Political Wire

Trump Unleashes Justice Department On the Midterms

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“The Justice Department is sharply intensifying efforts to intervene in the midterm elections, goaded by a president unfettered by even the limited restraints of his first term,” the New York Times reports.

“The next several weeks represent a critical moment for federal law enforcement, a test of whether a department repurposed by President Trump as an instrument of unmediated executive power will be effectively mobilized as a guarantor of his political power.”

“In recent weeks, the department has taken several new steps, including an extraordinary effort to invalidate any potential Democratic victory in the Alaska Senate race, that reflect Mr. Trump’s growing agitation as his party faces the possibility of losing control of Congress precipitated by his sagging popularity.”

AI Leaders Become a Political Liability

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“Washington has always viewed Silicon Valley as culturally strange. But the current crop of AI leaders is becoming a monumental political liability,” Axios reports.

“Even pro-AI government officials and lawmakers wish AI founders would do what every other major industry chief does — shut up and just build their products … safely.”

“By centering the conversation around digital sentience and global catastrophe, AI leaders are turning an already complicated regulatory debate into an impossible moral panic.”

MAHA Sits Out the Midterms

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Wall Street Journal: “The MAHA-MAGA marriage is tenuous—and one reason is the frailty of Kennedy’s political apparatus. Most of the donors who gave last cycle to boost Kennedy and later his alliance with Trump are missing in the midterms.”

“Allied MAHA super PACs and nonprofits have spent far less than the $100 million promised, dropping only about $4 million in support of candidates since January 2025, according to federal election filings and news releases.”

Trump Hints That Press Area May Be Moved

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“President Donald Trump pushed back Saturday morning against reports he was considering replacing the White House press briefing room with an indoor swimming pool but said he was considering moving media ‘to a less obnoxious location,'” NewsNation reports.

Said Trump, on Truth Social: “There is a Fake News report out there that I am going to remove the White House Press Room and bring back the old Swimming Pool, which lies directly underneath. Although I may move the Fake News to a less obnoxious location, the old swimming pool will never be brought back.”

He added: “I NEVER even thought to do such a stupid thing!”

Gen Z Is Broke and Fed Up with Politics

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Politico: “Transunion, a consumer credit reporting agency, found in a 2024 study that 22- to 24-year-olds in Gen Z had higher average credit-card balances, higher average auto-loan balances and higher average personal-loan balances than millennials of the same age a decade earlier, even when adjusted for inflation. Gen Z borrowers also had higher delinquency rates than their millennial counterparts.”

“This gap — between the promise that hard work will bring stability and the costs young adults say they can’t get ahead of — is key to understanding the politics of Gen Z, a voter group that helped President Donald Trump win in 2024, but whose longtime loyalties have yet to be won by either party.”

Another Bonus Quote of the Day

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“Boy, they are scraping the bottom of the barrel. It feels like a real desperation play to me, because it has got zero basis in the law.”

— Republican election law expert Ben Ginsberg, quoted by Politico, on the Trump administration’s effort to invalidate Alaska’s election results.

Mike Collins Joked About Pushing Pelosi From a Plane

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“In last week’s Georgia Senate debate, Democrat Jon Ossoff accused Republican congressman Mike Collins of calling for immigrants to be thrown to their deaths from helicopters, referring to a social media post Collins sent in 2024,” CNN reports.

“Collins didn’t address the accusation directly and instead pivoted to immigration enforcement and criticized Ossoff.”

“But it wasn’t the first time Collins commented on killing people by throwing them out of an aircraft. In an August 2021 tweet, amid the chaos of the Afghanistan withdrawal, Collins suggested American military and political leaders deserved to be hanged from a helicopter. He also joked about pushing then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi out of an airplane.”

Iowa Ad Calling Democrat ‘Dangerous’ Boomerangs

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“A Republican woman in a campaign commercial gave a grave warning about Sarah Trone Garriott, the Democratic candidate in one of Iowa’s most competitive House districts,” the Washington Post reports.

Said city councilwoman Shellie Flockhart: “When it comes to our kids, Sarah is just plain dangerous.”

“Flockhart pleaded guilty to charges related to child endangerment and driving under the influence after authorities said she drove drunk with two of her children in the car in 2017.”

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

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“I got completely deluded… Like I so overstated my power that it was embarrassing. He didn’t care what I thought at all. And you know, why would he actually?”

— Tucker Carlson, quoted by the Financial Times, on his soured relationship with President Trump.

Ramaswamy Switches to Shorter Version of Attack Ad

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“Vivek Ramaswamy is switching to a 30-second version of the attack ad featuring the estranged mother of Amy Acton, his Democratic opponent in the Ohio race for governor,” NBC News reports.

“The original minute-long version debuted this week and sparked widespread and bipartisan backlash. It’s not uncommon for there to be 60-second and 30-second versions of ads featuring roughly the same content.”

The Wrap: Trump calls NBC News’ Monica Alba a “horrible little reporter” over Ramaswamy ad questions.