Newsnation anchor Chris Cuomo fell for an obviously fake video of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calling Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle jeans ad “blatant Nazi propaganda,”the Daily Beast reports.
Said Ocasio-Cortez, in response: “This is a deepfake dude. Please use your critical thinking skills. At this point you’re just reposting Facebook memes and calling it journalism.”
President Trump lost his cool over more questions about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, CNN reports.
Said Trump: “The whole thing is a hoax. It’s just a way to divert attention to something that is total bullshit.”
“President Trump’s pressure campaign on Republican-led states to redraw congressional maps in his party’s favor is testing his power over governors and state legislators at a time when Republicans in Washington have largely rubber-stamped the president’s agenda and acquiesced to his demands,” the New York Times reports.
“As Mr. Trump and his political allies stare down the midterm elections — and the prospect of Democrats taking control of the House — they are engaged in a nationwide effort to gobble up as many Democratic-held districts as they can by changing maps typically set once a decade after the census.”
“The effort is the latest example of Mr. Trump and his allies trying to rewrite the rules to squeeze out every possible political advantage.”
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“A dinner for senior administration officials at Vice President JD Vance’s residence to discuss topics including the Trump administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case has been canceled after news of it leaked,” Reuters reports.
“The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will hire as many as 450 people to shore up the National Weather Service after deep cuts this spring raised concern about dangerous understaffing,” the AP reports.
“Leaked drafts of the State Department’s long-delayed annual human rights reports indicate that the Trump administration intends to dramatically scale back U.S. government criticism of certain foreign nations with extensive records of abuse,” the Washington Post reports.
“The draft human rights reports for El Salvador, Israel and Russia are significantly shorter than the ones prepared last year by the Biden administration. They strike all references to LGBTQ+ individuals or crimes against them, and the descriptions of government abuses that do remain have been softened.”
“President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he will impose a 100% tariff on computer chips, likely raising the cost of electronics, autos, household appliances and other goods deemed essential for the digital age,” the AP reports.
It’s well known that Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) and Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) do not like each other, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
“But Van Orden took their very public feud to a new level this week when he posted a blurred photo on X of a naked man wearing a ski mask and carrying a sex toy tied to a walking stick and told his 74,000 followers that it was Pocan. (It wasn’t.)”
“The post prompted Pocan to swing back with accusations of alcoholism, asking Van Orden if he was drunk again.”
“A dinner scheduled Wednesday night at Vice President JD Vance’s residence was seen as an opportunity for Trump administration officials to realign amid the ongoing Jeffrey Epstein scandal,” CNN reports.
“That would include a potential chance for Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, who had been at odds over the response, to clear the air.”
“President Trump does not oppose Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to launch a new military operation to occupy the entire Gaza Strip,” Axios reports.
“The new operation to occupy additional areas of central Gaza, including Gaza City, is expected to take at least several months and involve displacing around 1 million Palestinian civilians.”
“Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation into whether Beto O’Rourke’s political group, Powered by People, is breaking laws by funding Texas Democrats’ out-of-state travel attempting to stop the passage of the new Republican-favored congressional maps,” the Texas Tribune reports.
Mylie Biggs (R), the daughter of Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), is running for a seat in the Arizona Senate, the Phoenix New Times reports.
But here’s what she told a little known podcast last year: “Honestly, I don’t know if I would vote for any female. I don’t know if females should be in office.”
She added: “Yeah, I don’t think women should hold office in general. That’s my position. That’s my stance. I think women should run the home.”
I spoke to the great Julie Mason this afternoon about the redistricting wars and Donald Trump’s efforts get everyone to talk about anything but Jeffrey Epstein.
“President Trump may have moved out of New York City, but he has privately discussed whether to intercede in its fractious race for mayor to try to stop Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee,” the New York Times reports.
“The possibility that Mr. Trump would somehow involve himself in New York politics could inject a new element of unpredictability into an already fractious contest. It remains far from certain how or if Mr. Trump will ultimately make his presence felt.”
“During her nine hours speaking with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche last month, Ghislaine Maxwell said nothing during the interview that would be harmful to President Donald Trump, telling Blanche that Trump had never done anything in her presence that would have caused concern,” ABC News reports.
Edward Harrison: “The Federal Reserve is in a bind. After shockingly weak jobs data on Friday — and with inflation stubbornly above trend — it’s becoming clear that the central bank’s dual mandates of maximum employment and price stability are both offsides and pulling in opposite directions. What should the Fed do?”
“Inflation demands that the Fed stay the course, or even raise rates, yet the weakening jobs picture argues for the central bank to cut now if it is to help avoid a recession. No matter what the Fed does, one mandate will remain offsides.”
President Trump intends to meet in person with Russian President Vladimir Putin as soon as next week, and he plans to follow up shortly afterward with a meeting between himself, Mr. Putin and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, the New York Times reports.
“It was not immediately clear if Mr. Putin or Mr. Zelensky had agreed to the plan Mr. Trump described.”
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett suggested to Fox News that the Bureau of Labor Statistics rigged the 2012 presidential election for President Barack Obama.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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