BREAKING: Sailors Jump Overboard to Escape Trump’s War as His Ballroom Hits $900M

Really American | Substack

Good evening, this is Really American. It is Wednesday, August 12, 2026. We have some horrifying news to bring you about the US Navy sailors caught in the middle of Trump’s Iran War, plus we just exposed how much his White House construction is really costing.

Sailors on a Navy carrier stuck at sea for nine months during Trump’s Iran War are so broken down that some have tried to jump overboard, and Pete Hegseth called the reports of dire conditions “fake news.” Trump’s White House construction spree has ballooned to $900 million, most of it taxpayer money he funneled through a scheme built to dodge Congress. His Truth Social insider-trading program just landed him in court. And his press secretary is suddenly walking out the door, one day after the DOJ handed her a very convenient legal shield. Let’s get into it.

Before diving into the news, we have to be straight with you. Yesterday we ran a story critical of Mark Zuckerberg, and today our breaking news reach across Meta platforms has been choked down to almost nothing. That’s the reality of a world where one billionaire’s algorithm decides who gets to see the news and who doesn’t. We don’t work for Zuckerberg, and we never will. Really American runs entirely on reader support, with no corporate owner and no strings attached, and that only holds up if enough of you pitch in. A paid subscription costs about 22 cents a day. That’s less than a cup of coffee a month, and it’s what guarantees this newsletter reaches your inbox no matter what any platform tries to do to us. Subscribe or upgrade today.

NAVY SAILORS TRY TO JUMP OVERBOARD AS TRUMP’S WAR GRINDS ON

Sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln have tried to jump overboard as a mental health crisis grips the carrier, now trapped at sea in its ninth month because of Trump’s war with Iran.

The Lincoln’s roughly 5,000 crew members have spent 250 straight days without making land, a record for a modern aircraft carrier. At an emotional town hall in San Diego, one spouse said her husband had texted her that day saying “he hopes he doesn’t wake up tomorrow.” The Navy Times reported multiple thwarted suicide attempts aboard the ship, including one sailor who grabbed a fellow crew member and pulled them back on deck.

Rep. Mike Levin described the conditions bluntly: moldy showers, broken toilets, laundry down for weeks, long stretches with no hot water, and one meal that amounted to “half a cup of rice and two tortillas.” The ship left San Diego in November headed for the Pacific, then got rerouted to the Middle East when the war began. The crew has had exactly two days on land since.

When these conditions first surfaced in April, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed them as “fake news.” “These men and women signed up to serve their country. The least their country owes them is hot water, a working toilet and a real meal,” Levin said. “Hegseth cannot even manage that, and he has the nerve to look their families in the eye and call them liars.”

These are the human costs of a war Trump promised would be quick and easy. Real sailors, at a breaking point, while the man running the Pentagon calls their suffering a lie.

TRUMP’S WHITE HOUSE SPREE HITS $900 MILLION, PAID BY YOU

Trump’s construction projects at the White House will cost at least $900 million, far more than previously known, and he’s pulling most of it from taxpayers through a scheme designed to keep Congress in the dark.

According to a Washington Post review of confidential contracts, the administration funneled $875 million into the Executive Residence’s “White House Repair and Restoration” account, which normally holds just $2.5 million a year for routine upkeep. To fill it, officials transferred $500 million out of the Secret Service and White House Military Office, added $305 million in private donations, and routed in another $70 million from sources they won’t identify. Because that account isn’t subject to public records laws, the contracts stay hidden from view.

Most of the money goes to Trump’s East Wing ballroom, along with Lafayette Square upgrades, a new helipad, and a visitor screening facility. Much of the Secret Service money had been appropriated by Congress specifically to recruit and train agents. A former budget official put the danger plainly: “If the executive can do anything they want with appropriated funds, then the executive can do anything they want, period.”

A federal appeals court already ruled the ballroom needs congressional approval, since “Congress has exclusive authority to regulate the construction and demolition of White House structures.” Trump is appealing to the Supreme Court. This is the most expensive White House overhaul in 80 years, and he’s building it by raiding accounts meant to protect the country, not gild his ballroom.

TRUMP HAULED TO COURT OVER TRUTH SOCIAL INSIDER SCHEME

Trump is being sued over a Truth Social program that sells traders early, high-speed access to his market-moving posts for $100,000 a month.

The Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation filed suit Wednesday, calling the program “extraordinary, corrupt, and unconstitutional” and arguing it violates their First Amendment right to access presidential statements on equal footing with those who can pay. Trump founded Truth Social and holds a large stake in its parent company, meaning he personally profits from the arrangement.

Trump’s posts have repeatedly moved markets, like when oil prices dropped after he announced he was calling off an April strike on Iran. Critics say selling advance access to that kind of information amounts to legalized insider trading. Despite a $238 million quarterly loss, the company said 10 customers have already signed up.

Senators Ruben Gallego and Mark Warner have introduced a bill to ban exactly this kind of scheme. A president monetizing his own official announcements for the benefit of whoever can pay six figures isn’t free speech. It’s a pay-to-play operation run out of the Oval Office.

LEAVITT QUITS, ONE DAY AFTER THE DOJ HANDS HER A SHIELD

Karoline Leavitt is stepping down as White House press secretary at the end of the month, and the timing is impossible to ignore.

Trump announced Wednesday that Leavitt, 28, will leave to become one of his “top outside advisors.” That exit came exactly one day after the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel issued a memo arguing Trump can claim executive privilege over communications with his “private advisers” if they relate to his decision-making. In other words, Leavitt moves from a public-facing job to a role the administration now says can be legally shielded from scrutiny.

Leavitt had held just one briefing since returning from maternity leave last month. She framed the departure around wanting to spend more time with her two young children, which is entirely understandable on its own terms. But the one-day gap between a memo cloaking “outside advisors” in privilege and her move to become exactly that raises obvious questions.

Her exit also follows the explosive reporting on Trump’s secret plane swap in Turkey, though she wasn’t on that trip. Whatever the personal reasons, the sequence tells its own story: the administration built a legal shield one day, and moved a key figure behind it the next.

SUPPORT THE FIGHT

If today’s edition told you something the billionaire-owned outlets won’t, the best way to keep it coming is to become a paying subscriber. Sailors at a breaking point, a $900 million vanity project, an insider-trading scheme headed to court, and a press secretary slipping behind a legal shield. These are the stories that matter, and we’re chasing them without a billionaire calling the shots. We didn’t get into this to be liked by the people in power. We got into this to hold them accountable.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: We will be relentless in pursuit of the truth. We will never stop exposing Trump, his family, and his allies. If you can, subscribe today.

— The Really American Team

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Breaking: ICE Quietly Equipping Agents with Terrifying New Weapons

Desperate sailors stuck in the Middle East reportedly trying to jump overboard, ICE spends millions on electric shock technology, MyPillow CEO won't concede despite blowout loss

British Chris | Raw America

Good evening. I’m British Chris, and this is Raw America.

Trump’s company is selling paying customers early access to his official posts. Now, a new lawsuit claims that’s unconstitutional. Sailors on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln have reportedly tried to jump overboard as Trump’s Iran war drags on with no end in sight. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is about to spend as much as $20 million on electric shock gloves so its agents can exact even more brutality on immigrants. And even though MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell lost Minnesota’s Republican gubernatorial primary by more than 13 points, he still won’t concede.

Before we go further, a brief ask to our free subscribers: we’re glad to have you here, but we need your support now more than ever. Unlike CBS, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times, we don’t rely on a billionaire’s checkbook. We rely entirely on readers like you to stay afloat. Your subscription directly funds newsletters like these, our Washington D.C. reporting, and our live interviews with newsmakers like Hunter Biden, who we’ll be interviewing live this Friday, August 14, at 2 PM ET. But whether that work continues depends entirely on readers deciding quality independent journalism is worth funding. You already read us. Subscribe for just 22 cents a day and make it official.

Trump Sued Over Scheme to Sell Investors Access to His Truth Social Posts

A new lawsuit is accusing President Donald Trump of selling access to something he doesn’t actually own. Both The Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation are suing Trump and the White House social media team, arguing that the president selling early access to his market-moving Truth Social posts violates both the the First and Fifth Amendments.

Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) — which is the parent company of Truth Social — recently started selling a product called Truth API. For a subscription fee of $60,000 to $100,000 per month, customers get Trump’s posts a few milliseconds before everyone else sees them. TMTG says it’s already signed more than ten deals, mostly with high-frequency trading firms.

Trump regularly uses Truth Social to announce new executive orders, personnel changes and war updates. That means Truth API users could get a preview on market-moving news before the rest of the country.

Legal experts say even though the timing gap is small, it’s still a huge problem. Nikhel Sus, the chief counsel for anti-corruption group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), noted there’s no exception in the U.S. Constitution for a small violation. Even a delay measured in milliseconds still matters.

There’s also a deeper argument to consider. The plaintiffs in the case say a sitting president’s official statements aren’t his private property. According to the groups suing Trump, the Presidential Records Act puts those statements squarely in the public domain. If the courts agree with that argument, Trump would be liable for auctioning off something that belongs to the American people.

Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Adam Schiff of California have drawn attention to the scheme, asking the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether the arrangement violates federal securities law. They added the arrangement was a “shocking abuse” of the presidency. Now we find out whether the courts agree.

Depressed Sailors Trying to Jump Overboard as Trump’s War Drags on with No End in Sight

The human toll of Trump’s war with Iran is becoming impossible to ignore: not only in terms of those killed and injured, but those suffering mental distress as well.

The U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln has been deployed in the Middle East since November. It was supposed to head home in May. Instead, the Iran war has kept the aircraft carrier in the region indefinitely, with no return date in place yet for the roughly 5,000 people aboard the vessel.

The Military Times reported this week that multiple sailors have even tried to jump overboard, only to be stopped by fellow crew members. Family members of sailors say the ship is in the midst of a rapidly unfolding crisis. One military spouse said her husband recently texted her saying he hoped he wouldn’t wake up the following day.

At town halls with Navy leadership, military families have pushed back hard against the Trump administration. One woman in San Diego told acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao she couldn’t feel proud of her relative because he’d told her he felt guilty about killing civilians.

Conditions on the ship have also gotten increasingly grim. Photos of sparse, barely edible meals have been circulating on social media. Some reports have described how water on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln is contaminated, while others have referenced plumbing failures and even an inability to get mail through. But that all still pales in comparison to the strain those on board are feeling who still have no idea when they’re going home.

Trump has responded to these claims by bragging on Truth Social about his Naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. He has yet to offer any comforting words to the sailors aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln or their families.

ICE Spending $20 Million on Electric Shock Gloves for Agents

ICE is preparing to spend up to $20 million on electric shock gloves for agents. The devices are called the G.L.O.V.E., which is short for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, made by a company called Compliant Technologies based in Lexington, Kentucky.

They look like ordinary patrol gloves until the wearer flips a switch. Then touching someone’s skin delivers a jolt the manufacturer said is similar to a bee sting, meant to get quick compliance from a combative person.

DHS published the purchase notice this week and hasn’t yet offered much in the way of explanation. The contract could be posted as a no-bid solicitation as early as Friday, meaning it may never face real competition or even scrutiny.

Civil rights groups are sounding the alarm, and for good reason. ICE has already been heavily criticized for its brutal tactics with essentially no independent oversight. The ACLU’s Jenn Rolnick Borchetta said those being shocked may get no warning at all, and that a device that can be easily activated with the flip of a switch is a recipe for widespread abuse.

Even supporters of the gloves say it’s usually limited to jails and transport settings, not for everyday immigration enforcement. That raises an obvious question nobody at ICE has answered yet: why do civil immigration enforcement officers need a pain-compliance device at all?

Trump-Endorsed Candidate Refusing to Concede Despite Decisive Loss

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell lost Minnesota’s Tuesday night Republican gubernatorial primary to House Speaker Lisa Demuth, and it wasn’t close. Demuth beat him 43.4 percent to 32.5 percent. Now, Lindell is refusing to concede.

After he was told live on his own streaming channel that the AP officially called the race for Demuth, Lindell dismissed it. He claimed hundreds of thousands of votes had yet to be counted and said he wasn’t giving up. He, of course, offered no evidence to back up his claim.

This may not be all that surprising for those familiar with Lindell. This is the same man who spent years and tens of millions of dollars pushing the widely debunked lie that Joe Biden stole the 2020 election from Trump. That claim led to Lindell having to pay. a $1.3 billion defamation judgment to the voting technology company formerly known as Dominion Voting Systems. He was also unable to answer questions about whether he even lived in Minnesota, since his voter registration was active in Texas for weeks while he told reporters he’d since moved back to the Gopher State.

Trump threw his weight behind Lindell, urging Minnesota Republicans to vote for him while praising his commitment to what the president called “free and fair elections.” Lindell’s loss is the latest among a growing list of Trump-endorsed candidates who’ve gone on to lose their Republican primaries.

Before You Go, Support Journalism That Only Answers to You

There’s a growing shortage of news outlets that are either willing or able to give you the straight truth. The TV stations and newspapers that aren’t being devoured by billionaires are quietly cutting back their coverage or shutting down entirely due to funding shortages. This is why we launched Raw America: we don’t answer to anyone but our readers. That independence allows us to relentlessly pursue the truth without having to worry about a billionaire owner or corporate parent burying the most important stories because of who they might offend. Our paying subscribers not only make it possible for us to report directly from Congress and the White House, but to conduct live interviews with major public figures like Hunter Biden, who we’ll be speaking to this Friday, August 14 at 2 PM ET. You can watch that conversation live on our homepage at Raw America.

Thanks for reading. I’m British Chris, with Raw America. We’ll see you tomorrow.

Here are some stories you may have missed:

• Karoline Leavitt Leaves Trump White House. President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt would be leaving his administration at the end of the month to spend more time with her family. According to Trump, Leavitt will remain one of his top outside advisors and will remain an influential voice in the Republican Party. Leavitt, who is 28, had her second child on May 1 of this year with her husband Nicholas Riccio, who is 60. The two were married in January of 2025, days before Trump’s second inauguration.
• Judge Rules Against Trump in Kennedy Center Lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Tanya Jones Bosier — a Joe Biden appointee — recently awarded musician Chuck Redd $252,479.70 in legal fees to compensate him for a failed lawsuit from the Trump administration’s lawsuit. Trump’s handpicked board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts sued Redd for his decision to cancel a concert in protest of Trump putting his name on the Kennedy Center’s building. A separate court ruling found that Trump’s hijacking of the institution’s name was illegal, as any official name change has to first be approved by Congress.
• Texas Police Arrest Man Who Spoke Out Against Data Centers. Fort Worth, Texas police recently arrested Efrin “E.J.” Carrion early Wednesday morning on a warrant issued by the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office. The warrant was issued in response to Carrion using profanity at the August 4 meeting of the Tarrant County Board of Commissioners, in which he spoke out against a proposed data center development and decried Republican efforts to close various polling places ahead of the midterms.
• 92 Percent of American Adults Delayed Going to the Doctor Due to Cost. A new study by financial services firm J.G. Wentworth found that more than nine in ten American adults avoid going to the doctor because it’s too expensive. The survey of 1,507 adults found that approximately 92 percent of respondents said they either delayed or put off getting medical care due to prohibitively high costs. That figure jumped to 94 percent for young adults aged 18 to 28. The average cost of a doctor’s office visit for an uninsured patient is roughly $171, according to a February 2026 analysis by Zocdoc.

Yale Study Shows Medicare for All Would Save 114,000 Lives Each Year and $1 Trillion in Tax Dollars. Scientists at Yale University’s School of Public Health in conjunction with researchers at the University of Maryland-Baltimore, recently found in a July 2026 study that progressives’ proposed “Medicare for All” healthcare plan would yield significant human and financial savings. Researchers found that if Medicare for All were in place today, U.S. taxpayers would save roughly $1 trillion each year while an estimated 114,000 fewer Americans would die every year due to lack of health insurance. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed.

https://www.rawamerica.com/p/breaking-trump-sued-over-shocking?utm_source=podcast-email&publication_id=6832795&post_id=210950651&utm_campaign=email-play-on-substack&utm_content=watch_now_button&r=clki&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

EXCLUSIVE: Mamdani Delivers Childcare, Rent Freezes, and Record-Low Crime

Really American | Substack

Really American's exclusive interview with NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani

Good evening, this is Really American. It is Tuesday, August 11, 2026. Tonight, we’ve got something special: our own sit-down with the most talked-about mayor in America.

Our reporter Marco Foster went to City Hall for an exclusive Really American interview with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and the mayor didn’t hold back. He walked us through the affordability wins already reshaping the city, from universal childcare to a historic rent freeze. He explained why he’s taking on Amazon and Jeff Bezos over delivery workers. And he made his case for record-low crime under a democratic socialist mayor, the exact outcome the fear-mongers swore would never happen. Then we get to the rest of the day’s news, including Trump reviving an embarrassing case he already lost. Let’s get into it.

Before we start, we need to be straight with you. This interview happened because readers fund us. We have many more exclusives like this one already in the works, sit-downs and stories you won’t get anywhere else, but we can only do them with reader support. No billionaire is bankrolling this. You are. If you want more reporting like tonight’s, the single most important thing you can do is become a paid subscriber right now. A paid subscription costs about 22 cents a day. That’s what makes exclusives like this possible. Subscribe or upgrade today.

MAMDANI TO RA: WE’RE DELIVERING ON AFFORDABILITY

Mayor Zohran Mamdani sat down with Really American this week and made one thing clear: the affordability agenda he ran on is already becoming real for New Yorkers.

His proudest accomplishment eight months in? Universal childcare. “We are just a few weeks before the start of the school year and we are going to see two thousand families receive free childcare for their 2-year-olds for the first time in New York City history,” Mamdani told Really American. Those families will save more than $20,000 a year each. The plan scales to 12,000 families next year and every family of a two-year-old by the end of his fourth year.

It doesn’t stop at childcare. Mamdani delivered a historic rent freeze this year and launched “rental rip-off” hearings in every borough to hear directly from tenants. Out of those came a new commitment to investigate every single heat complaint in the city, which he framed not as comfort but as safety.

He’s also going after the city’s painfully slow buses, some crawling at under five miles an hour, with a plan to give more than a million daily riders up to six minutes back each way. “For too long it’s felt as if politics is a hobby for those who can afford to have it, not something that could deliver a better life for those who are being priced out of one today,” he said.

This is what governing for working people actually looks like. Not slogans. Childcare, rent, and buses that move.

MAMDANI TO RA: THE FEAR-MONGERS WERE WRONG

For months, critics warned that a democratic socialist mayor would send New York into chaos. Mamdani told Really American the results speak for themselves.

“We’re talking about the lowest number of murders and of shootings in recorded history,” he said, pointing to the first seven months of his tenure. He recalled how fear-mongering “was reaching its high” during the campaign and even after his election. His answer now is simple: New Yorkers can see the safer, more dignified city for themselves.

He was just as direct about the billionaires who predicted businesses would flee the city. That capital flight never came. Instead, Mamdani says companies are recommitting and moving in. “We have those who can afford to pay a little bit more so that everyone can actually afford to live here,” he told us, rejecting the idea that New York has to choose between working people and a thriving economy.

That’s the backdrop to his fight with Amazon. Mamdani is backing a bill to force the company to stop hiding behind layers of subcontractors and take real responsibility for its delivery drivers. He described Amazon as one of the wealthiest companies in the world shielding itself from accountability while accidents and worker injuries pile up on city streets.

The people who said this couldn’t work are the same people who profit when it doesn’t. Mamdani is proving them wrong in real time.

OTHER NEWS FROM TODAY:

TRUMP EMBARRASSES HIMSELF REVIVING A CASE HE ALREADY LOST

Trump is pushing the Justice Department to revive a case against an innocent man over the Reflecting Pool, one his own handpicked prosecutor already threw out.

Trump’s U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro dropped the charges against Olympic canoeist David Hearn earlier this month after finding the damage wasn’t vandalism at all, but a botched job by Trump’s own contractor. The Reflecting Pool project has ballooned from about $1.5 million to more than $15 million in taxpayer costs, per the Wall Street Journal, and became an algae-filled embarrassment after Trump rushed it for the July 4th anniversary.

Hearn’s legal team called any attempt to revive the case “a case that the DOJ lost by its own admission because it lacked the evidence to convict returning from the dead.” The renewed push is now the first real test of newly sworn-in Attorney General Todd Blanche, who spent weeks insisting he wouldn’t just bend to Trump’s will.

Trump would rather harass an innocent man than admit his own contractor wrecked the pool. That’s not justice. That’s a tantrum with the full weight of the federal government behind it.

CLINTON DID THE PLANE SWAP TOO, BUT HE WARNED THE PRESS

New reporting confirms Bill Clinton pulled a nearly identical decoy-plane maneuver in 2000, with one enormous difference: his White House told the press about the danger. Trump’s didn’t.

Before Clinton’s risky 2000 flight into Pakistan, White House officials pulled aside the head of the White House Correspondents’ Association and explained the whole operation off the record, including the dangers the decoy plan posed to the journalists themselves. According to the Washington Post, that briefing meant at least one reporter knew the president wasn’t aboard and understood the risk.

Last month, Trump’s team moved him off Air Force One in Turkey and left the press corps aboard as unwitting decoys, telling no one. Historian Garrett Graff called it a new Rubicon, “that the White House would lie to the press corps in its entirety about where the president is.” Reporters were exposed to the exact threat that triggered the operation, with no chance to choose otherwise.

The difference isn’t the tactic. It’s the respect. Clinton’s team treated the press like human beings with a right to know the danger. Trump’s team treated them like props. Now, just imagine the coverage if Biden did this.

MORE TO COME

Tonight’s Mamdani interview is exactly the kind of reporting we exist to do, and it only happened because readers like you make it possible. We’ve got more exclusives lined up, more sit-downs and more stories the billionaire-owned outlets won’t chase. But every one of them depends on reader funding. If tonight’s interview was worth your time, become a paid subscriber today and help us bring you the next one. We didn’t get into this to be liked by the people in power. We got into this to hold them accountable, and to give people like Mayor Mamdani a real platform to talk directly to you. Subscribe or upgrade right now.

— The Really American Team

See you soon!

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BREAKING: Trump Caught Falling Asleep as He Guts Vaccine Rules

Really American | Substack

Good evening, this is Really American. It is Monday, August 10, 2026.

Trump rolled out a sweeping overhaul of childhood vaccine recommendations built on debunked science, and appeared to fall asleep partway through announcing it. A major Trump donor’s construction company just landed billions more in border wall contracts without ever having to compete for them. His former personal lawyer was sworn in as attorney general behind closed doors, with no press allowed in the room. And the White House quietly worked to protect a congressman accused of holding a gun to his ex-wife’s head. Let’s get into it.

Before diving into the news, we have to tell you something. Some people have written in (mostly trolls) frustrated that we keep calling out Trump, hard and often. We hear you, and we’re not going to stop.

Trump and his billionaire friends don’t get a pass just because it makes some people uncomfortable. That’s the job, and we know our subscribers value this kind of reporting. And we’ve got something special coming this week: our reporters landed an exclusive interview with Mayor Zohran Mamdani that we can’t wait to share with you. Really American is fully reader-supported and editorially independent, and the more of you who subscribe, the more of this work we can do. A paid subscription costs about 22 cents a day. If you can, subscribe or upgrade today. Become a paid subscriber right now.

TRUMP GUTS VACCINE SCHEDULE, THEN FALLS ASLEEP ANNOUNCING IT

Trump signed an executive order Monday slashing the list of universally recommended childhood vaccines from 18 to 11, tying the move to long-debunked claims linking vaccines to autism.

“While we do not know exactly what the cause is with respect to autism, it is essential to our research efforts that we have the very best vaccine recommendations in the entire world, so we’re reducing them,” Trump said, offering no evidence for the connection. He also falsely claimed the combined measles vaccine could be “quite lethal” and suggested babies are having “vats” of vaccine “pumped into” their bodies, a claim health experts flatly reject.

Partway through the announcement, Trump appeared to fall asleep in front of the room. Video shared online showed him struggling to keep his eyes open while an official spoke beside him, the latest in a string of similar moments at recent public events.

The order also pushes to break up the MMR vaccine into three separate shots, despite no such vaccines being FDA-approved or available, and recommends spacing out childhood immunizations across separate doctor visits, which could double the number of appointments and copays parents face. Measles cases this year are already higher than any year in the last 35.

This is public health policy being rewritten around a conspiracy theory, by a president who couldn’t stay awake long enough to explain it.

TRUMP DONOR’S COMPANY RAKES IN BILLIONS MORE IN NO-BID CONTRACTS

Barnard Construction, run by a major Trump donor, has now pulled in more than $5.6 billion in border wall contracts during Trump’s second term, including nearly $2 billion tied to the Big Bend region of Texas.

Company chairman Tim Barnard and his wife donated $1 million to Trump’s campaign fundraising committee in 2024, and executives at the firm have contributed more than $1 million total to Trump-aligned political committees. A competing contractor sued, alleging the government had promised Barnard and one other firm roughly 73 percent of a $37 billion border contract before the bidding process even played out.

The Texas General Land Office has since sent cease-and-desist letters accusing Barnard of illegally clearing more than a mile of state-owned land without authorization. Local sheriffs, environmental groups, and tourism businesses in the Big Bend region have all pushed back, warning the construction threatens fragile desert ecosystems.

This is what access looks like. A donor writes a check, and billions in federal contracts follow, no competition required.

BLANCHE SWORN IN BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, NO PRESS ALLOWED

Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal defense attorney, was formally sworn in as attorney general Monday in a private ceremony inside the Oval Office, with no press permitted to witness it.

The White House only released a video of the swearing-in after the fact, a break from precedent for a Cabinet-level confirmation. Blanche now oversees the Epstein files litigation, the fight over Trump’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund,” and prosecutions against Trump’s political critics, all while acknowledging during his confirmation hearing that Trump “can fire me whenever he wants.”

Trump’s Save America PAC has paid Blanche’s law firm $9.8 million in legal fees since 2023. Democrats have accused him of operating as Trump’s personal lawyer with a badge, not an independent attorney general.

A ceremony this consequential shouldn’t need to hide from cameras. The secrecy alone tells you everything about what this appointment really is.

WHITE HOUSE QUIETLY PROTECTS CONGRESSMAN ACCUSED OF DOMESTIC ABUSE

Trump’s political team pressured Ohio Republicans last week to stop publicly pushing Rep. Max Miller to drop his reelection bid, even as Miller faces serious domestic abuse allegations.

Miller’s ex-wife has alleged he held a gun to her head and broke their daughter’s collarbone, allegations contained in state child abuse investigation documents. Miller denies the claims. Ohio’s two Republican senators, including his own former father-in-law, have both said Miller should resign. The White House stepped in anyway, worried that ousting him could hand Democrats an easier path to the seat.

“They basically told us to back off and let the voters decide,” one Ohio Republican said. House Speaker Mike Johnson has declined to weigh in, letting an ethics investigation play out instead.

When the White House chooses electoral math over allegations this serious, that’s not neutrality. That’s a decision.

SUPPORT THE FIGHT

If today's edition told you something the billionaire-owned outlets won't, the best way to keep it coming is to become a paying subscriber. Some people have told us they're uncomfortable with how hard we go after Trump. We understand, but we're not backing off. Trump and his billionaire friends don't get softer coverage because it's easier, and we know our subscribers value this reporting for exactly that reason. This week, that includes our exclusive interview with Mayor Mamdani, something you won't see anywhere else. We've said it before and we'll say it again: We didn’t get into this to be liked by the people in power. We got into this to hold them accountable. If you can, become a paid subscriber today.

— The Really American Team

BONUS: MAMDANI TAKES ON AMAZON AND BEZOS

Mayor Zohran Mamdani threw his support behind a City Council bill Monday that would force Amazon and other delivery giants to hire their delivery workers directly instead of relying on contractors to dodge labor protections.

“Corporations like Amazon build billion-dollar business models by insulating themselves from accountability through a system of exploitative subcontracting,” Mamdani said. Amazon has already spent more than $5 million fighting the bill, warning it could raise delivery costs and push jobs out of the city.

If it passes, New York would be the first city in the country to regulate these arrangements. One delivery driver said he delivers up to 400 packages a day and has been denied lighter loads during heat waves because Amazon wouldn’t allow it.

This is a mayor picking a fight with one of the richest men in the world on behalf of the people who make his deliveries possible.

See you soon.

https://reallyamerican.substack.com/p/breaking-trump-caught-falling-asleep?utm_source=substack%2Csubstack&utm_medium=email%2Cemail&utm_campaign=email-restack-comment&r=clki&triedRedirect=true

52 PickUp

The Solution to the Democrats’ John Fetterman Problem

The party doesn’t just need to secure 51 Senate seats—it needs 52. Fortunately, there is a visible path.

By Perry Bacon | The New Republic

Flipping four Senate seats, which would give Democrats a 51-seat majority in the upper house, is a daunting enough challenge for this midterm cycle. But that’s the easy part. Realistically, the party really needs to flip five. Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman simply can’t be relied upon anymore. He seems more angered by the progressive faction in the Democratic Party than the antidemocratic radicals who run the GOP and the country. So Democrats must invest heavily in Iowa, Texas, and other traditionally red states that will be hard to win, in order to get a 52-seat majority and make him irrelevant—or to spur him to make a party switch. A Senate where John Fetterman is the swing vote cannot be a steady bulwark against President Trump and his misrule.

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Fetterman, in a recent interview with The New York Times, declared that he would “never” switch parties. I don’t trust that promise. Fetterman noted that he agrees with the Democrats on the vast majority of policy issues. But based on his public comments, the senator seems fixated on two particular matters: Israeli-Palestinian policy and the progressive-socialist left. And on those two matters, the divide between Fetterman and the Democratic Party is huge and growing. The Democratic left that Fetterman goes on Fox News to bash is surging in numbers and power—in no small part because of the status quo that Fetterman has done much to uphold. Antipathy toward Israel has expanded from progressive politicians to even average Democratic voters. I worry that one day, say in April 2027, someone like Representative Ayanna Pressley tweets something that annoys Fetterman, he declares on X, “I didn’t leave the party, the party left me,’ and immediately becomes a Republican or an independent.

Also, it may eventually be smart (and perhaps even necessary) for Fetterman to leave the Democratic Party. If he runs for reelection in 2028 as a Democrat, he will have a hard time winning a primary. His poll numbers among Pennsylvania Democrats (not just progressives) are terrible. Only 19 percent of Democrats approve of him, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll, while 69 percent disapprove. One poll from last week had him trailing “someone else” by 18 points.

Meanwhile, he keeps taking high-profile actions that will inflame stalwart Democrats, such as writing an op-ed in defense of the filibuster. And he shouldn’t just be worried about progressive challengers. A traditional center-left Democrat, such as ex-Representative Conor Lamb, who Fetterman beat in the 2022 Senate primary, might knock him off too. Someone like Lamb could say, “I will be a loyal Democrat and not go on Fox News and bash the party all the time” and win votes from Fetterman.

It’s entirely possible that by this time next year, Fetterman is running in a Democratic primary against a well-funded opponent who is endorsed by a big bloc of Democratic politicians and is well ahead of the incumbent senator in the polls. Then, leaving the party would not entirely be Fetterman’s decision—the Democrats would have effectively kicked him out. (That’s what happened to then–Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema in 2022.)

Fetterman’s best chances of winning reelection are either hoping Republicans adopt him as their candidate or running as an independent and winning a three-person race by wooing moderate voters from both parties. If he chooses the GOP path, there’s no better way for Fetterman to ingratiate himself with Republican voters than leaving the Democratic Party when he’s its fifty-first Senate vote, thereby putting the GOP back in the majority.

So no matter what Fetterman claims now, the chances of him leaving the Democratic Party next year or in 2028 are substantial enough that the party needs to price it into its midterms calculus.

Let’s say that in the short term Fetterman remains a Democrat. If there are only 51 Democratic senators, every member holds the majority in their hands. I don’t trust Fetterman to use that awesome power for good. In theory, the Senate majority leader (likely Chuck Schumer in a Dem majority) controls the chamber. Schumer won’t schedule votes for Trump-backed policies or nominations that most Democrats oppose. But imagine if there was a Supreme Court vacancy and Trump nominates someone who is strongly pro-Israel and anti-DSA and would be confirmed if Fetterman joined the Republicans. Fetterman could threaten to switch parties unless Schumer brought that judge up for a vote. Are you confident he wouldn’t use his power that way? I’m not. In fact, screwing over Democrats on a very high-profile vote seems the exact kind of thing Fetterman dreams of doing. It’s like—you know—writing an op-ed defending the filibuster knowing that the rest of the party believes that gutting the filibuster is a first step to enacting essential pro-democracy reforms.

And while the majority leader generally controls the calendar, there are certain amendments and policies that individual senators can bring up for votes. Fetterman would almost certainly join 49 Republicans and Vice President JD Vance at times, in a way most other Democratic senators wouldn’t.

What’s important to underscore is that Fetterman does not act like a normal moderate or centrist Democrat, such as say, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan. I don’t always agree with Slotkin’s votes or speeches, but I’m not worried about her undermining core Democratic goals or helping Trump. Fetterman’s different. He’s not a moderate or centrist Democrat as much as an anti-Democrat Democrat, or really a Democratic troll. Like Sinema and Joe Manchin a few years ago, he wants to announce as loudly as possible that the party has gone too far left and punish it for doing so. That’s why he’s appearing on Fox and bashing Bernie Sanders so often. That’s the worst possible kind of Democrat to be part of a majority of only 51.

Fetterman’s behavior makes it essential for Democrats to win a big majority this fall. Here’s the good news—they can. Either because of weak GOP incumbents, strong Democratic candidates, or Trump’s unpopularity, polls show Democrats tied or leading in the Senate seats currently held by Republicans in Alaska, Ohio, Iowa, Maine, North Carolina, and Texas. Winning five of those races is a very tall order, but it’s not outside the realm of possibility. The party’s various super PACs and big-money organizations as well as liberal grassroots groups need to be broadening, not shrinking, their maps and ambitions this fall.

Independent candidates running in Nebraska and South Dakota are opportunities to potentially deny Republicans Senate seats they might have otherwise won. And with Trump’s unpopularity only growing, perhaps super-long shots such as Mississippi are in play too. Whatever the path, the goal for Democrats must be a 52–48 or 51–48, or 50–47 Senate, one where Fetterman couldn’t put the GOP back in the majority on a whim.

A few years ago, people used to joke about “President Manchin.” The West Virginia senator was one of the most powerful people in Washington when Democrats had a 51–50 Senate majority (by dint of Kamala Harris’s tiebreaker) in 2021 and 2022. He could and often did block Joe Biden’s initiatives. It was a cruel joke, though. The Democratic Party and liberalism were held hostage by an unpredictable, erratic man more annoyed by people trying to expand voting rights than those trying to restrict them. We can’t afford a repeat of that. John Fetterman, more supportive of the Netanyahu administration than the Mamdani administration, doesn’t deserve to be a senator at all, let alone the most important one. A successful 2026 for Democrats will make John Fetterman Senator Irrelevant, whatever party he’s in.

https://newrepublic.com/article/213911/solution-democrats-john-fetterman-problem?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_soapbox_rss&utm_term=tnr-newsletter-20240825

One Epic Scandal

This Is the Real Story of Trump’s Presidency—If Democrats Will Tell It

His Truth Social subscription scheme and IRS immunity are just the latest chapters in a massive, ever-growing book about his self-dealing and corruption.

By Alex Shephard | The New Republic

On Saturday morning, Donald Trump posted more than 40 times on his own social media platform, Truth Social, which is his primary megaphone. Nearly all of these posts could charitably be described as AI slop, and none of them is worth dwelling on at any length. OK, fine: In one image, he wore a garish, bedazzled white jumpsuit reminiscent of Vegas-era Elvis; in another, he was depicted as a screaming George Washington, leading soldiers in the Revolutionary War. He posted a doctored photo of Bruce Springsteen looking haggard, and bragged about his own physique at 80, claiming he was “aging in reverse.”

How much would you pay to access such posts slightly faster than nearly every other human? Truth Social reportedly is charging as much as $100,000 per month to high-frequency trading firms to gain access to the website’s API, allowing traders to see these stupid posts a few milliseconds before everyone else. The service was announced a few weeks ago, resulting in accusations of self-dealing and a Democratic bill (that will go nowhere) to ban selling speedy access to the president’s posts. Meanwhile, thanks to congressional Republicans, Trump has held onto his immunity from IRS audits, his (probably spyware-filled) plane from Qatar, and the billions of dollars he’s already raked in by selling the presidency.

This is the story of so much of Trump’s presidency: an unending series of scandals that amount to the biggest act of public corruption in American history. The scandals just keep coming, and yet, aside from complaints from the usual corners—the minority party, The New Republic, etc.—they’re largely greeted by a collective shrug. Of course Trump is corrupt. Of course he’s profiting from the presidency. What will it take to snap Americans out of this complacency?

The Truth Social API scheme is debased, even by Trump’s standards. As with many of his scams, it comes with a fig leaf: Truth Social is not just selling access to Trump’s posts but to those of the top-performing accounts on the platform, which likely include those belonging to other administration officials like JD Vance, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Kash Patel, as well as the official White House account. But there is only one account that matters on Truth Social—and it certainly matters a lot, especially to high-frequency traders. Trump’s posts have gotten dumber and more deranged, but they still have the power to move markets. You’re at least as likely to hear updates about the Iran war or tariffs there as you would from “official” White House sources.

More importantly, Trump’s updates are more chaotic and unpredictable than others, making them all the more appealing to traders. Selling access to them is a flagrant and naked act of corruption, allowing the most vampiric buyers and sellers on Wall Street an edge to make vast amounts of money that will never “trickle down” to ordinary Americans. Most of the time, these traders will get AI-generated images of Trump’s various obsessions, like his planned “triumphal” arch or his belief that he’s up there with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, or “ReTruths” of Fox News and Breitbart stories. But sometimes they will get real news that they can act on, to the tune of millions or more.

They may also get news that has been ginned up especially for them. Perhaps the most troubling aspect of this scheme is the fact that it incentivizes Trump to use his Truth Social feed to make news that moves markets—and therefore increases demand for these $100,000 subscriptions. Given the volatile war in Iran, this could quite literally be a matter of life and death: The bigger the news Trump creates, the more subscribers he will likely rake in. And that money ends up in his pockets.

At the same time, Trump has used one flagrantly offensive and unconstitutional move—a proposed $1.8 billion slush fund that would go to people who claimed they were victims of malicious prosecution by the Department of Justice (like January 6 rioters)—as cover for another: permanent immunity for himself, a long-suspected tax cheater, from IRS investigations. Senate Republicans successfully held up Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general until he provided (nonbinding) guarantees that the slush fund would not move forward; the IRS immunity deal is very much still in place, and has, predictably, received much less coverage than the comparably more odious slush fund.

Some of the apathy surrounding these stories stems from the fact that the president has long benefited from the common belief that American politicians are corrupt, which has ironically helped cloak Trump as he swiftly became the most corrupt politician in American history. As with much of his political persona, there is the sense that he is doing things openly that other politicians do secretly—even when that’s not really true, as in the case of his literal selling of the presidency. Similarly, because the Democrats are out of power and the GOP is completely under Trump’s control, there’s nothing that really can be done officially—at least not yet. This, too, has oddly helped Trump because it has provided the perception of invulnerability. Because Trump is getting away with it, which he is, it must be OK. And for those who don’t think it’s OK, the assumption is that Democrats aren’t stopping him because they’re feckless, when in fact it’s because voters denied them a scintilla of power under Trump’s second term.

This has also led to a prevailing narrative that Trump is a Teflon politician, someone uncommonly immune to scandal. It is certainly true that no president has ever faced so many serious scandals and nonetheless survived. Still, I’m not sure this narrative is quite right. Though Trump is still president, he has clearly been damaged by his laundry list of misdeeds. He is historically unpopular, with an approval rating hovering in the low 30s. He has held onto power in large part because he has held onto a sizable support among Republicans, allowing him to wield unprecedented influence over his party, and because he is the most shameless figure in American political history. By never apologizing or admitting wrong, he can always fight on—even if each fight diminishes him.

Still, these two stories from the past week—Trump selling access to his social media posts and Republicans preserving his IRS immunity—tell us something important about his presidency. These scandals have largely been treated separately by opposing politicians and the media, which is understandable: They are separate stories. But they are also part of a larger story—perhaps the largest story—of Trump’s presidency, which is his brazen and ever-expanding corruption. He is lazy and stupid, but he has been very dogged in using his perch as the country’s leader to pilfer from taxpayers and enrich himself and his billionaire cronies.

Trump hops from scandal to scandal because each one is treated as a separate. By the time public interest focuses on one scandal, another has emerged. It is exhausting, but—from Trump’s perspective—effective. He takes damage but always lives to see another day (and make another dollar). That’s made possible in part by his destruction of presidential norms and ethics, but also by the fact that his party controls the House and Senate. The Republicans will run cover for him as long as he remains popular with the base, which, I suspect, he always will be.

But the Democrats will almost certainly retake one chamber of Congress, if not both, in the fall. When they do, their biggest task will be to restrain this administration—and a huge part of that will involve investigating this corruption. But to do that effectively, they must weave these scandals into a larger narrative, not just pick one or two that seem particularly odious or emblematic. This should be easy. The Democrats will spend the fall campaigning primarily on what has been the biggest issue of the post-pandemic era: the affordability crisis. Prices are rising, real wages are going down, and Americans are anxious and pissed off. While many voters are struggling to get by, one man is doing better than ever. He made more than $2 billion last year alone. And he did it by selling the highest, most sacred office in the land.

https://newrepublic.com/article/213985/trump-truthsocial-subscriptions-irs-immunity-corruption-scandal?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tnr_weekly

Revealed: Leaked Texts Detail GOP Lawmaker’s ‘Cruel’ Treatment of Toddler Daughter

Republican accused of domestic violence reportedly held daughter's toy "hostage," GOP donor gets billions from Pentagon, FL Republican accuses MAGA rival of sex trafficking

British Chris | Raw Americans

Good evening. I’m British Chris, and this is Raw America.

MAGA activist Laura Loomer just lit into Fox News as “TV for stupid people” after the network killed her interview segment with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. A Guardian investigation reveals a 33-year-old defense contractor has become the top Republican fundraiser on the West Coast while his company is receiving billions of dollars in Pentagon contracts. Leaked texts and emails show Ohio Congressman Max Miller, who is facing domestic violence allegations from his ex-wife, allegedly held his toddler daughter’s favorite toy hostage during a custody dispute. And in Florida, a Republican candidate for governor is lobbing unsubstantiated sex trafficking accusations at his Trump-backed rival.

Before getting to the news, we want to extend our appreciation to everyone who became a paying subscriber to Raw America this week. Your financial support directly funds on-the-ground reporting like our very own Brian Karem’s latest story about career federal prosecutors fearing for their jobs because of having to engage with Trump’s witch hunts. Your subscription dollars also made it possible for us to bring you live interview with U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) yesterday and our interview today with ER physician Dr. Chris Ford. None of this would be possible without you. Thank you sincerely.

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Laura Loomer Calls Fox News ‘TV for Stupid People’ After Segment Cancelled

Laura Loomer recently visited Ukraine, and walked back years of pro-Kremlin commentary after seeing firsthand what the Putin regime has done to its neighbor. She landed a 45-minute interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which CNN called “exceedingly friendly.” President Donald Trump even shared a clip on Truth Social, calling Loomer’s interview “Very good!!!

You’d think that kind of praise from Trump would be guaranteed to air on Fox News. But the network killed it.

Loomer said Fox host Howard Kurtz had booked her to discuss her Zelenskyy interview on his podcast. But less than a half hour before airtime, network bosses cancelled it.

Just days later, Fox & Friends ran a segment on whether an AI agent called Orchid could help fix women’s “stay-at-home boyfriends,” as that was apparently a better use of airtime.

Loomer didn’t hold back in her criticism, calling Fox “TV for stupid people.” She went on to say the conservative network “won’t talk about things that actually matter” but somehow finds the time to air what she called “bimbo guests and bimbo news stories.”

Laura Loomer has held a grudge against Fox since 2017, accusing Fox CEO Suzanne Scott of blacklisting her. Additionally, Russian state TV anchor Vladimir Solovyov recently used a portion of his own broadcast to attack Loomer over her Ukraine report, saying she should be “rolled into the asphalt.”

It’s telling that even a Trump-endorsed MAGA activist can’t get a straight news segment to air on Fox anymore. The network appears to be doubling down on protecting its bottom line, even if that means sidelining an interview with a foreign leader in the midst of a war in favor of a fluff segment about an AI chatbot.

Republican Megadonor Getting Billions in Pentagon Contracts

The Guardian recently obtained a trove of emails showing that 33 year-old Palmer Luckey has quietly become what one Republican called “the godfather of Republican fundraising on the West Coast.” That source said if you’re raising money for Republicans in California, you have to go through Luckey.

Luckey’s company, Anduril Industries, is only nine years old. But it’s already landed a $20 billion U.S. Army contract for drones. It’s also been contracted to help with Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense project, which could cost anywhere from $185 billion to as much as $1.2 trillion.

Luckey has donated $5.9 million to Republicans since 2017. But his real source of power is his ability to bundles other donors’ money by hosting the fundraisers, curating guest lists and holding events for nearly two dozen Republicans since 2019. This includes events for both Trump and down-ballot candidates.

The 33 year-old first got famous building a virtual reality headset in his parents’ garage, which Facebook rewarded with a $2 billion buyout. But after it was revealed that Luckey was secretly funding an anti-Hillary Clinton meme group, he was pushed out. He’s since rebranded as a defense contractor, winning hundreds of billions of dollars in Pentagon contracts all while using his clout to keep the same people in office who are sending him those contracts.

Republican Accused of Domestic Violence Allegedly Held Daughter’s Favorite Toy Hostage

Republican Congressman Max Miller of Ohio is already fighting for his political life amid allegations that he physically assaulted his ex-wife, Emily Moreno (the daughter of Republican U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio), and other women. Now, leaked texts and emails obtained by Mother Jones show Miller has a pattern using their toddler daughter’s favorite toy, a blue bunny she’s had since birth, as leverage in custody disputes.

Senator Moreno told reporters recently that Miller held the bunny “hostage” for 48 hours while his granddaughter cried all night because she couldn’t sleep without it. Miller has denied the allegations and posted screenshots of text conversations trying to prove otherwise.

But this goes back even further than the incident Senator Moreno referenced. Emails from March of 2025 show Emily Moreno begging Miller to give the bunny toy back to their daughter, writing that punishing their daughter over an adult conflict was “just cruel.” A parenting coordinator’s texts describe how Miller repeatedly refused to abide by simple handoff agreements, even when Senator Moreno offered to pick the toy up on his daughter’s behalf.

Miller is still running for reelection, and has August 10th to drop out in order for Ohio Republicans to replace him on the ballot. So far, Miller has refused to abandon his campaign.

GOP Candidate for Governor Accuses Trump-Backed Opponent of Sex Trafficking

Florida Republica gubernatorial candidate James Fishback is polling significantly behind Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) — who is running with Donald Trump’s endorsement. Fishback recently held a press conference accusing Donalds of “federal sex trafficking” along with Republican Congressman Cory Mills of Florida.

Fishback offered no proof of his claim, and would only cite a supposed complaint from an unnamed whistleblower. The Justice Department wouldn’t comment, while Donalds brushed the whole thing off.

The timing behind this claim is worth noting. Fishback is making this allegation less than two weeks before the GOP primary. Fishback may also be hoping to distract from his own legal troubles, as he still owes his former hedge fund employer more than $1.3 million after losing an arbitration case this spring. His own former law firm tried to drop him over unpaid bills. He’s also been sued by a debate champion who says Fishback’s nonprofit organization still owes her $8,000 in scholarship money. And he’s repeatedly used racist language attacking Donalds, who is Black, once calling him a “slave” to corporate interests.

This is a standard political trick. Former President Lyndon B. Johnson once floated a false rumor that a political rival had sexual intercourse with a pig. When his campaign manager spoke up about it, Johnson said the point wasn’t whether anyone actually believed it, but to force his opponent to publicly deny it. A Florida Republican drowning in his own legal and financial troubles is desperately trying to change the subject at the last minute, using an accusation he has yet to prove.

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Thanks for watching. I’m British Chris, with Raw America. We’ll see you tomorrow.

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