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Donald Trump’s cognitive decline is getting worse by the day. We all see that. That is why I reached out to Nobel Peace Prize-winning psychiatrist, Dr. Henry David Abraham to come back on my show after appearing back in May. And this time, Dr. Abraham’s warning was even more alarming.

To recap, three months ago, Dr. Abraham was on to discuss the letter he joined with 35 other esteemed mental health professionals that concluded Trump is “mentally unfit” to serve as President and should be removed by way of the 25^th Amendment. That letter—which is now part of the congressional record—warned that Trump’s behavior reflects “a rapidly worsening, reality-untethered, increasingly dangerous decline.”

That is why this group of experts reached this alarming conclusion, “Donald J. Trump is mentally unfit to be the President of the United States, and that steps to remove him from office must be undertaken with the greatest urgency.”

At the outset of our conversation Monday, I asked Dr. Abraham—a Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus at Tufts University School of Medicine--if anything had changed over the past three months in terms of Trump’s conduct. That is when the Doctor stated bluntly, “Yes, he’s more dangerous.”

Dr. Abraham noted that Trump’s frequency in impulsivity and confabulation has greatly increased. To be clear, confabulation is not lying. It’s worse. It’s where the brain unconsciously creates fabricated, distorted, or false memories to fill in memory gaps--and the person genuinely believes these accounts are true.

Our corporate media dismisses this as “Trump being Trump”—or some note Trump tends to lie—but it’s truly a more concerning issue of mental fitness. Trump is creating a world that doesn’t exist--yet he believes this manufactured “reality.”

Dr. Abraham put it this way about Trump: If a pilot exhibited the same symptoms Trump exhibits, that pilot would no longer be allowed to fly an aircraft. Same he notes goes for a surgeon. But in the case of Trump, he is in control of the world’s most lethal military and nuclear arsenal, yet no one is pressing on his mental fitness.

This is especially concerning because as the Doctor noted, Trump is presenting symptoms consistent with frontal temporal dementia. He explained that explains “his increased emotionality, confabulation, lack of judgment and impulsivity.” That is why Dr. Abraham made this dire warning, this could lead to “Trump using a nuclear weapon in a fit of pique, or rage, or confusion, or poor impulse control.”

To be clear, Dr. Abraham nor the other mental health experts have made a diagnosis as to what is causing Trump’s mental unfitness. A big reason for that is the White House refuses to release Trump’s medical records which would enable these doctors to likely do that. As Abraham noted, Trump’s cognitive issues could be caused by dementia, Alzheimer’s or as caused by tertiary syphilis—which over time will lead to brain and nerve damage.

He added, though, it’s very telling that Trump has recently been subjected four times to “a rapid screen for dementia.” Dr. Abraham explained that based on his decades of experience, “if a person is normal, you don’t repeat the test. Rather, you only repeat it if it’s sliding downward.” He added, “You’re looking for a trend.”

But again, the White House refuses to provide access to the records—instead serving up a wildly incredible descriptions of Trump as having “perfect” test scores.

All of this is why Dr. Abraham is urging Democrats--if they get control of the House and/or Senate--to hold public hearings, subpoena Trump’s mental and physical records, have expert witnesses testify. We need to know the truth.

He is 100% correct. Section 4 of the 25^th Amendment provides that Congress has the power to create a “body” to determine if a “President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” This at the very least will bring more attention to this issue.

This is not about politics as the Doctor noted. Trump will never be on the ballot again and if he’s removed, JD Vance becomes President—which could help him win in 2028. It’s about protecting our nation and the world from a President who experts are telling us is mentally unfit.

Hope you check out my discussion with Dr. Abraham below as well his new Substack.

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We all know what Donald Trump renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America was about. It’s Trump serving up more BS for the corporate media to cover so they don’t talk his failures from the Iran war to this past week’s high inflation report to Friday’s terrible consumer sentiment report. And of course, corporate media being the sheep they are delivered for Trump by spending the weekend talking this topic—when not trying to pit Democrats against each other that is.

But Google did something far worse. They quickly renamed Lake Ontario to Lake America on their maps—at least for users in the United States. So why did Google move so quickly? Simple, they believe it’s good for their bottom line—without any regard for their role in helping Trump impose his fascist agenda.

This is the same Trump who attempted a coup in 2020 and is working to rig the 2026 elections, started an illegal war on a whim, is using his FCC and DOJ to target journalists and is now trying to destroy our longtime ally Canada. Yet Google made a choice to please Trump—and in turn make him appear all powerful when in reality he has horrific approval numbers.

To be clear, there is no legal requirement for Google to rename Lake Ontario on its maps. That is why MapQuest on Saturday publicly rejected Trump’s request. As MapQuest noted on social media, “We’re not changing it.” It also replied to posts about the new name, writing “Nope.” and “Not doing it.”

MapQuest also rejected Trump’s order last year renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. That is why in response to Trump’s new order they mockingly posted a map with Lake Ontario and the text, “Lake Are We Doing This Again?” Of course, MAGA world is irate with MapQuest with even the aspiring fascist prince Erik Trump writing, “Shocking to see you’re still alive.” (Was that a veiled threat?!)

MapQuest wasn’t alone in standing up to the petty tyrant Trump. The International Association for Great Lakes Research (IAGLR) also very publicly announced they will not recognize Trump’s effort to rename Lake Ontario—which it has been known as that for more than 400 years, predating both Canada and the United States.

In their press release, the IAGLR grounded that decision in something else Trump and MAGA hate: Science. They wrote, “As an international scientific organization dedicated to advancing research and understanding of the Great Lakes, IAGLR’s mandate depends on clear, consistent, and scientifically accurate communication about these shared waters.” They added, “The Great Lakes cross political boundaries, and their study and stewardship require cooperation among scientists, institutions, governments, and communities on both sides of the border.”

But not Google. They want to please Trump. After all, they have been working hard to curry favor with Trump since he won in November 2024. Just a month after the election, we saw Google’s chief executive Sundar Pichai and a Google founder, Sergey Brin, travel to Mar-A-Lago to kiss Trump’s ass.

Just weeks later that Google—along with other Big Tech oligarchs seeking to curry favor with Trump—made a $1 million donation to Trump’s inaugural committee. That prompted Senator Liz Warren and other Democrats to send a letter to Google and other big tech executives that donated $1 million each, “We are concerned that your company and other Big Tech donors are using your massive contributions to the inaugural fund to cozy up to the incoming Trump administration in an effort to avoid scrutiny, limit regulation, and buy favor.”

But Google wasn’t done. When Trump wanted less diversity in the workplace so companies would be whiter, Google rolled back DEI programs. They even removed mention of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” from its annual report to the Securities and Exchange Commission and ended hiring goals for representation.

Later in 2025, Google made a $22 million donation to Trump’s ballroom. Yes, in essence a $22 million bribe to Trump to get better treatment.

It worked. Shortly after the ballroom donation, Trump’s Justice Department gave the tech behemoth a green light to acquire the cybersecurity firm Wiz in a $30 billion acquisition.

In addition, Google reversed course on prior ethical stances by dropping its corporate pledge to avoid using artificial intelligence for weapons and surveillance. That opened the door to lucrative Department of Defense contracts favored by the administration.

In other words, changing the name of Lake Ontario is just the latest in a string of Google actions sucking up to the corrupt Trump regime. This is the same type of relationship Vladimir Putin has with the oligarchs in his nation. They do exactly what he says because they can both make more money as well as avoid the wrath of Putin and his government.

For example, Putin recently asked the major business owners in Russia to “voluntarily” make a donation to the state treasury to help the government pay its debts—which have grown with the four plus year Ukrainian war. And of course, the oligarchs agreed because they need to stay on Putin’s good side in order to avoid being investigated by his government, fined or far worse.

Back in the United States, while Google is in full suck up mode, we are seeing potential winds of change. For example, Apple donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee and $$ to his ballroom. But as of now, Apple Maps still show the name Lake Ontario. Is this a meaningful change in Apple’s approach to Trump?

Unclear at this time but interestingly just days ago the Wall Street Journal published an article about how Big Tech companies that curried favor with Trump now fear Democrats will investigate them if they win the House and Senate. As the WSJ reported, “Some U.S. companies with close ties to President Trump are taking steps to gain favor with Democrats, worried they will become targets if Republicans lose control of the House.”

They note as an example, “Meta Platforms and others are writing big checks for Democrats ahead of the midterms, according to people familiar with the matter, a counterbalance to the tens of millions they gave to the White House ballroom and Republican initiatives.” In contrast, Elon Musk is going all in to help the GOP hold the House because he fears how Democrats will subpoena him to testify before the nation about his government contracts and actions with DOGE. (Democratic Attorneys General must watch Musk closely in lead up to this election!)

These oligarchs should be concerned that they helped an aspiring fascist like Trump--from normalizing him to funding his vanity projects to helping him implement his anti-democratic agenda. Yet Google doesn’t seem to care. They have made a choice to continue to help Trump. And when Democrats do win the House, they need to make a choice to subpoena Google executives to testify under oath to find out how they benefited by helping Trump’s corrupt goals!

Below is the conversation I had today with subscribers on this corruption and the need to investigate Google. Hope you check it out:

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“The mental health of the president should be the number one story in the country every day!”

That comment was not from a political pundit. Rather, it was made by Joseph Cirincione, a national security expert who has advised three presidential campaigns, written books on nuclear weapons and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

That is why it was so jarring when Cirincione told me that in our conversation. He is waving red flags that Donald Trump’s cognitive decline is a threat to our nation and the world. Yet corporate media not only refuses to cover it--they are covering up for Trump.

Cirincione made those points in our conversation about the six-month anniversary of the Iran war that has led to, as he put it, “the worst U.S. strategic defeat in history.” In these past six months, we’ve seen Trump claim the war would easily be won in weeks to threatening to destroy Iranian civilization to saying we don’t need the Strait of Hormuz to his latest claim this week of “Mission Accomplished” and that he already won the war.

None of this is a negotiating ploy or tactic. Rather as Joe noted, all of this is “the real-world consequences of having a president that is out of touch with reality. You could call that deranged, you could call it delusional. But Trump clearly is in his own world here, apparently unaware of what is actually happening in the real world.”

That is bone chilling—especially given as Cirincione noted, “This deranged president has the ability to start a nuclear war whenever he wants, for whatever reason he wants.” Again, Cirincione is not a political pundit—he is a national security expert warning us Trump is a threat to our national security.

That is why Joe deeply believes, “The mental health of the president should be the number one story in the country every day.” But instead, we see corporate media refusing to cover this issue with any depth or regularity. And worse, many of them are actively engaged in a cover up by covering Trump in a way that normalizes his derangement.

We saw that again last Friday when Trump threatened to use the military to intervene in the US bond market. Yes, the US bond market!

Trump was asked about possible “intervention” to stabilize the US bond market which has been causing concern for investors. Trump told the reporter that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is intervening using his economic tools. But then Trump stated, “We have many types of intervention. That’s one.” Trump then added: “The ultimate intervention is our military. And if we have to use that, we will.”

That was not a misspeak—it’s mental illness. The US military would never be used to attack US bond traders or take over the stock exchange. But media gave Trump a pass!

That is why Joe slammed the corporate media “for not covering the mental health of the president.” He then added how corporate media is actually covering up Trump’s mental unfitness noting, Trump “will give a long, one-hour ranting speech and go off, and they will find the nugget of substance there, and that’s their headline.”

This is far beyond politics. Trump’s cognitive decline—be it dementia or something else-- is about our nation’s national security and the safety of our nation and the world. It demands far more coverage! And it demands a real discussion about the 25^th Amendment and removal of Trump.

I discussed that and more with Joe Cirincione. Hope you check it out because I learned a lot about Trump’s Iran war failures and more—and I’m believe you will as well:

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Pulitzer Prize winning journalist David Cay Johnston no longer believes the United States is a functioning democratic Republic consistent with how the Framers of the Constitution envisioned. Rather as he explained, “We’re living in a Trumpian dictatorship.”

David explained why the Framers of our Constitution would be appalled by Trump from his lawless actions and grotesque level of corruption. He noted, the Framers by design “severely limited what the president can do because they were worried about a president who would be out of control.” But he continued, they never contemplated a “mentally ill, career criminal” like Trump would ever be President.

Johnston attributes Trump’s crime wave to the fact the GOP members of Congress have willingly surrendered their check on Trump’s power and especially his corruption. That means the only thing standing between us and full tyranny is the judiciary that has slowed Trump down. That is until the corrupt GOP Supreme Court gets involved to help Trump continue his pursuit of absolute power.

David pointed out as an example the US Supreme Court’s decision earlier this week that allowed his clearly unconstitutional executive order go into effect that gives him control of mail in ballots nationwide. (Thankfully, a federal judge on Thursday put the order on hold.)

Johnston believes that the driving mission of the US Supreme Court in doing this—as well as gutting the Voting Rights Act—is bluntly “that 5 members of the U.S. Supreme Court are white supremacists, and one of them is a self-hating Black man who’s utterly unqualified to be there.” He added, “They want to have a white-run country. They may not want to throw every non-white person out, but if you’re not a white, nominal, nominal Christian. Then, you better, you know, bow in front of us.” Johnston then vented: “It is despicable. It should have ordinary Americans absolutely livid.”

I could not agree more. This is why David—and others like me—understand that after Democrats win back control of Congress and the White House, we must expand the Supreme Court! That is how we save our Republic. David continued, “We need to expand the Supreme Court to either 13 or 15 members. 13 is the number of courts they oversee.” But he added, “there are some specialty courts, so you could make a case for 15.”

David also had some blunt advice to share with Democrats heading into the midterm on what to focus on. Hope you check out our conversation. David is always very informative and interesting:

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Christian Castro was just one of thousands of ICE agents working in Minnesota as part of Trump’s Operation Metro designed to terrorize the people of Minneapolis. But Castro stood out for one reason.

While working on Jan. 14, Castro fired a gun at the front door of a home in Minneapolis while the home was occupied by multiple people. Castro’s gunshot struck a victim in the leg. The bullet’s final impact point was a child’s bedroom wall.

How did Castro justify the shooting? By lying. He told fellow federal agents and investigators that Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis and another Venezuelan immigrant Alfredo Aljorna violently assaulted him with a broom and a snow shovel. Castro also claimed two other men from a nearby apartment physically attacked him for about three minutes. Castro claimed he feared for his life so he took out his service revolver and shot Sosa-Celis.

In fact, Trump’s DHS on Jan 15 put a press release backing up these lies stating that, “At 6:50 PM CT on January 14, 2025, federal law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted traffic stop in Minneapolis for Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis who was released into the country by President Joe Biden in 2022.”

DHS’s press releases released continued, “The law enforcement officer pursued Sosa-Celis also on foot, caught up to him, and attempted to apprehend him when Sosa-Celis began to resist and violently assault the officer. While Sosa-Celis and law enforcement were in a struggle on the ground, two subjects came out of a nearby apartment and attacked the law enforcement officer with a snow shovel and broom handle.”

They added, “As the officer was being ambushed and attacked by the two individuals, Sosa-Celis got loose and began striking the officer with a shovel or broom stick. Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life. Sosa-Celis was hit in the leg. All three subjects ran back into the apartment and barricaded themselves inside. ICE successfully arrested all three illegal aliens.”

And Kristin Noem then DHS Secretary said at the time, “What we saw last night in Minneapolis was an attempted murder of federal law enforcement. Our officer was ambushed and attacked by three individuals who beat him with snow shovels and the handles of brooms. Fearing for his life, the officer fired a defensive shot,” She added: “Mayor Frey and Governor Walz have to get their city under control. They are encouraging impeding and assault against our law enforcement, which is a federal crime, a felony.”

Both Mr. Sosa-Celis and the housemate, Aljorna were charged with federal felonies.

But soon it became clear these statements were all lies. Witnesses denied the officer was attacked. And worse for Castro, video footage showed no attack with a shovel and contradicted the agent’s claim of a roughly three-minute beating. The encounter lasted about 12 seconds.

What really happened was that Castro was chasing these people on foot after a traffic stop At that point they went into a house. Instead of getting a warrant or calling for back up, he simply fired his gun into the house blindly, Why? Simple he has been told by Trump that all these migrants are criminals, rapists etc. so they are no longer human beings. Plus Trump repeatedly made it clear ICE agents were above the law.

However, once the footage came out the charges against both men arrested by ICV were dropped, and federal officials said they were instead investigating the agents.

But Trump’s DOJ never filed charges. In stepped Minnesota AG Keith Ellison and Hennepin County prosecutor Mary Moriarty. In May, they charged Castro with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty laid out the real facts at the time the charges were announced: “Mr. Castro fired his weapon through the front door of the home while standing alone in the front yard, under no physical threat or duress, and knowing there were people who had just run inside.” She added, “Mr. Castro is an ICE agent. But his federal badge does not make him immune from state charges for his criminal conduct in Minnesota.”

How did Trump regime respond? By defending the agent In a statement, ICE officials described the state prosecution as “unlawful and nothing more than a political stunt.”

Trump and his fascist regime are sending a message you can shoot first and answer NO questions later. We will ensure you are protected.

What happened next was the right thing. Castro was in Texas at the time of the charges and was soon arrested by Texas Rangers on May 29. On June 2, just four days after Castro’s arrest, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz sent Texas GOP’s Governor Abbott an extradition request. Interstate extradition is a ministerial process, meaning it follows a required procedure with no room for personal judgment or discretion by the state where the fugitive is located.

And as Minnesota AG Keith Ellison noted, during the last five years, Minnesota sought extradition of 11 individuals from Texas who were charged with crimes in Minnesota. On average, Governor Abbott signed rendition warrants in response to Minnesota’s requests in approximately 30 days.

But not Castro because he is an ICE agent. He is above the law because he’s part of Trump’s militia. While Castro has been in jail since May, Gov. Abbot refused to sign the extradition papers. The problem is that under Texas law, if the governor doesn’t sign the extradition order within 90 days, the person is released.

That is why AG Ellison on August 18 filed a lawsuit in federal court to compel Abbott to simply sign the extradition papers so that he would be transported to Minn. As Ellison explained last week when filing this lawsuit, The Extradition Clause of the Constitution states:

“A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.

According to the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous 1987 ruling in Puerto Rico v. Branstad, “the commands of the Extradition Clause are mandatory, and afford no discretion to the executive officers or courts of the asylum state.”

And just yesterday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison noted in a statement: “Minnesota should never have had to file this lawsuit or this motion. Greg Abbott has a black-letter legal and constitutional duty to sign the rendition warrant to return the fugitive Castro to Minnesota — full stop — and we are only here because Abbott is playing with constitutional fire.”

But not in Texas when it’s a politically charged case. Yesterday, a federal judge in Texas finally heard Ellison’s application where Minnesota officials told the judge they were concerned that Mr. Castro would flee to Mexico if he was released because he is in a relationship with a woman living there.

But Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., of the Southern District of Texas, sided with Texas on allowing for Castro’s release and for Texas to continue weighing whether to comply with the extradition request. Who is the judge? A Trump appointee and member of the Federalist Society. As expected he sided with Trump claiming he lacked the authority to prevent the county sheriff from releasing Castro or order Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to sign his extradition warrant.

So this morning Christian Castro – an ICE agent who shot a man in the leg with no legal justification, assaulted three other people and then lied to the government to cover up his crimes—walked out of prison courtesy of GOP Gov. Gregg Abbott. Yep, the same Abbott who loves to talk law and order let a man out who almost killed an innocent person out of jail so he would not have to face criminal charges!

It’s official: Texas is now a sanctuary state for ICE officers who commit crimes –from shooting people to lying to the government. If the ICE agents who killed Alex Pretti or Renee Good are ever charged, they now know they can simply go to Texas and they will be protected.

Same goes for any ICE agents who kills American citizens, immigrants or your family. They are safe in Texas where the message is as long as you kill for Trump we have your back. This will embolden ICE agents to commit even more crimes. That is why this both demands far more media coverage and is a threat to all of us!

We had a great discussion on this topic earlier today as part of the YOU Are my GUEST segment. Hope you check it out:

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Donald Trump wrote on social media after news broke that the 80-year-old icon Dolly Parton passed away, “This is a true loss for millions of people. There has never been anyone like her, and never will.“ As Fox News reported, Trump was ordering the American flag to be at half-staff for one week starting Tuesday to honor Parton.

MAGA House Speaker/Christian nationalist House Speaker Mike Johnson said, “America has lost a true national treasure,” pointing to Parton’s Tennessee roots, worldwide success and philanthropy. While far right MAGA Sen. Marsha Blackburn wrote on X about Parton, she was “an iconic leader who loved our great state and nation. Her passing leaves a void that no one can ever fill. Dolly, we will always love you.”

But here is the thing that Trump—and those in MAGA now celebrating Parton do not appear to get. She championed the very people and causes the MAGA movement despises. Parton was very outspoken in her support of the LGBTQ community, embraced “Black Lives Matter” noting “our little white asses” are not the only ones that matter, supported COVID vaccines, championed reading and people attending universities. In other words, everything MAGA hates.

To truly honor Parton’s legacy, her courageous stands for causes and communities that she knew some country fans would hate must be highlighted. So let’s do that!

1. LGBTQ plus community. There is a reason that the gay publication The Advocate published a headline today titled, “10 times Dolly Parton cemented her status as an LGBTQ+ icon.” The paper summed her up this way: “She championed marriage equality, rejected religious judgment of queer people, defended transgender Americans and embraced drag culture.”

The Advocate gave some powerful examples of how Parton included gay people in her definition of family long before country music became even moderately welcoming to LGBTQ+ artists and audiences. For example, her 1991 album, Eagle When She Flies, included “Family,” a song acknowledging that relatives can be gay, struggling or otherwise unlike one another. Its ultimate message was that “not a one is turned away when it’s family.”

Another was when in 2011, a lesbian visitor to Dollywood’s Splash Country said an employee forced her to turn a marriage equality T-shirt inside out. Parton responded publicly and apologized for the treatment the woman experienced. Dolly said at the time, “Everyone knows of my personal support of the gay and lesbian community.” She emphasized that Dollywood welcomed all kinds of families.

She wrote a song about a transgender women for the 2006 film, TransAmerica about a transgender women traveling across America which received an Oscar nomination. She also performed that song during the 2006 Oscars, bringing a song written for a transgender story to one of the world’s largest stages. She also in recent years spoke out against anti-transgender laws saying transgender, gay and lesbian people were among her relatives and employees and they deserve to be “treated good.”

In 2019, Parton used her Netflix anthology series, Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings, to tell a distinctly queer family story. The episode “Two Doors Down” centered on a gay couple navigating family secrets and rejection during a New Year’s Eve wedding and won a GLAAD award.

2. Black community: There is a reason today The Root published an article, “11 Reasons Why Black Folks Will Always Love Dolly Parton.” Examples include how back in 2021, the star revealed that the royalties she earned from Whitney Houston’s cover of “I Will Always Love You” were invested back into Black communities in Nashville, Tennessee. She told Andy Cohen at the time that the best way to honor Whitney would be to give back this way, noting the people helped, were “mostly just Black families and people that lived around there. And I thought, this is the perfect place for me to be, considering it was Whitney. I just thought, This was great. I’m going to be down here with her people, who are my people as well.”

Parton also used her platform to support the Black Lives Matter movement. During the height of the George Floyd protests she said, “I do understand people having to make themselves known and felt and seen. And of course, Black Lives Matter. Do we think our little white asses are the only ones that matter? No, everybody matters.” Her words led to her receiving a mural in Nashville.

We all know MAGA despises BLM movement and anything that specifically helps Black Americans. Yet Trump is honoring her!

3. Vaccines: Few things MAGA hates more than vaccines. Well Parton donated one million dollars during the COVID outbreak to help create a vaccine that was being developed.

4. Education: Dolly created the Imagination Library, a book gifting program that mails free, high-quality books to children from birth to age five, no matter their family’s income. MAGA doesn’t like reading books—they like banning them. In addition, she established Dollywood Foundation, where she donated millions of dollars for college scholarships. Again, MAGA is hostile to higher education.

5. Female empowerment. Dolly was a poster child for female power. And she supported other powerful women saying about Hillary Clinton, “Hillary might make as good a president as anybody ever has... I personally think a woman would do a great job. I think Hillary’s very qualified.”

While Parton did not formally endorse Clinton, with her statement Dolly did endorse something else MAGA hates just as much: Feminism. To MAGA women are inherently inferior to men-that is the opposite of what Parton espoused.

When you look at that list of the causes and communities Parton championed, you have to wonder why is Trump and many in MAGA praising her? Could it be they don’t her views? Or is it because she is simply a white Christian country singer, so they assume they are on the same team?

The reality is Parton was better than MAGA. She rejected the hate and cruelty that defines MAGA. Instead as Parton told us. “I think everybody should be treated with respect,” adding, “I hope that everybody gets a chance to be who and what they are.”

She will be missed.

Below is our great conversation today about Dolly Parton with subscribers on “YOU Are my Guest.” Hope you check it out!

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The GOP controlled Supreme Court is nothing more than an arm of the Republican Party focused on imposing their right-wing agenda upon us--from ending fundamental rights like abortion to crushing voting rights to protecting Donald Trump and more. That is why we must make winning control of the Supreme Court a top priority—the same way we work to win control of the House, Senate and White House. Anything less is giving these GOP “justices” the ability to control us for the rest of our lives.

The latest reminder of the threat the GOP justices pose to our democratic Republic came Monday when they agreed to allow Trump’s executive order he signed in late March to go into effect. This order will provide Trump with something never seen before in US history: A president taking control of the elections in each state and deciding who can--and can’t--vote by mail based on rules he designed to help the GOP win.

While Trump’s order focuses on mail in ballots, if Trump is successful in this case, then he can simply create any rules or regulations he wants concerning federal elections. That means he could end early voting, impose new onerous voter id laws, require election officials to use certain election software designed by allies and more.

As to Trump’s executive order at issue, the crux is that Trump is directing the US Postal Service to not to deliver ballots to any person not on an approved list created by Trump’s regime. In addition, the order threatens criminal penalties for election officials, mail carriers, and others who send ballots to or deliver ballots from individuals the administration deems ineligible.

This Executive Order is clearly unconstitutional given the US Constitution expressly provides the states and to a lesser extent Congress are the only ones with the power to administer elections—not the President. Article 1, section 4 of the Constitution known as “The Election Clause” plainly states, “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof.” This provision adds, “but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations.”

The President is obviously not listed as a person who can control elections. That is a big reason why lower courts have stopped this order from taking effect. But Trump appealed to the Supreme Court hoping the GOP justices will help him once again. And he was right.

The six GOP Justices claimed that this executive order is nothing more than a memo to other federal agencies—such as DHS to create a list of US citizens who will approved to vote—not interference in how states run the election. But back in the real world, we all know that Trump’s is not just creating these approved voter lists as an academic exercise. The self-evident goal is to then impose these new regulations across the nation to bar ballots being delivered unless Trump’s approves you can get one.

Alarmingly, the GOP Justices wrote that they are lifting the lower court ruling because the Trump regime “is likely to succeed on the merits” of their argument. But they did note that they are not as of now ruling on the substantive order, writing, “On that score, time will tell.”

This is outrageous. The idea that Trump—or any President—can simply sit in their office and write any rules they want to run elections nationwide is far beyond the powers of the President. That is why this order should not have been allowed to go into effect as the appeal played out.

That is not just my view but also of Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson who dissented. The long, detailed dissent by Justice Jackson does an amazing job of making that both legally and with a sense of WTF!

Justice Jackson’s analysis begins with this passage: “The Constitution plainly assigns the power to conduct federal elections to the States. See Art. I, §4. The President does not have any legal authority to require that elections be conducted in accordance with his preferences, or to with-hold delivery of mail-in ballots that are not formatted consistent with the President’s wishes.”

She repeated that very point later again noting Trump’s order “would involve the President, whom the Constitution vests with no express authority over the conduct of elections, undertaking a substantial and unfunded overhaul of election procedures—including the implementation of a nationwide reform to Postal Service mail-handling processes.”

Justice Jackson then gets to the heart of why the Framers gave the power to regulate elections to the states—not with the President. She wrote, “Our Constitution expressly delegates the power to conduct federal elections to the States. This “dispersal of responsibility for election administration has made it impossible for a single centrally controlled authority to dictate how elections will be run and thereby be able to control the outcome.”

These next lines by Justice Jackson may be the most important on this point: “State run elections are thus both foundational to democracy and a key part of the self-governance scheme our Constitution establishes.” But as she added, “President Trump attempted to alter this longstanding, constitutionally assigned structure by issuing an Executive Order.”

Yep, the entire point by the Framers of the Constitution was to guard against a President like Trump who wanted to take control of elections to help maintain political power. They wanted the power to administer election divided between the states as a check on corrupt leaders. But now Trump wants to end that and instead anoint himself as king of the elections.

Finally, Jackson makes the key point: “The Government has not even bothered to assert, much less demonstrate, that the President has the constitutional authority to issue an order that directs the manner in which the mail-in ballot aspect of federal elections is to be administered.”

That is why the GOP justices should not have allowed Trump’s order to go forward for even a minute. It’s plainly unconstitutional. Plus as the dissenting justices rightly noted, it creates chaos just 70 days before the midterm.

Will Trump now try to use the potential inability to implement his election order before the November 3^rd midterms as reason to apply to the Supreme Court to attempt to postpone the election? While in the past I would’ve confidently stated that effort would’ve failed, I can no longer say that with this corrupt Supreme court.

Donald Trump attempted a coup after the 2020 election, incited the Jan. 6 attack to remain in power and was convicted of 34 felonies for falsifying business records to cheat in the 2016 election. The GOP justices get that. But they have protected Trump from both criminal prosecution after the 2020 election and from being barred as a candidate for “engaging in insurrection” in violation of the 14^th Amendment.

This same GOP Court overturned Roe v. Wade—striking down reproductive freedom--gutted the Voting Rights Act, is openly hostile to LGBTQ rights and has given the wealthy even more power in our elections. There is simply no greater threat to our rights and our democracy today than the six unelected Republican justices. That is why we must make winning control of this Court a top priority.

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This midterm is the most important election in the life of our Republic. If Donald Trump is able to keep control of the House and Senate for two more years, the damage he’d be able to do to our freedoms and democracy would make the United States unrecognizable.

That means what we need from now to November 3^rd is Democratic unity. But what we are getting from Hakeem Jeffries is the opposite. He is adding fuel to the simmering divides in our base as a time when our only focus should be winning in November!

The latest example came from Sunday’s reporting by the New York Times that Jeffries recently had a secret meeting with Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner to discuss “common ground.” As the Times reported, “The two men have stayed in touch since they worked together on a criminal justice bill midway through Mr. Trump’s first term.”

As to the meeting itself--per the Times—it was held in a private space in New York City where “the pair discussed housing, immigration and the high cost of living as potential areas of common ground.”

“Common ground” with Kushner and Trump?! Are you fu*king kidding me?!

We don’t make common ground with fascists! Trump is using the White House as a money-making scheme while waging an illegal war and weaponizing both the DOJ and FCC to target Trump’s critics from people like NY Attorney General Tish James to media outlets to even comedian Jimmy Kimmel!

There is no common ground. Our only focus between now and the election must be to crush the fascists!

Jeffries has not denied having the meeting. Instead, his statement to the NY Times focused on working with the GOP to reduce high prices. His statement reads, “In every conversation that we have with the Trump administration, we will continue to make it explicitly clear that the affordability crisis is not a hoax, and nothing short of transformational policy change is acceptable.” He added, “We are fighting for an affordable America. The question is whether Republicans will join us.”

“Join us”?! Trump unilaterally created the high prices with his tariffs and Iran war. Plus his oligarch buddies are making record profits by keeping gas and other prices artificially high. The focus should be slamming Trump for that.

Did Jeffries at least raise at the meeting how Kushner has been soliciting billions of dollars from Middle Eastern state sovereign wealth funds for his private equity firm while simultaneously co-leading the Trump Administration’s negotiations in the Middle East?! As Senator Ron Wyden recently put it, “Jared Kushner makes up for his flaws as an investor by being a wildly corrupt appendage of his father-in-law’s wildly corrupt administration.”

How could Jeffries not know the meeting would get leaked and it was the wrong thing to do?! This meeting doesn’t help Democrats win in November. In fact, now that we know about it, the result has been many Democrats slamming Jeffries online while some still defend him—causing a distraction to our real goal.

This reported meeting comes on the heels of Jeffries awful appearance last Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press when he stated his opposition to Medicare for All. This is jaw-dropping given 90% of Democrats believe the government has a “responsibility to ensure health coverage” for everyone. (And per Pew polling, 2/3’s of all Americans agree!)

Jeffries had co-sponsored legislation creating Medicare for All from 2014 to 2021 but now as Democratic leader he opposes it. Many pointed to the hundreds of thousands of dollars he has raised from the healthcare industry for his campaign this year. The actual reason is unclear but Jeffries is turning his back on a concept supported by 9 of 10 Democrats.

Plus in that same interview, Jeffries stated he opposed abolishing ICE. Instead, the House Democratic leader stated he is “committed to dramatically reforming” the agency.

That, too, caused outrage among much of the Democratic base given that 75% of Democrats support abolishing ICE given it’s impossible to reform this Trump run agency that has killed American citizens and immigrants, terrorized communities and has been told by Trump they are above the law. Even the Democratic National Committee voted a little over a week ago to pass a resolution calling for ICE to be abolished—yet Jeffries opposes the policy.

Jeffries 100% wants Democrats to win the House and Senate this November. But you have to question his political instincts. His actions and words just two months from the election are undermining our efforts to win—and either he knows that and doesn’t care or he is oblivious to that reality.

With that said, we only have 70 days to win the midterm. That must be our only focus. From there we can--and must--debate who will be the leaders of our party going forward. But for now, let’s unite and win!

Hope you check out our very spirited discussion on this issue from Sunday as part of “YOU are my Guest” on Substack live:

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Donald Trump hates many, many things—as we hear daily from the whiner-in-chief. But the one thing Trump hates the most is what happened to him this week. And worse for him, it was done by a person he truly despises.

I’m talking about Rosie O’Donnell and her brutal comedic take down of Trump nightly as she guest hosted on Jimmy Kimmel’s late night TV show. O’Donnell hilariously mocked Trump from his whig to his horrible poll numbers—even singing a song parody about him that went viral. And the worst part for Trump is that it made headlines nationwide including on Fox News.

We have never seen an American president hate being mocked more than Trump. He is the only President never to attend a White House Correspondents’ Dinner when a comedian was the performer out of fear of being laughed at. Like all aspiring tyrants, Trump doesn’t want you laughing at him--he wants you fearing him.

But keep in mind Trump has long lashed out comedians for causing people to laugh at him. In fact, his feud with Rosie began back in 2006 when she mocked his combover, his cheating on his wife and more while a co-host on The View. That led to Trump for years calling her names such as “disgusting,” “nasty” and “a slob.” He even threatened to sue her.

And during the 2016 presidential debates, Trump on numerous occasions used that platform to go after O’Donnell. For example, in the presidential debate in September 2016 against Hillary Clinton, Trump stated: “Rosie O’Donnell, I said very tough things to her and I think everyone would agree that she deserves it and nobody feels sorry for her.”

That is why Rosie using the guest hosting gig on Kimmel—the very show Trump wanted cancelled—to comically filet Trump grabbed so much attention.

Rosie began her run on Monday with some mild jabs at Trump where she called him, “President Oompa J. Loompa.” She later joked that Trump’s attacks on her had made her “re-famous.” The award-winning comedian continued with this zinger: “Couldn’t have done it without you, sweetie. You brought me back, just like you did with fascism and the measles.”

But O’Donnell—who has been living in Ireland since Trump took office again in 2025—was just getting warmed up. On Wednesday, she joked, “A special hello to those of you watching from home — and from the White House. But I do have some bad news for President Petty Roosevelt.” She then added, “That’s all I’m going to say about you tonight, sweetheart. Time to go nighty night.”

She then delivered a barb tied to the news of Trump spending so much time with his 35-year-old aide Natalie Harp with the line, “You got to realize it’s time to hang up your wig and let Natalie tuck you in.”

Boom! And come Thursday—her final night guest hosting—Rosie came out with her comedic guns blazing as she repeatedly targeted Trump all building to a song parody that has gone viral. She first thanked “everyone who’s been watching this week, especially the hungry, hungry hypocrite in the White House.” Adding this barb, “it’s kind of weird to think he spent more nights with me this week than Melania.”

Rosie then turned to Trump’s efforts to silence dissent. She stated--to huge applause—that everyone has “the right to free speech in this country, whether Orange Voldemort likes it or not.”

Then came the song. To the tune of the Irish classic “Danny Boy,” Rosie sang a parody that utterly destroyed Trump by hitting on real issues that drive him crazy. Some of the best lyrics of her song titled “Donny Boy,” included, “Poor Donny boy, your polls, your polls are falling,” she sang. “Your reflecting pool is green as Mountain Dew. Your wig’s a mess, your ballroom is appalling, and with Iran you’ve bit off more than you can chew. Measles are back, inflation is a-swelling; you post all night, you’re sleeping while you work. And what’s with all this useless crap you’re selling?”

Rosie then delivered these even more crushing lyrics: “Hey, sweetie pie, you’re driving us all berserk. But there’s a way to end this drama. It’s time to use that stable-genius brain. Since we all know you’ll never be Obama.”

That line alone got a huge applause. But this lyrical line was the showstopper: “Why not resign, and make this country great again?”

Down goes Trump! The crowd roared with laughter and cheers as Rosie repeated those last lines. You can watch the hilarious song parody below:

Any other President would have ignored Rosie’s appearance. That is any President other than “Oompa J. Loompa.” Trump was so angered by Rosie’s headline grabbing jokes at his expense, the White House issued a statement slamming the comedian, “Rosie O’Donnell is a nasty woman and a total slob whose brain has been completely destroyed by Trump Derangement Syndrome.” Ahh, all the class and decency we’ve come to expect from Donald Trump summed up in one line!

All of this is why Rosie brought Trump’s worst nightmare to life as the nation is laughing at him. Worse for Trump is that the ratings were great and Rosie’s monologues each night were racking up in the area of three million views each on YouTube.

The only thing that could make this better for us--and worse for Trump--is if Rosie hosted her own nightly show. Here’s hoping we see that!

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On Monday, Americans were offered two starkly different visions of what Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers us. Mark Zuckerberg--the founder and CEO of Meta—penned a 6,500 word manifesto about AI titled, “The Future Is for Everyone.” As you might have predicted, he wants everyone to believe AI will be great for society and for the economy—as he pushed back against those warning AI is dangerous and a potential for “doom.”

But on the very same day, Senator Bernie Sanders released his own statement warning of the potential risks AI poses humanity. In a letter addressed to the CEOs of three of the country’s leading AI companies—including Zuckerberg-- Sanders said the capabilities of their AI models have reached a critical risk threshold and that the companies are losing control over the technology.

The letter notes, “Almost every day, there is a new story about how your companies are losing control of the AI technology you are developing, with potentially cataclysmic results.” Sanders urged the tech world to “pause” development of AI before it’s “too late to avoid disaster.” He then added this very important line, “Stop building machines that humans cannot control.”

I’m no expert on AI which is why on my SiriusXM show this past week we presented “AI week” with a cross section of experts to discuss AI, the good, bad and potentially civilization ending impact. We featured experts on responsible AI, on the impact of the massive data centers and members of Congress addressing potential regulations.

And one who is well known AI expert, Professor Roman Yampolskiy, who delivered this stark warning about AI: “we are on the verge of creating a replacement for humanity.” He is not talking about ChatGPT or narrow applications of AI—such as helping identify medical conditions.

Rather, his concern is that AI development is on the verge of achieving the level of “superintelligence”—which is an AI related term. That is when AI becomes “smarter than all humans at all things.”

He continued, “The moment you go from subhuman-level intelligence to human and superhuman, you’re no longer in control of that tool, you have a competing agent. You’re not controlling it, so it’s a weapon of mutually assured destruction.”

We recently saw documented incidents of AI going beyond what the experts who designed them intended the programs to do. This happened when recent tests of AI malware escaped from a secure setting known as a “Sandbox” and launched cyberattacks on other companies.

But the most disturbing part of this was barely covered in the corporate media and that is how these AI programs went “undetected for months, and communicated with other agents, and made plans, and shared goals, and shared exploits,” as Yampolskiy explained. He added, “They set up a communication forum for agents to exchange information.”

Yes, the AI programs escaped what was supposed to be a secure area and then for months were building their own AI network unknown to the experts. And that is what the experts are aware of.

I asked the Dr. about whether we can insert in the AI’s code limits and fail safes? That is when I learned this alarming truth. Yampolskiy explained, “There is no hard coding. We stopped hard coding after first 50 years of AI research didn’t go anywhere. We switched to machine learning, where the machine itself learns from data on the internet, and we don’t know what it learns.” He continued, “We don’t control it, we don’t hard code it. That’s the danger. It’s a black box and really no one understanding how it operates inside.”

All of this is why NY Times front page article Sunday on the US military’s race to be the first to use “artificial intelligence to develop weapons that could work with less human control” was so alarming. We could see a sci-fi movie scenario play out where superintelligent AI operating military assets ignore the orders of humans to achieve its mission.

That is why the Dr. Yampolskiy—along with 1,200 researchers at top labs—are are calling for at least a pause if not an outright ban on super intelligent AI. Yampolskiy noted, “Anyone who works in building general superintelligence is completely irresponsible. There is no difference between those companies, they are all racing to create, replacing humanity as a whole.”

To be clear, he is not calling for an end to using AI. Yampolskiy made that very point numerous times, explaining, “We can get most of the benefits of this amazing technology with narrow tools.” For example, “Pick a problem, cure some cancer, global warming, whatever you’re into. You can make money, you can make progress.” But he warned, “don’t create replacement for humanity. It will not end well for any of us.”

You can watch my discussion with Dr. Yampolskiy below:

I also spoke this week with Reps. Don Beyer (D-Va) and Mark Pocan (D-Wisc) who both see the need for AI regulations to protect humanity. The question is what will that look like? Rep. Pocan flagged concerns that the Big Tech industry is pushing their own agenda which makes it impossible to trust them.

While AI itself may be a complex issue—it is for me—the reason it may get addressed is because of a related issue that is easy to grasp and opposition to it is building across political lines. That is the construction of massive data centers. A recent Fox News poll found 75% of rural voters, 63% of urban voters, and 70% of all voters oppose data centers being built nearby.

In fact, this issue is growing in visibility in the 2026 midterms. In Ohio, Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown is running four different ads opposing data centers. In Pennsylvania, Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti is challenging Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-Pa.) with a pledge to make the tech sector “pay their own way” instead of collecting tax breaks for construction. Over in Michigan, Democratic congressional candidate William Lawrence’s first general-election TV ad calls data centers an “existential threat.”

It has become such a toxic issue that in Florida, GOP candidate for Governor Byron Donalds is openly lying in an ad claiming he and Donald Trump oppose them. They don’t. Donalds is bankrolled by them and Trump literally said last week data centers are “tremendous” for the economy and slammed Democrats like in New York who put a pause on building them.

For more details on how data centers impact the environment, our health and the economy below is my discussion with Mustafa Santiago Ali—a 25-year veteran of the EPA:

Finally, for the basics on AI and addressing responsible AI, below is my conversation with Rumman Chowdhury--a globally recognized expert and pioneer in the field:

Overall, the field of AI is developing and will certainly yield some benefits. But the risks it poses go way beyond a loss of jobs. We need elected officials to address these concerns—together with other nations—now to ensure AI is a useful tool and not something that can threaten humanity.

BTW if you enjoy these videos, hope you subscribe to my YouTube channel which just topped 90,000 subscribers. Thanks to all for the support!

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Donald Trump has just taken two more pages from Hitler’s playbook—both alarming. The first is Trump is now arming his personal militia, ICE, with gloves that can deliver an electric shock. The second is the confirmation of Trump’s personal lawyer Todd Blanche as head of Justice Department so that Trump can continue to use the legal system to target critics.

These tactics were flagged by authoritarian expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat in our conversation this week. Our discussion again reminds us that fascists and authoritarian rulers often copy tactics used in the past because they have worked.

Let’s start with the alarming news that Trump is going to spend $20 million for gloves that ICE agents that will deliver a debilitating electric shock to anyone touched. Known as the G.L.O.V.E., which stands for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, this glove is manufactured by a company called Compliant Technologies LLC. Up until now, they have utilized in prisons--but Trump wants them out on the streets of our nation.

Ben-Ghiat explained these potentially lethal gloves are not about apprehending migrants. The Trump regime has been doing that in record number without these gloves. No, as she noted, this is about making us “compliant” to Trump.

She pointed out that ICE and security forces often buy equipment with no public statements. But the Trump regime made sure we knew about these. When I asked why, Ruth states: “As the midterms approach, they don’t want people to be protesting, so they’re publicizing this.” This is about intimidating protesters and causing people to fear ICE if you see them in the street—or especially at voting locations this fall.

In fact, Border czar Tom Homan appeared on Fox News where he defended the gloves by pointing out how people are coming at ICE officers. He declared these gloves are “another device to help someone get compliant when they are not.” He didn’t even mention migrants or undocumented immigrants. His focus was anyone who dares to defy ICE agents.

Fascist and authoritarian leaders have long used electric shocks as a means to make people “complaint” aka silencing dissent. Ruth immediately invoked the former brutal leader of Chile, Pinochet. She explained, “Pinochet, the military dictator, would detain people and one of the main ways they would torture people was by shocking them.” This human rights abuse has been well documented hy groups like the Amnesty International.

Of course, the use of electric shocks to torture people was widely used by Hitler’s version of ICE, the Gestapo, to interrogate prisoners and silence dissent. The Gestapo--established under Hermann Göring—operated above the law and was considered a crucial weapon against perceived enemies of the state, including political dissidents.

We already know ICE operates above the law given Trump is protecting them which is why there have been zero prosecutions when ICE agents kill or injure US citizens. The electric gloves are the next step in the fascist playbook.

Then there was Trump pressuring GOP Senators to successfully confirm his personal lawyer Todd Blanche as Attorney General. Obviously, we’ve all seen Blanche put Trump over the United States from covering up the Epstein crimes to using the DOJ to target Trump’s critics and enemies.

Ben-Ghiat explained that Hitler did the same with his own personal lawyer, Hans Frank—who was an early supporter of Hitler. Ruth noted Frank had “defended Hitler and other Nazis in hundreds of trials. So his reward is that he got all these plumb posts that allowed him to really shape Nazi, the Nazi legal system and doctrine.”

She continued, Frank developed “something Trump would love called ‘the Fuhrer Principle’ or the Leader Principle that said Hitler’s will was superior to any written code of law.” She added, “So his will was the law. It superseded the law.” Ruth is 100% correct—Trump would love that given he truly believes whatever he wills is the law.

Once Hitler became chancellor of Germany in 1933, Frank—like Blanche—was elevated to key positions. First, Frank was appointed the Bavarian Minister of Justice. Later he was named the Governor of Poland where he spearheaded the systematic slaughter of hundreds of thousands of the nation’s Jews. Ultimately, Frank stood trial at Nuremberg where he was found guilty of crimes against humanity leading to his execution on October 16, 1946.

How will it end for Blanche? Well, if there is a Nuremberg type trial that many including myself have been advocating for, Blanche will find himself on trial just as Frank was.

It’s important to not let our guard down just because Trump is horribly unpopular and the Democrats look poised to win the House and even the Senate. Corporate media would rather focus on dividing the Democratic party as opposed to calling out Trump’s corruption and fascism. And Trump will never peacefully cede power.

Trump is just as dangerous today as when he took office in January 2025—if not more so. And he will remain an existential threat to our freedoms and democracy until he is out of office. That is why we need to pay attention to people like Ruth Ben-Ghiat when they raise new red flags.

Hope you check out our discussion below on this issue as well as how we can best counter Trump:

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In the past when a politician like Bernie Sanders—or even Donald Trump in 2016 campaign—said “the economy is rigged” by the “billionaire class,” it was an applause line for a subset of Americans. Today that is the reality that transcends party lines and resonates across the nation.

I heard that first-hand Sunday, when I was on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” answering questions from viewers for about 45 minutes. What I heard from people calling on the Republican, Democratic and Independent phone lines in that time—as well as in the 30 minutes before I was on—backed up what I hear from many who call my SiriusXM show.

That is this simple truth: People are not happy. In fact, many are angry. And those feelings are born out of a deep sense of frustration. People believe the economic system is rigged against them by the rich and powerful. I even heard that in the message of Republicans who called on C-SPAN to disagree with me on specific issues but they all at some point landed on that point.

We all see the rich literally getting richer in front of us. There is the headline grabbing Trump himself taking two billion in corruption to his buddy Elon Musk becoming the nation’s first trillionaire. When Trump says America is in a “golden age” he means for the wealthy and country club type.

And what do we get? We struggle to make ends meet in this economy that favors the rich and powerful. A recent CBS poll backed that up finding that 75% of Americans say their wages are not keeping up with inflation. I’m one of those 75%.

This is why just 23% of Americans rate the economy as good in a new CNN poll--while a whopping 77% view the economy poorly. Even a recent Fox News poll showed 75% of Americans view the economy negatively. When you are struggling on a day-to-day basis as 75% of us are to pay our bills, you are not going to see the economy in a positive light.

But it’s not just economic struggles. It’s a sense of powerlessness that many feel. When we say the system is rigged we don’t just mean the economy. We mean the political system as well.

I heard that from the C-Span callers and others I speak to. We see Musk and the wealthy from AI to crypto to AIPAC spending tens of millions on campaigns donated by wealthy donors. How can we compete with that? In fact. why would a politician listen to you or I who can offer only a vote compared to the person or PAC that can donate millions to them in this system that the GOP Supreme Court has empowered to legalize corruption to ensure the rich are even more powerful

Polling backs this up. A recent YouGov poll asked people what groups have “a lot” of economic and political power. Number one by far is billionaires with 81% they have a lot of economic power and 75% saying they have a lot of political power. What percentage said “workers” have a lot of political power? A paltry 8 percent.

This primary season has shown us People want elected officials who recognize this reality and going to fight for them and their families. It’s not just progressive versus moderate. But it’s that progressive are the ones offering sweeping transformative policies such as Medicare for all. And getting big money out of politics means giving the power back to the people- a people who feel powerless.

The big headlines have been made when a progressive defeats a person who is either corporate Democrat or maybe left leaning but not seen as an effective fighter. For example, Tuesday in Connecticut, we saw 78-year-old John Larson who has been in Congress since 1999 lose his primary to Luke Bronin in the latest sign of generational change in the Democratic Party. Bronin, 47, the former mayor of Hartford was slightly more liberal—that was not the issue. Bronin argued Larson’s age and health issues meant he was no longer an effective representative. Bronin won by an eye-popping 22 points.

In Wisconsin, Francesca Hong lost by less than a point with 39.3% to David Crowley’s 39.8%. She was a Democratic socialist who was unknown before this race but came a few thousands votes from being the Democratic nominee for governor because she advocated sweeping changes to our rigged economic system. In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed—who is not a Democratic Socialist, just a progressive Democrat--won promising change such Medicare for all.

Even Texas—a state Trump in 2024 carried by 14 points—we see Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico is up in the polls by 3 to 5 points over lifelong GOP politician Ken Paxton. Carefully Check out his message from a few days ago:

Here is the transcript of that clip so you can read the exact words delivered: “For too many Texans, the American dream has become an American nightmare. It is too expensive to buy a home. It’s too expensive to get married and have kids. It’s too expensive to retire comfortably. People are working hard every day. They’re playing by the rules. But the rules of today weren’t written for us. They were written for billionaires. We can’t afford a home, but Jeff Bezos has at least a dozen. We can’t afford to fill up our tanks, but Mark Zuckerberg is launching helicopters off his megayacht. The top 1% has put the American dream behind a paywall.”

Does that sound like middle of the road? Status quo? Centrist? No, it sounds like someone who gets that people are unhappy with a system rigged to help the rich at the expense of us? People want change!

In Michigan, Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed’s is offering a very similar message about the rigged economy. In contrast, listen to what his GOP Senate opponent Mike Rogers is offering voters. On Fox News Wednesday, he laid out his message to voters: “You can almost hear a collective gasp across Michigan for all the things he spends time hating on. I mean, when I go back, I want to make sure we’re protecting our faith and our families and our factories and our freedoms, while he’s advocating doing away with our fireworks, football, the Fourth of July.”

That is a lot of alliteration—but zero substance! Now if the economy was going great that message focused on fabricated culture war issues like football and fireworks could potentially work. But we live in a time of economic struggle and pain. What we’ve seen in this primary season is that people want to hear candidates recognize this reality and offer policies to address it.

This is the summer of our discontent—that will likely be followed by a fall filled with anger. And from there, the 2028 presidential race begins. Given where we are today, the person and party that wins in 2028 is the one that speaks to what people are feeling and offers real policies to address that. Anything else is a loser!

We had a very spirited conversation on this topic yesterday on “You are my Guest” segment on Substack Live for those interested:

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The same Donald Trump who avoided serving in the US military by fabricating claims he had bone spurs is back to give yet another profile in cowardice. This one coming from the jaw-dropping reporting from The Washington Post and New York Times that Trump snuck out of Air Force One shortly before it took off in Turkey at the July NATO summit. And Trump did so hidden in a large airplane catering cart used to supply the aircraft with food and drinks—leaving behind journalists, staffers and others on the plane.

There are a few angles to the story. There is the comedic one that brings us joy with ridiculing the coward Trump. Then there is the far more serious and disturbing side. But let’s start with the fun one, shall we?!

-George Washington led the American military in our War for Independence.

-Ulysses S. Grant led the Union Armies in the Civil War.

-George H.W. Bush flew combat missions as a Navy pilot in World War II.

-Donald Trump hid in an airplane catering cart in the Iran war.

Yep, when the going gets tough, Trump hides in a big metal container. Many noted Taylor Swift used a janitor’s bin to sneak through the crowd to get the stage at her huge concerns. Is Trump the Taylor Swift of Presidents? Not even close. Taylor is in a league far above Donald.

We have all (likely) seen the 1997 hit action film, “Air Force One” starring Harrison Ford as the US President on Air Force One that was hijacked by terrorists. In that movie, Ford famously refuses to use the plane’s escape pod and abandon his family, staff and crew. Instead, he is able to outwit the terrorists—led by the amazing actor Gary Oldman—that builds to a final climatic seen where Ford and Oldman are fighting in front of the open back bay doors of the plane. After much back and forth, Ford finally takes control of the fight and kicks Oldman literally off the plane as he joyfully delivers this line: “Get off my plane!”

If that happened to Trump, he would only be too happy to take the escape pod and live behind everyone else. But more likely Trump just hides in the food cart until the plane lands and then strikes some type of crypto deal with the terrorists where he gets 20% of the ransom. That is our Trump!

Attacks on Trump for being a coward have gone viral—which is also joyful. Here is Trump who loves to hang with the UFC fighters and bros of the podcast world, hiding in a food cart because he was so frightened. Doesn’t sound like what an Alpha male would do?!

Now we get to the serious and deeply disturbing part of this story. The reporting is that the threat “emerged while Mr. Trump was attending the NATO summit.” So what does Trump do? He boards Air Force One for all to see and then sneaks out the side door by way of the large catering metal bin. He then boards a smaller plane — an Air Force C-32A—that flies him to Great Britain. Now with the threat gone, he gets back on Air Force One to fly home.

As the NY Times reported Monday, “Reporters on the older plane were not told that Mr. Trump had not flown with them from Turkey to an air base in Britain, making them unwitting participants in the ruse and leaving them, along with some White House staff members, to serve as unknowing decoys.”

Yep, Trump despicably left on that aircraft many of his staff, families, the crew and journalists as bait for the terrorists. He was willing to sacrifice those lives to protect himself. The threat level was so acute that the journalists on the plane were told to keep their window shades down during take-off.

After the flight, Trump pretended he had been on the plane. And when he was asked why the reporters were told to keep their shades down, Trump said they had been “probably on a dangerous flight.” Then Trump added to reporters, “if I go, you go.”

Part of that was true. It was a very dangerous flight. Trump knew that. But the lie is that he would have died with them on the plane. He had not been on it as we all know. But again, Trump was fine with the idea that everyone on that plane would be sacrificed for his safety.

No one is saying that Trump or any President should get on an aircraft credibly targeted by militants or terrorists. But there are other ways to ensure the people who were on the plane were not put in danger by flying them later on another aircraft or even commercial flights. They didn’t have to unknowingly be bait. But that is what Trump obviously agreed to allow happen.

Some have raised that past Presidents have used deception to ensure safety. That is true such as President Bill Clinton in 2000 when visiting Pakistan. Clinton arrived for his six-hour visit in an unmarked plane that landed only after a decoy jet with official markings had touched down first. The difference is there was no credible, specific threat to Clinton. Rather there was a general concern of being in Pakistan given terrorist groups were apparently operating on parts of the soil--yet Clinton still went to further discussions of peace with India and for the region.

That is not at all what happened with Trump. The reporting is there was a “credible, specific threat of an attack on the president or his jet” that emerged when in Turkey for the summit.

Plus as The Washington Post reported Tuesday, the Clinton administration briefed the then president of the White House Correspondents Association, Susan Page, in advance. Page noted she was told of what the ruse was and the risks. None of that happened here.

Many other Presidents have visited far dangerous places like actual war zones. For example, in 2023, President Biden made a surprise trip to the capital of Ukraine on Monday by way a 10-hour train ride to demonstrate what he called America’s “unwavering support.” Presidents Bush and Obama both made surprise visits to Iraq during the war to show support for our troops. But none used their staff, families, crew and journalists as bait for a credible terrorist threat targeting the very aircraft they were on.

The President’s top priority should be keeping Americans safe. But instead, Trump put the lives of Americans at risk to save himself. Once again Trump reminds us that he only cares about himself. He would sacrifice anyone to serve his interests. And for that he is both a sociopath and a coward.

Hope you check our very lively discussion on this topic today as part of YOU Are my Guest:

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Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim BS is back—just in time for the 2026 midterms! But this time Trump’s attempt to gin up hate versus Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed backfired on him—hilariously!

In this latest GOP episode of weaponizing anti-Muslim hate, Trump posted on Truth Social an image of Trump and his (contractual wife) Melania in formal evening wear alongside a casual photograph of El-Sayed and his wife Sarah, wearing a hijab, sitting together in a restaurant.

Above the images were the words “Two VERY DIFFERENT America’s” (The graphic also contained a grammatical error, using the possessive “America’s” instead of the plural “Americas”.) Trump labelled the two couples “Donald J. Trump” and “Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed”, using Abdul’s full Arabic name while showing his wife wearing the hijab.

Interestingly, Trump doesn’t even think enough of women to identify either by name. Instead, the couples are just defined by the man’s name. But then again this is the same Trump who just a few days ago said he “feels badly” for GOP Rep. Max Miller who assaulted his ex-wife—not the wife.

Well, the response to Trump posting this photo was not as he intended. First, Abdul was asked about the image by Jake Tapper on CNN where he delivered a stinging response that has gone viral. The Democratic Senate nominee embraced the title Trump gave and then in a Jujutsu type move—used it against Trump.

Abdul began with his perfect troll of Trump by stating, “He’s right. One in which your overlords are two people who don’t like each other but joined in the interest in making billions of dollars off of you, or two people who genuinely love each other enjoying some pancakes together who want to come together to build the kind of America where we can raise a family and that family has goes things.”

Abdul continued, “You’ve got two different visions of America: Donald Trump’s vision is the one you’re living in right now,” he said. “Can you afford your gas? Can you afford your groceries? Do you believe, when you look your kids in the eye, that they’re going to have a better future than you did?”

Then the 41-year-old doctor delivered the line that has made headlines, “Sarah and I like each other.” Adding, “I don’t know about the first lady and the president, but from what I’ve heard, it’s a bit of a rocky road.”

Boom!! That is such a great response on so many levels. First, instead of just lashing out, he calmly turned Trump’s attack on Trump. Then he made the substantive point that Abdul’s vision of America is vastly different than Trump’s. He even raised the very issue that will likely define this campaign of affordability and Trump’s lack of concern for people struggling as he gets richer.

And then finally, Abdul delivered a barbed slam of Trump noting that as opposed to Trump and Melania, Abdul and his wife actually love each other! That clip has gone viral helping Abdul show voters he is a fighter—something people want living in this economy rigged by Trump’s oligarchs.

Trump’s post also led to a tsunami of comments online mocking Trump--which also made press. One of the funnier comments to the photo was: “One side is a convicted felon married to a former nude model. The other is a Michigan-born doctor married to a psychiatrist.” The guys at MeidasTouch weighed in on the matter—highlighting in part Trump’s typo--by describing the “two very different America’s” as “the Epstein class vs. regular Americans who know how to spell.”

There was another unintended development and that is the coverage showcased a photo of Abdul and his wife Sarah looking very much in love. It also led to many media outlets sharing that Sarah is a doctor, that they have been married since meeting at the University of Michigan 20 years ago and have two young children. Plus many learned for first time that Sarah is a psychiatrist who in addition to University of Michigan-- graduated from Oxford with Master’s degree and Columbia University medical school.

That coverage humanizes the couple while also drawing a contrast to Trump who has cheated on all three wives—including Melania-- and now per the NY Times sleeps in a separate bedroom from Melania. Adding to the contrast, Melania was friends with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell- photographed with them on numerous occasions and even exchanging emails with Ghislaine. And yes, that point was raised by many online as well!

In Trump’s first campaign for President back in 2016, he weaponized anti-Muslim hate to levels we never saw before--from claiming Muslims in New Jersey cheered the 9/11 attack to saying “Islam hates us” to calling for a ban on Muslims coming to America. So this image is actually rather subtle for Trump.

Could the reason be that Trump and his family have received BILLIONS In dollars from Muslim leaders over the past few years, so he doesn’t want to hit too hard on anti-Muslim hate? Jared Kushner was literally provided $2 billion from Saudi Leader MBS to manage his funds. And Kushner just last week helped Saudi Arabia’s sovereign fund in a $55 billion deal to acquire of video games maker Electronic Arts.

Then there was an investment tied to UAE’s royal Sheikh who bought a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial--the Trump family’s crypto venture--for $500 million just days before Trump’s second inauguration. The deal provided an immediate $187 million to Trump family entities. It was only last week that Sen. Elizabeth Warren demanded that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick explain the Trump administration’s July decision to ease export controls on the United Arab Emirates after this investment.

And, of course, Trump received a plane worth $400 million from the Qatar’s royal family that he is using as the temporary AirForce One. When Trump leaves office, he will be keeping that $400 million gift.

Funny how the GOP is so concerned with Muslims influencing America but have zero problem with their leader and his family making literally billions of dollars from Muslim leaders!

There is no doubt Trump will still spew more anti-Muslim hate between now and November 3 election—as will GOP leaders as we are already seeing. Will corporate media demand Republican officials—especially Abdul’s GOP opponent Mike Rogers-- tell us if they support or denounce this hate?! Stop laughing. The corporate media is a tool of the GOP.

But the idea of spewing anti-Muslim in bigotry in the state with greatest number of Muslim voters doesn’t make too much sense--but the GOP is desperate. I don’t believe the anti-Muslim BS by Trump and GOP will win elections in 2026, but history warns us that it may incite hate crimes versus Muslims. That is why it needs to be de denounced and countered!

We have seen this GOP playbook of hate before. The good news is that the GOP is now on notice that their attacks on Abdul will not be ignored—instead he will use it as a weapon against them.

Below is the conversation I had with subscribers Sunday on this topic that was very interesting! Hope you join a future chat!

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We are less than 90 days until the end of the 2026 election—the most important in the life of our Republic. The stakes couldn’t be greater. But still we all need to take a break to relax/laugh/re-charge in any way that works between now and then to avoid burnout.

With that spirit in mind, I wanted to share some of the lighter interviews/segments from my SiriusXM show this week. Yet even in these videos, politics is always present—creeping around the edges or front and center but with humor.

The first video is of Mary Trump that made press. While the interview is about politics of the week, the lighter part has to do with discussing Donald’s apparent wig. (That topic begins at the 11 minute mark.) Mary shared how Donald’s father started wearing a toupee and grotesquely dyed his hair at about Donald’s age. But she added that is when the father began showing signs of dementia. Plus Mary compares Donald’s new hair to a character from a famed kid’s show.

These next two have even more moments of comedy. The first is my interview with Brendan Hunt--the co-creator and one of the stars of “Ted Lasso” who plays “Coach Beard.” Brendan and Jason Sudeikis (“Ted Lasso”) have been close friends for more than 20 years and this show is truly an outgrowth of that friendship. I worked with Jason at Saturday Night Live for several years—he was one the nicest people there.

We talk the creative process behind the show. But given I’m all about politics, I asked if the cast of Ted Lasso would go to the White House if Trump invited them like they did when Biden was in office. (See photo below of that 2023 White House visit—Brendan is the last on the right.)

Brendan responded in a very funny yet pointed way. Hope you check the interview:

Finally, every week on my show it’s time for “What Just Happened?!” as we look back at the insanity of the week. Joining me this week are three great comedians: Carole Montgomery (Creator of Showtime’s Women of a Certain Age), Kate Willett (CBS’s Late Show) and Pete Dominick (Stand up with Pete Dominick) to talk the Abdul El-Sayed freak out, Trump’s wig, Ted Lasso is back, Todd Blanche should be disbarred and more!

If you have a YouTube account, please subscribe to my channel—and turn on notifications. It’s of course free. If you take a look at the channel I think you will like the content: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheDeanObeidallahShow

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Imagine if news broke when President Obama was in office that a well-known bank had closed 385 of his bank accounts because of red flags he was involved in money laundering? Add to that, the info was based on court filings by that large bank where they certified under oath that the red flags were observed by people with “decades of law enforcement experience” in the area of money laundering.

That would of course have been a huge news story. Corporate media would be asking President Obama and the bank for comment. Plus every Democratic and Obama official going in the media would be pressed to respond to it and more. Yet when those identical facts became known about Donald Trump earlier this week, the media choose to barely cover it.

Instead, as former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner put it in our conversation on this issue, “the corporate media just shrugs and then they chase the next crazy meme he posts with him being next to General Patton and General MacArthur.” And in fact, corporate media covered that AI generated Trump meme arguably more than they did Trump’s money laundering!

But this issue demands far more attention. And ironically it only came to light because of lawsuit by Trump where he was trying to shake down money from Capitol One bank over their closing of his bank accounts in mid-2021. Trump’s lawsuit against Capitol One-- filed only after he was back in the White House in 2025 so he could have the weight of the government behind him—claims that 385 Trump related accounts were closed for partisan reasons. (Who has 385 accounts at one bank?!)

In response, Capitol One filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit that revealed for the first time the details of why they closed Trump’s account—and that was the money laundering red flags. As the brief filed by Capitol One explains, “The closures were the result of months of analysis and a careful review by Capital One’s AML [anti-money laundering] team in accordance with bank policies and regulatory guidance.”

The legal filing continues that Trump’s claim this was all a pretense is absolutely incorrect. Instead, they wrote to the court that the plaintiff [Trump] “cannot meaningfully criticize the robust process undertaken by Capital One’s AML professionals with decades of law enforcement experience in deciding to close the accounts.”

Yep, the decision to close the accounts was based on an investigation with “decades of law enforcement experience” in this specialized area. To bolster this, Capitol One specifically notes “the transaction patterns identified by Capital One are among the types of activity flagged by federal banking guidance.” The bank cited for support the “Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Manual” and specifically Appendix F titled, “Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing “Red Flags.”

Yep, they focused on bank rules dealing with “money laundering and terrorist financing.” While Capitol One did not detail exactly what was concerning about the Trump accounts, Appendix F they cited provides a long list of “examples of red flags to inform and assist banks in reporting instances of suspected money laundering, terrorist financing, and fraud.”

These red flags include the following:

-Funds transfer activity occurs to or from a financial secrecy haven, or to or from a higher-risk geographic location without an apparent business reason.

-Large, incoming funds transfers are received on behalf of a foreign client, with little or no explicit reason.

-Funds transfer activity is unexplained, repetitive, or shows unusual patterns.

-Payments or receipts with no apparent links to legitimate contracts, goods, or services are received.

- Items shipped that are inconsistent with the nature of the customer’s business (e.g., a steel company that starts dealing in paper products, or an information technology company that starts dealing in bulk pharmaceuticals).

- Multiple high-value payments or transfers between shell companies with no apparent legitimate business purpose.

Again, Capitol One did not reveal which of the above red flags caused the former law enforcement officials to recommend closing Trump’s 385 bank accounts. But as law professor Jen Taub—author of a book on white collar crimes—explained to me, a bank would not close these many accounts and lose the income associated with it unless something was truly alarming. She shared that it was likely Capitol One became wary of what Trump was doing before 2021 but didn’t want to close his accounts while he was President—so they waited until he left office.

As noted in their pleadings, Capitol One kept the reason for the closure of Trump’s account a secret from the public. They simply followed the rules of their institution—that all account holders agree to—and informed Trump the accounts were being closed. From there they gave the Trump companies months — together with several extensions — to move their money elsewhere. That is what Trump did so there were not even any damages.

But with Trump back in the White House, he has used lawsuits to shakedown media outlets, banks and more. That is what we are seeing play out here.

After Trump leaves office, we need the new Attorney General to investigative if Trump has been engaged in racketeering with this scheme. That would empower a prosecution under the RICO statute.

When you look at the details of this case, you must agree it demands far more coverage. Yet I have not seen one Republican member of Congress asked about on cable news. Nor have I seen reporters pressing Trump or Capitol One for more details on the red flags they found of Trump’s money laundering.

Once again, corporate media either is on board with Trump’s agenda or fears losing access to him. In either case, it’s up to independent media and citizen journalists to fill that role to inform the electorate of what is really happening!

Hope you check out my conversation with Glenn Kirschner. You will hear details corporate media refuses to cover:

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GOP leaders fear their base. In contrast, far too many Democratic leaders ignore their base or even view us with contempt. We just saw that play out in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, where one candidate was championing views on key issues supported by 75% to 90% of Democratic voters—while the other candidate represented a distinctly minority view of the base. We are talking everything from Medicare for all to abolishing ICE to ending military aid to Israel.

But who did Democratic leaders in Washington D.C. and Michigan endorse? The candidate who stood for the views of about 25% of Democratic voters are today. This has to end—and we must be the ones to end it.

The Michigan Democratic Senate primary was simply the latest example. This race pitted Abdul El-Sayed versus Rep. Haley Stevens. On the big issues that dominated this race, El-Sayed lined up with a huge chunk of the Democratic base while Stevens lined up frankly more with the views of GOP voters. And that is all backed up by polling. Here are the receipts:

1. Medicare for All. This is now supported by 90% of Democratic voters per recent polls. El-Sayed—who wrote a book years ago advocating Medicare for All—has made embracing this issue one of the most visible parts of the campaign. Stevens, on the other hand, opposes it and instead wants to reinstate ACA subsidies the GOP ended and seeks to expand the ACA.

2. Abolish ICE. After the abuses we’ve seen from ICE under Trump’s second term—including murdering people—we now see nearly 75% of Democrats supporting the abolishment of ICE. El-Sayed has made abolishing ICE a large part of his platform. But despite what Democratic voters want, Stevens—who has voted in the past to fund ICE--opposes abolishing the agency and instead wants reforms.

3. Raising taxes on the wealthy. Recent polls show that 80% of Democrats want to see taxes raised on the wealthy. El-Sayed strongly supports raising taxes on the ultra-wealthy and billionaires. Stevens in contrast has not taken a position on specifically raising taxes on the wealthy—instead simply saying we need tax fairness. But by not supporting higher taxes on the wealthy explicitly she again ends up holding a position supported by GOP voters—not Democrats.

4. Ending military aid to Israel and Gaza. This became a major issue in the race. Well, a recent NY Times poll finds 74 percent of Democratic voters opposed additional military support for Israel. El-Sayed has been very outspoken on ending military aid to Israel and instead spending those billions back in the United States. (He has said the same about ending aid to Egypt.) In stark contrast, Stevens supports additional military aid to Israel with no conditions. In fact, just a few weeks ago she voted to ensure the Netanyahu regime receive $3 billion more of our tax dollars for its military.

And despite nearly 65% of Democrats supporting the arrest of Netanyahu for war crimes for his actions in Gaza, Haley was one of only 45 House Democrats out of more than 200 to vote to sanction the International Criminal Court for investigating Netanyahu for war crimes. Again, Stevens is fighting for a position supported by the GOP base—not Democrats.

5. Big money in politics: A whopping 88% of Democrats want to ban “dark money” in politics--funds from groups that do not disclose their donors. El-Sayed has made getting big money out of politics a central theme. Stevens on the other hand refused to commit to any such efforts and instead when asked recently about El-Sayed’s position she deflected saying, “My opponent has done a great job talking about campaign finance. It’s an educated issue…That’s totally fine, but you know what else? These families on paid leave? They need affordable daycare.”

Stevens also accepted donations from corporate PACs such as the big Michigan utility companies and from PhRHMA, a trade group representing pharmaceutical firms, and UnitedHealth Group— both key players in the for-profit healthcare industry. That does not even include the $30 million spent by AIPAC funded group to support her a nonprofit that does not disclose its donors. In fact as NY Times reported, all the other pro-Stevens groups are financed by nonprofit groups that do not disclose their donors. Without dark money she would’ve been trounced which is why she doesn’t oppose it.

The above are key issues dominating the 2026 primary season. El-Sayed lines up with the Democratic base on issue after issue—Stevens does not. Yet we saw many longtime Democratic leaders in Washington and Michigan line up with Stevens.

The most notable DC insider being Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer—along with Senators Chris Coons, Ruben Gallego and others in the House. Then there was the Democratic establishment in Michigan led by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, outgoing Senator Gary Peters, current Michigan AG Dana Nessel, Rep. Hillary Scholten and more. And many of these Democrats helped raise the millions used to attack El-Sayed and prop up Stevens.

These Democratic leaders tried to justify their endorsement by saying Stevens was somehow more electable. In reality, polls show both Stevens and El-Sayed running neck in neck with GOP Senate nominee Mike Rogers.

What these Democratic leaders are really saying is they don’t care what the Democratic base thinks. They have made their decisions based on their own views on issues that don’t line up with rank-and-file Democrats, are supporting Stevens because that is who their donors support or any other reason.

Polls before Tuesday’s primary election showed El-Sayed with about ten-point lead. ButEl-Sayed was outspent nine to one as big corporate interests, establishment Democratic groups and AIPAC spent nearly $60 million to defeat El-Sayed. Some of the ads were deceptive with suggestions that President Obama had endorsed Stevens—he had not.

Others claimed El-Sayed was the leader of the Uncommitted movement and never supported VP Kamala Harris. That was a lie—as fact checkers noted El-Sayed endorsed Harris within hours of her being announced the candidate to replace Joe Biden. But with that amount of money lies can become reality to many.

But the real insult was seeing so many Democratic leaders turning their back on the Democratic base. They are telling us how little they think of us. They are telling us that they know best. Well, it’s time to tell them where the door is. We need leaders who listen to the base and fight for our concerns—not people who ignore us!

I make the case in my video why this is happening and how to end it:

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Despite what some in the media are saying, Jeanine Pirro did NOT do the “right thing” when she dropped the criminal case versus David Hearn over the Reflecting pool case. She dropped this case as act of self-preservation for her law license. Pirro began this rushed and baseless criminal prosecution to make Trump happy. Pirro only dropped the case because she realized she could be disbarred for bringing a bad faith prosecution. In reality, Pirro still should be disbarred!

The prosecution of former Olympian David Hearn is yet another example of Trump using the DOJ as weapon. This time Trump was angry that headlines leading up to the 250-anniversary celebration of the United States on July 4^th were all about the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting pool peeling and turning green due to algae. Since Trump had circumvented the bidding process and given the contracts for this project to two companies he had worked with in the past, he needed to come up with an excuse for their failure since it reflected on him.

That is when Trump began peddling lies that the Reflecting pool had been attacked by vandals—even claiming on June 22 that someone had “cut a 350-foot slit from one end to the other” of the Reflecting pool. He added that the Department of Interior had footage that showed a person who “cut it, they cut it very violently. The same thing with the floor, they cut it, and then they lifted it. They pulled it, and that’s what it is.”

With pressure building, Pirro needed to act quickly to make Trump happy. That is why a week later on July 2, Pirro announced that Hearn was charged with a felony for causing damage of more than $1,000.00—which carried up to 10 years in prison. At the press conference, Pirro bragged, “This is a case with tremendous evidence.” (A lie.) She then offered details saying, “National Park employees observed Hearn actually forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner with both hands.”

At that presser, Pirro was pressed by a reporter on how she could be certain Hearn caused more than $1,000 worth of damages to make this a felony. Pirro defiantly responded she would prove that with “an expert.” And when the reporter noted there was prior damage reported before Hearn went to the pool, she wasn’t having any of it, literally yelling at the reporter about Hearn, “He damaged the pool! He damaged it!”

But since the time Hearn was arrested in mid-June--weeks before the July 2 indictment—he noted as did the media that the pool had already been damaged before Hearn ever got there. Hearn stated after he was arrested that there was floating debris in the pool he simply reached out to touch. He added, “I didn’t vandalize anything. I didn’t destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.”

Even more damning for Pirro is that Hearn’s lawyer filed a motion 10 days ago explaining that “the Government’s sole grand-jury witness on damages testified that the property was already damaged before Mr. Hearn allegedly touched it.” Under oath, that government witness told the grand jury that even before Hearn appeared at the location: “The pool was leaking more than one million gallons of water per week; its expansion joints had exceeded their service life; and the liner already contained a rip.”

That is why the government’s witness testified, “that the same repairs would have been required regardless of Mr. Hearn’s conduct; and that he could not quantify any loss attributable to that conduct.”

That testimony by the government’s witness destroys this case. Given a judge was going to consider the defendant’s motion, Pirro quickly came up with she just discovered “new evidence” that compelled the dismissal. What was it? The same thing we all knew before the charges were filed, namely the pool had been peeling weeks before Hearn ever showed up because of faulty workmanship by Trump’s hand-picked contractors.

The most damning line in Pirro’s new motion includes was that she “was not in possession of any information from DOI [Dept of Interior] indicating that any damage to the Reflecting Pool was caused by anything other than the actions of the defendant and other vandals who damaged the pool’s lining.” How could that be given the sole witness presented by Pirro’s offices to the grand jury on the issue of damages testified “the property was already damaged before Mr. Hearn allegedly touched it.”

We also learned Pirro rushed to get the indictment--and then did an investigation. That is unethical. For example, DOJ admitted in court documents that Pirro herself went with other prosecutors on July 1 to examine the pool—the day before the indictment. But for some reason despite images of the pool peeling, she claims she couldn’t see the floor of the pool because it was “obscured as it was covered with water.” You mean clear water was “obscuring” the floor of the pool?!!

Pirro notes that when she went back on July 17, it was finally obvious there was massive damage across the bottom of the Reflecting pool. Only then—if Pirro is to be believed—did she seek more information from the Department of Interior which informed her that base of the Reflecting Pool began peeling since May due to faulty workmanship. How could she not know that before seeking to indict Hearn for a felony where he could he could be imprisoned for 10 years?!

Pirro—apparently aware she has exposed herself to potential ethical violation—is now trying to blame the Dept of Interior for not telling her it wasn’t Hearn who caused the damage, rather it “was the result of a flawed installation by the contractor.” Pirro’s motion noted, “Had [the Interior Department] been forthcoming with the information clearly in its possession, the government would not have sought a grand jury indictment.” With that the DOJ concluded, “Given all of this newly discovered information, it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism.”

Either Pirro lied or rushed to bring a bogus case to make Trump happy despite a lack of evidence? In either case Pirro needs to be investigated for this apparent misconduct which appear to violate various rules of professional conduct that govern lawyers. And that is not just my opinion. A group of former judges and law professors two weeks ago already filed a sweeping ethics complaint against her in New York to do just that because of her actions using DOJ to further Trump’s agenda—which referenced this very case. And that was even before Pirro’s new motion to dismiss the case raised even more potential misconduct.

Pirro’s potential ethical violations include making untruthful statements to the court in violation of Rule of Professional conduct 3.3. The ethical requirement that a prosecutor should “refrain from prosecuting a charge that the prosecutor knows is not supported by probable cause.” And making a false statement to the public about the case.

Trump’s pardons can’t protect a lawyer from disbarment. In fact, numerous other lawyers who worked for Trump have been disbarred including Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman and Kenneth Cheseboro for actions in connection with Trump’s efforts after the 2020 election. At this point Pirro must be investigated to ensure that any future prosecutions are brought based on credible evidence--not simply to please Donald Trump!

My video breaks it down in more detail:

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Acting attorney general Todd Blanche confirmed in writing on Sunday night that the Justice Department would not create Donald Trump’s terrorist slush to compensate the Jan. 6 terrorists who attacked our Capitol on his behalf. In reality, that memo isn’t worth the paper it is written on. But even if it was enforceable, Blanche should still not be confirmed!

All of this happened because Republican Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, had vowed that they would not confirm Blanche unless he provided written assurances that DOJ had formally killed a planned $1.8 billion fund. The only reason Blanche had not put that in writing is because he knows Trump still very much plans to do this.

In fact, Trump re-affirmed over the past few days his desire to pay the J6 terrorists. First on Friday, Trump said about the J6 attackers, “I’d like to ⁠see them compensated for the pain.” And on Sunday night Trump declared, “People were hurt so badly. They were destroyed. Their families were destroyed for doing things that, honestly, there’s never been an attack on any group of people in this country, in my opinion.” He added, “A lot of big supporters of Trump like it.”

But now we are to believe that a memo signed by Blanche will overrule Trump’s goals. And just to be clear, the memo Blanche wrote simply features the letter head of the DOJ that begins: “The Attorney General’s May 18, 2026, Order establishing the Anti-Weaponization Fund (”Fund”) is rescinded and shall have no force or effect.”

It continues, “For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this Order is intended to contradict or otherwise be contrary to prior representations by the Department of Justice that the Fund is not operative. No Members were appointed; no funds were transferred; no process for receiving claims was established; no claims were paid. Nevertheless, several frivolous lawsuits have been filed challenging the Fund, and at least one court has declined to dismiss those claims as moot.” He added, “This Order establishes, beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund.”

Here is the reality: That memo is not enforceable anywhere. It’s not a contract that can be enforced by way of a lawsuit. Nor is it part of a legal settlement approved by the court which could be enforced later if Blanche violated it.

That is not just my opinion, but also Law Professor James Sample who made it clear in our conversation that this memo “would not be ironclad.” Rather, it would be something Sample noted that the press or opponent can use to shame Blanche saying, “you gave us your word, but your word means nothing.”

In reality, just as Blanche is reversing course on the memo creating the fund, he could just as easily write a new memo creating a new slush fund. And of course, Trump could replace Blanche in the future with a new AG who can simply rescind Blanche’s new memo and create a fund.

Or Trump could have another agency create the fund, like the Department of Homeland Security. As a reminder, in his first term, Trump diverted $3.8 billion from the Defense Department’s budget to build his border wall without congressional approval. Given that decision by Trump was upheld by US Court of Appeals, why wouldn’t Trump divert $1.8 billion from the DHS or DOJ budget to create a fund to pay off his poor J6 attackers?!

And just as corrupt as Trump’s terrorist slush fund is the sweetheart deal that Blanche gave Trump, his family and their corporate affiliates to avoid paying an estimated $100 million plus in back taxes. That deal has not been rescinded. Instead, Blanche in a second memo released Sunday night simply confirmed this corrupt deal only “applies only retroactively” to claims open at the time of the settlement and does not protect the Trump from examination of future tax filings.

This more of Blanche’s corruption on display in the service of Trump. He is more concerned with protecting Trump then the United States.

That is also why Blanche’s response to the Epstein related crimes—of which there are more than 1,000 victims—is to literally say “move on.” Blanche knows that Trump has been implicated in this child sex and sex trafficking ring. But his top—make it, only—priority is protecting Trump who paid him $10 million in legal fees after Trump left the White House in 2021.

All of this is why in June, more than 100 former federal and state judges filed a detailed ethics complaint against Mr. Blanche with the Grievance Committee of the Appellate Division’s First Department and requested that it take appropriate disciplinary action against Blanche.

It’s also why the NY City Bar Association--in a July 13, 2026, letter to Senate Judiciary Committee—went into even more detail as they raised numerous red flags about why Blanche must be rejected. This damming line from their letter sums it up well: “Blanche’s actions, both as Deputy Attorney General and as Acting Attorney General, have repeatedly demonstrated that his primary loyalty is not to the United States Constitution or the rule of law but to President Donald J. Trump.”

The NY City Bar also slammed Blanche’s role in protecting Trump from Epstein crimes and more, writing that Blanche, “placed loyalty to President Trump over commitment to the rule of law in the Epstein investigation and the “settlement” of Trump v. I.R.S.” And they detailed how Blanche has weaponized the DOJ to target Trump’s political enemies and critics.

In sum, Blanche’s so-called promise to end Trump’s terrorist slush fund is BS. It’s simply to get himself confirmed. It gives the Republican Senators the cover they need to support him. And sure enough, GOP Senators Cornyn and Tillis issued a joint statement today that read, “We want to express our gratitude to Mr. Blanche and his staff for working with us on this, and we look forward to voting to advance his nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee soon.”

Not even a hint of concern from these Republicans for the Epstein survivors not getting justice nor Blanche transferring convicted child rapist Ghisliane Maxwell to a cushy Club Fed. And no mention of Blanche’s use of the DOJ as a weapon to target Trump’s critics. Everyone is asking what did these Senators get in return for their vote?!!

Here’s the truth: Todd Blanche should never be confirmed as Attorney General. Instead, Todd Blanche should be disbarred!

We had a great discussion today on this topic on the latest episode of: “YOU are my guest!” Hope you check it out:

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Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist David Cay Johnston has known Donald Trump personally for decades. He even wrote the NY Times best seller, “The Making of Donald Trump.” So when you want the truth about Trump’s past, David is the guy.

That is why when I spoke to him this week, I was curious if Trump had become more corrupt since returning to the White House in contrast to when he was younger. Johnston responded pointedly that Trump has “always been this corrupt. Yeah, from the get-go.”

David continued that he has written about conmen for nearly 60 years, yet no one comes close to Trump. “None of them are in Donald’s league. He is in a league all by himself as a con artist. He is the most brilliant con artist,” he noted.

Johnston then explained how Trump was able to get away with open corruption long before he made it to the White House. He noted, Trump “knows how to use the system to insulate himself from prosecutors and investigators, and to get politicians to bend to his will.”

As an example, David detailed how Trump was denied a casino license in Nevada, UK and Australia because of Trump’s criminal connections (mob) and other shady tactics. But New Jersey gave him one because he was able to corruptly grease the system there. That is why Trump was able to own two casinos in Atlantic City, NJ.

David also shared how Donald’s cognitive slide is jaw dropping at this point. While we all age and slow down a bit, David noted that Trump’s cognitive loss is so acute that it makes him question who is running our government on a daily basis.

Our conversation began, though, with the latest economic data that is concerning. The Iran war is again raising prices and it’s impacting consumer spending—as we saw with the contracting GDP numbers that were released this week. The longer Trump’s failed Iran war goes, the more pain we will feel economically. Hope you check out my interview of David that was both informative and entertaining: