameborder="0" data-height="281" data-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/15uN9HAEKRg" data-width="500">YouTube Video</a></div> </div> When asked about MAGA acolytes, like former Rep. <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/9/2377144/-Marjorie-Taylor-Greene-wants-to-dump-Trump-and-crown-Vance" title="" target="_blank">Marjorie Taylor Greene</a>, who have criticized Trump, Alford <a href="https://x.com/atrupar/status/2043683482862297583" title="" target="_blank">doubled down</a> by offering a new meaning of “America First.”  "It means we have the be the strongest we can be in order to help spread democracy, hope for other countries,” he said. “He is the peace president." So much winning, and so much peace—really makes one’s head spin.  rss@dailykos.com (Walter Einenkel) DonaldTrump GasPrices Iran JohnBarrasso MarkAlford Oil War _2377652 Mon, 13 Apr 2026 17:00:16 +0000 Mean tweets https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/13/2377151/-Mean-tweets?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= A cartoon by Drew Sheneman. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/9/2377112/-Anxious-Republicans-worry-Trump-s-Iran-mess-has-already-cost-them-the-midterms" title="" target="_blank">Anxious Republicans worry Trump's Iran mess has already cost them the midterms</a> <hr> rss@dailykos.com (Drew Sheneman) Cartoon DonaldTrump DrewSheneman Iran SocialMedia War _2377151 Mon, 13 Apr 2026 16:59:03 +0000 Pope Leo swats away Trump's blasphemous meltdown https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/13/2377642/-Pope-Leo-swats-away-Trump-s-blasphemous-meltdown?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= Pope Leo XIV, the first pope born in the United States, showed off his Chicago roots on Monday by refusing to stoop to President Donald Trump’s level after Trump attacked the pontiff in an unhinged late-night social media frenzy. “I’m not afraid of the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel, which is what the Church works for,” Leo <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-pope-leo-xiv-02f6b4554ea4b83af02af15987ae1f2d" target="_blank">told</a> reporters. The pope<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/10/2377290/-Absurd-and-inhuman-We-all-know-who-Pope-Leo-is-talking-about" target="_blank"> has repeatedly denounced</a> Trump’s war in Iran, rooting his criticism in the Bible’s opposition to killing and unjust war. Previously, Pope Leo noted, “God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.” He has also condemned “absurd and inhuman violence” and “the blasphemy of war.” Leo’s latest rebuke of Trump came after the president posted<a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116394704213456431" target="_blank"> a 334-word screed</a> on his Truth Social account on Sunday night, attacking the pope as “WEAK on Crime.” “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our Country,” Trump fumed. He added, “Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!” Trump’s post was followed up with another featuring an apparently AI-generated image of Trump depicted as Jesus Christ, healing a man with his touch. <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-right"><img alt="" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1544127/large/Screenshot2026-04-13at9.59.28AM.png?1776092401"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> The Bible<a href="https://www.gotquestions.org/blasphemy-blaspheme.html" target="_blank"> defines blasphemy</a>—one of the most serious crimes in the Christian faith—as the promotion of a false doctrine and leading Christians away from following the teachings of God and Jesus. Trump’s decision to depict himself as a god-like figure also signals that Trump’s mental state makes him unfit to lead the country. Several Democrats<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/2/1/2365623/-What-the-25th-Amendment-could-mean-for-Trump-and-all-of-America" target="_blank"> have called for the 25th Amendment</a> to be invoked and for Trump to be removed from office, citing his inability to execute his position. Trump’s post about the pope was condemned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “I am disheartened that the President chose to write such disparaging words about the Holy Father,” Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, the conference’s president, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/13/american-bishops-trump-pope-00868809" target="_blank">said</a> in a statement. “Pope Leo is not his rival; nor is the Pope a politician. He is the Vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls.” Trump’s missive also drew<a href="https://x.com/drpezeshkian/status/2043680824009056412" target="_blank"> a statement</a> from Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who wrote on X in Persian, “Your Excellency Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex), on behalf of the great nation of Iran, I condemn the insult to Your Excellency and declare that the desecration of Jesus (peace be upon him), the Prophet of peace and brotherhood, is unacceptable to any free person. I wish glory for you from Allah.” Trump’s attack on the pope appears to have been triggered by a segment that aired on CBS’ “60 Minutes” on Sunday night. In the segment, Catholic bishops aired their criticisms of Trump echoing the Pope’s statements, particularly on immigration and the war. Speaking about the attack on Iran, Cardinal Robert McElroy<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pope-leo-iran-war-mass-deportation-statements-inspire-american-cardinals-60-minutes-transcript/" target="_blank"> told the outlet</a>, “In the Catholic teaching this is not a just war.” Reacting to the controversy, CNN data analyst Harry Enten<a href="https://x.com/ForecasterEnten/status/2043693020541841706" target="_blank"> speculated</a> on X, “Maybe Trump's jealous of the Pope? ... It's a blowout favoring the Pope in terms of popularity in America. The Pope's net popularity rating: +34 pt. Trump: -12 pt.”  Enten also noted that among Catholics who were polled, a majority agreed with the pope in opposing the war. While Trump has <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/5/2375870/-White-evangelicals-are-souring-on-Trump-but-there-s-a-catch" target="_blank">long had the support of conservative Christian voters</a>, his grip on Christian doctrine has been shaky, at best. Trump<a href="https://www.npr.org/2016/01/18/463528847/citing-two-corinthians-trump-struggles-to-make-the-sale-to-evangelicals" target="_blank"> infamously referred</a> to the Bible verse Second Corinthians as “Two Corinthians,” and<a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/03/27/1241186975/donald-trump-bible-god-bless-usa" target="_blank"> has hawked</a> a tacky Trump-branded Bible and other<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/11/21/2287632/-Trump-s-latest-greedy-grift-Gaudy-MAGA-guitars" target="_blank"> schlocky trinkets</a>. Trying to bait the leader of Catholicism into an online flame war has failed spectacularly, but it's right in line with Trump’s ever-growing list of screwups. rss@dailykos.com (Oliver Willis) CatholicChurch DonaldTrump Iran PopeLeo Religion TheVatican _2377642 Mon, 13 Apr 2026 16:00:12 +0000 Everything JD Vance touches turns to sh-t https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/13/2377630/-Everything-JD-Vance-touches-turns-to-sh-t?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= JD Vance's official title is vice president. But it looks like grim reaper might be a more apt label. On multiple occasions, Vance has met with or campaigned alongside prominent world leaders and figures, only for those figures to meet a bleak end. There was Vance's infamous encounter with Pope Francis in 2025, who <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/4/21/2317794/-Pope-Francis-shames-the-crap-out-of-JD-Vance-in-final-acts-on-earth" title="" target="_blank">died hours after spending time in Vance's company</a>.  But his anti-Midas touch really ramped up this past week. On Tuesday, Vance campaigned with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán—the autocrat and Vladimir Putin ally who <a href="https://x.com/LinkofSunshine/status/2043402793017278831" target="_blank">sounds</a> uncannily like the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QmUX_RPUNU" title="" target="_blank">cartoon villain Gru</a>. <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-right"><img alt="Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks with the media as he arrives for an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. European Union leaders gather Thursday for a two day meeting to discuss, among other issues, Ukraine and the impact of the war between Israel and Hamas. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1249456/large/AP23299433537291.jpg?1700679926" title="Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks with the media as he arrives for an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. European Union leaders gather Thursday for a two day meeting to discuss, among other issues, Ukraine and the impact of the war between Israel and Hamas. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)"> <figcaption>Former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán</figcaption> </figure> “The president loves you, and so do I, because you’re such an important part of what has made Europe strong and prosperous,” Vance said in a joint appearance with Orbán, adding that Orbán is “one of the only true statesmen in Europe." What happened next, you ask?  Orban went on to <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/12/2377541/-MAGA-friendly-dictator-s-stunning-election-loss-sends-a-strong-message-to-Trump" target="_blank">lose his reelection in a landslide on Sunday</a>, as Hungarians rejected Orbán's 16-year-long autocratic rule. President Donald Trump also sent Vance to Pakistan this weekend to try to negotiate an end to the war Trump started in Iran, only for those talks to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/12/us/politics/jd-vance-pakistan-iran-war-talks.html" title="" target="_blank">end with no agreement</a>. "The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement," Vance<a href="https://x.com/JenniferJJacobs/status/2043140493635191185" target="_blank"> told</a> reporters Saturday night after the talks resulted in a stalemate. "I think that's bad news for Iran, much more than it's bad news for the United States." Of course, the fact that there is still no deal to end the war and that Iran is still blockading the Strait of Hormuz is, in fact, bad for the United States, as experts <a href="https://x.com/CahnEmily/status/2043671157522522313" target="_blank">warn</a> that the imminent oil shortage is about to have horrific impacts on the global economy. Nevertheless, Vance had to save face and insist that he wasn’t a total failure. <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-right"><img alt="Cartoon by Mike Luckovich" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1334877/large/lk081624dAPR.jpg?1723815826" title="Cartoon by Mike Luckovich"> <figcaption>“JD Vance mic drop” by Mike Luckovich</figcaption> </figure> So why, you may ask, is Vance so damn bad at persuasion? It may be that he is the least popular vice president in history, <a href="https://x.com/ForecasterEnten/status/2043435434236105008" title="" target="_blank">according</a> to CNN polling analyst Harry Enten. “JD Vance is not doing too hot to trot at this point,” Enten said, showing a graphic that said Vance was 3 points above water in January 2025, but is now 18 points underwater in his approval today, with Enten describing it as “a 21-point swing in the wrong direction.” Ultimately, Vance’s unpopularity is on par with Trump’s. However, unlike Trump, Vance does not have a cult-like following with a base of devotees who will excuse his every move. Instead, he’s a creepy politician who has never been able to shake the “<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kamala-harris-trump-vance-weird-c54d506d1f533ee7aa455f7b500322c5" target="_blank">weird</a>” label he earned during the 2024 campaign. So in that case, we hope Trump sends Vance to campaign for every Republican up and down the ticket in the 2026 midterms. What could go wrong?! rss@dailykos.com (Emily Singer) 2026election 2026midterms DonaldTrump Hungary Iran IranWar JDVance Pakistan PopeFrancis ViktorOrban VladimirPutin _2377630 Mon, 13 Apr 2026 15:00:25 +0000 Hang up: What ever happened to Trump phones? https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/13/2377293/-Hang-up-What-ever-happened-to-Trump-phones?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= If you’ve been waiting to snatch up your very own Trump phone, you’re going to have to wait a little—or a lot—longer. <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-right"><img alt="Eric Trump, Don Hendrickson, Eric Thomas, Patrick O'Brien and Donald Trump Jr., left to right, participate in the announcement of Trump Mobile, in New York's Trump Tower, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1445640/large/AP25167473149750.jpg?1750091191" title="Eric Trump, Don Hendrickson, Eric Thomas, Patrick O'Brien and Donald Trump Jr., left to right, participate in the announcement of Trump Mobile, in New York's Trump Tower, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)"> <figcaption>Eric Trump, Don Hendrickson, Eric Thomas, Patrick O'Brien, and Donald Trump Jr., left to right, participate in the announcement of Trump Mobile, in New York's Trump Tower on June 16, 2025.</figcaption> </figure> The Trump family has been<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2025/6/16/2328352/-Trump-family-s-latest-grift-is-coming-for-your-phone" title="" target="_blank"> promising</a> to release a very fancy and very Trumpy smartphone, known as the T1, for about 10 months now, saying it would be a “sleek, gold smartphone engineered for performance and proudly designed and built in the United States.” Unsurprisingly, besides being<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/11/6/2352336/-Trump-s-tacky-Oval-Office-decor-is-oozing-outside" title="" target="_blank"> tacky and gold</a> like everything Trump touches, the phone is also supposed to have an American flag etched on the case. Honestly, the only surprise here is that it wouldn’t feature an etching of President Donald Trump himself.  NBC News tried to track down the sleek gold phone<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/11/25/2355369/-The-Trump-phone-goes-the-way-of-all-Trump-scams" title="" target="_blank"> last November</a>, only to be told by a customer service flack that the phone would start shipping in December.  But now it’s April, and still no phones. The company hasn’t even updated its social media accounts for seven months, and isn’t<a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/909846/trump-mobile-phone-47-plan-trademark-registration" title="" target="_blank"> replying</a> to The Verge’s emails asking where the phone is.  But while there’s still no phone, there is a<a href="https://tsdr.uspto.gov/documentviewer?caseId=sn99746335&docId=APP20260406113456&linkId=1#docIndex=0&page=1" title="" target="_blank"> trademark application</a> for Trump Mobile’s wireless service, which is just a mobile virtual network operator that uses the existing T-Mobile network. It’s quite the bargain at<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2025/6/16/2328352/-Trump-family-s-latest-grift-is-coming-for-your-phone" target="_blank"> $47.45 a month</a>. Sigh. In a gross yet predictable development, the proposed trademark blurs the lines between Trump’s role as president and his ceaseless quest to profit as a private citizen, so the Trump Mobile phone plan will now be called “The 47 Plan.” Come on.  <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/6/16/2328352/-Trump-family-s-latest-grift-is-coming-for-your-phone" title="" target="_blank">Trump family’s latest grift is coming for your phone</a> <hr> The trademark application was filed on<a href="https://www.gerbenlaw.com/blog/trump-org-files-trademark-for-the-47-plan-claiming-a-mobile-phone-launch-is-coming/" title="" target="_blank"> April 6</a>, which was right in<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376800/-Don-t-assume-Trump-will-TACO-on-Iran-war-crime-threats" title="" target="_blank"> the middle of</a> Trump ratcheting up his unhinged demands to Iran, threatening to commit some war crimes by blowing up its power plants and bridges.  Well, no one can say that Trump can’t multitask. While pursuing his unnecessary and illegal war, he remains laser-focused on what really matters: putting his ugly gilded stamp on Washington, D.C.  Since the war began, Trump has installed<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/2/2371257/-Trump-leads-critical-wartime-operation-New-Rose-Garden-decor" title="" target="_blank"> new statues</a> in the paved-over Rose Garden. He also<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/3/23/2374515/-Trump-team-plops-another-tacky-racist-statue-in-DC" title="" target="_blank"> dropped</a> a Christopher Columbus statue on White House grounds. He’s<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/3/26/2374961/-Trump-doesn-t-think-16-White-House-guest-rooms-are-enough" target="_blank"> floating</a> putting a new guest bedroom in the White House, fighting to keep<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/6/2376632/-It-sure-seems-like-Trump-is-writing-the-DOJ-s-legal-briefs-now" target="_blank"> building</a> his big dumb ballroom, and<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/7/2376843/-You-re-paying-for-Trump-s-megalomaniac-monument-to-himself" target="_blank"> planning</a> his gaudy monument to himself, the<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/1/12/2363028/-8-ways-Trump-s-gaudy-DC-renovations-dwarf-whatever-the-Fed-is-doing" title="" target="_blank"> Arc de Trump</a>. <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-left"><img alt="Cartoon by Jack Ohman" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1446330/large/20250618edohc-b.jpg?1750199914" title="Cartoon by Jack Ohman"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> But somehow, while there is time for Trump to indulge his terrible taste, he just can’t get that sleek gold phone up and running. After bragging that the phone would be built in the United States, the Trumps had to<a href="https://www.theverge.com/gadgets/693080/trump-mobile-t1-phone-made-usa" title="" target="_blank"> walk it back</a>, instead saying it would be “designed with American values in mind” and was “Proudly American.”  Last year, Trump Mobile slapped a<a href="https://boingboing.net/2025/08/22/latest-design-for-trump-phone-is-a-crudely-photoshopped-samsung-galaxy-s25-ultra-in-a-spigen-case.html" title="" target="_blank"> photoshopped</a> version of the Samsung Galaxy 25 Ultra on its website in a comical attempt to pretend their phone was real. Or it might be a<a href="https://variety.com/2025/digital/news/trump-mobile-smartphone-made-in-china-experts-1236434191/" title="" target="_blank"> rebranded</a> Android phone from China, made by Wingtech. Who can say! Neither the Samsung phone nor the Wingtech phone are manufactured here. Indeed, there’s only one company, Purism, manufacturing cell phones in the United States, and its phones<a href="https://fortune.com/2025/06/26/trump-mobile-t1-phone-not-made-in-usa/" title="" target="_blank"> cost $2,000</a>.  Right now, this phone is pure vaporware, but even if it eventually becomes a reality, it’s just another thing Trump has slapped his name on in an attempt to extract even more money from his devoted supporters.  Only time will tell if there really are that many suckers left. rss@dailykos.com (Lisa Needham) DonaldTrump Grift TrumpMoble Trumpphone _2377293 Mon, 13 Apr 2026 13:30:06 +0000 Unpacking Trump’s use of emergency powers to prop up coal https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/13/2377284/-Unpacking-Trump-s-use-of-emergency-powers-to-prop-up-coal?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= A World War II-era policy is stopping old coal plants from closing, despite high costs and the wishes of their owners. By <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/profile/dan-gearino/" target="_blank">Dan Gearino</a> for <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/09042026/inside-clean-energy-trump-coal-plants/" target="_blank" title="">Inside Climate News</a> <hr> At one time, the U.S. electricity grid ran mostly on coal. But coal-fired power plants have steadily been decommissioned. Power producers found the plants were too expensive to operate and carried risks tied to toxic air pollution, waste and climate-warming emissions. Then President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year with a fresh zeal to revive the coal industry. His Department of Energy invoked emergency powers to force utilities to keep old plants operating. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/10/2377266/-Trump-s-costly-coal-obsession-is-killing-the-environment" target="_blank" title="">Trump's costly coal obsession is killing the environment</a> <hr> Not only is this bad policy, it’s also a misuse of a law designed for wartime, according to legal scholars and analysts. If allowed to stand, this poses problems for utilities, grid operators and regulators who plan for decades-long timeframes, only to be overruled by short-term political imperatives that favor certain industries. <div id="mc_embed_signup_69d93607ca128" style="text-align:start"> <div id="mc_embed_signup_scroll_69d93607ca128"> “It’s just illegal,” said Alexandra Klass, a professor at University of Michigan Law School, about the emergency orders. She served in the Biden administration as a deputy general counsel at the Department of Energy. Environmental advocates and state officials have challenged the orders in court, with <a href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/doe-emergency-order-campbell-coal-power-plant-appeal/815387/" target="_blank">cases underway</a> in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. I’m focusing on the emergency orders because I don’t think the public grasps how much these actions undermine the principles of utility planning and regulation, with harmful consequences for consumer bills and the climate. While the Trump administration props up coal, it aims to slow the deployment of clean alternatives with actions such as a stop-work order on offshore wind and slow-walking permits to build onshore wind. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/19/2373858/-Trump-wants-to-spend-1-billion-to-stop-his-nemesis-wind-farms" title="" target="_blank">Trump wants to spend $1 billion to stop his nemesis—wind farms</a> <hr> Klass co-authored a <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6509640" target="_blank">new essay</a> with Dave Owen of UC Law San Francisco forthcoming in the Michigan Law Review Online that examines the history and current use of presidential emergency powers on energy. The Department of Energy under President Donald Trump is invoking Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, a provision first used by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941 to meet electricity demand in the Southeastern United States in the run-up to U.S. entry into World War II. The idea was that the government needed the ability to step in to meet short-term needs when existing regulations failed to do so. The government issued 23 orders under Section 202(c) during the 1940s and almost none in the decades that followed. In the first Trump administration and the Biden administration, the Department of Energy used the power 12 times in response to requests from utilities or grid operators, usually for permission to operate plants briefly in excess of emissions limits. Since returning to office in 2025, Trump has used this power differently, seemingly to benefit coal producers by preventing coal plants from closing. The key difference is that this latest wave of orders, starting in May 2025 with the JH Campbell plant in Michigan, was not sought by plant owners. <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-right"><img alt="lk072623dAPR.jpg" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1211895/large/lk072623dAPR.jpg?1690318545" title="lk072623dAPR.jpg"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> “What the administration is doing now is using these 202(c) orders to basically override all of the long-term resource adequacy and grid planning that states, regional transmission organizations and utilities do,” Klass said. “And this is now coming in saying, ‘We don’t care what any of you experts and planners have to say. We want to save the coal industry, and we’re going to use this emergency authority that’s not designed for long-term resource planning.’” Consumers Energy, the utility that operates JH Campbell, had planned to close the plant and replace it with a less-expensive combination of a natural gas plant and renewables that already were online. Think of this in terms of the car you drive. You bought a new car and then the government says you need to keep your old one and continue driving it, even if it’s spewing black smoke and costs more to run than your new one. The JH Campbell plant, opened in 1960, has a summer generating capacity of 1,331 megawatts. In 2024, it emitted 8.9 million tons of carbon dioxide, ranking 19th among U.S. power plants, based on an analysis of federal Energy Information Administration data. It got its fuel last year from the country’s two largest coal mines by production, North Antelope Rochelle Mine and Black Thunder, according to regulatory filings. Both are based in Wyoming and they are owned by Peabody Energy and Core Natural Resources, respectively. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/1/23/2364887/-Meet-Coalie-the-Trump-team-s-absurd-new-mascot" title="" target="_blank">Meet Coalie, the Trump team's absurd new mascot</a> <hr> James Grech, Peabody’s CEO, is also the chair of the Department of Energy’s National Coal Council. Jimmy Brock, Core’s CEO, is the vice chair. The Trump administration reconstituted the council last year after it had lapsed under the Biden administration. It was founded during the Reagan administration and <a href="https://nationalcoalcouncil.energy.gov/ncc/national-coal-council" target="_blank">advises the secretary of energy</a> on policy, technology and markets. I reached out to Peabody and Core and did not receive an immediate response. Since ordering JH Campbell to remain open, the Trump administration <a href="https://www.energy.gov/ceser/2025-doe-202c-orders" target="_blank" title="">has issued orders</a> for five other plants: Eddystone in Pennsylvania, Centralia in Washington, RM Schahfer and Culley in Indiana and Craig Station in Colorado. All run on coal except for Eddystone which runs on natural gas and oil. And, the administration may just be getting started. “I think as part of the national energy emergency which President Trump has declared we’ve got to keep every plant open,” said Interior Secretary Doug Burgum last month <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-should-restart-shuttered-coal-units-interior-secretary-tells-bloomberg-2025-03-10/" target="_blank" title="">in an interview with Bloomberg News</a>. “And if there have been units at a coal plant that have been shut down, we need to bring those back on.” <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-right"><img alt="A bulldozer moves coal Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Princeton, Ind. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1442150/large/AP25140723348491.jpg?1749501039" title="A bulldozer moves coal Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Princeton, Ind. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)"> <figcaption>A bulldozer moves coal in April 2025 in Princeton, Ind.</figcaption> </figure> For context, the country has 169,417 megawatts of coal-fired power plants. Of that total, 40,784 megawatts have retirement dates listed by the EIA. More than half of that total is set to shut down before 2029 and would be caught up in a policy barring the closure of any coal plant on Trump’s watch. While the administration can slow the decline, coal’s long-term retreat is near-inevitable. As recently as 2005, the country generated at least half of its electricity from coal-fired power plants. The share plummeted to a low of 15 percent in 2024, then rebounded slightly to 17 percent in 2025. For coal power to make a sustained comeback in this country, developers would need to start building new plants. The best possibility right now may be the Terra Energy Center in Alaska, a proposal to build a 1,250-megawatt coal-fired power plant that would be the first of its kind in the United States since 2013. But this kind of project is speculative, and it’s <a href="https://www.eenews.net/articles/the-first-us-coal-plant-in-a-decade-is-on-shaky-ground/" target="_blank" title="">not yet clear</a> that it will find the right combination of financing and reliable coal supply. Energy Secretary Chris Wright had said the emergency orders are necessary to keep electricity reliable and affordable. “The states that have rushed to close their coal plants have also had rapidly escalating electricity prices,” he said in <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/trump-energy-chief-outlines-coals-crucial-role-affordability-admin-pushes-keep-plants-running" target="_blank" title="">a Jan. 19 appearance on Fox Business</a>. “Americans don’t like that. President Trump doesn’t like it.” <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-right"><img alt="UNITED STATES - MAY 7: Energy Secretary Chris Wright testifies during the House Appropriations Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on Department of Energy's budget, in Rayburn building on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1434896/large/AP251276319949401.jpg?1747777725" title="UNITED STATES - MAY 7: Energy Secretary Chris Wright testifies during the House Appropriations Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on Department of Energy's budget, in Rayburn building on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)"> <figcaption>Energy Secretary Chris Wright testifies before a House subcommittee in May 2025. </figcaption> </figure> His comment leaves a lot to unpack for an energy analyst. But rather than go into the reasons electricity prices have risen, which is something <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/02032026/whats-driving-higher-electricity-rates/" target="_blank" title="">Marianne Lavelle and I covered in- depth for ICN last month</a>, I’ll just note that the administration’s policy is making power more expensive. In a February regulatory filing, Consumers Energy reported that it had spent $290 million to operate the plant since the first emergency order. Of this total, $155 million was offset by revenue from the grid operator, leaving $135 million to be covered by the utility’s customers. “It’s definitely interfering with the ability of utilities to make sure that they’re able to supply the lowest cost, most reliable energy to their customers, as well as states’ abilities to plan their own generation,” said Michelle Solomon, a manager in the electricity program at the think tank Energy Innovation. If the courts don’t rein in Trump’s use of 202(c), then there is little recourse. Congress could seek to modify the law on emergency powers, but that seems far from likely. If we want a system in which experts make decisions based on the public interest and economics, then leaders will need to spend the post-Trump years making rules that aren’t so easy to abuse. <h3 class="AlignCenter">* * *</h3> <h3>Other stories about the energy transition to take note of this week:</h3> The War in Iran Could Reshape the Global Energy Landscape: The war in Iran and resulting disruption of fossil fuel trade are highlighting the need for countries to diversify their energy resources, according to a panel hosted by the think tank Resources for the Future, as <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07042026/global-energy-supply-strait-of-hormuz/" target="_blank">my colleague Lisa Sorg reports</a>. The lesson is coming too late for the world to avoid average warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius, which was once the goal of global carbon mitigation strategies, but there is still an opportunity for countries to take steps to reduce the severity of warming. Pakistan Embraced Solar and Now Reaps the Benefits Amid Gas Market Disruption: Consumers in Pakistan invested heavily in solar power following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and are now less dependent on imported energy amid the Iran war, as <a href="https://www.eenews.net/articles/war-turned-pakistan-into-a-solar-power-will-other-asian-nations-follow/" target="_blank" title="">Sara Schonhardt reports for E&E News</a>. But analysts have doubts about whether Pakistan’s experience can be replicated elsewhere in Asia because of regulatory barriers, among other factors. Offshore Wind Opposition Was Never About the Whales: The Trump administration raised concerns about the effects of offshore wind on endangered whales, but is lifting protections for whales to help with development of oil and gas, as <a href="https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/offshore-wind/trumps-offshore-wind-opposition-whales" target="_blank" title="">Maria Gallucci reports for Canary Media</a>. Right-wing groups took up the cause of whales as part of a successful effort to slow the development of offshore wind. Rooftop Solar Is Now One-Fifth of Puerto Rico’s Electricity Mix: New data from the Energy Information Administration shows that small-scale solar has grown to the point that it is now 20 percent of the territory’s generation mix, as <a href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/rooftop-solar-puerto-rico-generation-mix-eia/816499/" target="_blank" title="">Diana DiGangi reports for Utility Dive</a>. Puerto Rico has ramped up rooftop solar and battery installations following the devastation of Hurricane Maria in 2017. The heavy reliance on rooftop solar provides examples for researchers who want to understand its effects on the grid. </div> </div> rss@dailykos.com (Inside Climate News) Coal Energy Environment _2377284 Mon, 13 Apr 2026 13:00:16 +0000 The United States of Anxiety https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/13/2377513/-The-United-States-of-Anxiety?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= As always, if you find value in this work I do, please consider helping me keep it sustainable by joining my weekly newsletter, <a href="https://thismodernworld.com/subscriptions" target="_blank">Sparky’s List!</a> You can get it in your inbox or read it on Patreon, the content is the same. Also, we are down to fewer than 90 copies (including some signed) of OUR LONG NATIONAL NIGHTMARE in the  <a href="https://www.tomtomorrowstore.com/" target="_blank">Tom Tomorrow popup store</a>, so if you want to get a copy (or grab an extra), don’t delay!  <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/11/2377179/-How-Iran-became-the-GOP-s-go-to-bogeyman" target="_blank">Explaining the Right: </a><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/11/2377179/-How-Iran-became-the-GOP-s-go-to-bogeyman" target="_blank">How Iran became the GOP’s go-to bogeyman</a> <hr> rss@dailykos.com (Tom Tomorrow) Cartoon DonaldTrump _2377513 Mon, 13 Apr 2026 12:30:05 +0000 MAGA-friendly dictator's stunning election loss sends a strong message to Trump https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/12/2377541/-MAGA-friendly-dictator-s-stunning-election-loss-sends-a-strong-message-to-Trump?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= Hungary’s strongman Viktor Orban has lost reelection in stunning fashion, an absolute electoral wipeout that presages what his MAGA allies in the U.S. will be facing this November.  The brand-new opposition Tisza party <a href="https://apnews.com/article/hungary-election-orban-magyar-trump-1a4eb0ba6b94e0c80c3cd18bd36254ab" target="_blank">won around 53% of the vote</a>, to just 37% for Orban’s Fidesz. Tisza is projected to secure around 138 seats in the 199-seat parliament, comfortably above the 133 needed for a supermajority, giving it the power to rewrite Hungary’s constitution and begin dismantling the autocratic system Orban spent 16 years building. Fidesz currently holds 135 seats. The victory came despite Orban rigging the playing field: gerrymandering the country so the opposition needed about a 5-point margin just to break even, and turning public media into government mouthpieces. <figure class="image-captioned align-right"><img alt="Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (left) shakes hands with US President Donald Trump during the Sharm El Sheikh Peace Summit in Egypt. Picture date: Monday October 13, 2025. 81990874 (Press Association via AP Images)" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1487700/large/AP25286656502104.jpg?1760380985" title="Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (left) shakes hands with US President Donald Trump during the Sharm El Sheikh Peace Summit in Egypt. Picture date: Monday October 13, 2025. 81990874 (Press Association via AP Images)"> <figcaption>Viktor Orban shakes hands with Donald Trump in Oct. 2025 at the Sharm El Sheikh Peace Summit in Egypt.</figcaption> </figure> MAGA and Orban have long been tied at the hip. The right-wing CPAC conference has hosted an annual Hungary edition since 2022. There, he’s fed the MAGA faithful <a href="https://abouthungary.hu/speeches-and-remarks/speech-by-prime-minister-viktor-orban-at-the-opening-of-cpac-hungary" target="_blank">red meat</a> like: “Progressive liberals, neo-Marxists intoxicated by the dream of wokeness, those in the pay of George Soros, they want to abolish the Western way of life that you and we love so much.”  He’s also leaned hard into <a href="https://miniszterelnok.hu/en/speech-by-prime-minister-viktor-orban-at-the-opening-of-the-cpac-hungary-conference/" target="_blank" title="">culture war paranoia</a>, telling the CPAC Hungary crowd in 2023: “Gender and woke also divide the nation into classes, and proclaim that class is more important than nation, taking precedence over belonging to the nation and taking precedence over national identity.” So you can see why the MAGA crowd loves him so much. For many on the American right, Orban isn’t just an ally—he’s a blueprint, with influential voices openly arguing for “<a href="https://ecfr.eu/publication/the-orbanisation-of-america-hungarys-lessons-for-donald-trump/" target="_blank">Orbanizing</a>” U.S. institutions by using state power to reshape media, universities, and the civil service. Tucker Carlson helped cement that relationship, broadcasting a week of shows from Budapest <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/07/world/europe/tucker-carlson-hungary.html#:~:text=The%20host%20has%20held%20up,new%20round%20of%20international%20coverage." target="_blank">in 2021</a>. For millions of MAGA viewers, Hungary wasn’t some distant country—it was a working model of what conservative power could look like in practice, a model Orban actively marketed. “Hungary is actually an incubator where experiments are done on the future of conservative policies,” he <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/at-cpac-hungarys-viktor-orban-decries-lgbtq-rights-migration" target="_blank">said</a> in 2023. “Hungary is the place where we didn't just talk about defeating the progressives and liberals and causing a conservative Christian political turn, but we actually did it.” Yeah, he and his party did it. And on Sunday, two-thirds of his country rebelled against it.  Adding to the schadenfreude, Vice President JD Vance actually traveled to Hungary <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376834/-Trump-isn-t-the-only-failing-dictator-being-praised-by-Vance" target="_blank">and campaigned for Orban</a>. “What the United States and Hungary represent under Viktor’s leadership and under President Trump’s leadership is the defense of Western civilization,” Vance declared at one rally. At another, he went full sermon: “Will you stand for Western civilization and for the God of our fathers?” The god of our fathers? Vance is so weird.  <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376834/-Trump-isn-t-the-only-failing-dictator-being-praised-by-Vance" target="_blank">Trump isn’t the only failing dictator being praised by Vance</a> <hr> His overt meddling drew <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-rebuke-jd-vance-claim-eu-interferes-hungary-election/?reg-wall=true" target="_blank" title="">backlash across Europe</a>, including from Germany, which rejected Vance’s claims that the European Union was the real outside influence in Hungary’s election. But really, everyone should be happy at Vance’s visit, as his “kiss of death” record (<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/4/21/2317794/-Pope-Francis-shames-the-crap-out-of-JD-Vance-in-final-acts-on-earth" target="_blank">literally with the last Pope</a>) remains unvarnished:  <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content="&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Many thx &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/JDVance?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@JDVance&lt;/a&gt; ❤️🇪🇺 &lt;a href="https://t.co/oa2Q2sY7Dp"&gt;pic.twitter.com/oa2Q2sY7Dp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; Tomáš Zdechovský (@TomasZdechovsky) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/TomasZdechovsky/status/2042984414230032745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 11, 2026&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; "><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Many thx <a href="https://twitter.com/JDVance?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JDVance</a> ❤️🇪🇺 <a href="https://t.co/oa2Q2sY7Dp">pic.twitter.com/oa2Q2sY7Dp</a>— Tomáš Zdechovský (@TomasZdechovsky) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomasZdechovsky/status/2042984414230032745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 11, 2026</a></blockquote> </div> President Donald Trump, meanwhile, tried his own version of election interference—dangling U.S. <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-economic-support-viktor-orban-hungarian-election/" target="_blank">economic support</a> if Hungarians kept Orban in power. It worked in Argentina, where Trump gave his pal Javier Milei a <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/10/2/2346398/-Trump-s-incompetence-is-bolstering-China-and-screwing-US-farmers" target="_blank">$20 billion taxpayer giveaway</a> in the weeks before his reelection campaign.  “My Administration stands ready to use the full Economic Might of the United States to strengthen Hungary’s Economy, as we have done for our Great Allies in the past, if Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the Hungarian People ever need it,” Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116382335330123013" target="_blank" title="">posted</a> on Truth Social. “We are excited to invest in the future Prosperity that will be generated by Orbán’s continued Leadership!” Can’t wait to see how “excited” he is now.  <figure class="image-captioned align-right"><img alt="FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban pose for a photo prior to their talks on the sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China, on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. Orban will be the center of attention at an EU summit Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023 following his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week. Diplomats say EU leaders will directly confront him with accusations he broke EU unity in their support of Ukraine. (Grigory Sysoyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1249457/large/AP23298713132980.jpg?1700679933" title="FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban pose for a photo prior to their talks on the sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China, on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. Orban will be the center of attention at an EU summit Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023 following his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week. Diplomats say EU leaders will directly confront him with accusations he broke EU unity in their support of Ukraine. (Grigory Sysoyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)"> <figcaption>Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orban pose for a photo in Beijing, China, in Oct. 2023.</figcaption> </figure> Trump’s support was just the latest in a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/12/europe/orban-hungary-election-explained-intl" target="_blank">long line of backing</a> for Orban, whom he praises in the same breath as Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. And the alignment isn’t just rhetorical. Orban has consistently acted as a spoiler inside the European Union, delaying or weakening sanctions on Russia and complicating efforts to support Ukraine. In practice, that’s made him Vladimir Putin’s most reliable ally inside the EU, a bridge between Moscow’s interests and the MAGA movement that has long admired him. There is, however, one way Orban appears to be better than Trump or Putin: He has reportedly respected the outcome of this election, calling opposition leader and Prime Minister-elect Péter Magyar to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/hungary-election-orban-magyar-trump-1a4eb0ba6b94e0c80c3cd18bd36254ab?taid=69dbf2f85d64bf0001577ff8&utm_campaign=TrueAnthem&utm_medium=AP&utm_source=Twitter" target="_blank" title="">concede and congratulate</a> him. It’s a low bar, but one Trump couldn’t manage to clear. <figure class="image-captioned align-right"><img alt="Peter Magyar, leader of the opposition Tisza party, waves the Hungarian flag following the announcement of the partial results of the parliamentary election, in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1543995/large/AP26102775564491.jpg?1776034664" title="Peter Magyar, leader of the opposition Tisza party, waves the Hungarian flag following the announcement of the partial results of the parliamentary election, in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)"> <figcaption>Péter Magyar, leader of the opposition Tisza party, waves the Hungarian flag in Budapest following the parliamentary election on April 12.</figcaption> </figure> The geopolitical implications are immediate. Ukraine, in particular, stands to benefit. While Slovakia’s Robert Fico remains <a href="https://balkaninsight.com/2026/04/07/why-is-slovakia-risking-eu-isolation-to-back-hungary-on-ukraine/rd/" target="_blank">aligned with Putin</a> and hostile to EU support for Ukraine, he will now be far more isolated. Without Orban to share the burden, it becomes much harder for a single leader to block aid to Kyiv without facing serious consequences for his poor nation from the rest of Europe. And for Trump, it’s one less strongman ally. If MAGA wants to keep pointing to the Hungarian model, let them. Voters there just showed how that story ends. Check out this image from Magyar’s final election-eve rally in Budapest on Saturday night: <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-bluesky-content="&lt;blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:axsb4cya6zgpnbtrkbjmu3pj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjaum5cl4c2l" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreihphhfrfkjynyqpqjadsrvil536tzgx3j6md5d5neuu4yqif52y7i"&gt;&lt;p lang="en"&gt;Rally of Magyar supporters in Hungary.&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; &lt;a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:axsb4cya6zgpnbtrkbjmu3pj?ref_src=embed"&gt;OSINTRadar (@osintradar.bsky.social)&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:axsb4cya6zgpnbtrkbjmu3pj/post/3mjaum5cl4c2l?ref_src=embed"&gt;2026-04-11T22:19:21.982Z&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;script async src="https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;"><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:axsb4cya6zgpnbtrkbjmu3pj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjaum5cl4c2l" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreihphhfrfkjynyqpqjadsrvil536tzgx3j6md5d5neuu4yqif52y7i">Rally of Magyar supporters in Hungary.— <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:axsb4cya6zgpnbtrkbjmu3pj?ref_src=embed" target="_blank">OSINTRadar (@osintradar.bsky.social)</a> <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:axsb4cya6zgpnbtrkbjmu3pj/post/3mjaum5cl4c2l?ref_src=embed" target="_blank">2026-04-11T22:19:21.982Z</a></blockquote></div> rss@dailykos.com (kos) Hungary JDVance PterMagyar ViktorOrban _2377541 Sun, 12 Apr 2026 23:03:02 +0000 Americans are down on Democrats—until the alternative is the GOP https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/12/2375559/-Americans-are-down-on-Democrats-until-the-alternative-is-the-GOP?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/tags/SurveySays" target="_blank">Survey Says</a> is a weekly series rounding up the most important polling trends or data points you need to know about, plus a vibe check on a trend that’s driving politics or culture. <hr> You may have heard that the Democratic Party is facing a crisis: The brand is weak. <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/24655/party-images.aspx" target="_blank">Poll</a> after <a href="https://echelonin.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/March-2026-Omnibus-Topline-Updated-External-1.pdf" target="_blank">poll</a> shows Americans view the party no more favorably than the Republican Party, despite the GOP having a <a href="https://www.natesilver.net/p/trump-approval-ratings-nate-silver-bulletin" target="_blank">generally reviled</a> leader in President Donald Trump. Those are just the toplines, though. And the funny thing is, when surveys get more specific, a different pattern emerges: Americans trust the Democrats a lot more than the Republicans. A recent <a href="https://d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/Political_Parties__Issue_Handling_poll_results.pdf" target="_blank">YouGov poll</a> showed that familiar topline: 38% of Americans viewed the Democratic Party favorably, and 38% viewed the Republican Party favorably.  But then it asked which party Americans trust more across 29 issues, ranging from the environment and education to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. On 12 issues, neither party is more trusted than the other, or a party’s advantage is within the poll’s margin of error. Of the remaining 17 issues, the Democratic Party has an edge on 14.  <hr> <div class="dk-editor-embed dk-datawrapper-embed center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <a class="iframe_placeholder datawrapper dk-embed" href="//datawrapper.dwcdn.net/bDl9q/1/" data-frameborder="0" data-height="593" data-src="//datawrapper.dwcdn.net/bDl9q/1/" data-width="757">Datawrapper Content</a></div> <hr> Many are the typical areas of strength for Democrats: health care, democracy, and abortion. Their biggest leads come on LGBTQ+ issues (25 percentage points), the environment (23 points), and vaccines (21 points)—areas in which the GOP is particularly hostile. Compare that with the Republican Party, which Americans trust more on only three issues: the military, Venezuela, and crime. <hr> <div class="dk-editor-embed dk-datawrapper-embed center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <a class="iframe_placeholder datawrapper dk-embed" href="//datawrapper.dwcdn.net/fxW6y/1/" data-frameborder="0" data-height="274" data-src="//datawrapper.dwcdn.net/fxW6y/1/" data-width="757">Datawrapper Content</a></div> <hr> But there is also the issue of magnitude.  Democrats have double-digit advantages on a dozen issues, including the Epstein investigation (19 points) and sweeping policy areas like civil rights (18 points) and education (14 points). But Republicans have a double-digit lead on only one issue—and barely. By 10 points, Americans trust the GOP more than the Democrats to handle crime. For the public, there seems to be a disconnect. They don’t like the Democratic Party, but when the only realistic alternative is the Republican Party, well, a lot of them trust Democrats just fine. Party preference is far from the only area where this disconnect shows up.  In 2024, just ahead of the presidential election, 55% of Americans wanted to decrease the number of immigrants allowed into the United States, according to <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/647123/sharply-americans-curb-immigration.aspx" target="_blank">Gallup</a>. It was a shocking topline—and it <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/3/2/2306166/-Are-voters-really-anti-immigration-Plus-the-most-polarizing-country" target="_blank">crumbled quite a bit</a> when Americans were asked exactly what types of immigrants should not be allowed into the country.  <figure class="image-captioned align-right"><img alt="Demonstrators march across the Lincoln Memorial during the No Kings protest on March 28, 2026 in Washington, DC. Photo by Olivier Douliery/Abaca/Sipa USA(Sipa via AP Images)" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1539084/large/AP26087650682975.jpg?1774723553" title="Demonstrators march across the Lincoln Memorial during the No Kings protest on March 28, 2026 in Washington, DC. Photo by Olivier Douliery/Abaca/Sipa USA(Sipa via AP Images)"> <figcaption>Demonstrators march across the Lincoln Memorial during the “No Kings” protest on March 28 in Washington, D.C.</figcaption> </figure> For instance, should a 13-year-old boy and his family fleeing war be allowed into the United States? Only 20% of voters would turn them away, per a Data for Progress <a href="https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2025/2/24/voters-do-not-approve-of-trumps-immigration-crackdown-when-confronted-with-real-world-examples" target="_blank">poll</a> fielded in January 2025. And notably, Gallup’s data also <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/1/4/2358723/-5-charts-that-shocked-us-in-2025" target="_blank">swung back hard</a> in 2025, with the share wanting less immigration falling 25 points, to just 30%. The disconnect also turns up when it comes to government regulation. Since 2006, a plurality of Americans has consistently said there is too much government regulation, according to Gallup <a href="https://news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/690779/no-majority-demand-deregulation.aspx" target="_blank">data</a>. In 2024, 42% said there was too much, while just 27% said there wasn’t enough. The share wanting more regulation has never seen more than 31% support since Gallup first began asking the question, in 2001. However, more specificity begets more support.  Another new YouGov <a href="https://d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/Industry_Regulation_poll_results.pdf" target="_blank">poll</a> asked Americans about their thoughts on the level of regulation for 42 different industries. And when it comes time to pick, which industries do Americans think need deregulation? The answer is … none. Yes, there is not a single industry for which the share of Americans in favor of less regulation is higher than the share that wants more regulation.  In fact, shocking majorities of Americans want higher regulation of some industries. Nearly 80% want increased regulation of artificial intelligence, and at least 60% want more for social media, health insurance, pharmaceuticals, cryptocurrency, and gambling. <hr> <div class="dk-editor-embed dk-datawrapper-embed center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <a class="iframe_placeholder datawrapper dk-embed" href="//datawrapper.dwcdn.net/6spQc/1/" data-frameborder="0" data-height="630" data-src="//datawrapper.dwcdn.net/6spQc/1/" data-width="757">Datawrapper Content</a></div> <hr> But not only that, there are 25 industries where the share wanting more regulation is meaningfully higher than the share that wants regulation to remain as is. That includes industries as divisive as firearms. A majority of Americans (57%) want more regulation of the gun industry, while only 14% want less regulation and 20% want the level of regulation to remain the same. For 12 industries, the pro-status-quo share is larger than the share that wants increased regulation, but the difference is statistically meaningful for only seven. And there is just one industry (fashion) for which a majority of Americans want the level of regulation to remain as is. What all of this tells us is that Americans often think in sweeping terms—I don’t trust the Democratic Party, I don’t like red tape, etc.—but when forced to think things through, they like their other options even less. <h3>Any updates?</h3> <ul> <li> None this week! </li> </ul> <h3>Vibe check</h3> Daily Kos has run two big previews of the 2028 Democratic primary—<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/12/28/2354469/-Who-s-the-top-2028-Democratic-contender" target="_blank">one from me</a> in December, and <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/1/2370649/-Sure-it-s-early-but-let-s-talk-about-2028" target="_blank">one from Markos Moulitsas</a> in early March—but neither tackled things across the aisle. That’s largely because, as early polling shows, the race is shaping up as you’d expect. Vice President JD Vance has led by a comfortable margin in every poll that the firm <a href="https://echeloninsights.com/insights/all" target="_blank">Echelon Insights</a> has conducted since November 2024. <hr> <div class="dk-editor-embed dk-datawrapper-embed center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <a class="iframe_placeholder datawrapper dk-embed" href="//datawrapper.dwcdn.net/rLAEa/1/" data-frameborder="0" data-height="504" data-src="//datawrapper.dwcdn.net/rLAEa/1/" data-width="757">Datawrapper Content</a></div> <hr> That said, Vance’s standing has recently wobbled. Mostly, it has hovered between 40% and 47%, but it dipped to <a href="https://echeloninsights.com/insights/february-2026-verified-voter-omnibus" target="_blank">37%</a> in February. That tracks with Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s rise in the polls, though his best showing—<a href="https://echeloninsights.com/insights/march-2026-verified-voter-omnibus" target="_blank">16%</a> in March—is still well behind Vance. Which candidate would you prefer Democrats face at the top of the Republican ticket in 2028? rss@dailykos.com (Andrew Mangan) DemocraticParty JDVance Poll Polling Polls Regulation RepublicanParty SurveySays _2375559 Sun, 12 Apr 2026 23:00:02 +0000 Trump's gas gaslighting https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/12/2376217/-Trump-s-gas-gaslighting?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= A cartoon by Clay Jones. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/1/2375942/-Trump-addresses-nation-on-Iran-war-in-first-prime-time-speech-since-launching-strikes-4-weeks-ago" title="" target="_blank">Trump says US forces will 'finish the job' soon in first prime-time speech since starting Iran war</a> <hr> rss@dailykos.com (Clay Jones) Cartoon ClayJones DonaldTrump GasPrices Iran Oil War _2376217 Sun, 12 Apr 2026 22:55:08 +0000 What leading Planned Parenthood is like now https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/12/2377282/-What-leading-Planned-Parenthood-is-like-now?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= As the political energy around abortion rights shifts, Alexis McGill Johnson is navigating the future direction of the organization. By <a href="https://19thnews.org/author/errin-haines" target="_blank">Errin Haines</a> for <a href="https://19thnews.org/2026/04/leading-planned-parenthood-alexis-mcgill-johnson/" target="_blank">The 19th</a> <hr> When Alexis McGill Johnson took the helm as leader of Planned Parenthood in 2020, the nation’s largest provider of reproductive care and a major force in American politics was already at a critical juncture. The organization’s last president had lasted just eight months; she followed <a href="https://19thnews.org/2025/01/cecile-richards-former-planned-parenthood-president-dies/" target="_blank" title="">Cecile Richards</a>, the charismatic and connected leader who was in the role for a dozen years. The future of abortion rights looked potentially shaky, and Donald Trump was in his first term. In the six years since, the U.S. Supreme Court ended federal protections for abortion, a major challenge both for providing care and for the organization’s political arm — then Trump won a second term and moved to take away federal funding, slashing a third of Planned Parenthood’s budget. Under the first Trump administration, Planned Parenthood had more than 600 health centers. Since the start of 2025, 53 have closed. More are threatened since Trump on July 4 signed into law a measure to block them from accepting Medicaid. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/7/28/2335624/-Planned-Parenthood-survives-Trump-s-latest-attack-for-now" title="" target="_blank">Planned Parenthood survives Trump's latest attack—for now</a> <hr> The end of federal abortion protections led to a surge in energy around the issue from Democrats and the left. It has faded since then as the president’s military actions and mass deportation strategy dominate attention — but McGill Johnson still has to figure out how to galvanize supporters; keep Planned Parenthood clinics serving patients; and elect Democrats in key races in states including Georgia, North Carolina and Ohio. As one of the abortion rights movement’s key standard bearers, McGill Johnson is navigating expectations from activists, donors and voters who want a fighter and expect her to deliver. Their sense of urgency can obscure what it means to both lead the fight and provide essential care to millions of Americans in an intentionally overwhelming and chaotic news cycle. <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-right"><img alt="EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY - Supporters of abortion rights cheer outside a Planned Parenthood clinic during a protest in West Hollywood, Calif., Friday, June 24, 2022. The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years in a decision by its conservative majority to overturn Roe v. Wade. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1463056/large/AP22176142421678.jpg?1754080977" title="EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY - Supporters of abortion rights cheer outside a Planned Parenthood clinic during a protest in West Hollywood, Calif., Friday, June 24, 2022. The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years in a decision by its conservative majority to overturn Roe v. Wade. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)"> <figcaption>Supporters of abortion rights cheer outside a Planned Parenthood clinic during a June 2022 protest in West Hollywood, Calif.</figcaption> </figure> “When I look at where Planned Parenthood is in this moment, we are navigating all of the chaos, but also looking for where the opportunities are inside that chaos,” McGill Johnson said. “Chaos is a strategy: throw everything at people so they don’t know where to look or how to fight.” McGill Johnson describes her style as collaborative; those who know her best say she’s a master strategist, confronting a challenging political climate with courage, clarity and creativity. The political climate in which McGill Johnson has led can really not be compared to any other past leader, said Fatima Goss Graves, president of the National Women’s Law Center. “This isn’t something that’s happened over three decades; this has been the last six years,” said Goss Graves, who first met McGill Johnson in 2017 after Goss Graves became the first Black woman to head her organization. “Alexis was the right person at the right time. It is a big deal that surviving the level of attacks they have faced, that they are still here, they are serving patients, they are still committed, and they have had to make adjustments. The work is what she’s doing.” <h3 class="AlignCenter">* * *</h3> Planned Parenthood is shorthand for dual entities: Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the nonprofit supporting affiliate clinics across two dozen states; and Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the group’s political arm, focused on organizing, advocacy and voter education. McGill Johnson’s path to leading both came after a career working on voting rights and civil rights, and she approaches the work through a racial and gender lens. She is only the second Black woman leader in the organization’s existence of more than a century. Her presence at the top of Planned Parenthood reflects a broader pattern in American institutions, in which Black women are often called on to lead in moments of crisis, with limited room for error and a lack of support. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/10/20/2349126/-The-feds-are-cutting-funding-for-Planned-Parenthood-following-a-playbook-that-began-in-Texas" title="" target="_blank">The feds are cutting funding for Planned Parenthood, following a playbook that began in Texas</a> <hr> McGill Johnson talked about the added weight of doing this work as a Black woman in a movement that has been largely White at the national level. She said that having lived and worked at the intersection of race and gender has been an asset in her current role. McGill Johnson is familiar with leading in moments like the one Planned Parenthood is facing, “moments where our leadership is judged more harshly, where we may be granted more scrutiny, less grace.” “Those are the places where I’ve had to find my center, to remind myself that I’m in this role to be unapologetic about fighting for the liberation of women of color, Black women, at the center of that liberation, because I think that actually transforms the liberation of everyone else,” she said. Former Democratic U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler, the first Black woman to head EMILY’s List, the political action committee focused on electing Democratic women, put it this way when asked about the challenges of leadership for Black women: “It is an expectation whose bumper sticker reads: ‘Fix it for us, please.’ When you look across the movement spaces where both crisis and care are on a collision course, it is Black women like Alexis who are stepping up.” <h3 class="AlignCenter">* * * </h3> The Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which ended the nearly 50-year precedent of legal abortion access nationwide, angered many Democratic women and motivated them in record numbers in the 2022 midterm elections. Then-Vice President Kamala Harris championed reproductive rights as a pillar of her 2024 presidential campaign — but her loss was criticized by some, in part, as prioritizing abortion access over the economy. Now, the Democratic Party’s uncertainty around whether and how to talk about abortion to voters adds to McGill Johnson’s challenges in this moment. The stakes on the ground are still life and death for many Americans, but political strategists say the issue of abortion has proved less politically potent as the national spotlight has moved on. “For someone fighting on this issue, the progressive movement that was so galvanized is less so because they’re focused on many of the other things that Trump is doing that are dangerous to the country,” said Democratic strategist Karen Finney. Abortion can still be a motivating issue for Democrats — especially as it’s related to the two biggest issues at the moment, health care and affordability, said Democratic pollster Celinda Lake. “It’s still motivating to voters for turnout,” Lake said. “Right now, everything is being pushed out by the war and the economy. I think it will reemerge as a much more powerful issue in 2028. Health is the number one issue, the number one pocketbook issue. When you talk about abortion and broaden it, it’s very powerful there.” <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/10/20/2349126/-The-feds-are-cutting-funding-for-Planned-Parenthood-following-a-playbook-that-began-in-Texas" title="" target="_blank">The feds are cutting funding for Planned Parenthood, following a playbook that began in Texas</a> <hr> McGill Johnson worked to do just that, emphasizing Planned Parenthood’s presence particularly in communities with a lack of options for reproductive care. Politically, she has framed the issue as one of affordability and of democracy, and is focused on a message to voters about how the administration’s actions in recent years are impacting them. “It may not feel as though abortion is as front and center as it was in the year or two after the Dobbs decision … but when you bring it to people and remind them that these things are happening, it taps directly into that rage,” McGill Johnson said. She added that part of the job now also looks like acknowledging the concerns of those in the movement as a leader of a complex organization with little room for error. Supporters of abortion rights — and even supporters of McGill Johnson herself — have criticized her for not responding strongly enough to attacks on access, saying they don’t see her fighting in the way they want. What does it mean when some on the left are more in the mood for a wartime general than a collaborator? “In the day-to-day, it is a lot of navigating people’s frustrations, anxieties and hopes, and how to keep people focused on that hope and a strategy for how to get there,” McGill Johnson said. “We’re living in moments where philanthropy has pulled back from a number of institutions where there is a federal defund, which has impacted a lot of my colleagues. One day, you’re navigating ICE and the next day, the country’s at war, right? All within the same time period. I think my kind of special superpower is the ability to kind of keep myself at the 30,000-foot view to understand how all of these things are interacting with each other.” <h3 class="AlignCenter">* * *</h3> McGill Johnson said the urgent question for her is: Who are we going to be now that we’re no longer defending Roe? It’s one that no other president of Planned Parenthood had to grapple with after the landmark 1973 case that made abortion the law of the land. Since 2019 when she became interim leader, Planned Parenthood’s supporter base — which includes volunteers, donors, activists and email subscribers — has grown from 13 million to 20 million. <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-right"><img alt="Cartoon by Mike Luckovich" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1294462/large/lk042824dAPR.jpg?1714141555" title="Cartoon by Mike Luckovich"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> In addition to her focus on the campaign trail, McGill Johnson will also have to continue the work of reimagining Planned Parenthood’s network of clinics as part of the national health care infrastructure. According to the organization, 1 in 3 women in the United States has visited a Planned Parenthood clinic. “I believe that Planned Parenthood could become the Cleveland Clinic of sexual and reproductive health care, because we have such great clinical excellence,” McGill Johnson said. “We are already a leader in standardizing best-in-class care, on sexual, reproductive health care, including abortion, so I think a lot about what it would mean for us to to focus on seeing as many patients as Planned Parenthood can, but to also export that influence into ensuring everybody else’s is standard of care is raised.” To get there, McGill Johnson will have to endure and survive the current climate and the demands of the post-Roe era. Reproductive Freedom for All President Mini Timmaraju said meeting the multiple challenges at the local, state and federal level with diminished resources and competing areas of attention is daunting. “We have to do more than we’ve ever done before, and the funding is not what it should be,” said Timmaraju, the first woman of color to lead her organization. “We are all scrambling to make sure that in the moment where abortion funds need funding, clinics need funding, we also have enough resources for advocacy at every single level, and that’s really challenging in an environment where donors are understandably a little frustrated with progressive entities right after 2024 so we’re having to prove ourselves again, and continually having to prove and reprove, over and over again, the salience of abortion electorally.” <div style="text-align:start"> <div> <ul> </ul> </div> </div> rss@dailykos.com (The19th) Abortion HealthCare PlannedParenthood ReproductiveRights _2377282 Sun, 12 Apr 2026 21:00:03 +0000 Republicans hate Trump’s Iran ‘ceasefire’—but only off the record https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/12/2377166/-Republicans-hate-Trump-s-Iran-ceasefire-but-only-off-the-record?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/tags/congressionalcowards" target="_blank">Congressional Cowards</a> is a weekly series highlighting the worst Donald Trump defenders on Capitol Hill, who refuse to criticize him—no matter how disgraceful or lawless his actions. <hr> As President Donald Trump’s war in Iran <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/16/2373380/-Trump-lashes-out-as-Iran-war-spirals-out-of-control" target="_blank">spirals out of control</a>, congressional Republicans are in a bind. They <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/22/2374031/-Republicans-roll-out-new-dumb-excuses-for-Trump-s-idiotic-war" target="_blank">supported</a> Trump's bombing campaign, and they even <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376773/-GOP-cowards-race-to-defend-Trump-s-insane-Iran-war-crime-threats" target="_blank" title="">cheered</a> his disgusting vow to <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376800/-Don-t-assume-Trump-will-TACO-on-Iran-war-crime-threats" target="_blank">end Iranian civilization</a>. <figure class="image-captioned align-right"><img alt="A thick plume of smoke rises from an oil storage facility hit by a U.S.-Israeli strike late Saturday in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1533818/large/AP26067414454574.jpg?1773080524" title="A thick plume of smoke rises from an oil storage facility hit by a U.S.-Israeli strike late Saturday in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)"> <figcaption>A thick plume of smoke rises from an oil storage facility hit by a U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, on March 8.</figcaption> </figure> But now that Trump has folded, <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376880/-Trump-walks-back-bombing-threats-for-2-weeks-if-Iran-agrees-to-ceasefire" target="_blank">seeking a ceasefire</a> with Iran so he can cut his losses and run from the quagmire that <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/9/2377112/-Anxious-Republicans-worry-Trump-s-Iran-mess-has-already-cost-them-the-midterms" target="_blank">threatens to sink Republicans</a> in the midterms, GOP lawmakers are having to defend a deal that <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/8/2376971/-Trump-declares-victory-after-making-Iran-more-powerful-than-ever" target="_blank">leaves Iran stronger</a> than it was before the war began. "I have tremendous confidence in [Trump] that he will put an end to Iran’s reign of terror once and for all, hopefully through diplomacy," Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina <a href="https://x.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/2041890297966207168" target="_blank">wrote on X</a> after Trump <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376880/-Trump-walks-back-bombing-threats-for-2-weeks-if-Iran-agrees-to-ceasefire" target="_blank">walked back</a> his war crimes threat. But Graham isn't pleased with Dear Leader, as he went on to list everything that Trump must accomplish before the war can be considered a success—none of which Trump has achieved. "He has been saying since day one that when this is over Iran will no longer be the largest state sponsor of terrorism, they will not be allowed to have a ballistic missile program to threaten Europe and the U.S., and they will be forever prevented from acquiring a nuclear weapon," Graham wrote. Rep. Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin also praised Trump's <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/8/2377005/-Fox-News-attempt-to-rebrand-TACO-Trump-is-extra-cheesy" target="_blank">Iran TACO</a>, but he also admitted that this is far from a true ceasefire. "This is an amazing start but if Iran so much as sneezes sideways, back to option A," he <a href="https://x.com/derrickvanorden/status/2041882576571285552" target="_blank">wrote on X</a>. "Their call, our play." <figure class="image-captioned align-left"><img alt="UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 9: Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., talks with reporters before a meeting of the House Republican Conference at the Capitol Hill Club on Tuesday, September 9, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1537872/large/AP25266822830191.jpg?1774381416" title="UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 9: Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., talks with reporters before a meeting of the House Republican Conference at the Capitol Hill Club on Tuesday, September 9, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)"> <figcaption>GOP Rep. Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin</figcaption> </figure> And true to form, many Republican cowards seem to only be comfortable shitting on this obviously horrible ceasefire deal if their names aren’t attached to the criticism—allowing them to speak their minds without drawing Trump's wrath. “I don’t believe most Republicans would be on board with that,” an unnamed Republican lawmaker <a href="https://www.semafor.com/article/04/07/2026/where-are-we-going-trumps-allies-take-his-latest-iran-threat-seriously" target="_blank">told Semafor</a> of the United States cutting and running from Trump’s war. “What happens if we were to just pull the plug … does that put our Gulf partners in a really precarious situation? Is that dangerous for the region? Is that dangerous, potentially for Americans?” Another unnamed Republican <a href="https://x.com/jmart/status/2041874277192835455" target="_blank">told</a> Politico's Jonathan Martin that “the only reason they’re not dancing in Iran is because they banned dancing.” What a mess. rss@dailykos.com (Emily Singer) congressionalcowards DonaldTrump Iran LindseyGraham Taco War _2377166 Sun, 12 Apr 2026 19:00:16 +0000 Criminal activity https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/12/2376853/-Criminal-activity?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= A cartoon by Clay Bennett. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/31/2375795/-Trump-ramps-up-his-unconstitutional-crusade-against-mail-in-voting" title="" target="_blank">Trump ramps up his unconstitutional crusade against mail-in voting</a> <hr> rss@dailykos.com (Clay Bennett) Cartoon ClayBennett DonaldTrump ExecutiveOrders _2376853 Sun, 12 Apr 2026 18:55:05 +0000 States face another challenge with Medicaid work rules: Staffing shortages https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/12/2377285/-States-face-another-challenge-with-Medicaid-work-rules-Staffing-shortages?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= By <a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/author/sam-whitehead/" target="_blank">Sam Whitehead</a> for <a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/medicaid-cuts-work-requirements-state-staff-shortages/" target="_blank">KFF</a> <hr> Katie Crouch says calling her state’s Medicaid agency to get information about her benefits can feel like a series of dead ends. <div> “The first time, it’ll ring interminably. Next time, it’ll go to a voice mail that just hangs up on you,” said the 48-year-old, who lives in Delaware. “Sometimes you’ll get a person who says they’re not the right one. They transfer you, and it hangs up. Sometimes, it picks up and there’s just nobody on the line.” She spent months trying to figure out whether her Medicaid coverage had been renewed. As of late March, she hadn’t been reapproved for the year for the state-federal program, which provides health insurance for people with low incomes and disabilities. Crouch, who suffered a debilitating brain aneurysm a decade ago, also has Medicare, which covers people who are 65 or older or have disabilities. Medicaid had been paying her monthly Medicare deductibles of $200, but she’d been on the hook for them for the past three months, straining her family’s fixed income, she said. Crouch’s challenges with Delaware’s Medicaid call center aren’t unique. State Medicaid agencies can struggle to keep enough staff to help people sign up for benefits and field calls from enrollees with questions. A shortage of such workers can keep people from fully using their benefits, health policy researchers said. Now, congressional Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law last summer, will soon demand more from staff at state agencies in places where lawmakers expanded Medicaid to more low-income adults — nearly all states and the District of Columbia. <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-right"><img alt="Cartoon by Mike Luckovich" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1451983/large/lk070325dAPR.jpg?1751497497" title="Cartoon by Mike Luckovich"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> Under the law, which is expected to reduce Medicaid spending by almost $1 trillion over the next eight years, these staffers will have to not only determine whether millions of enrollees meet the program’s new work requirements but also verify more frequently that they qualify for the program — every six months instead of yearly. KFF Health News reached out to agencies that will need to stand up the work rules, and many said they’ll need additional staff. The mandates will put extra strain on an already-stressed workforce, potentially making it harder for enrollees like Crouch to get basic customer service. And many could lose access to benefits they’re legally entitled to, said consumer advocates and health policy researchers, some of them with direct experience working at state agencies. States are already “struggling significantly,” said Jennifer Wagner, the director of Medicaid eligibility and enrollment at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and a former associate director of the Illinois Department of Human Services. “There will be significant additional challenges caused by these changes.” <div class="dk-editor-embed dk-datawrapper-embed center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <a class="iframe_placeholder datawrapper dk-embed" data-frameborder="0" data-height="817" data-src="//datawrapper.dwcdn.net/IhFNA/2/">Datawrapper Content</a></div> <h3>Long Wait Times for Help</h3> Republicans argue the Medicaid changes, which will take effect Jan. 1, 2027, in most states, will encourage enrollees to find jobs. Research on other Medicaid work requirement programs has found little evidence they increase employment. The Congressional Budget Office <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61367" target="_blank" title="">estimated the rules</a> would cause more people to lose health coverage by 2034 than any other part of the GOP budget law. It said last year more than 5 million people could be affected. Many states don’t have the staff to process Medicaid applications or renewals quickly, said consumer advocates and researchers. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services tracks whether states can handle the most common type of benefit application within a 45-day window. In December, about 30% of all Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, applications in Washington, D.C., and Georgia <a href="https://www.medicaid.gov/resources-for-states/downloads/eligib-oper-and-enrol-snap-dec2025.pdf" target="_blank" title="">took more than 45 days</a> to process. More than a quarter took that long in Wyoming. In Maine, 1 in 5 applications missed that deadline. CMS began publicly sharing state Medicaid call center data in 2023, revealing a taxed system, researchers and consumer advocates said. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/2/13/2368428/-New-Medicaid-work-rules-likely-to-hit-middle-aged-adults-hard" title="" target="_blank">New Medicaid work rules likely to hit middle-aged adults hard</a> <hr> In Hawaii, people waited on the phone for more than three hours in December. They waited for nearly an hour in Oklahoma, and more than an hour in Nevada. In 2023, state Medicaid agencies began making sure enrollees who were protected from being dropped from the program during the covid pandemic still qualified for coverage. That Medicaid unwinding process <a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/medicaid-unwinding-disenrollment-redetermination-state-delays/" target="_blank">didn’t go well in many states,</a> and <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicaid/as-medicaid-unwinding-concludes-in-most-states-kff-finds-25-million-lost-medicaid-coverage-but-enrollment-is-10-million-higher-than-pre-pandemic-levels/" target="_blank" title="">more than 25 million</a> lost their benefits. Health policy researchers and consumer advocates say rolling out the new Medicaid rules will be a bigger challenge. The Medicaid work rules will require extensive IT system changes and training for workers verifying eligibility on a tight timeline. “It is a much larger scale of administrative complexity,” said Sophia Tripoli, senior director of policy at Families USA, a health care consumer advocacy organization. After months of trying to get someone on the phone, Crouch said, she finally got answers to questions about her Medicaid benefits after writing to the office of U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.). McBride’s office contacted the state’s Medicaid agency, which eventually called with an update, Crouch said. Crouch didn’t qualify for Medicaid after all. She said that had never come up in two years of interactions with the state. “It makes absolutely no sense” that the state never realized she shouldn’t have been on the program, Crouch said. Delaware’s Medicaid agency didn’t respond to requests for comment on Crouch’s situation. <h3>States Short-Staffed for Medicaid</h3> Some states told KFF Health News in late March that they’ll need more staff to roll out the work rules effectively. Idaho said it has 40 eligibility worker vacancies. New York estimated it will need 80 new employees to handle the additional administrative work, at a cost of $6.2 million. Pennsylvania said it has nearly 400 open positions in county human services offices in the state. Indiana’s Medicaid agency has 94 open positions. Maine wants to hire 90 additional staffers, and Massachusetts wants to hire 70 more. As of early March, Montana had filled 39 of 59 positions state officials projected it would need. The state still plans to roll out the rules early, starting July 1, despite its long struggle with system backlogs that applicants said <a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/medicaid-unwinding-public-assistance-access-problems/" target="_blank" title="">have delayed benefits.</a> Missouri’s social services agency has been cutting staff and has 1,000 fewer front-line workers than it did roughly a decade ago — with more than double the number of enrollees in Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, according to comments Jessica Bax, the agency director, made <a href="https://stateofmo.webex.com/recordingservice/sites/stateofmo/recording/f9f326803de7465f8c71e0e7766ec85d/playback" target="_blank">during a public meeting</a> in November. “The department thought that there would be a gain in efficiency due to eligibility system upgrades,” Bax said. “Many of those did not come to fruition.” <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/2/28/2370786/-Red-states-target-SNAP-fraud-errors-under-threat-of-costly-federal-penalties" title="" target="_blank">Red states target SNAP fraud, errors under threat of costly federal penalties</a> <hr> States could have a hard time finding people interested in taking those jobs, which require months-long training, can be emotionally challenging, and generally offer low pay, said Tricia Brooks, a researcher at the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. “They get yelled at a lot,” said Brooks, who formerly ran New Hampshire’s Medicaid and CHIP customer service program. “People are frustrated. They’re crying. They’re concerned. They’re losing access to health care, and so sometimes it’s not an easy job to take if it’s hard to help someone.” States are <a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/state-medicaid-work-requirements-eligibility-systems-deloitte-accenture-optum/" target="_blank" title="">paying government contractors millions of dollars</a> to help them comply with the new federal law. Maximus, a government services contractor, provides eligibility support, such as running call centers, in 17 states that expanded Medicaid and interacts with nearly 3 in 5 people enrolled in the program nationally, according to the company. During a February earnings call, company leadership said Maximus can charge based on the number of transactions it completes for enrollees, independent of how many people are enrolled in a state’s Medicaid program. Maximus has “no one-size-fits-all approach” to the services it offers or the way it charges for those services, spokesperson Marci Goldstein told KFF Health News. The company, which reported bringing in $1.76 billion in 2025 from the part of its business that includes Medicaid work, expects that revenue to continue to grow, even as people fall off the Medicaid rolls, “because of the additional transactions that will need to take place,” David Mutryn, Maximus’ chief financial officer and treasurer, said during the earnings call. Losing Medicaid health coverage isn’t just an inconvenience, since many people enrolled in the program probably don’t make enough money to pay for health care on their own and may not qualify for financial help for Affordable Care Act coverage, said Elizabeth Edwards, a senior attorney with the National Health Law Program. People could be unable to afford medications or get essential care, which could lead to “devastating” health impacts, she said. “The human stakes of this are people’s lives,” she said. KFF Health News correspondents Katheryn Houghton and Samantha Liss contributed to this report. </div> rss@dailykos.com (KFF) HealthCare Medicaid Medicine _2377285 Sun, 12 Apr 2026 18:00:02 +0000 Can't stop winning https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/12/2375578/-Can-t-stop-winning?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= Since President Donald Trump launched his expensive and unpopular war on Iran, everything has gotten worse—chief among them <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/03/31/2375688/-trump-s-support-is-dwindling-to-just-the-MAGA-die-hards" target="_blank">Trump’s own approval</a>. As gas prices <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/8/2376994/-Thanks-Trump-Gas-prices-will-remain-high-for-months-due-to-Iran-war?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_1&pm_medium=web" target="_blank">surge</a>, unemployment <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/31/2375693/-Labor-secretary-spins-new-jobs-report-before-it-s-even-released" target="_blank">skyrockets</a>, and the Trump team <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/31/2375686/-Trump-and-Hegseth-scream-at-the-world-as-their-war-spirals" target="_blank">embarrasses</a> the United States on the global stage, everything <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376800/-Don-t-assume-Trump-will-TACO-on-Iran-war-crime-threats?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_4&pm_medium=web" target="_blank">feels pretty bleak</a> right now. So let’s all take a moment to have a laugh.  Here are some of our favorite Iran-related cartoons, and feel free to share more in the comments. <hr> <h3>Eating their hat, by Clay Bennett</h3> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/29/2373896/-Eating-their-hat" target="_blank">Originally published</a> March 29. <div class="align-center"> <figure class="image-captioned"><img alt="Cartoon by Clay Bennett" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1536536/large/20260322edcbc-a.jpg?1773942114" title="Cartoon by Clay Bennett"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> </div> <hr> <h3>Exit strategy, by Tim Campbell</h3> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/31/2375502/-Exit-strategy" target="_blank">Originally published</a> March 31. <div class="align-center"> <figure class="image-captioned"><img alt="Cartoon by Tim Campbell" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1539979/large/20260330edtcc-a.jpg?1774885986" title="Cartoon by Tim Campbell"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> </div> <hr> <h3>Fifth horseman, by Mike Luckovich</h3> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/03/30/2375500/-fifth-horseman" target="_blank">Originally published</a> March 31. <div class="align-center"> <figure class="image-captioned"><img alt="Cartoon by Mike Luckovich" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1539974/large/lk032926dAPR.jpg?1774885711" title="Cartoon by Mike Luckovich"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> </div> <hr> <h3>Boots on the ground, by Clay Bennett</h3> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/1/2375593/-Boots-on-the-ground" target="_blank">Originally published</a> April 1. <div class="align-center"> <figure class="image-captioned"><img alt="Cartoon by Clay Bennett" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1540068/large/20260331edcbc-a.jpg?1774915373" title="Cartoon by Clay Bennett"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> </div> <hr> <h3>Someone, please, get this emperor some clothes, by Mike Luckovich</h3> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/1/2375738/-Someone-please-get-this-emperor-some-clothes" target="_blank">Originally published</a> April 1. <div class="align-center"> <figure class="image-captioned"><img alt="Cartoon by Mike Luckovich" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1540273/large/lk040126dAPR.jpg?1774984706" title="Cartoon by Mike Luckovich"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> </div> <hr> <h3>Tom the Dancing Bug’s Dementia Donnie and his ballroom and war, by RubenBolling</h3> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/2/2375852/-Tom-the-Dancing-Bug-s-Dementia-Donnie-and-his-ballroom-and-war" target="_blank">Originally published</a> April 2. <div class="align-center"> <figure class="image-captioned"><img alt="1778ckCOMICdementiadonnie-ballroom.png" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1540593/large/1778ckCOMICdementiadonnie-ballroom.png?1775051659" title="1778ckCOMICdementiadonnie-ballroom.png"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> </div> <hr> <h3>Blessed are the peacemakers, by Jack Ohman</h3> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/2/2375774/-Blessed-are-the-peacemakers" target="_blank">Originally published</a> April 2. <div class="align-center"> <figure class="image-captioned"><img alt="Cartoon by Jack Ohman" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1540369/large/20260331edohc-a.jpg?1774993165" title="Cartoon by Jack Ohman"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> </div> <hr> <h3>Reality vs. delusion, by David Horsey</h3> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/03/30/2375532/-reality-vs-delusion" target="_blank">Originally published</a> April 3. <div class="align-center"> <figure class="image-captioned"><img alt="Cartoon by David Horsey" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1540013/large/20260328edhoc-a.jpg?1774897214" title="Cartoon by David Horsey"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> </div> <hr> <h3>Looking for the off-ramp … , by Jack Ohman</h3> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/5/2376015/-Looking-for-the-off-ramp" target="_blank">Originally published</a> April 5. <div class="align-center"> <figure class="image-captioned"><img alt="Cartoon by Jack Ohman" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1540946/large/20260401edohc-a.jpg?1775147028" title="Cartoon by Jack Ohman"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> </div> <hr> <h3>A selfless leader, by Mike Luckovich</h3> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376108/-A-selfless-leader" target="_blank">Originally published</a> April 7. <div class="align-center"> <figure class="image-captioned"><img alt="Cartoon by Mike Luckovich" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1541105/large/lk040526dAPR.jpg?1775173931" title="Cartoon by Mike Luckovich"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> </div> <h3></h3> <hr> <h3>Victory in Iran, by Clay Bennett</h3> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376600/-Victory-in-Iran" target="_blank">Originally published</a> April 7. <div class="align-center"> <figure class="image-captioned"><img alt="Cartoon by Clay Bennett" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1541973/large/20260404edcbc-a.jpg?1775491429" title="Cartoon by Clay Bennett"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> </div> <hr> <h3>Ooga!, by David Horsey</h3> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376842/-Ooga" target="_blank">Originally published</a> April 7. <div class="align-center"> <figure class="image-captioned"><img alt="Cartoon by David Horsey" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1542342/large/20260407edhoc-a.jpg?1775593560" title="Cartoon by David Horsey"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> </div> <hr> <h3>Name that bellicose babbler, by Jen Sorensen</h3> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/8/2376795/-Name-that-bellicose-babbler" target="_blank">Originally published</a> April 8. <div class="align-center"> <figure class="image-captioned"><img alt="Cartoon by Jen Sorensen" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1542293/large/bellicose915.png?1775578736" title="Cartoon by Jen Sorensen"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> </div> <hr> <h3>Space purge, by Clay Jones</h3> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/8/2376832/-Space-purge" target="_blank">Originally published</a> April 8. <div class="align-center"> <figure class="image-captioned"><img alt="Cartoon by Clay Jones" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1542336/large/CjonesRGB04082026.jpg?1775590730" title="Cartoon by Clay Jones"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> </div> <hr> <h3>Trump method, by Pedro Molina</h3> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/8/2376847/-Trump-method" target="_blank">Originally published</a> April 8. <div class="align-center"> <figure class="image-captioned"><img alt="Cartoon by Pedro Molina" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1542350/large/20260407edpmc-a.jpg?1775596150" title="Cartoon by Pedro Molina"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> </div> <hr> <h3>Trump age, by Clay Jones</h3> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/9/2376596/-Trump-age" target="_blank">Originally published</a> April 9. <div class="align-center"> <figure class="image-captioned"><img alt="Cartoon by Clay Jones" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1541971/large/CjonesRGB04052026.jpg?1775491096" title="Cartoon by Clay Jones"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> </div> <hr> <h3>The boy who cried nuke, by Drew Sheneman</h3> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/04/08/2376987/-the-boy-who-cried-nuke" target="_blank">Originally published</a> April 9. <div class="align-center"> <figure class="image-captioned"><img alt="Cartoon by Drew Sheneman" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1542634/large/20260408edshe-b.jpg?1775665958" title="Cartoon by Drew Sheneman"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> </div> <hr> <h3>Presidential profanity, by Clay Bennett</h3> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/04/06/2376684/-presidential-profanity" target="_blank">Originally published</a> April 9. <div class="align-center"> <figure class="image-captioned"><img alt="Cartoon by Clay Bennett" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1542103/large/20260407edcbc-a.jpg?1775515473" title="Cartoon by Clay Bennett"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> </div> <hr> <h3>The other nuclear option, by Drew Sheneman</h3> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/10/2376858/-The-other-nuclear-option" target="_blank">Originally published</a> April 10. <div class="align-center"> <figure class="image-captioned"><img alt="Cartoon by Drew Sheneman" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1542387/large/20260407edshe-b.jpg?1775599623" title="Cartoon by Drew Sheneman"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> </div> <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/10/2377234/-Inflation-surges-as-Iran-war-spirals" target="_blank">Inflation surges as Iran war spirals</a> <hr> rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos Staff) Cartoons DonaldTrump Economy GasPrices Iran MAGA Oil War _2375578 Sun, 12 Apr 2026 17:00:13 +0000 Let's celebrate jazz legend Herbie Hancock's 86th birthday https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/12/2374630/-Let-s-celebrate-jazz-legend-Herbie-Hancock-s-86th-birthday?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/tags/BlackMusicSunday" target="_blank">Black Music Sunday</a> is a weekly series highlighting all things Black music, with over<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/tags/BlackMusicSunday?filter=stories" target="_blank" title=""> 300 stories</a> covering performers, genres, history, and more, each featuring its own vibrant soundtrack. I hope you’ll find some familiar tunes and perhaps an introduction to something new. <hr> Herbie Hancock turns 86 years old today—so let’s celebrate! His<a href="https://musicianguide.com/biographies/1608002320/Herbie-Hancock.html" target="_blank"> Musician Guide biography </a>was written by Sonya Shelton. <blockquote> Herbert Jeffrey Hancock was born on April 12, 1940, in Chicago, Illinois to Wayman and Winnie Griffin Hancock. His father was a grocery store clerk, while his mother worked as a secretary. Both parents instilled a love and appreciation for music in all of their children. When Herbie Hancock was a toddler, he was always happy if a piano was near. His love for the piano grew even deeper when his parents bought him an old upright piano for 25 dollars. Instead of getting involved in sports or running the back streets of Chicago with his school friends, Hancock opted to stay home to practice the piano. He used his extra time to pursue his growing interest in science and electronics. However, his interest in music never caused his schoolwork to suffer. His inexhaustible discipline allowed him to skip two grades. During elementary school, his teachers and his mother encouraged him to listen to opera on the radio, which helped his understanding of both music and the piano. At the age of 11, Hancock won a scholastic award for his concert performance of a Mozart concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Delved into Jazz Music Growing up in Chicago, Hancock was surrounded by the blues, as it echoed through the city during his high school years. Yet, Hancock didn't gravitate toward rhythm and blues, but instead, was moved by the more complex jazz styles. When he heard a classmate play an improvisational piece at a talent show, he was so taken by its freedom that he became devoted to learning all about it. As Lynn Norment noted in Ebony Magazine, "He closeted himself for hours alone with Oscar Peterson and George Shearing records, committed their notes to paper and then reproduced them. This tedious exercise led to his ability to analyze and dissect harmonic structures, rhythmic patterns, and choral voicings." After graduating high school, Hancock enrolled at Grinnell College, in Iowa, in 1956 to study engineering. While there, he learned the fundamentals of electronics, which later translated into his own music in the 1970s. Hancock went on to change his major to music composition and graduated in 1960. He returned to Chicago, and worked with such artists as Coleman Hawkins, Donald Byrd, Dexter Gordon, and Freddie Hubbard. The following winter, a treacherous snow storm prevented the pianist for Donald Byrd's group from getting to Chicago where they were scheduled to play. Hancock stepped in for the missing pianist. Byrd was impressed by Hancock's performance, and took him under his wing. Byrd took him to New York and introduced him to the jazz establishment, which laid the groundwork for Hancock's 1962 debut album, Takin' Off, which included musicians like Dexter Gordon and Freddie Hubbard. A year later, his song "Watermelon Man," was covered by Mongo Santamaria, and subsequently recorded over the years by more than 200 artists. </blockquote> Here’s Hancock on “Soul Train” performing “Watermelon Man”: <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=Qt8agHeK1as" data-frameborder="0" data-height="315" data-src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Qt8agHeK1as?si=E21ADESXjRfg7uOy" data-width="560">YouTube Video</a></div> <a href="https://www.herbiehancock.com/biography-full-page/" title="" target="_blank">His official webpage</a> continues his story: <blockquote> In 1960, Herbie was discovered by trumpeter Donald Byrd. After two years of session work with Byrd as well as Phil Woods and Oliver Nelson, he signed with Blue Note as a solo artist. His 1963 debut album, ‘Takin’ Off’, was an immediate success, producing the hit “Watermelon Man.” In 1963, Miles Davis invited Herbie to join the Miles Davis Quintet. During his five years with Davis, Herbie and his colleagues Wayne Shorter (tenor sax), Ron Carter (bass), and Tony Williams (drums) recorded many classics, including ‘ESP’, ‘Nefertiti’ and ‘Sorcerer’. Later on, Herbie appeared on Davis’ groundbreaking ‘In a Silent Way.’ Herbie’s own solo career blossomed on Blue Note, with classic albums including ‘Maiden Voyage’, ‘Empyrean Isles’, and ‘Speak Like a Child’. He composed the score to Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1966 film ‘Blow Up’, which led to a successful career in feature film and television music. After leaving Davis, Herbie put together a new band called The Headhunters and, in 1973, recorded ‘Head Hunters.’ With its crossover hit single “Chameleon,” it became the first jazz album to go platinum.  By mid-decade, Herbie was playing for stadium-sized crowds all over the world and had no fewer than four albums in the pop charts at once. In total, Herbie had 11 albums in the pop charts during the 1970s. His ’70s output inspired and provided samples for generations of hip-hop and dance music artists.   Herbie also stayed close to his love of acoustic jazz in the ’70s, recording and performing with VSOP (reuniting him with his Miles Davis colleagues), and in duet settings with Chick Corea and Oscar Peterson. </blockquote> Hancock’s autobiography,<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/313520/herbie-hancock-possibilities-by-herbie-hancock-with-lisa-dickey/" target="_blank"> “Possibilities,” </a>shares a title with his<a href="https://www.herbiehancock.com/music/discography/album/possibilities/" title="" target="_blank"> 2005 album “Possibilities.”</a> He was named a<a href="https://www.arts.gov/honors/jazz/herbie-hancock" title="" target="_blank"> National Endowment for the Arts jazzmaster in 2004</a>: <blockquote> In 1961, trumpeter <a href="https://www.arts.gov/honors/jazz/donald-byrd" target="_blank">Donald Byrd </a>asked the young pianist to join his group in New York, leading to Blue Note offering him a recording contract. His first album as leader, Takin' Off, which included the hit single "Watermelon Man," demonstrated a gift for composition and improvisation. His talent impressed <a href="https://www.arts.gov/honors/jazz/miles-davis" target="_blank">Miles Davis </a>enough to ask Hancock to join his band in 1963. In the five years he worked with Davis, who became a mentor as well as an employer, Hancock established his standing as one of the greatest pianists of all time. Along with <a href="https://www.arts.gov/honors/jazz/ron-carter" target="_blank">Ron Carter </a>(bass) and Tony Williams (drums), Hancock altered the role of the rhythm section in jazz to include expanded solos and spontaneous changes in mood and tempo. He also composed a number of pieces for the band as well as for his outstanding solo recordings with Blue Note. It was toward the end of his tenure with Davis that he began to use electric piano. After leaving the band in 1968, Hancock continued to explore the use of electronic instruments in his music. In 1973, he formed a quartet whose first recording, Head Hunters, launched him into jazz stardom and became a bestselling jazz album. In the late 1970s, Hancock revived the old Miles Davis band (<a href="https://www.arts.gov/honors/jazz/freddie-hubbard" target="_blank">Freddie Hubbard </a>stood in for Davis) under the name V.S.O.P. and they toured extensively. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated stunning artistic versatility. In 1983, "Rockit," a single that resulted from a collaborative effort with the rock band Material, became a hit on MTV. Hancock then switched gears completely, partnering with Gambian kora virtuoso Foday Musa Suso on two albums, Village Life and Jazz Africa. He also has written scores for several films, including Blow-Up in 1966, Death Wish in 1974, and Round Midnight, for which he won an Academy Award in 1987. Hancock has won 12 Grammy Awards in the past two decades, and continues to work as a producer and in both the electric and acoustic spheres of jazz. In 2008, he won the Grammy Album of the Year for River: The Joni Letters, the first jazz album to win that award in 43 years. </blockquote> This hour-long profile of Hancock hosted by Heart songstress<a href="https://www.arts.gov/honors/jazz/nancy-wilson" target="_blank"> Nancy Wilson</a> is a comprehensive look at his life and music: <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=zvhZTdLxY9Y" data-frameborder="0" data-height="315" data-src="//www.youtube.com/embed/zvhZTdLxY9Y?si=X6bWzjX0AaR58KRU" data-width="560">YouTube Video</a></div> <div> <div> <div> <div></div> </div> </div> </div> <div> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvhZTdLxY9Y" target="_blank">32 Bar Blues video notes</a>: <blockquote> There are few artists in the music industry who have had more influence on acoustic and electronic jazz and R&B than Herbie Hancock. With an illustrious career spanning six decades and 14 Grammy Awards, he continues to amaze audiences across the globe. As the immortal Miles Davis said in his autobiography, “Herbie was the step after Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, and I haven’t heard anybody yet who has come after him.”As part of the Peabody Award-winning documentary series “Jazz Profiles,” this episode about Herbie Hancock was produced in 2000 by John Diliberto and narrated by the show host Nancy Wilson. </blockquote> I admit to wearing this album out back in the 1970s: </div> <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=STKxbUmVCkg" data-frameborder="0" data-height="315" data-src="//www.youtube.com/embed/STKxbUmVCkg?si=JqusUdJaD6PuWvkY" data-width="560">YouTube Video</a></div> Let’s take a “Maiden Voyage” back to 1965: <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=P6NRfitSCxw" data-frameborder="0" data-height="315" data-src="//www.youtube.com/embed/P6NRfitSCxw?si=09ObGnE0o89DfEkY" data-width="560">YouTube Video</a></div> Back in 2014 when The Kennedy Center was still The Kennedy Center, Hancock teamed up with <a href="https://concord.com/artist/esperanza-spalding/" title="" target="_blank">Esperanza Spaulding</a> to honor<a href="https://www.sting.com/biography" target="_blank"> Sting</a>. <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=mOTigo5U-JY" data-frameborder="0" data-height="315" data-src="//www.youtube.com/embed/mOTigo5U-JY?si=CP4a609hK6yLxvrg" data-width="560">YouTube Video</a></div> This breathtaking rendition of<a href="https://www.johnlennon.com/music/singles/imagine/" target="_blank"> John Lennon’s “Imagine”</a> which featured <a href="https://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/literary-cultural-heritage-map-pa/bios/moore__alecia" target="_blank">P!nk</a>,<a href="https://www.biography.com/musicians/seal" target="_blank"> Seal</a>,<a href="https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/arie-india-1975/" target="_blank"> India.Arie</a>, and various African musicians is a must-listen. <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=mVAQl7qq-aI" data-frameborder="0" data-height="315" data-src="//www.youtube.com/embed/mVAQl7qq-aI?si=wbHw8yslL9msjRlQ" data-width="560">YouTube Video</a></div> Join me for lots more music in the comments section below.  Happy 86th, Herbie! rss@dailykos.com (Denise Oliver Velez) BlackMusicSunday EsperanzaSpaulding HerbieHancock Imagine KennedyCenter SoulTrain Sting _2374630 Sun, 12 Apr 2026 13:00:20 +0000 Cult dues https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/12/2377055/-Cult-dues?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= A cartoon by Drew Sheneman. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/8/2376994/-Thanks-Trump-Gas-prices-will-remain-high-for-months-due-to-Iran-war?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_1&pm_medium=web" target="_blank">Thanks, Trump: Gas prices will remain high for months due to Iran war</a> <hr> rss@dailykos.com (Drew Sheneman) Cartoon DonaldTrump DrewSheneman GasPrices Iran MAGA War _2377055 Sun, 12 Apr 2026 12:30:09 +0000 How Iran became the GOP’s go-to bogeyman https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/11/2377179/-How-Iran-became-the-GOP-s-go-to-bogeyman?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/tags/ExplainingTheRight" target="_blank" title="">Explaining the Right</a> is a weekly series that looks at what the right wing is currently obsessing over, how it influences politics—and why you need to know. <hr> President Donald Trump spent the last week causing global panic,<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/8/2376971/-Trump-declares-victory-after-making-Iran-more-powerful-than-ever?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_1&pm_medium=web" title="" target="_blank"> threatening to wipe out</a> Iranian civilization before <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376880/-Trump-walks-back-bombing-threats-for-2-weeks-if-Iran-agrees-to-ceasefire" target="_blank">walking it back</a>—at least for now.  But his callous threats are nothing new.  This is just the <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/2/15/2303779/-Why-conservatives-are-obsessed-with-phony-masculinity" target="_blank">latest example</a> of Republicans indulging themselves in phony masculinity by championing loud and obnoxious aggression. And this type of behavior didn’t begin with Trump, and it isn’t even the first time the right’s saber-rattling has involved Iran. <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-right"><img alt="Residents watch and take pictures as flames and smoke rise from an oil storage facility struck as attacks hit the city during the U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (Alireza Sotakbar/ISNA via AP)" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1536785/large/AP26071723807433.jpg?1774017652" title="Residents watch and take pictures as flames and smoke rise from an oil storage facility struck as attacks hit the city during the U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (Alireza Sotakbar/ISNA via AP)"> <figcaption>Residents watch as flames and smoke rise from an oil storage facility struck by U.S.–Israeli bombs in Tehran, Iran, on March 7.</figcaption> </figure> Back in the 1970s, when the Iranian revolution overthrew the Western-backed Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Jimmy Carter was faced with the biggest foreign policy crisis of his presidency.  Republicans have long <a href="https://www.whitehousehistory.org/jimmy-carter-iran-and-the-canadian-caper" target="_blank">argued</a> that Carter demonstrated weakness by attempting to negotiate the release of hostages and failing a rescue mission—which they now associate with the Democratic Party. In reality, details have since emerged that, while campaigning for the presidency in the 1980 election, former President Ronald Reagan’s campaign actively worked to undermine the release of hostages for his own political benefit.  Texas politician Ben Barnes<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/18/us/politics/jimmy-carter-october-surprise-iran-hostages.html" target="_blank"> has admitted</a> that he was part of a team that pushed Iran to delay the release of hostages until after the election, providing a public relations coup for Reagan as they were released in early 1981, at the start of his presidency. Iran would <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/reagan-iran/" target="_blank">later emerge</a> as Reagan’s biggest scandal. His Iran Contra operation involved shipping arms to Iran during its war with Iraq in exchange for the release of hostages, while funding anti-communist forces in South America. Decades later,<a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/january-29/bush-describes-iraq-iran-north-korea-as-axis-of-evil" target="_blank"> during the presidency</a> of George W. Bush, Iran was yet again invoked as a boogeyman. During his attempt to push the U.S. invasion of Iraq over nonexistent weapons of mass destruction, Bush claimed that—along with North Korea and Iraq—Iran was part of an “axis of evil” that required a military response.  <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-left"><img alt="Cartoon by Mike Luckovich" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1538233/large/lk032626dAPR.jpg?1774476957" title="Cartoon by Mike Luckovich"> <figcaption>A cartoon by Mike Luckovich.</figcaption> </figure> There was no connection between any of those states and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but Bush went there anyway as part of his ill-fated war policy that ultimately killed hundreds of thousands. By the time Democratic President Barack Obama took office, fears that Iran was attempting to build nuclear capability had grown. Obama negotiated a nuclear deal with Iran, freeing up assets that had been frozen after the original revolution.  But instead of hailing the action as a step toward peace, Obama came under attack from the right. His administration<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/trumps-lies-blaming-obama-administration-iran-crisis-echo-fox-news" target="_blank"> </a>was even <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/trumps-lies-blaming-obama-administration-iran-crisis-echo-fox-news" target="_blank">falsely accused</a> of capitulating to the pro-terrorist Iranian regime, when in reality Obama’s actions had finally started to make the world safer. Among the most prominent figures pushing this phony narrative? Trump, of course. Trump’s recent actions are in line with Reagan’s and Bush’s threatening approaches, meant to be a repudiation of the tactics embraced by Carter, Obama, and other Democrats. The policy is a failure, both as a matter of economic fallout and in protecting lives around the world. But Trump is doing what Republicans always do with Iran—and everyone else is made to suffer. rss@dailykos.com (Oliver Willis) DonaldTrump Economy ExplainingTheRight Iran MiddleEast Oil War _2377179 Sat, 11 Apr 2026 23:00:09 +0000 First lady and her pedophile https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/11/2377312/-First-lady-and-her-pedophile?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= A cartoon by Jack Ohman. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/9/2377143/-Donald-isn-t-the-only-Trump-America-hates" title="" target="_blank">Donald isn’t the only Trump America hates</a> <hr> rss@dailykos.com (Jack Ohman) Cartoon DonaldTrump EpsteinFiles JackOhman JeffreyEpstein MelaniaTrump _2377312 Sat, 11 Apr 2026 22:55:08 +0000 Despite apocalyptic warnings, California fast food wage hike didn’t kill jobs https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/11/2377257/-Despite-apocalyptic-warnings-California-fast-food-wage-hike-didn-t-kill-jobs?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= UC Berkeley study finds employment held steady — and only pennies were added to menu prices. By <a href="https://capitalandmain.com/author/mkreidler" target="_blank">Mark Kreidler</a> for <a href="https://capitalandmain.com/despite-apocalyptic-warnings-california-fast-food-wage-hike-didnt-kill-jobs" target="_blank" title="">Capital & Main</a> <hr> In their <a href="https://irle.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Effects-of-a-20-Minimum-Wage-Evidence-from-Granular-Data-on-Wages-Employment-and-Prices-April-1-2026.pdf" target="_blank" title="">third report</a> on the subject and second update of data, University of California researchers reach the same conclusions that have twice bedeviled the anti-wage hike sector of the restaurant industry: California’s $20 an hour fast food minimum wage, instituted in 2024, did not reduce employment. It led to only the most modest of price increases — barely noticeable to a consumer. It significantly improved the lives of hundreds of thousands of California workers in many of the industry’s largest fast-food chains, with an average wage increase of more than 10%. Those results have held steady across three years of work by UC Berkeley’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. They also align with a <a href="https://shift.hks.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/ca_fastfood_MW_Final.pdf" target="_blank" title="">previous study</a> on the California law conducted jointly by Harvard University’s Kennedy Center and UC San Francisco, as well as with long-established research showing that minimum wage increases generally <a href="https://www.epi.org/blog/most-minimum-wage-studies-have-found-little-or-no-job-loss/#:~:text=But%20with%20improvements%20in%20research,trying%20to%20make%20ends%20meet" target="_blank" title="">don’t affect employment numbers</a> or <a href="https://www.upjohn.org/research-highlights/does-increasing-minimum-wage-lead-higher-prices" target="_blank">prices</a> much. That won’t end the debate over the wage law, which was established in 2023 and took effect two years ago this month. But the growing body of research suggests a much milder reality than the apocalyptic visions that some in the fast-food industry projected when the $20 figure — from a previous $16 an hour minimum — was initially approved. “We have some entirely new data” in the report issued April 1, said Michael Reich, chair of the Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics at the Berkeley institute. “The results, though, are pretty much the same as before.” <h3 class="AlignCenter">*   *   *</h3> The wage law has been the subject of overheated rhetoric since it was first discussed, when opponents suggested that raising the floor for fast-food workers from $16 to $20 an hour would prompt employers to shed jobs, dramatically raise prices or both. The Berkeley studies, beginning in 2024, have consistently found no such thing. In the most recent research, Reich and co-author Denis Sosinskiy concluded that the higher minimum has increased the average weekly wage for covered fast food workers by about 11%, but did not reduce employment. In terms of what we pay at the cash register, the report found that restaurant owners had increased their prices by only about 1.5% — or six cents on a $4 item. <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-right"><img alt="FILE - California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs the fast food bill surrounded by fast food workers at the SEIU Local 721 in Los Angeles, on Sept. 28, 2023. Greg Flynn, a wealthy campaign donor of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, said the Panera Bread restaurants he owns will start paying workers at least $20 an hour on April 1 after controversy over whether a new state minimum wage law for fast food workers applies to his businesses. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1543347/large/AP24066731358665.jpg?1775848841" title="FILE - California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs the fast food bill surrounded by fast food workers at the SEIU Local 721 in Los Angeles, on Sept. 28, 2023. Greg Flynn, a wealthy campaign donor of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, said the Panera Bread restaurants he owns will start paying workers at least $20 an hour on April 1 after controversy over whether a new state minimum wage law for fast food workers applies to his businesses. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)"> <figcaption>California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs the fast food bill surrounded by fast food workers at the SEIU Local 721 in Los Angeles in Sept. 2023.</figcaption> </figure> Those relatively benign findings suggest there was some initial confusion about what the wage law would actually do and whom it would affect. First, it’s applied only to the largest fast-food chains, those with more than 60 locations nationally. In California, that means that about 525,000 employees are potentially affected by the $20 minimum out of the roughly 750,000 who work at fast-food locations in the state. Second, the effect of the wage was never going to be as severe as threatened, because a significant number of workers were already making well more than $16 an hour — and some chains, including In-N-Out Burger, routinely paid far more than that in order to attract talent and prevent turnover. Moreover, major population centers like Los Angeles and the Bay Area already have local minimum wages set well above $16. (San Francisco’s is $19.18 per hour, with the city of Los Angeles moving to $18.42 on July 1.) In other words, actual wages didn’t go up 25% just because the minimum went from $16 to $20. The Berkeley study found that average wages in the state went up by less than half that. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/7/4/2331392/-Stop-overthinking-it-Cost-of-living-is-the-most-important-issue" title="" target="_blank">Stop overthinking it: Cost of living is the most important issue</a> <hr> The latest report compiles pay data from Glassdoor job postings and Square payroll data, while using a new data set from Advan Research, a company that aggregates cell phone locations — in this case, to determine the precise number of workers who enter a fast-food establishment each day. (Reich said only those who stayed at the store for more than four hours were presumed to be workers.) The Berkeley studies have consistently used Door Dash for price comparisons, since all significant fast-food companies participate. So why did prices go up only 1.5%? Reich says it’s because labor costs account for only about 30% of most fast food businesses’ overall costs. Thus, an 11% average raise meant their overall costs went up only about 3%, half of which they passed on to the customer. <h3 class="AlignCenter">*   *   *</h3> Industry-funded research has attempted to paint a grimmer picture of the wage law. A <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/qwllx1iv8q1ecudz6z59v/BRG_Impacts-of-20-Min-Wage-Report_2.18.25_FINAL.pdf?rlkey=zy6b96c3s5ngjeactf30hui77&e=2&st=guugtn2c&dl=0" target="_blank">report</a> by one group last year blamed 10,700 fast food job losses in California on the $20 figure, though it began counting those losses almost 10 months before the new law took effect. The conservative Hoover Institution, meanwhile, had to <a href="https://www.hoover.org/research/california-loses-nearly-10000-fast-food-jobs-after-20-minimum-wage-signed-last-fall" target="_blank">retract</a> a similar report after concluding that its author included data points that proved to be misinterpreted. Asked for comment on the new UC Berkeley findings, the advocacy group Save Local Restaurants CA pointed to a <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/11verL7V6LYaSyfLJVO96Jurk9gyYPyAt/view" target="_blank">UC Santa Cruz study</a> that found higher menu prices, fewer hours and benefits for workers and an accelerated move toward automation by fast-food store owners — the result, it said, of the higher minimum wage. <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-right"><img alt="A cartoon by Clay Jones." class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1464103/large/CjonesRGB08052025.jpg?1754336649" title="A cartoon by Clay Jones."> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> The report was based primarily on interviews with local Santa Cruz restaurants. Reich said the authors made “no attempt to validate their motivated responses with interviews with workers, a control group or objective government data. In other words, not at all informative, and not cited as such by any economists as far as I know.” That won’t stop the rhetoric — and undoubtedly, some fast-food businesses or franchisees have struggled to compete under the new wage structure. The flip side, of course, is that hundreds of thousands of California workers have been able to move closer to an actual living wage thanks to the change. In most of the state, $20 an hour still isn’t near enough, and the state government-appointed Fast Food Council has not approved a cost-of-living increase since the law’s inception.The MIT Living Wage Calculator estimates that a single adult with no dependents needs to earn $30.48 an hour to afford basic living costs in the state, and worker groups in Oakland and Alameda County are both engaged in battles to reach $30 an hour over the next few years, with <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-12-05/la-city-council-president-moves-to-delay-full-olympic-wage-boost" target="_blank" title="">Los Angeles</a> involved in a more targeted push directed at tourism industry workers. Still, the fast-food wage remains a significant achievement, one that, according to the Berkeley research, was pulled off without the serious side effects that its detractors foretold. That body of evidence continues to grow, while the wage’s beneficiaries continue to scrap for a decent living in the Golden State. rss@dailykos.com (Capital and Main) California Economy Jobs MinimumWage _2377257 Sat, 11 Apr 2026 21:00:01 +0000 Welcome, repeat ethics offenders https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/11/2377185/-Welcome-repeat-ethics-offenders?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/tags/InjusticeforAll" title="" target="_blank">Injustice for All</a> is a weekly series about how the Trump administration is trying to weaponize the justice system—and the people who are fighting back. <hr> This week, we’ve got a whole crop of frequent fliers. Ed Martin is here, still being a hot mess even as his role at the Department of Justice diminishes, Pam Bondi is trying to skip out on Congress, and MyPillow guy Mike Lindell … is being Mike Lindell. And of course, President Donald Trump is here too, because why let a week go by without asking the courts for treats? <h3>Ed Martin takes executive privilege to new lows</h3> Ed Martin, formerly the Interim U.S. attorney for Washington D.C., and also<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/2/7/2367482/-Trump-s-favorite-DOJ-conspiracist-gets-demoted-and-Musk-faces-deposition" title="" target="_blank"> the former</a> head of the Department of Justice’s Weaponization Working Group, has been a living breathing avatar of ethics violations from<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/12/3/2356550/-Legal-watchdogs-won-t-bite-Trump-s-corrupt-pet-lawyers" title="" target="_blank"> Day 1</a>. Now, he’s facing<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/12/2372742/-Trump-s-bogus-US-attorney-picks-keep-flaming-out" title="" target="_blank"> disciplinary proceedings</a> before the D.C. Bar because of his unhinged threats to Georgetown University Law School, where he threatened the school for not eradicating all its DEI efforts without ever explaining what the offending diversity might be, and went on to kinda sorta threaten the school’s nonprofit status.  But old Ed doesn’t believe the D.C. Bar has any right to tell him what to do, so he filed a deranged<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.291224/gov.uscourts.dcd.291224.1.0.pdf" title="" target="_blank"> notice of removal</a> demanding that his case be moved to federal court because—you guessed it, charges against Martin are actually an attack on the separation of powers and on the president himself.  <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/2/7/2367482/-Trump-s-favorite-DOJ-conspiracist-gets-demoted-and-Musk-faces-deposition" title="" target="_blank">Trump's favorite DOJ conspiracist gets demoted, and Musk faces deposition</a> <hr> Martin also offered 40<a href="https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/trump-ed-martin-washington-dc-misconduct-charges-defense/" title="" target="_blank"> separate defenses</a> to explain why he shouldn’t be disciplined. Totally normal amount of defenses to plead and not at all evidence of an angry toddler who believes he’s untouchable.  It’s great to see that Martin continues to behave very coolly and rationally here, after<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/12/2372742/-Trump-s-bogus-US-attorney-picks-keep-flaming-out" target="_blank"> demanding</a> an ex parte meeting with multiple judges upon learning about the complaint during his brief, unsuccessful tenure as interim U.S. attorney, repeatedly insisting that the judges meet with him alone and that they open an investigation into the disciplinary counsel for the crime of investigating him.  Martin is a legendarily bad attorney, but even he knows that judges cannot and would not meet with him ex parte and ice out the other party, aka the disciplinary counsel. Since that didn’t work, he’s now trying to get things into federal court in the hope that his belief that he is one with the president will fly there.  <h3>Trump needs more treats from the courts, and this time it’s personal</h3> Apparently, getting out from under a $500 million civil fraud<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/8/21/2339516/-Appeals-court-tosses-massive-civil-fraud-penalty-against-Trump" title="" target="_blank"> judgment</a> isn’t enough for President Donald Trump. Poor Trump turned out his pockets before the New York Appellate Division and got a ruling that the fine imposed for his years-long habit of giving fraudulent financial statements to lenders and insurers to get more favorable terms was simply too unfair and violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.  Come. On.  After doing Trump a solid on that half a billion, the court did keep in place a ban on Trump and his large adult sons holding corporate leadership roles for three years, along with a ban on Trump or any of his infinite number of business entities from getting loans from any bank with a branch in New York state for that same three years.  <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/12/11/2358028/-Grand-juries-won-t-prop-up-Trump-team-s-dumbassery" title="" target="_blank">Grand juries won’t prop up Trump team’s dumbassery</a> <hr> But that’s simply untenable for President Deals. So, Trump is<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/08/donald-trump-civil-fraud-appeal-00864123" target="_blank"> appealing</a> the decision—yes, the one where he won a reprieve from a $500 million fine—to make those remaining conditions go away. Trump even had the gall to argue that New York Attorney General Letitia James had targeted him for “unconstitutional selective enforcement.”  We know what selective prosecution looks like, buddy, and it’s exactly what the DOJ is continuing to<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/12/11/2358028/-Grand-juries-won-t-prop-up-Trump-team-s-dumbassery" title="" target="_blank"> try to do</a> to James. <h3>DOJ is pretty sure the Constitution means ICE gets to use tear gas whenever it wants</h3> Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol agents have been attacking protesters in Portland for months, deploying tear gas, pepper balls, and a hodgepodge of other chemical munitions. The ACLU managed to get a<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ord.190589/gov.uscourts.ord.190589.68.0_3.pdf" target="_blank"> temporary restraining order</a> in February barring federal goons from using less-lethal weapons as retaliation against people who had the nerve to exercise their constitutional right to peacefully protest the government.  The administration then ran to the Ninth Circuit and got a<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ord.190589/gov.uscourts.ord.190589.169.0.pdf" target="_blank"> stay</a> pending appeal, meaning that ICE gets to keep brutalizing protesters while the case proceeds. During oral arguments earlier this week, the DOJ<a href="https://courthousenews.com/trump-administration-challenges-portland-ice-protest-tear-gas-restrictions/" target="_blank"> explained</a> that it is just too dangerous for heavily armed and ‘roided ICE thugs not to be able to deploy tear gas based on vibes, and that putting any restrictions on them “irreparably harms the government.”  It also apparently violates the Constitution if the government can’t deploy tear gas near an apartment complex, sending chemicals directly into the homes of people whose only crime is living close to wherever ICE is popping off.  Must have missed that part of our nation’s founding document. <h3>Pam Bondi really doesn’t want to talk about the Epstein files</h3> Pam Bondi may be out of a job, but the Justice Department she used to oversee is still doing her a solid.  <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-right"><img alt="Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1526736/large/AP26042750382489.jpg?1771007354" title="Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)"> <figcaption>Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on Capitol Hill on Feb. 11.</figcaption> </figure> The DOJ helpfully told the House Oversight Committee that, despite being subpoenaed, Bondi will<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/04/08/bondi-epstein-files-testify-house/" title="" target="_blank"> not be appearing</a> to testify under oath about the Epstein files, because she is no longer attorney general.  This is nonsense, of course, a ridiculous<a href="https://abovethelaw.com/2026/04/pam-bondi-to-congress-new-phone-who-dis/" title="" target="_blank"> hypertechnical</a> argument that since the subpoena was issued to Bondi in her capacity as attorney general, it just disappears now that she isn’t.  It’s also a comically thin, cynical excuse given that the committee secured the testimony of former President Bill Clinton and his wife by<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/1/13/2363215/-Hypocritical-GOP-targets-Clintons-in-BS-Epstein-probe?pm_source=ICYMI&pm_campaign=ICYMI01132026" target="_blank"> threatening</a> to jail them if they didn’t comply. If an ex-president has to honor a congressional subpoena, surely an ex-attorney general does as well. Indeed, Bill Barr, also an ex-attorney general for Trump, already testified under oath after being<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/09/16/more-epstein-documents-come-hill/" target="_blank"> subpoenaed</a>.  You can’t dodge this forever, Pam. <h3>Mike Lindell can’t stop losing</h3> Mike Lindell, one of the weirdest yet most stalwart backers of Trump’s Big Lie, was not able to convince Trump appointee Judge Carl Nichols that he’s just too broke to pay the $56,369 he owes Smartmatic in sanctions for bringing frivolous legal claims against the voting machine company.  Nichols had<a href="https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/smartmatic-judge-unseals-contempt-order-against-mike-lindell/" target="_blank"> ordered</a> Lindell to pay up all the way back in January 2025, but Lindell claimed he had a “negative $18.7 million” net worth and couldn’t pay. But then Lindell decided it was a good idea to<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/12/12/2358144/-Election-denying-MyPillow-CEO-wants-to-be-Minnesota-s-next-governor" target="_blank"> launch</a> a campaign for governor in Minnesota, for which he had<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/2/17/2369024/-MyPillow-guy-isn-t-losing-sleep-over-scamming-his-donors" target="_blank"> raised</a> $350,000 by February of this year. He then promptly spent $187,000 of that on scads of copies of his own book, a 2019 self-published memoir entitled “What Are the Odds? From Crack Addict to CEO,” saying it served as his campaign literature.  Nichols<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.227759/gov.uscourts.dcd.227759.254.0_1.pdf" target="_blank"> noted</a> that Lindell continues to crowdsource funds to pay for his other legal bills, and therefore had sufficient funds to pay Smartmatic but just decided not to.  Lindell was ordered to pay the full $56,369 by April 7, which he most<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.227759/gov.uscourts.dcd.227759.255.0.pdf" target="_blank"> certainly</a> did not do. Now he’s on the hook for civil contempt and a $500 penalty for each day until he pays in full. Better get to scamming your gubernatorial donors for some more cash, Mike—or sell a whole lot of pillows.  rss@dailykos.com (Lisa Needham) DOJ DonaldTrump EdMartin InjusticeforAll MikeLindell PamBondi _2377185 Sat, 11 Apr 2026 19:00:24 +0000 A real ceasefire https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/11/2377149/-A-real-ceasefire?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= A cartoon by Tim Campbell. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/9/2377109/-Trump-whisperer-NATO-chief-faces-a-fresh-test-over-Iran" title="" target="_blank">'Trump whisperer' NATO chief faces a fresh test over Iran</a> <hr> rss@dailykos.com (Tim Campbell) Cartoon ceasefire DonaldTrump Iran TimCampbell War _2377149 Sat, 11 Apr 2026 18:55:14 +0000 Republican lawmakers push state control over Democratic cities https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/11/2377287/-Republican-lawmakers-push-state-control-over-Democratic-cities?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= The takeover efforts reflect a wider struggle over race, democracy and power. By <a href="https://stateline.org/author/avollers/" target="_blank" title="">Anna Claire Vollers</a> for <a href="https://stateline.org/2026/04/09/republican-lawmakers-push-state-control-over-democratic-cities/" target="_blank" title="">Stateline</a> <hr> In late March, a handful of Black faith leaders gathered on the steps of the Alabama State House to protest a bill that could allow the state to seize control of the police force in the capital of Montgomery. Supporters of the Republican-sponsored proposal cast it as a response to Montgomery’s police officer shortage and public concern over unchecked crime. Opponents called it a power grab aimed at a Democratic-led, majority-Black city, pushed by Montgomery’s white Republican state senator over the objections of the city’s mayor, police chief and its other state senator, a Black Democrat who represents a larger swath of the city. “We’ve seen this before. This is nothing new,” Richard Williams, lead pastor of Metropolitan United Methodist Church in Montgomery, told reporters and others gathered for the news conference. The bill “empowers the state to remove elected Black officials from their operational control of the Montgomery Police Department.” The following day, the Alabama Senate’s Republican supermajority shut down any debate on the bill and approved it. Kirk Hatcher, Montgomery’s Black state senator, and other Democrats were not allowed to speak on the Senate floor until after it passed. The measure now awaits a vote in the House. <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-right"><img alt="081225.Dont_Tread_On_Me_Tank.jpg" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1467388/large/081225.Dont_Tread_On_Me_Tank.jpg?1755192700" title="081225.Dont_Tread_On_Me_Tank.jpg"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> Similar efforts have played out in recent years in other states — including Missouri, Mississippi and Tennessee — as Republican lawmakers push for state takeovers of police departments and other municipal agencies in Democratic cities that often have significant Black populations. Conservative lawmakers frame their proposals as necessary for improving public safety or financial accountability. Critics say the takeover efforts undermine democracy by overriding local control, exceeding the traditional bounds of state power while perpetuating racist stereotypes. Many of the nation’s big cities<a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/08/15/homicide-rates-highest-blue-cities-red-states#:~:text=The%20big%20picture%3A%2013%20of%20the%2020%20U.S.%20cities%20with%20the%20highest%20murder%20rates%20were%20in%20Republican%2Drun%20states.%20Many%20of%20those%20cities%20were%20run%20by%20Democrats%20who%20often%20are%20at%20odds%20with%20state%20officials%2C%20an%20Axios%20analysis%20of%20FBI%20data%20finds." target="_blank" title=""> with the highest murder rates</a> are located in Republican-led states but are governed by Democrats — a dynamic that fuels tension between state and local leadership. “It’s frustrating for the citizens of Montgomery whenever they’re the victims (of crime) and their neighbors are victims,” Alabama Republican state Sen. Will Barfoot, who represents a slice of Montgomery, told fellow legislators on the Senate floor in March. “You know that at the very least that it’s partially because Montgomery doesn’t have the law enforcement officers that they need.” Barfoot did not respond to Stateline’s request for comment. The Montgomery Police Department hasn’t publicly released its staffing figures. Barfoot said on the floor that while he hadn’t been able to get those numbers, he estimated the department has around 220-230 officers, which he said falls short of the roughly 400 it would need to be staffed effectively. In Missouri, Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe put the St. Louis police department under the control of a state-appointed board last year. Kansas City, Missouri, is the only other major city police department under state control. That arrangement dates from 1939, when the state assumed authority to combat corruption. In 2023, Mississippi’s white Republican supermajority gave the state-run Capitol Police expanded jurisdiction over the state capital of Jackson, which has been called the “Blackest City in America,” and created<a href="https://mississippitoday.org/2023/03/30/house-bill-1020-jackson-court-district/" target="_blank"> separate appointed courts</a> for the affluent, whiter parts of the city. In Tennessee, state lawmakers are trying to create<a href="https://tennesseelookout.com/2026/03/26/top-republicans-push-creation-of-a-new-state-board-to-oversee-nashville-tourism-tax-revenues/" target="_blank" title=""> a state-controlled tourism board</a> to oversee millions in surplus cash generated by Nashville. It’s the latest in a line of moves by the Republican-controlled state legislature to exert more influence in Democratic-led Nashville, including over its metro council, airport authority, electrical utility, and even its sports authority. “Society is collectively tolerating the loss of democracy in these limited pockets,” said Louise Seamster, a sociologist at the University of Iowa whose research has focused on politics and urban development. “They don’t understand it’s going to come for them eventually.” <h3>Echoes of division</h3> The state-local power struggle over the St. Louis police department dates to the eve of the Civil War. White secessionist leaders in Missouri took control of the St. Louis police to keep its officers from fighting against the Confederacy. Kansas City’s arrangement dates back to post-Civil War Reconstruction, when state lawmakers were trying to limit Black political influence and civil rights gains. Kansas City briefly regained control in 1932 before the state reasserted itself seven years later. At the time of Reconstruction, the growth of Black governance was seen as a major threat to white political power at the local and state levels, Seamster said. “All kinds of political arrangements, up to legalized and unsanctioned violence, were carried out to reset things to what white people in power thought was the norm, which was them in charge,” she said. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/12/27/2360159/-Inside-the-North-Carolina-GOP-s-decade-long-push-to-seize-power-from-the-state-s-democratic-governor" target="_blank">Inside the North Carolina GOP's decade-long push to seize power from the state’s democratic governor</a> <hr> Fast-forward to the Obama era: In a 2012 ballot initiative, Missouri voters overwhelmingly approved returning control of the St. Louis police department to the city. But Republican state lawmakers tried in 2023 to repeal the measure, claiming St. Louis’ leaders at that time <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/05/02/state-takeover-of-st-louis-police-prosecutors-office-blocked-by-senate-democrats" target="_blank">couldn’t decrease crime on their own</a>. The effort failed after a nine-hour Democratic filibuster. GOP lawmakers got it passed in 2025 with the backing of Kehoe, who’d made the effort a priority of his first year in office. He<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/03/26/gov-mike-kehoe-signs-bill-to-put-st-louis-police-under-state-control/" target="_blank"> said</a> state control would give law enforcement the tools it needed to combat high crime rates. Missouri Democrats, noting that crime rates were decreasing,<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/03/26/gov-mike-kehoe-signs-bill-to-put-st-louis-police-under-state-control/#:~:text=The%20bill%20passed%20on%20party%2Dline%20votes%20in%20the%20House%20and%20Senate%2C%20with%20Democrats%20opposing%20the%20move%20with%20arguments%20that%20it%20was%20racist%20because%20Black%20Democrats%20hold%20the%20major%20offices%20in%20St.%20Louis%20and%20unneeded%20because%20crime%20is%20decreasing." target="_blank" title=""> called</a> the measure racist; Black Democrats held the city’s major offices at the time. St. Louis has one of the highest homicide rates in the nation, though police officials said their data shows the murder rate<a href="https://www.stlpr.org/law-order/2025-04-02/police-homicides-in-st-louis-are-the-lowest-theyve-been-since-2005#:~:text=homicides%20dropped%20to%20their%20lowest%20level%20in%20the%20past%2020%20years%2C%20and%20that%20overall%20crime%20is%20down%20by%2028%25%20compared%20to%20the%20first%20quarter%20of%20last%20year." target="_blank" title=""> dropped to its lowest level in two decades</a> during the first three months of 2025. In Michigan, researchers found, financial stress alone didn’t explain municipal takeovers. Residents’ race and economic status, as well as a city’s reliance on state funding, were better predictors of state intervention, according to a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0160323X211038862" target="_blank">2021 study</a> from University of Michigan researchers. “Black communities show signs of being successful or having access to resources that might increase their autonomy or ability to develop,” said Seamster, who has studied city-state conflicts over resources. “Then it is often a trend where, formally or informally, white communities step in to take it back.” In 2019, the Republican-led Georgia state legislature<a href="https://www.11alive.com/article/news/senate-approves-state-takeover-of-atlanta-airport/85-8dd66027-6d20-423f-ad0e-bffb2e6369c6" target="_blank" title=""> tried to take over operation</a> of the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, one of the busiest in the world, citing concerns over safety and corruption. Atlanta City Hall had been embroiled in a sprawling corruption scandal that eventually resulted in federal charges against multiple city staffers. Then-Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms denounced the move as an <a href="https://gpbnews.org/post/watch-atlanta-mayor-calls-state-airport-takeover-move-act-war" target="_blank">“act of war”</a> against the Democratic city, long a national hub of Black culture and business. Many of the cities targeted for state intervention struggle with the kind of persistent poverty and structural disadvantages that contribute to higher crime rates. Cities’ finances and power get siphoned away in myriad ways, Seamster said, from reduced state financial support or required power-sharing with a larger county, to more subtle changes, such as state decisions on how federal block grant funding is distributed that give cities less to work with. <h3>Taking back power</h3> Baltimore<a href="https://baltimorebeat.com/baltimore-finally-has-local-control-of-its-police-force-now-the-fight-for-accountability-can-begin/" target="_blank" title=""> regained control of its police department</a> last year after voters twice approved a ballot measure in the wake of a decade-long fight for local control. The police department had been under some form of state control since the Civil War. Lifelong resident Ray Kelly became interested in the issue when a student in his community was arrested. He soon learned that to lobby for changes in the department, he’d have to leave Baltimore for the state capitol in Annapolis, nearly an hour’s drive south. “Accountability starts at home, so the first place we naturally think we should go if we have an issue in our community is to our local representative,” he said, “and for 160 years the local representative had no authority, so it was like banging your head against the wall.” Kelly is now executive director of the Citizens Policing Project, a nonprofit that was part of a coalition of Maryland organizations that worked for years to get the ballot initiative passed. In the year since Baltimore gained control of its police, the Baltimore City Council has been holding regular public hearings on public safety. They’re “packed,” Kelly said, adding that one hearing had such a huge turnout that both the hearing room and the overflow room were full, with even more residents standing outside to listen. Kelly counts that as one visible and positive result of getting local control restored. “The ultimate goal is to have local people be able to shape how the operations of the police department happen on a day-to-day basis, and not have to travel all the way to Annapolis to do it,” he said. “People will be more involved as they learn we don’t have to write the state senator anymore, and we can just go to City Hall.” <h3>Missteps and breathing room</h3> Barfoot, the Alabama Republican state senator who represents a portion of Montgomery, told lawmakers he’s gotten more calls and messages about his bill proposing a takeover of the Montgomery police department than any other piece of legislation in his eight years in office. Most of them have been supportive, he said. Montgomery citizens, he said on the Senate floor, are “tired of turning on the news and hearing about the violence that we’ve had here in Montgomery. We’re tired of having the thefts that are occurring. We’re tired of having the robberies, the home invasions. And believe me, that is across Montgomery.” He pointed to other large cities in Alabama that he said had a much higher number of officers per 1,000 residents than Montgomery, and criticized the city for going through five different police chiefs in the past seven years. Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed and Hatcher say Barfoot never consulted them before introducing the bill. Barfoot acknowledged those “missteps” on the Senate floor, but said he’d since held a public hearing and said those leaders didn’t reach out to him, either. The current police chief spoke against the bill before lawmakers. Montgomery leaders say the bill unfairly singles out their city. As written, it applies only to Montgomery and Huntsville, a Republican-led city. It would give law enforcement in those cities five years to have a certain number of police officers per resident before the state steps in. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/8/18/2339034/-Blue-states-battle-Trump-over-threat-to-pull-funds-for-crime-victims" title="" target="_blank">Blue states battle Trump over threat to pull funds for crime victims</a> <hr> After Huntsville leadership approached lawmakers with concerns about the bill, sponsors lowered the staffing requirements to 1.9 officers per 1,000 residents to give Huntsville some “breathing room,” Barfoot<a href="https://aldailynews.com/spicy-lawmakers-return-from-spring-break-with-controversial-bills-on-calendars/#:~:text=Barfoot%20told%20Alabama%20Daily%20News%20last%20week%20the%20bill%20will%20be%20amended%20on%20the%20Senate%20floor%20to%20decrease%20that%20ratio%20to%201.9%20officers%20for%20every%201%2C000%20residents.%20He%20said%20that%20will%20give%20Huntsville%20%E2%80%9Ca%20bit%20more%20breathing%20room.%E2%80%9D" target="_blank"> told local media</a>. Huntsville now meets the requirements. But Montgomery is about 150 officers short of the bill’s mandate, Barfoot estimated. If it doesn’t hire the required number of officers within five years, the state can take over and charge the city for filling those vacancies. Williams, the Montgomery pastor, called that restitution clause a “financial weapon.” After the Senate passed the bill, Hatcher chastised his Republican colleagues for withholding resources from people who need it and voting against public safety measures that law enforcement wants. An Alabama law enacted in 2022 allows gun owners to carry a<a href="https://jeffcosheriffal.com/understanding-the-new-permit-less-carry-law/" target="_blank" title=""> handgun without a permit</a>, background check or safety training. “What I’ve come to believe is that when everybody around you has everything they need, that’s the safest we will be,” Hatcher said. “When people have health care, when people have food, SNAP benefits, that’s the safest we’ll be.” rss@dailykos.com (Stateline) Alabama Cities Republicans States _2377287 Sat, 11 Apr 2026 18:00:26 +0000 Trump TACOs on war crimes, and GOP races to defend him https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/11/2377157/-Trump-TACOs-on-war-crimes-and-GOP-races-to-defend-him?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= President Donald Trump spent the week terrifying the world <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376880/-Trump-walks-back-bombing-threats-for-2-weeks-if-Iran-agrees-to-ceasefire" target="_blank">flip-flopping</a> on war crimes threats. In response, the GOP and Fox News <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/8/2376996/-GOP-senator-fails-history-to-defend-Trump-s-war-crimes-threat" target="_blank">rushed</a> to cravenly <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/8/2377005/-Fox-News-attempt-to-rebrand-TACO-Trump-is-extra-cheesy" target="_blank">play apologetics</a> for the deranged orange tyrant.  And it was all on video. <hr> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/6/2376636/-Please-keep-bombing-Trump-gives-most-unhinged-press-conference-yet" target="_blank">‘Please keep bombing’: Trump gives most unhinged press conference yet</a> <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content"><a class="new_iframe_placeholder" href="#">x</a></div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=ZHx8-2JThmw" data-frameborder="0" data-height="281" data-src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ZHx8-2JThmw" data-width="500">YouTube Video</a></div> </div> If Trump wanted to make the case that there’s no reason for Congress to consider invoking the<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxxv" target="_blank"> 25th Amendment</a>, he undermined it bigly during his press briefing on the Iran war. <hr> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/6/2376618/-Giant-child-gripes-about-his-political-enemies-to-a-bunch-of-kids" target="_blank">Giant child gripes about his political enemies to a bunch of kids</a> <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content"><a class="new_iframe_placeholder" href="#">x</a></div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=yB7D56Aq8jg" data-frameborder="0" data-height="281" data-src="//www.youtube.com/embed/yB7D56Aq8jg" data-width="500">YouTube Video</a></div> </div> Last year, Trump<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/4/21/2317842/-In-Trump-s-White-House-even-Easter-is-for-sale" target="_blank"> turned</a> the annual White House Easter Egg Roll into a cauldron of corporate sponsorships. And this time around, Trump<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/04/06/white-house-easter-egg-roll-watch-live/89442073007/" target="_blank"> subjected</a> the children in attendance to his petty grievances.  <hr> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376773/-GOP-cowards-race-to-defend-Trump-s-insane-Iran-war-crime-threats" target="_blank">GOP cowards race to defend Trump’s insane Iran war crime threats</a> <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content"><a class="new_iframe_placeholder" href="#">x</a></div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=VRMRvYhFbxg" data-frameborder="0" data-height="281" data-src="//www.youtube.com/embed/VRMRvYhFbxg" data-width="500">YouTube Video</a></div> </div> Following Trump’s<a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116363336033995961" target="_blank"> threat</a> to<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376770/-Trump-threatens-to-end-Iran-s-civilization-Democrats-warned-us" target="_blank"> extinguish Iran’s civilization</a>, House Republicans defended their mad king. <hr> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/8/2377005/-Fox-News-attempt-to-rebrand-TACO-Trump-is-extra-cheesy" target="_blank">Fox News' attempt to rebrand TACO Trump is extra cheesy</a> <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content"><a class="new_iframe_placeholder" href="#">x</a></div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=2QBAd01K7oc" data-frameborder="0" data-height="281" data-src="//www.youtube.com/embed/2QBAd01K7oc" data-width="500">YouTube Video</a></div> </div> Trump is being slammed from all sides for his latest<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376880/-Trump-walks-back-bombing-threats-for-2-weeks-if-Iran-agrees-to-ceasefire" target="_blank"> TACO</a>, in which he backed down from his<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376800/-Don-t-assume-Trump-will-TACO-on-Iran-war-crime-threats" target="_blank" title=""> horrific threat of genocide</a> in Iran and agreed to a ceasefire that<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/8/2376971/-Trump-declares-victory-after-making-Iran-more-powerful-than-ever?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_2&pm_medium=web" target="_blank"> gives Iran more power</a> than it had before the war began. <hr> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/9/2377158/-JB-Pritzker-has-always-known-Trump-is-evil" title="" target="_blank">JB Pritzker has always known Trump is evil</a> <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content"><a class="new_iframe_placeholder" href="#">x</a></div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=LaYczeCBXO0" title="" data-frameborder="0" data-height="281" data-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LaYczeCBXO0" data-width="500">YouTube Video</a></div> </div> Illinois Gov.<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/18/2373702/-JB-Pritzker-gets-2028-bump-after-his-favored-candidate-wins-election" title="" target="_blank"> JB Pritzker</a> was interviewed by civil rights activist Al Sharpton during the National Action Network Convention, where he reminded the audience that his opposition to Trump goes back to his first term. <hr> For more video content, check out Daily Kos on YouTube <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@DailyKos" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@DailyKosMediaDesk" target="_blank">here</a>.  rss@dailykos.com (Walter Einenkel) ClipsOfTheWeek DonaldTrump FoxNews Iran Taco War _2377157 Sat, 11 Apr 2026 17:00:14 +0000 We’re stuck in the worst timeline https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/11/2377155/-We-re-stuck-in-the-worst-timeline?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= Comic books and science fiction have long delved into the concept of alternate timelines, which creatively allow writers to show alternate versions of reality. They explore paths where small choices lead to radically different outcomes—where things either break better, or not at all. Think of the goateed evil Spock in the “Star Trek” mirror universe, or the countless comic book arcs where a single moment creates a darker, more distorted world. Help. Somehow, we got stuck in that darker timeline. Just look at this week. Everything is slipping further out of bounds, while the media, financial markets, and political establishment wander around pretending it’s all perfectly normal. After weeks dominated by former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi (and <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/kristi-noem-husband-bimbofication-fetish-photos-1235539805/" target="_blank">Bryon)</a> Noem and former Attorney General Pam Bondi, attention on Daily Kos snapped back to President Donald Trump. Not because he was unhinged—that’s baseline—but because he crossed into something more dangerous. <ul> <li> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376650/-Donald-Trump-has-completely-lost-his-political-mind" target="_blank">Donald Trump has completely lost his political mind</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/6/2376636/--Please-keep-bombing-Trump-gives-most-unhinged-press-conference-yet" target="_blank">‘Please keep bombing’: Trump gives most unhinged press conference yet</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/8/2376971/-Trump-declares-victory-after-making-Iran-more-powerful-than-ever" target="_blank">Trump declares victory after making Iran more powerful than ever</a> </li> </ul> It was so extreme that even <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/7/2376770/-Trump-threatens-to-end-Iran-s-civilization-Democrats-warned-us" target="_blank">Tucker Carlson</a> of all people warned about Trump having access to nuclear codes. Yet while right-wing media figures sounded alarms, the mainstream press did what even Carlson and many of his ilk wouldn’t: it softened, filtered, and protected. <ul> <li> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/6/2376583/-NY-Times-once-again-caught-sanewashing-Trump-s-unhinged-rhetoric" target="_blank">NY Times once again caught sanewashing Trump’s unhinged rhetoric</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376688/-CBS-turns-late-night-into-a-snoozefest" target="_blank">CBS turns late-night into a snoozefest</a> </li> </ul> There are few things more dangerous than an unhinged Trump. A compliant media is one of them. Trump has trashed the world order, rattled the global economy, and undermined democracy itself—and still, major outlets hesitate to describe what’s plainly in front of them. CBS has its excuse, now owned by a MAGA billionaire. The New York Times does not. And it’s not just the media. Wall Street surges every time Trump claims peace is around the corner, only to drop when reality catches up. Democrats push war powers resolutions that, even if passed, would spend years tied up in courts before a friendly Supreme Court neuters them. Everyone is still operating within boundaries Trump has already blown past, reacting to events instead of confronting the reality driving them. Trump is a demented, dangerous demagogue. Acting like procedural guardrails will contain him is fantasy. Even nutbags like Alex Jones and Candace Owens are openly talking about <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/2/1/2365623/-What-the-25th-Amendment-could-mean-for-Trump-and-all-of-America" target="_blank">the 25th Amendment</a>. Meanwhile, Democrats hesitate to overtly call for Trump’s ouster, to force Republicans to either defend Trump or break with him.  Because Republicans know exactly what this is costing them. <ul> <li> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/9/2377112/-Anxious-Republicans-worry-Trump-s-Iran-mess-has-already-cost-them-the-midterms" target="_blank">Anxious Republicans worry Trump's Iran mess has already cost them the midterms</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/6/2376630/-This-is-how-we-know-Republicans-are-terrified-they-ll-lose-the-Senate" target="_blank">This is how we know Republicans are terrified they'll lose the Senate</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/8/2376963/-Why-the-latest-elections-were-the-most-ominous-yet-for-the-GOP" target="_blank">Why the latest elections were the most ominous yet for the GOP</a> </li> </ul> Beneath the bluster, there’s panic. Republicans can see what voters are seeing, yet remain frozen—paralyzed and unwilling to stop Trump as he damages the country’s global standing and economy. For 15 months, voters have been sending the same message: do something. Instead, whether out of devotion or fear, Republicans have chosen complicity in Trump’s self-inflicted disasters. And underneath all of that, the machinery of government continues to erode. <ul> <li> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/3/2376197/-Republican-sets-bizarre-goals-for-next-attorney-general?detail=emaildkre" target="_blank">Republican sets bizarre goals for next attorney general</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/8/2376990/-Trump-s-Justice-Department-is-becoming-a-ghost-town" target="_blank">Trump’s Justice Department is becoming a ghost town</a> </li> </ul> Trump is leaving damage that will take decades to repair—if it can be repaired at all. The illusion that the United States is a stable, reliable force has been broken. The world now knows that no matter how many competent leaders might follow, the system itself can still produce someone like Trump again. In comic books, there’s always a timeline where the hero turns. In ours, Captain America isn’t a symbol of what’s best about the country, but something darker—wearing the same uniform while standing for the opposite of what it once meant. Same country. Same system. Just stripped of the assumptions that once held it together. And we’re stuck here.  rss@dailykos.com (kos) 2026 DailyKos DonaldTrump Elections House Iran JusticeDepartment PamBondi Senate theconversation War _2377155 Sat, 11 Apr 2026 15:00:03 +0000 US blockades on Cuba have a long history—and plenty of fallout https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/11/2375326/-US-blockades-on-Cuba-have-a-long-history-and-plenty-of-fallout?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/tags/CaribbeanMatters" target="_blank">Caribbean Matters</a> is a weekly series from Daily Kos. Hope you’ll join us here every Saturday. If you are unfamiliar with the region, check out<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/9/28/2052768/-Caribbean-Matters-Getting-to-know-the-countries-of-the-Caribbean" target="_blank"> Caribbean Matters: Getting to know the countries of the Caribbean</a>. <hr> The current<a href="https://www.newsweek.com/trump-oil-blockade-cuba-economic-violence-opinion-11536015" target="_blank"> oil blockade of Cuba</a> handed down by President Donald Trump including the machinations of<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/30/rubio-denies-us-punitive-actions-blames-cuba-for-economic-failures" target="_blank"> Secretary of State Marco Rubio</a> and<a href="https://latinostudies.nd.edu/assets/95278/original/grenchun.pdf" target="_blank"> right-wing Cuban Americans </a>isn’t new. But many Cuban exiles have been waiting for over half a century for the fall of Castroism and <a href="https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-01-26/from-the-bay-of-pigs-to-the-capture-of-maduro-over-half-a-century-of-waiting-for-the-fall-of-castroism.html" target="_blank">to be able to return home</a>. Some of you reading are old enough to remember<a href="https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/bay-pigs-invasion" target="_blank"> The Bay of Pigs</a> invasion: <blockquote> The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed military operation undertaken by the United States in April 1961, aimed at overthrowing the Cuban government led by Fidel Castro. Following Castro's rise to power in 1959 and the establishment of a socialist regime, many Cubans fled to the U.S., particularly Florida, where exile groups began organizing against him. Under President Dwight D. Eisenhower and later John F. Kennedy, the CIA trained a group of Cuban exiles for an invasion intended to spark a popular uprising in Cuba. The operation, however, faced numerous setbacks, including poor intelligence and a lack of local support, which ultimately contributed to its failure. </blockquote> But America’s intervening with Cuba really began during the <a href="https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/gp/90609.htm#:~:text=On%20April%2011%2C%201898%2C%20President,U.S.%20citizens%20on%20the%20island." target="_blank">Spanish-American War</a>: <blockquote> On April 11, 1898, U.S. President William McKinley requested congressional authorization to intervene in Cuba, marking a pivotal moment in the Spanish-American War and the transition of Caribbean territories under U.S. influence. Additionally, in 1899, the treaty ending the Spanish-American War took effect, ceding Puerto Rico to the U.S. </blockquote> This video from the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFj_lpZ7HUc" target="_blank">Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education </a>helps to explain Cuba and U.S. relations from the early 1800s and then its independence from Spain until today: <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=ZFj_lpZ7HUc" data-frameborder="0" data-height="315" data-src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ZFj_lpZ7HUc?si=wXlhOwtxdiRtcwKS" data-width="560">YouTube Video</a></div> The website of the <a href="https://history.state.gov/milestones/1866-1898/spanish-american-war" target="_blank">U.S. Office of the Historian </a>states: <blockquote> The Spanish-American War of 1898 ended Spain’s colonial empire in the Western   Hemisphere and secured the position of the United States as a Pacific power.         U.S. victory in the war produced a peace treaty that compelled the Spanish to          relinquish claims on Cuba, and to cede sovereignty over Guam, Puerto Rico, and    the Philippines to the United States. The United States also annexed the                 independent state of Hawaii during the conflict. Thus, the war enabled the           United States to establish its predominance in the Caribbean region and to             pursue its strategic and economic interests in Asia. </blockquote> Here’s an American’s perspective, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guWvEsMtArE" target="_blank">which visits</a> Havana, Cuba, and talks to Cubans about the country’s history with the U.S. and the effects that the embargo has on its residents, especially as things have intensified: <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=guWvEsMtArE" data-frameborder="0" data-height="315" data-src="//www.youtube.com/embed/guWvEsMtArE?si=Xd-1Cb7o6xoulyMr" data-width="560">YouTube Video</a></div> Here in the U.S., there are people who have continued to support Cuba. <a href="https://vb4cuba.com/" target="_blank">The Venceremos Brigade</a>, founded in 1969, continues today: <blockquote> In 1969, a coalition of young people formed the Venceremos (“We Shall Overcome”) Brigade in an act of solidarity with the Cuban Revolution, by working side by side with Cuban workers and challenging US policies towards Cuba, including the economic blockade and the US government’s ban on travel to the island. The people who came together to initiate this project represented a broad cross-section of the radical movements of the era: they were members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Communist Party, the Black Panther Party, the Young Lords, and other organizations on the frontlines of the struggles for socialism and against racism, sexism, and US imperialism and war. The first Brigades, comprised of as many as 700 “brigadistas”, traveled to Cuba via converted cattle ship and participated in sugar harvests across the island; subsequent Brigades, traveling by more modern means, have continued this legacy in agricultural, construction, and light manufacturing work: whatever has been needed. In the last 50 years, approximately 10,000 people from the US have traveled to Cuba with the VB, including elected officials, labor leaders, artists and entertainers, academics, activists, and social movement leaders, among them the late Yuri Kochiyama, who described the experience in 1989 as a “golden opportunity to work, study, and learn about global liberation struggles and socialism in Cuba.” </blockquote> <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-bluesky-content="&lt;blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:bvxxibrii5qamtg6kox3jskm/app.bsky.feed.post/3m5rawkhmxc2w" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreigdviydwombnbnwwr7kujgltrne4vxpyqibcebp2jmhfwpvdu3tfy" data-bluesky-embed-color-mode="system"&gt;&lt;p lang="en"&gt;Looking through my OneDrive collection of photos, I came across this. Over 52 years ago, I was privileged to spend a couple of months in Cuba as a member of the 6th contingent of the Venceremos Brigade. One of the people who traveled with me was the current Mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:bvxxibrii5qamtg6kox3jskm/post/3m5rawkhmxc2w?ref_src=embed"&gt;[image or embed]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Rick Ladd (&lt;a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:bvxxibrii5qamtg6kox3jskm?ref_src=embed"&gt;@retreado.bsky.social&lt;/a&gt;) &lt;a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:bvxxibrii5qamtg6kox3jskm/post/3m5rawkhmxc2w?ref_src=embed"&gt;November 16, 2025 at 12:40 PM&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;"><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:bvxxibrii5qamtg6kox3jskm/app.bsky.feed.post/3m5rawkhmxc2w" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreigdviydwombnbnwwr7kujgltrne4vxpyqibcebp2jmhfwpvdu3tfy">Looking through my OneDrive collection of photos, I came across this. Over 52 years ago, I was privileged to spend a couple of months in Cuba as a member of the 6th contingent of the Venceremos Brigade. One of the people who traveled with me was the current Mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass. <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:bvxxibrii5qamtg6kox3jskm/post/3m5rawkhmxc2w?ref_src=embed" target="_blank">[image or embed]</a>— Rick Ladd (<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:bvxxibrii5qamtg6kox3jskm?ref_src=embed" target="_blank">@retreado.bsky.social</a>) <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:bvxxibrii5qamtg6kox3jskm/post/3m5rawkhmxc2w?ref_src=embed" target="_blank">November 16, 2025 at 12:40 PM</a></blockquote></div> <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=jayEwZCgLmg" data-frameborder="0" data-height="315" data-src="//www.youtube.com/embed/jayEwZCgLmg?si=T1FDqB_JGwgUoy-1" data-width="560">YouTube Video</a></div> There is also the<a href="https://nnoc.org/" target="_blank"> National Network on Cuba</a>, a U.S.-based umbrella organization composed of more than 60 organizations advocating for an end to Washington’s hostility toward Cuba, especially the inhumane U.S. economic blockade against the country. Join me in the comments section below to discuss not only this history but the current U.S. policies and for the weekly Caribbean News Roundup. rss@dailykos.com (Denise Oliver Velez) BayofPigs CaribbeanMatters Cuba USBlockadeofCuba USCubaPolicy VenceremosBrigade _2375326 Sat, 11 Apr 2026 13:00:09 +0000 American Nero https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/11/2377150/-American-Nero?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= A cartoon by David Horsey. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376880/-Trump-walks-back-bombing-threats-for-2-weeks-if-Iran-agrees-to-ceasefire" title="" target="_blank">Trump walks back bombing threats for 2 weeks—if Iran agrees to ceasefire</a> <hr> rss@dailykos.com (David Horsey) Cartoon DavidHorsey DonaldTrump Iran Nero War _2377150 Sat, 11 Apr 2026 12:30:16 +0000 ‘Absurd and inhuman’: We all know who Pope Leo is talking about https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/10/2377290/--Absurd-and-inhuman-We-all-know-who-Pope-Leo-is-talking-about?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= Pope Leo XIV, the first U.S.-born pope in history, has proven in his first year in Vatican City that he has no qualms with criticizing the cruel and corrupt megalomaniac who occupies the Oval Office. The head of the Catholic Church has <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/en/global-issues/article/2025/11/19/pope-leo-condemns-trump-s-immigration-policies_6747602_199.html" target="_blank">condemned</a> President Donald Trump and his administration multiple times over the mistreatment of immigrants and the Iran war, in which the United States and Israel have killed thousands of civilians—many of them <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/12/2372865/-Democrats-demand-probe-into-Trump-s-bombing-of-Iranian-school" target="_blank">children</a>—while <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/10/2377234/-Inflation-surges-as-Iran-war-spirals?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_4&pm_medium=web" target="_blank">destabilizing</a> the global economy. <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-right"><img alt="Pope Leo XIV appears on the central loggia of St. Peter's Basilica after being chosen the 267th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, at the Vatican, Thursday, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1430725/large/AP25128630402031.jpg?1746727290" title="Pope Leo XIV appears on the central loggia of St. Peter's Basilica after being chosen the 267th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, at the Vatican, Thursday, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)"> <figcaption>Pope Leo XIV appears at St. Peter's Basilica after being chosen as the 267th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church on May 8, 2025.</figcaption> </figure> "God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs," Pope Leo <a href="https://x.com/Pontifex/status/2042588417578668338" title="" target="_blank">wrote on X</a> Friday morning. "Military action will not create space for freedom or times of #Peace, which comes only from the patient promotion of coexistence and dialogue among peoples." And he didn't stop there. “Absurd and inhuman violence is spreading ferociously through the sacred places of the Christian East, profaned by the blasphemy of war and the brutality of business, with no regard for people’s lives, which are considered at most collateral damage of self-interest. But no gain can be worth the life of the weakest, children, or families. No cause can justify the shedding of innocent blood,” he <a href="https://x.com/Pontifex/status/2042589665648099632" title="" target="_blank">wrote in another post</a>. It’s also not the first time that Pope Leo has made biting comments about the war in Iran. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/16/2373410/-Not-even-the-Pope-can-tolerate-Trump-and-Vance" title="" target="_blank">Not even the Pope can tolerate Trump and Vance</a> <hr> In March, he said that political leaders should go to confession for a "serious examination of conscience." And in his Palm Sunday message, he <a href="https://x.com/Pontifex/status/2038209125646016547" target="_blank">said</a> that God "does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.” "Christ, King of Peace, cries out again from his cross: God is love! Have mercy! Lay down your weapons!  Remember that you are brothers and sisters!" he <a href="https://x.com/Pontifex/status/2038209128682627517" target="_blank">added</a>. On Easter, Pope Leo explicitly slammed Trump, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-leo-iran-trump-threat-unacceptable-332059536d7c4d6071c8f5abb35d8c8d" target="_blank">calling</a> his <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376770/-Trump-threatens-to-end-Iran-s-civilization-Democrats-warned-us?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_3&pm_medium=web" target="_blank">threat</a> to destroy Iran’s “whole civilization” “truly unacceptable.” “I would like to invite everyone to truly think in their hearts about the many innocent people, so many children, so many elderly, completely innocent, who would also become victims of this escalation of a war that began from the very first days,” he <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/04/07/pope-leo-denounce-trump-iran-threat/" target="_blank">said</a>. <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content"><a class="new_iframe_placeholder" href="#">x</a></div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=n72IjvykI3Q" title="" data-frameborder="0" data-height="281" data-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/n72IjvykI3Q" data-width="500">YouTube Video</a></div> </div> Sounds like even the pope doesn't think Trump is going to Heaven. Pope Leo’s sharp criticism of Trump’s warmongering came after <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/04/10/trump-vatican-pentagon-meeting/" title="" target="_blank">reports</a> of a tense January meeting between the Vatican and Defense Department. The Vatican denies reports that the Trump administration threatened the Holy See during the meeting, but Pope Leo has since <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/pope-leo-spend-us-july-4-holiday-italys-lampedusa-known-migrant-arrivals-2026-02-19/" target="_blank">announced</a> that he won’t be visiting the United States in 2026. Instead, he will travel to an Italian island that serves as a stop for Europe-bound African immigrants.  <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-left"><img alt="Pope Leo XIV meets with Vice President JD Vance, center, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, on the occasion of their meeting at the Vatican, Monday, May 19, 2025. (Vatican Media via AP)" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1434585/large/AP25139264652249.jpg?1747694633" title="Pope Leo XIV meets with Vice President JD Vance, center, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, on the occasion of their meeting at the Vatican, Monday, May 19, 2025. (Vatican Media via AP)"> <figcaption>Pope Leo XIV meets with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Vatican on May 19, 2025.</figcaption> </figure> What’s more, there’s <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/pope-leo-xiv-meeting-david-axelrod-obama-advisor/" target="_blank">speculation</a> that Pope Leo will meet with former President Barack Obama before he meets with Trump—something that will absolutely crush Trump’s fragile little ego. "Being president, or even being an ex-president, I can kind of meet everybody. So I've met a lot of folks,” Obama <a href="https://barackobama.medium.com/my-conversation-with-brian-tyler-cohen-e25cac125f44" target="_blank">said on a podcast</a> in February. “The person who I have not yet met, and that I'm looking forward to meeting—and I hope I get an opportunity sometime in the future—is the new pope, who is from Chicago and a White Sox fan.” Meanwhile, the fact that the pope isn’t a fan of this administration has to eat away at Vice President JD Vance, who just <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/31/us/politics/jd-vance-book-communion.html" target="_blank">wrote a book</a> about his journey converting to Catholicism. In fact, former Pope Francis <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/4/21/2317794/-Pope-Francis-shames-the-crap-out-of-JD-Vance-in-final-acts-on-earth" title="" target="_blank">overtly criticized</a> Vance and his interpretation of Catholic doctrine in one of his final acts before his death last year. So far the Trump team doesn't seem to be doing much better with this pope either. rss@dailykos.com (Emily Singer) DonaldTrump Immigration Iran JDVance PopeLeoXIV Vatican War _2377290 Sat, 11 Apr 2026 00:01:01 +0000 Inflation keeps growing, and Trump's MAGA media loyalists jump ship https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/10/2377307/-Inflation-keeps-growing-and-Trump-s-MAGA-media-loyalists-jump-ship?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= A daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know. <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/10/2377173/-Barron-Trump-gets-in-on-the-family-grift?pm_source=ICYMI&pm_campaign=ICYMI04102026" target="_blank">Barron Trump gets in on the family grift</a> If there’s one thing the world desperately needs right now, it’s a virgin piña colada soda from a Trump. <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/10/2377237/-The-End-of-Beta-Week?pm_source=ICYMI&pm_campaign=ICYMI04102026" target="_blank">The End of Beta Week</a> There’s still time to hit us with your fixes and comments! <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/10/2377234/-Inflation-surges-as-Iran-war-spirals?pm_source=ICYMI&pm_campaign=ICYMI04102026" target="_blank">Inflation surges as Iran war spirals</a> Just because Trump pretends it’s not a problem doesn’t make it true. <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/10/2376858/-The-other-nuclear-option?pm_source=ICYMI&pm_campaign=ICYMI04102026" target="_blank" title="">The other nuclear option</a> <div class="align-center"> <figure class="image-captioned width-xl"><img alt="Cartoon by Drew Sheneman" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1542387/large/20260407edshe-b.jpg?1775599623" title="Cartoon by Drew Sheneman"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> </div> We’d much prefer this one. <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/10/2377240/-Trump-admits-his-right-wing-backers-are-nut-jobs?pm_source=ICYMI&pm_campaign=ICYMI04102026" target="_blank" title="">Trump admits his right-wing backers are 'nut jobs'</a> A broken clock is right twice a day. <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/10/2377241/-The-math-is-the-math-Buttigieg-schools-CNBC-host-on-inflation-Iran?pm_source=ICYMI&pm_campaign=ICYMI04102026" target="_blank">‘The math is the math’: Buttigieg schools CNBC host on inflation, Iran</a> “We didn't have to be fighting this war. What are we doing?”  <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/10/2377266/-Trump-s-costly-coal-obsession-is-killing-the-environment?pm_source=ICYMI&pm_campaign=ICYMI04102026" target="_blank">Trump's costly coal obsession is killing the environment</a> A $900 electricity bill is no way to live. <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/10/2377259/-Can-t-afford-food-That-won-t-stop-this-Trump-crony-from-smiling?pm_source=ICYMI&pm_campaign=ICYMI04102026" target="_blank">Can’t afford food? That won’t stop this Trump crony from smiling.</a> How we’d love to wipe that smile off Kevin Hassett’s face. <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/10/2377258/-Republicans-are-celebrating-the-latest-inflation-report-Yes-really?pm_source=ICYMI&pm_campaign=ICYMI04102026" target="_blank">Republicans are celebrating the latest inflation report. Yes, really.</a> The things Republicans do to avoid painting Trump as wrong … <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/blogs/Comics?pm_source=ICYMI&pm_campaign=ICYMI04102026" target="_blank">Click here to see more cartoons.</a> rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos Staff) AlexJones BarronTrump Coal Inflation IranWar KevinHassett PeteButtigieg TheRecap TuckerCarlson _2377307 Fri, 10 Apr 2026 20:52:06 +0000 Congressional crisis kit https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/10/2377182/-Congressional-crisis-kit?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= A cartoon by Brian McFadden. Support <a href="https://www.patreon.com/BrianMcFadden" target="_blank">my Patreon</a> for early access and exclusives. Follow me on <a href="https://mastodon.social/@mcfadden" target="_blank">Mastodon</a>, <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/mcfadden.bsky.social" target="_blank">Bluesky</a>, or at <a href="https://brianmcfadden.org/" target="_blank">my website</a>. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376821/-Republicans-helped-make-Trump-s-mess-and-only-they-can-clean-it-up" target="_blank">Republicans helped make Trump's mess—and only they can clean it up</a> <hr> rss@dailykos.com (BrianMcFadden) BrianMcFadden Cartoon Congress DonaldTrump Impeachment _2377182 Fri, 10 Apr 2026 23:59:05 +0000 These Democrats are dropping hints about their 2028 plans https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/10/2377305/-These-Democrats-are-dropping-hints-about-their-2028-plans?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= During the National Action Network Convention in New York City on Friday, civil rights activist Al Sharpton interviewed former Vice President Kamala Harris and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, directly asking them about their <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/1/2370649/-Sure-it-s-early-but-let-s-talk-about-2028" target="_blank">potential 2028 plans</a>. “Let me say this: I am thinking about it,” Harris said. “I think that the American people have a right to expect that anyone who wants to run for office and be a leader—that it can't be about themselves and what they want for themselves—it's gotta be about the American people.” <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content"><a class="new_iframe_placeholder" href="#">x</a></div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=izMml5CNRe8" data-frameborder="0" data-height="281" data-src="//www.youtube.com/embed/izMml5CNRe8" data-width="500">YouTube Video</a></div> </div> Meanwhile, Buttigieg made it clear that he intends to run again in 2028. “When you ran for president, you met me, and we went up to lunch at Sylvia's Restaurant in Harlem,” Sharpton said. “Just so my calendar is clear, should I be reserving a table at Sylvia's? Are you gonna run again?”  “You save me a seat, I'll be there,” Buttigieg replied. <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content"><a class="new_iframe_placeholder" href="#">x</a></div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=IELrVr8Z9Qg" data-frameborder="0" data-height="281" data-src="//www.youtube.com/embed/IELrVr8Z9Qg" data-width="500">YouTube Video</a></div> </div> Harris and Buttigieg joined other potential presidential contenders at the convention, including Illinois Gov. <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/9/2377158/-JB-Pritzker-has-always-known-Trump-is-evil" target="_blank">JB Pritzker</a>. Regardless of who runs, it’ll sure be a hell of a lot better than the madman who’s currently in power. rss@dailykos.com (Walter Einenkel) 2028 AlSharpton Elections KamalaHarris NationalActionNetwork PeteButtigieg _2377305 Fri, 10 Apr 2026 23:15:02 +0000 WTF is going on with Melania? https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/10/2377314/-WTF-is-going-on-with-Melania?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= Melania Trump’s senior adviser, Marc Beckman, went on<a href="https://abcnews.com/Politics/melania-trump-adviser-speaks-led-surprise-epstein-statement/story?id=131918888" title="" target="_blank"> “Fox &  Friends</a>” on Friday to try to explain the first lady’s extremely<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/9/2377154/-Kristi-Noem-s-flying-loveshack-finds-a-new-home" title="" target="_blank"> weird</a> Thursday press conference about Jeffrey Epstein, but did not illuminate why she chose to read a six-minute<a href="https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/melania-trump-epstein-press-conference" title="" target="_blank"> statement</a> saying she had no connections to the accused sex trafficker.  The statement she read was essentially just a really long version of the famous Mariah Carey “I don’t know her”<a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/mariah-carey-i-dont-know-her-eun4dZ28aHE1lu4MFN" title="" target="_blank"> gif</a>, with Melania denying any meaningful connection to Epstein or to his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell and then not taking any questions from the assembled press. <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <a class="iframe_placeholder dk-x-embed" href="#" title="" data-frameborder="0" data-height="365" data-src="https://giphy.com/embed/eun4dZ28aHE1lu4MFN" data-width="480">Embedded Content</a></div> <a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/mariah-carey-i-dont-know-her-eun4dZ28aHE1lu4MFN" title="" target="_blank">via GIPHY</a> Besides<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/09/jeffrey-epstein-melania-trump.html" title="" target="_blank"> saying</a> she never had any knowledge of Epstein’s abuse of his victims, she made sure to slam the shadowy unnamed cabal of haters who are telling lies about her.  “The individuals lying about me are devoid of ethical standards, humility, and respect,” Melania said. “I do not object to their ignorance, but rather, I reject their mean-spirited attempts to defame my reputation.” Beckman, who is also somehow one of the<a href="https://variety.com/2026/music/news/melania-documentary-producer-jonny-greenwood-music-interview-1236670805/" target="_blank"> producers</a> of the first lady’s vanity<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/2/4/2367141/--Melania-tickets-are-the-latest-way-to-bribe-Trump" title="" target="_blank"> documentary</a> along with being her adviser, said she spoke out because “She’s ready to fight” and that “it’s time for the public to refocus their attention on what achievements our first lady has done.” Come on. Melania has a<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/24/2374530/-Oh-boy-Melania-has-another-pretend-job" title="" target="_blank"> fake job</a> helming her “Foster the Future” initiative—for The Children, of course. However, at a two-day conference that she was supposedly running, she stayed for seven minutes on Day 1 and showed up briefly, inexplicably, with a<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/25/2374783/-White-House-graced-by-weird-android-devoid-of-human-emotion-and-a-robot" title="" target="_blank"> robot</a> on Day 2. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/25/2374783/-White-House-graced-by-weird-android-devoid-of-human-emotion-and-a-robot" title="" target="_blank">White House graced by weird android devoid of human emotion—and a robot</a> <div style="text-align:right"> <div> <hr> Melania did address<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/9/us-first-lady-melania-trump-denies-connection-to-epstein-in-rare-speech" title="" target="_blank"> an email</a> she’d once sent to Maxwell, saying it “cannot be categorized as anything more than casual correspondence.” </div> </div> The famously indifferent first lady didn’t specify which email, but it seems likely it was<a href="https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02332411.pdf" title="" target="_blank"> this one</a> from 2002, which was released months ago. “Dear G, how are you?” the email read. “Nice story about JE in New York Mag. You look great on the picture. I know you are very busy flying all over the world. How was Palm Beach? I cannot wait to go down. Give me a call when you are back in New York. Have a great time. Love, Melania.” The first lady also<a href="https://www.ms.now/news/melania-trump-denies-all-but-casual-ties-to-epstein-and-maxwell" target="_blank"> decided</a> to functionally demand that Epstein’s victims appear before Congress.  “Each and every woman should have her day to tell her story in public, if she wishes, and then her testimony should be permanently entered into the Congressional Record,” Melania intoned. “Then, and only then, will we have the truth.” Melania didn’t exactly<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/10/epstein-survivors-melania-trump-reaction" target="_blank"> clear that</a> with those victims. Thirteen of the women who hve accused Epstein of abuse issued a statement saying that “Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have already shown extraordinary courage by coming forward, filing reports, and giving testimony. Asking more of them now is a deflection of responsibility, not justice.” Melania also didn’t clear it with Trump, who straight-up denied that he knew his wife was going to hold her little press conference and also said that Melania “didn’t know” Epstein.   <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-right"><img alt="Cartoon by Jack Ohman" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1543364/large/20260410edohc-a.jpg?1775852847" title="Cartoon by Jack Ohman"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> Buddy, there is a literal<a href="https://abcnews.com/US/melania-trump-jeffrey-epstein/story?id=131899025" target="_blank"> picture</a> of you and Melania hanging with Epstein and Maxwell.  One possibility: Melania was trying to get ahead of some news about Amanda Ungaro and Paolo Zampolli. Zampolli, a longtime Trump associate, asked ICE to do him a solid and get Ungaro deported so that he could<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/20/us/paolo-zampolli-ice-melania-trump-epstein.html" target="_blank"> prevail</a> in a custody battle over their son. Zampolli has long claimed he<a href="https://www.latintimes.com/who-amanda-ungaro-why-internet-thinks-she-triggered-melania-trumps-epstein-statement-596500" target="_blank"> introduced</a> Melania to Donald, and Ungaro was still hanging out with Melania as late as the 2017 inauguration. But Zampolli is in the Epstein files a bunch, and once discussed buying a modeling agency with Epstein. He also met Ungaro thanks to Epstein, after she flew from Paris to New York on his plane in 2002, when she was 17. Later that year, she met Zampolli, who was 32—but hey, he totally did not date her until she was 19, you guys. But though Zampolli succeeded in getting Ungaro deported to Brazil, she still has her X account. On Wednesday, she<a href="https://x.com/AmandaUngaroA/status/2042104952110076000" target="_blank"> posted</a> to Melania that she would “take legal action against you and your pedophile husband.” She also reminded Melania of their long friendship. “I have known you for 20 years. You knew I was detained in ICE. You were present in my life — every year on my son’s birthday, even sending Secret Service and being the first to congratulate him, back in 2016,” Ungaro wrote. On Thursday, Ungaro stepped up her<a href="https://x.com/AmandaUngaroA/status/2042105392285487353" title="" target="_blank"> posting game</a>, telling Melania, “I will tear down your corrupt system, even if it’s the last thing I do in my life. I will go all the way—I am not afraid. Maybe you should be afraid of what I know… of who you are, and who your husband is.” So, the math checks out, as Ungaro’s post hit at midnight on Thursday, and Melania’s surprise press conference happened only about<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/acyn.bsky.social/post/3mj3hcbkqye2g" title="" target="_blank"> 13 hours later</a>.  Now, no one except Beckman is talking, and all he’s doing is lavishing completely untrue<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/melania-adviser-marc-beckman-reveals-why-she-addressed-epstein-now/" target="_blank"> praise</a> on Melania and telling us we all need to straighten up and fly right. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/9/2377143/-Donald-isn-t-the-only-Trump-America-hates" title="" target="_blank">Donald isn’t the only Trump America hates</a> <hr> “We as a society need to get back to respect, and certainly, our first lady, the first lady of the United States, deserves respect,” her flack insisted. “When she’s out there working every single day for Americans, helping children, helping families, driving to make this country better, that’s what she deserves for people to pay attention to, not this nonsense.” This is as<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/8/26/2340369/-Watch-this-Trump-Cabinet-meeting-devolve-into-ass-kissing-assembly" target="_blank"> ridiculous</a> as when all of Donald Trump’s Cabinet members try to one-up each other in how much they can fawn over the embattled president. If you’d like to know more, too bad. Melania said that any questions about whether Trump knew about her statement in advance should be<a href="https://abcnews.com/Politics/melania-trump-adviser-speaks-led-surprise-epstein-statement/story?id=131918888" target="_blank"> addressed</a> to the West Wing, but the White House directed questions back to her.  So, it could be that Melania came forward to try to get ahead of Ungaro spilling the tea, or it could be for some other reason that only made sense in Melania’s brain. But no matter what, we can rest assured that everyone in Trump’s orbit will keep spinning to protect him at all costs. rss@dailykos.com (Lisa Needham) AmandaUngaro GhislaineMaxwell JeffreyEpstein MelaniaTrump paolozampolli _2377314 Fri, 10 Apr 2026 22:30:03 +0000 House Republican says Congress should butt out of Trump’s war https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/10/2377279/-House-Republican-says-Congress-should-butt-out-of-Trump-s-war?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= Big-time <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/3/9/2308392/-How-Republicans-are-making-pathetic-excuses-for-Trump-s-inflation" target="_blank">Trump apologist</a> Rep. Russell Fry of South Carolina appeared on Fox Business Friday to offer a powerfully convoluted—but telling—excuse for why the GOP-controlled Congress remains unwilling to do its job and rein in the war in Iran. “Congress, right now, certainly has an obligation in some ways to assist in matters of international importance,” Fry said. “But to micromanage the president with 535 CEOs of the country doesn't make a lot of sense to me—doesn't make a lot of sense to the American people.” <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content"><a class="new_iframe_placeholder" href="#">x</a></div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=QeKWjMj7CjQ" title="" data-frameborder="0" data-height="281" data-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QeKWjMj7CjQ" data-width="500">YouTube Video</a></div> </div> “We don't need Congress, right now, micromanaging a war—or a conflict—that the president is trying to engage in,” he added. From referring to Congress as “535 CEOs” to catching himself mid-sentence, realizing that the word “war” <a href="https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/news/war-powers-resolution-1973" title="" target="_blank">carries actual weight</a>, Fry’s cowardly dodge encapsulates the GOP’s <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/8/2376996/-GOP-senator-fails-history-to-defend-Trump-s-war-crimes-threat" target="_blank">historic levels</a> of amorality and inaction. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/25/2374804/-Trump-s-propaganda-princess-drops-absurd-excuse-for-not-declaring-war" target="_blank">Trump’s propaganda princess drops absurd excuse for not declaring war</a> <hr> rss@dailykos.com (Walter Einenkel) Congress Constitution DonaldTrump Iran RussellFry War _2377279 Fri, 10 Apr 2026 22:00:06 +0000 Kristi Noem might already be out of her new fake gig https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/10/2377278/-Kristi-Noem-might-already-be-out-of-her-new-fake-gig?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= If you’re keeping your ear to the ground in Washington, D.C., you might have heard some whispering that Kristi Noem’s new gig already has an expiration date. According to the latest gossip floating around town,<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/5/2371788/-Kristi-Noem-commits-Trump-s-one-unforgivable-sin" target="_blank"> the fired </a>former Department of Homeland Security secretary has been noticeably absent from her newly created role, special envoy for the Shield of the Americas. Then again, state officials told the Daily Mail that she was never meant to hold this job for the long haul anyway.  “This post was intended as a soft landing so it didn’t look like Noem was immediately being fired,” sources<a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15716841/kristi-noem-husband-bryon-bimbo.html" target="_blank"> told the tabloid</a>. <figure class="image-captioned align-right"><img alt="Cartoon by Tim Campbell" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1541014/large/20260402edtcc-a.jpg?1775156996" title="Cartoon by Tim Campbell"> <figcaption>“Have some respect” by Tim Campbell</figcaption> </figure> “But no one really thinks she should have this job. The State Department was not happy to have her here and the understanding is that she’s not going to be here for much longer.” Noem has quite an excuse for playing hookey as of late. Last month, <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/31/2375727/-Kristi-Noem-s-very-bad-month-takes-jaw-dropping-turn" target="_blank">news broke</a> that the former South Dakota governor’s husband, Bryon, has a very expensive “bimbofication” fetish that he has been living in secret for years. Since the cat was thrust out of the bag, more details have emerged about Bryon’s extracurricular activities, including extremely personal details, photos, and money spent.  But Kristi, who has <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/13/politics/south-dakota-kristi-noem-transgender-minors" target="_blank">pushed an anti-LGBTQ+ agenda</a> throughout her career, maintained that she and her family were “blindsided” by this revelation. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/31/2375727/-Kristi-Noem-s-very-bad-month-takes-jaw-dropping-turn" target="_blank">Kristi Noem's very bad month takes a jaw-dropping turn</a> <hr> It’s unclear if all of this is impacting her new gig or if a quiet exit from the newly made-up role was the plan all along.  However, even her aides are getting the axe. According to the New York Post, three aides brought over from her time at the DHS have been placed on administrative leave, reportedly due to their ties to Corey Lewandowski. “They didn’t want any people that would be tentacles for Lewandowski,” a source <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/04/09/us-news/kristi-noems-loyal-staffers-axed-after-following-scandal-ridden-boss-to-new-gig-youre-obviously-not-welcome/" target="_blank">told the Post</a>. Lewandowski, despite being a contracted worker, was Kristi’s right-hand man throughout her time in the DHS position and was rumored to have more control than originally led on, not to mention the allegations that they were having an affair. Then again, someone had to take the helm while Kristi <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/3/24/2312256/-Here-s-where-cosplaying-homeland-security-chief-will-be-performing-next" target="_blank">cosplayed her way across the nation</a>, and in <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/3/27/2312907/-Kristi-Noem-takes-her-evil-influencer-act-to-Salvadoran-prison" target="_blank">El Salvador’s prisons</a>, while <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/11/15/2353850/-Firm-tied-to-Kristi-Noem-secretly-got-money-from-220-million-DHS-ad-contracts" target="_blank">charging taxpayers</a> hundreds of millions of dollars for her fun. rss@dailykos.com (Alix Breeden) bryonNoem CoreyLewandowski DepartmentofHomelandSecurity KRISTINOEM _2377278 Fri, 10 Apr 2026 21:00:13 +0000 Trump finds new way to meddle in state elections https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/10/2377286/-Trump-finds-new-way-to-meddle-in-state-elections?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= A Republican state senate candidate in Indiana is <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/white-house-failed-push-candidate-indiana-republican-senate-primary-rcna267361" target="_blank">alleging</a> that the Trump administration tried to entice her to drop out of her race by offering up a job to clear the path for President Donald Trump’s preferred candidate. Alexandra Wilson said that she was contacted by White House officials in February as part of a pressure campaign to get her to leave the race, a move that would assist Brenda Wilson, the administration’s preferred candidate. Both women are running against state Sen. Greg Goode. Goode is in Trump’s crosshairs because he is<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/12/12/2358107/-Indiana-spurns-Trump-s-attempt-to-rig-2026-elections" title="" target="_blank"> among the Indiana officials</a> who opposed White House efforts to pass a redistricting measure to squeeze out Democrats and favor Republicans. Faced with increasingly likely odds of a midterms wipeout, Republicans have been trying to change the rules to rig election results. <figure class="image-captioned width-xl align-right"><img alt="Republican 3rd district congressional candidate Greg Goode talks with supporters at a Johnson County Republican election watch party in Overland Park, Kan., Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2016. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)" class="width-xl" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1543330/large/AP16216087353586.jpg?1775848041" title="Republican 3rd district congressional candidate Greg Goode talks with supporters at a Johnson County Republican election watch party in Overland Park, Kan., Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2016. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)"> <figcaption>Indiana state Sen. Greg Goode</figcaption> </figure> Wilson told NBC that she was contacted by an array of White House officials. In one call shared with the outlet, White House Political Director Matt Brasseaux said he could personally contact the White House Presidential Personnel Office to get her a job with the administration that would be based in Indiana. “I’m going to ask the point-blank question here: Is there a pathway to where you would put some thought into another route to making an impact in your community?” he asked. Brasseaux also texted Wilson and indicated that he had spoken to the office of Indiana Gov. Mike Braun about possibly getting her a job with boards and commissions in the state so she could leave the race. In another call, Trump’s deputy chief of staff James Blair told Wilson that he had dirt on Wilson’s past, referencing her husband’s past charges for resisting arrest and driving under the influence. He also told her that the race would get “ugly.” Wilson told NBC that she found Blair’s call “a little threatening” but declined to do as the White House requested. The behind-the-scenes pressure campaign follows the pattern of Trump’s past underhanded behavior. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/2/2/2366862/-Why-Trump-s-raid-on-Georgia-election-site-is-so-chilling" title="" target="_blank">Why Trump's raid on Georgia election site is so chilling</a> <hr> For instance, after it was clear that he lost the 2020 election in Georgia to former President Joe Biden,<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-raffensperger-call-georgia-vote/2021/01/03/d45acb92-4dc4-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555_story.html" target="_blank"> </a>Trump <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-raffensperger-call-georgia-vote/2021/01/03/d45acb92-4dc4-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555_story.html" target="_blank">called</a> Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to demand that he find votes to overturn the results. In another instance,<a href="https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/trumps-ukraine-call-context-damning/" target="_blank"> </a>Trump <a href="https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/trumps-ukraine-call-context-damning/" target="_blank">spoke</a> to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an effort to pressure him to find dirt on Trump’s political opponents. Trump’s first impeachment was a direct result of that call, as he misused the presidential office. Trump’s involvement in local Indiana politics demonstrates his continued use of his presidency to settle personal political scores.  It also highlights the dire straits that Republicans find themselves in as their effort to redraw congressional districts has<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/3/26/2374906/-Florida-GOP-gets-cold-feet-about-rigging-House-map" title="" target="_blank"> become a political albatross</a> while Democrats surge toward electoral victory. rss@dailykos.com (Oliver Willis) Corruption DonaldTrump Elections Indiana Midterms Redistricting _2377286 Fri, 10 Apr 2026 20:00:14 +0000 Greedy, myopic knuckleheads https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/4/10/2376986/-Greedy-myopic-knuckleheads?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= A cartoon by David Horsey. <hr> Related | <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376790/-Best-part-of-being-an-astronaut-Escaping-Trump-s-mess-on-Earth" title="" target="_blank">Best part of being an astronaut: Escaping Trump's mess on Earth</a> <hr> rss@dailykos.com (David Horsey) artemisII Cartoon DavidHorsey Earth Moon NASA _2376986 Fri, 10 Apr 2026 19:59:03 +0000