July 16, 2025 at 11:37 AM EDT
'Hard stop for me': GOP clerks buck Trump's 'power grab' demand for voter 'inspections'

The Washington Post reports Republican election clerks are leery of entertaining the Trump administration's recent push to scrutinize voters and voting equipment. "That's a hard stop for me," said Carly Koppes, a Republican clerk in Colorado's Weld County, who told reporters she'd rejected a Trump operative's request to allow a federal inspection. "Nobody gets access to my voting equipment, for security reasons."

July 16, 2025 at 11:10 AM EDT
'They're not hacks': Trump risks alienating independents who loved his 'frat boy antics'

During the 2024 presidential race, Donald Trump not only rallied his hardcore MAGA base -- he also reached out to independents and Trump-curious members of the Manosphere. And that included interviews with Manosphere-friendly podcasters like Joe Rogan. But according to Never Trump conservative Matt Lewis, the controversy over the Jeffrey Epstein investigation may hurt Trump's popularity with the Manosphere.

July 16, 2025 at 11:06 AM EDT
'Loathsome': Fox host's 'what up, my Nazi?' rant slammed by civil rights icon

One of the nation's most prominent civil rights attorneys is denouncing Fox News co-host Greg Gutfeld's attempt to normalize the word "Nazi," diminish its horrific meaning, and strip it of the weight it carries. And she's asking why so few seem outraged by his remarks. "This is why the criticism doesn't matter to us when you call us Nazis. 'Nazi this,' and 'Nazi that,' Gutfeld declared on Tuesday (video below) during the cable network's show, "The Five," in a segment where the chyron read: "Dems Smear ICE With Nazi Comparisons."

July 16, 2025 at 10:26 AM EDT
Devastating CNN poll shows just how much Trump has fallen -- even among his biggest supporters

In right-wing media outlets, President Donald Trump is often depicted as someone who won the 2024 election by a "landslide," still enjoys widespread popularity, and is mainly opposed by the "far left." But the 2024 election was quite close: Trump defeated Democratic nominee Kamala Harris by roughly 1.5 percent in the national popular vote -- which is nowhere close to a landslide. And opposition to Trump's second presidency comes from different areas of the political spectrum. Scathing critics of Trump range from self-described "democratic socialist" Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) to centrist Sen. Amy Klobbuchar (D-Minnesota) to right-wing Never Trump conservatives like attorney George Conway, retired Judge J. Michael Luttig, The Bulwark's Mona Charen (a former Nancy Reagan speechwriter) and veteran Washington Post columnist George Will.

July 15, 2025 at 9:21 PM EDT
'I'm done with this': Retiring GOP senator uses profanity in veiled threat to Trump

One member of the Senate Republican Conference who has officially ruled out another term said that while he doesn't plan on sabotaging President Donald Trump's agenda, he also won't put up with "disrespectful" behavior during his last 18 months in Washington. On Tuesday, Semafor published an interview with outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who announced that he was not seeking a third term in the U.S. Senate after officially coming out against the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act." The North Carolina Republican attributed his decision to leave the Senate to a post from Trump on his Truth Social platform attacking him. One Senate Republican anonymously told The Hill that they viewed Trump's post as "totally unnecessary."

July 15, 2025 at 9:07 PM EDT
'Disgusting': Fox hosts pilloried for 'super racist' segment 'calling themselves Nazis'

Fox News commentators Greg Gutfeld and [Lisa] Kennedy [Montgomery] have sparked outrage on social media after the two casually embraced the term "Nazi" during an on-air exchange Tuesday -- prompting criticism for normalizing extremist language. The segment's flippant use of "Nazi" triggered a wave of backlash online, with users accusing the hosts of trivializing a term deeply connected to genocide.

July 15, 2025 at 8:30 PM EDT
'Bypassing leadership': GOP lawmaker to put fellow Republicans on the record over Epstein

The widening rift between President Donald Trump and the MAGA base over convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein is now embroiling the House Republican Conference. That's according to a Tuesday post by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who announced on the social media platform X that he was introducing a so-called "discharge petition" in the House of Representatives. If successful, the measure would force House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to hold a public vote on whether to compel the Department of Justice to release all of the information it has on the Epstein case, which has become a lightning rod for Republican politics in recent years.

July 15, 2025 at 8:12 PM EDT
'The matter is closed': NY county clerk shuts down Texas AG's attempt to punish doctor

A county clerk in New York once again rebuffed Texas's efforts to enforce a six-figure civil judgment against a local physician, reinforcing New York's protections for abortion providers. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton pushed New York courts to honor a roughly $100,000 civil judgment rendered in Texas against Dr. Margaret Carpenter, who is based in Ulster County and is accused of prescribing abortion-inducing medication via telemedicine to a Texas patient, according to the Associated Press.

July 15, 2025 at 7:13 PM EDT
'Checks every box in a bad way': Former federal judge sounds alarm over Trump nominee

Emil Bove - who was President Donald Trump's criminal defense attorney in 2024 -- could be confirmed to a powerful lifelong term on the federal bench as soon as this week. Now, dozens of federal judges are urging the U.S. Senate to reject his appointment. On Tuesday, MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace reported on a letter that more than 75 former federal judges sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee in opposition to Bove's nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. Former U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner -- who presided over cases in the District of Massachusetts for 17 years -- said Bove is at the center of multiple scandals, with each individual scandal alone being grounds for disqualification.

July 15, 2025 at 6:05 PM EDT
'Silly and weak': Experts reveal 'the silver lining' of Trump's 'authoritarianism'

After just six months into his second term, President Donald Trump has already left a significant mark on American society and severely crippled the ability of institutions like Congress and the courts to check him. But some experts say democracy is still far from over and maintain that Trump is still vulnerable. On Tuesday, New York Times columnist Thomas B. Edsall detailed the various ways Trump has eroded traditional democratic checks and balances, wielded the executive branch's power against his political opponents, fired government employees who aren't fully on board with his agenda and demoralized the opposition. University of Toronto political scientist Lucan Way -- along with Harvard University political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt acknowledged that "the cost of opposing the government" has risen significantly under Trump, meaning that the United States may have very well "crossed the line into authoritarianism" under Trump.

July 15, 2025 at 5:39 PM EDT
'Zero shame': Hawley torched after introducing bill to reverse Medicaid cuts he voted for

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced a new bill Tuesday to repeal some of the Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill," despite having voted for the legislation earlier this month. In a statement, he said: "Now is the time to prevent any future cuts to Medicaid from going into effect."

July 15, 2025 at 4:32 PM EDT
'Put everything out there': Mike Johnson publicly calls on Trump to release Epstein files

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) turned heads on Tuesday when he joined the growing chorus of outrage among the MAGA faithful to demand President Donald Trump release all of the Department of Justice's files on convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The Washington Post is reporting that Johnson publicly challenged both Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi to publish the DOJ's materials on Epstein during an interview with far-right podcast host Benny Johnson. The Post's Marianna Sotomayor observed that Johnson was a "close Trump ally and has never broken so publicly with the president on an issue."