On our political radar this week…

The GOP game plan for the 2026 campaign is clear: branding Democrats as soft-on-crime and communists who want to destroy America. Using Hollywood terms, it’s a sequel to what was, for a while, a highly successful 1950’s crusade led by Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy.

The candidates in Michigan’s two very high-profile primary battles had TV debates in the last few days. Did the debates change anything in the races for the GOP nomination for governor or the Dem nomination for U.S. Senate? Hint – I don’t think so. Not even a little bit.

Donald Trump got a diplomatic “red card” for his unhinged performance at the meeting of NATO leaders, threatening and insulting our allies while praising the Turkish dictator who has been sanctioned for his cozy military relationship with Russia.

The Graham Platner story has reached the inevitable conclusion in the wake of allegations he raped a former girlfriend with Platner defiant but recognizing his support had evaporated.

It’s time for Trump to cough up the $5-million judgement for sexually assaulting and then defaming E. Jean Carroll. Earlier this week a fed-up federal judge ordered the release of the escrowed $5.8 million in one of the defamation cases brought by columnist E. Jean Carrol related to Trump’s sexual assault against her, saying that Trump’s stalling was over. Still pending: another $83-million plus interest in the 2nd defamation case related to Trump’s sexual assault of Carroll. No word yet from the other 27 women who’ve credibly described Trump’s sexual crimes against them.

Trump’s Justice Department is ramping up threats to disrupt and discredit the 2026 election, targeting three Democratic strongholds in Michigan. We’re joined by former DOJ voting rights attorney Sam Bagenstos.

Bagenstos was a senior staffer at what it now Robert Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services, the Project 2025-driven office of Management and Budget, and the nearly dormant Department of Justice Office of Civil Rights. From Inauguration Day 2021 to June 2022, he served as general counsel to the Office of Management and Budget where his responsibilities included working on President Biden’s Day One executive orders; helped respond to COVID-19, including implementing several crucial aid programs; and helped craft and implement the American Rescue Plan as well as the Inflation Reduction Act;.

From 2009 to 2011, Bagenstos was the principal deputy assistant attorney general for civil rights, the No. 2 official in the Civil Rights Division where he was lead attorney in multiple voting rights lawsuits.

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On our political radar this week…

Trump’s heavily hyped Great American State Fair has been labeled the All-American Fyre Festival. Crowds are non-existent. It’s even so bad that Vanilla Ice pulled out at the last minute. Jeff notes that he’s had larger crowds in his shower than at Trump’s latest shitastical narcissistic failed attempt at performative jingoism.

Voting has begun in Michigan’s primary election, headlined by the Republicans’ 3-way battle for the party gubernatorial nomination, and Democrats’ 3-way contest for the U.S. Senate nomination. We’ll get into the home-stretch tactics of all the contenders.  The election also brings with it endorsements of candidates by other politicians, special interest groups, and newspapers. Do they matter? Which ones are relevant, and which ones are meaningless? And the ad wars are also underway. With competitive races all over the place, plan on seeing tens of millions of dollars’ worth of ads on your TV and computer between now and August. – and even more between August and November.

The issue of Trump’s massive corruption has moved front-and-center with disclosures of how the White House has become the center of a $2.2-billion POTUS Payday. It’s a 24/7/365 smash-and-grab with naked bribery as a sweetener. And that doesn’t take into account the billions falling into the greedy hands of his sons, son-in-law, and kleptocrat cronies.

Now there are reports that Trump staged a hostile takeover of the 250th anniversary celebration to enrich political allies, harvest voter data and promote Christian nationalist ideology, according to a congressional investigation released on Thursday. The interim report, “From Vanity to Insanity: How the White House Cheated the American People Out of Their 250th Birthday”, outlines a web of alleged corruption, wire fraud and pay-to-play schemes orchestrated through a shadow corporation embedded within the National Park Foundation. Happy birthday America!

Rumors are growing of Perry Johnson-Mike Cox teaming up to consolidate the loudly vocal anti-John James sentiment among the hardcore MAGAs. It’s gotta happen soon, or not at all. 

The SCOTUS wrapped up its annual term with a series of monumental last-day decisions, including one (1) affecting campaign finance coordination between parties and candidates, (2) defying the Trump-GOP attempt to disenfranchise military and other voters who use mail to send their ballots, (3) upholding the Republicans’ fixation with the genitals of child athletes, and upholding the birthright citizenship established in the 14th Amendment.

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On our political radar this week…

There are dead ducks everywhere. In Switzerland, it could well be J.D. Vance’s presidential ambitions as the 60-day pause in Trump’s War is looking shakier by the day. In Lansing, it’s the almost invisible but now dead campaign of state Senate GOP Leader Aric Nesbitt’s gubernatorial campaign, with the final blow coming from Donald Trump. And in the nation’s capitol, it’s literally dead ducks … at least three of them spotted in the Trump-created algae-laden cesspool also known as the Reflecting Pool.

In addition to the Nesbitt departure, there are a few other developments in the GOP race for Governor. Donald Trump has given is “Full and Complete Endorsement” to John James, and Perry Johnson is spending more of his millions on a massive statewide advertising blitz. Expect Mike Cox to do the same

State House Speaker Matt Hall says there’s agreement on a framework for a state budget … you might call it a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). But as Vance and the two real estate developers are learning in Switzerland, there’s a big gap between an MOU and actual results.

There’s big news about the 250th national birthday celebration in Washington D.C. In addition to a riveting 90-minute rant from Trump, you can look forward to a performance from renowned country singer Alexis Wilson … best known for her ongoing role as Kash Patel’s girlfriend.

President Trump had another hissy fit this week, delaying the signing of a bipartisan housing bill. He announced he won’t sign the legislation until the Senate passes his voter suppression bill which he calls the SAVE Act. The bipartisan 21st Century Road to Housing Act, aiming to ease the U.S. housing affordability crisis by streamlining construction rules, promoting local innovation and restricting large investor purchases.  It passed by overwhelming majorities in both chambers. Trump clearly places a higher priority on voter suppression than housing for Americans who aren’t wealthy like him.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is celebrating a reversal by Homeland Security, which says it has cancelled plans to turn a warehouse in Romulus into a prison for undocumented immigrants. Former Homeland Director Kristi Noem spent more than $1-billion buying 10 warehouses … all of them for prices well above their appraised value. Taxpayers will lost hundreds-of-millions as a result of Noem’s hugely unpopular program.

In New York City, the Mamdani slate swept the very Democratic city. In two non-Big Apple races, the winners for Democrats included women military veterans … including Vice Admiral Jenny LaCore, who was fired last year by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as part of his purge of top military officers. She’s running for the seat formerly held by Nancy Mace who opted to run for Governor (which she lost). Republicans will clearly try to brand the entire Democratic Party as captive of Mamdani Democratic Socialists. Does that work for them?

And since our last episode, a celebration…but only if your name is Trump. Carvana or CarMax has delivered Donald Trump’s new ride. It’s a slightly used imported gold-encrusted airplane (a.k.a. $400-million bribe from Qatar), tastefully detailed with a whole lot of electronic do-dads, all paid for by U.S. taxpayers at a cost of around a billion dollars. Trump plans to keep it as his White House going-away bauble. This moment of joy in MAGAvillemoved us to create a musical tribute to Donald’s Golden Dream Machine which, for our YouTube viewers, also includes a brief photo tour of the free-but-not-really-free gift to Trump.

Joining the podcast is law professor, author, podcast co-host and MS NOW legal analyst Barbara McQuade. When she’s not teaching future lawyers at the University of Michigan or fulfilling her multiple media commitments, Barb is a prolific author. Her latest book’s title gives a concise summary of what follows: “The Fix: Saving America from the Corruption of a Mob-Style Government.” The book is number one on the Amazon’s national and international security rankings, and lucky number 13 on this week’s New York Times non-fiction best sellers.

Barb is pure Michigan: born in Detroit, two degrees from the University of Michigan, and a devout fan of Detroit and U of M sports teams.

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On our political radar this week…

In the first days of Donald Trump’s Middle East War, he proclaimed that the only acceptable end was “unconditional surrender.” He didn’t specify WHO needed to surrender. This week, we got the answer. Iran wins permanent control of the straits of Hormuz, keeps its nuclear program, and gets around a half-trillion-dollars in direct aid and unfrozen assets.

Trump got a lobster dinner at Versailles. Americans got the bill for tens-of-billions of dollars for bombs, drones and downed aircraft … and 13 American families got the ultimate bad news about their loved ones in the military.

Trump got elected by promising to Drain the Swamp. His many grifts have actually expanded the swamp for him, his family and his cronies. Now he’s created a real-life swamp with his $14-million paint job of the Reflecting Pool … which has gone from American Flag Blue to an algae-filled puke green.

Still on the subject of expensive vanity projects run amuck – when Trump announced his Ballroom Project, he said it would cost $200-million, paid completely through donations. That, like everything else under Trump, wasn’t even close to the truth. The Washington Post reports the latest cost estimate from Clark Construction – winners of the no-bid construction contract – is $600-million (a 200 percent cost overrun) with half of that coming from taxpayers. The Post reports that Trump knew the real cost before he announced the project and promised the no-cost-for-taxpayers.

Trump is also screwing up Michigan’s economy a little more. A new analysis from the Lansing-based Anderson Economic Group says Trump’ s delay in opening the Gordie Howe International Bridge is costing $6-to-$7-million a week in direct costs to bridge operators and taxpayers, with even more potential costs to Michigan auto manufacturers. 

The battle is entering the final stages in the Republican battle for the party’s gubernatorial nomination with much of the candidates’ efforts aimed at an audience of one. Will Donald Trump endorse? And if he does, will it matter? 

State House Speaker Matt Hall is projecting another stalemate on a state budget, demanding Senate Democrats move some House-passed GOP bills before he will consider funding the state. It comes as state bean-counters report tax collections are running well ahead of projections. Total revenues are $370-million above initial estimates.

An NFL team has become the latest proxy for the political wars. The Republicans who run Indiana have promised incentives of around $1-billion to move from Chicago to nearby Hammond, Indiana. Illinois has balked at the idea of taxpayer subsidies for the owners of the team that’s worth an estimated $9-billion, and booked profits of $75-million in the last reported year. A billion for billionaires … it’s the GOP mantra.

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On our political radar this week…

A summer snowflake sighting in Wisconsin: Donald Trump stalked out of an NBC interview when his lies about election fraud were challenged by NBC’s Kristen Welker. While Trump was attacking mainstream media as “crooked”, his allies at CBS were proving they fit that description by firing 60 Minutes anchor Scott Pelley for calling out management efforts to spin stories on behalf of Trump.

Just days after proclaiming “ I don’t think about Americans’ financial situations,” Trump gave Democrats another campaign commercial saying that “he loves the inflation” … which has hit a 3-year high. Adding to the out-of-touch aura from the White House, he’s reaching out to the average American as only an 80-year-old billionaire can do it: first by attending a basketball game where the cheapest tickets cost thousands, and then by offering a UFC 250 gold coin for $11,999.99. The Michigan sales tax on that trinket: $720. But it includes free shipping!

Entertainment for Trump’s 80th birthday party – the UFC concussion contests on what used to be the White House south lawn – has cost taxpayers upwards of $60-million plus thousands of hours of staff time according to the National Park Service. Add to that the $2-million or so it costs taxpayers almost every week for Trump’s  weekly golf trip to Florida and you’ve got enough money to gift 6,000 or so Americans with Trump 250 commemorative coins.

As Michigan State University looks once again for a new President, retiring U.S. Senator Gary Peters’ name moves to the top of the speculation. This comes as retired Senator Debbie Stabenow and Governor Gretchen Whitmer say they’re not interested in the job. All 3 are MSU alumni.

CMS Energy is adding to the politics of affordability, asking for still another massive rate increase. The utility wants to raise electric rates by $486-million. This rate hike request comes less than three months after the utility received approval for a $217 million increase. Attorney General Nessel and multiple legislators are pushing back – Nessel fighting the increase through the Public Service Commission, lawmakers proposing measures to limit the frequency of rate increase requests.

The battle for control of the closely divided Michigan Legislature is well underway. Democrats need to flip 4 seats to regain control of the state House; Republicans need to turn around 2 seats to win control of the state Senate. We’ll get into the details with Kyle Melinn, editor of the insider newsletter MIRS News.

Governor Whitmer headlined the ribbon cutting for an important bridge this week … just not THE bridge. While the Miller-Rotunda Bridge in Dearborn (important to the Ford Rouge Plant complex) is now open, the Trump administration continues to delay the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge. The Trump roadblock for Michigan’s economy is supported by state House Speaker Matt Hall, who says Michigan needs to renegotiate toll sharing for the bridge – even though Canada paid the full cost of construction.

The New York Times is reporting that Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is promoting Haley Stevens’ campaign for the U.S. Senate. This comes as Abdul El-Sayed surges in internal polls … all of this two weeks before the first primary election ballots go into the mail. Ballots begin going out to Michigan voters on June 25.

Every elective state and federal job will be filled in the November election. While the spotlight will be on the races for Governor and U.S. Senate, there’s a lot more at stake, including control of the state Legislature.

That’s where we started our conversation with visiting pundit and chronicler of Michigan politics, Kyle Melinn. Kyle is editor of the MIRS Report, the go-to source for Michigan political insiders, providing in-depth coverage of all of state government and politics. He’s been with MIRS for 25 years, dating back to the Engler administration. In addition to his daily reporting, he is also a political columnist for Lansing City Pulse.

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On our political radar this week…

Donald Trump says he’s getting bored with his war, doesn’t care about the mid-terms … but is laser focused on what matters: his reflecting pond renovation, diverting money from national parks for his D.C. cleanup, the Arc ‘d Trump, taking over DC golf courses, the UFC version of the ancient gladiator battles to the death, and reminding us daily that he’s passed a dementia screening test four times.

His latest middle finger to the nation: suggesting that the Las Vegas-style Fight Club arena on what used to be the White House lawn become a permanent part of the landscape. Vegas has the Dome and Elvis Wedding chapel; the home of Presidents, if Trump has his way, will have its own dome and a massive wedding reception hall. And it’s being reported that Trump is looting money from National Parks maintenance to pay for his July 4 fireworks show, the Reflecting Pool, a White House helipad and DC cleanup projects. He’ll burn up 1.6-million dollars blowing up stuff on the 4th … even as he burns up billions every week blowing up stuff in Iran.

In an administration populated by the absolutely worst cabinet in American history, Trump manages to lower the bar even further with the appointment of Michigander housing developer and certified Trump suck-up Bill Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence, a job for which he has absolutely no qualifications. Actors Matt Damon and John Krasinski … a.k.a. Jason Bourne and Jack Ryan … would be more qualified. Adding the the Bad Cabinet Blues: the new director of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullins, says as far as he’s concerned following court orders is optional.

Michigan Democrats are optimistic after making the case to the national party that Michigan should be in the first tier of 2028 presidential primaries. The state party has also rejected appeals related to vote counting in the April endorsement convention. Will the dispute extend to the official nominating convention in August?

The state House has turned down a Republican-drafted constitutional amendment which would make all university boards and the State Board of Education gubernatorial appointed bodies instead of elected. Speaker Matt Hall didn’t bother to talk with Democrats before putting the measure up for a vote. With a two-thirds vote needed to pass, it didn’t come close to adoption, but could be revived for the November election.

We are just 50 days away from the start of early voting in Michigan. The four races to watch: the 3-way Republican contest for the opportunity to battle Jocelyn Benson for Governor; the 3-way Democratic contest to battle Mike Rogers for the U.S. Senate; and multi-candidate Democratic primaries for Congressional seats based in Lansing and Macomb County.

Speculation has begun over who may be in the running for President of Michigan State University in the wake of last week’s departure of Kevin Guskiewicz. Will it be a relatively unknown academic, or a high-powered retired politician? There’s precedent for both routes…although the highest profile possibility, Gretchen Whitmer, has already announced she is not interested in the gig.

Republicans in Congress are starting to push back on Trump outrages – the House passing a measure to stop Trump’s Middle East war, Senators stripping the one-billion-dollar subsidy for his ballroom from the DHS budget, and both chambers primed to outlaw efforts to revive the $1.8-billion slush fund for rewarding January 6 rioters and other Trump fans. It’s interesting that congressional Republicans only started to show signs of life after candidate filing deadlines. Michigan Congressman Tom Barrett, who no longer faces the possibility of a primary challenge, was one of four Republicans voting this week to end the Iran War. 

The political threat to non-compliant Republicans for pushing back against Great Leader comes as doubts about Trump’s mental and physical health grow. His third physical examination since taking office coupled with an incomplete post-exam report on what the doctors learned, his reduced work schedule, the cankles and bruising – have increased the speculation. It sure looks like both his political and mental powers are in decline.

This week’s best political giggle: an AI doctored photo of Senate candidate Mike Rogers, turning his relatively fit 63-year-old body into a modern-day Charles Atlas. What the heck – it’s easier than hours in the gym, or even going on Ozempic.

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On our political radar this week…

Former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan adds to decades of proof that an independent candidate for statewide office is doomed, pulling the plug on what had become a fading Quixotic quest. He was supposed to be the star of the annual Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce policy conference on Mackinac Island which was wrapping up as we recorded. There are no major surprises coming from the two days of fun, fudge and high-level schmoozing and boozing … and also no gubernatorial debate even though the major contenders are all at the Grand Hotel. It became a wake for the reality of Duggan’s “impossible dream” which proved, in fact, to be impossible. Does it clear the way for Jocelyn Benson to ride a Blue Wave into the Governor’s office?

National Democrats have launched a circular firing squad over the 2024 Autopsy report with DNC chair Ken Martin facing calls for his ouster. But does anyone outside of the party’s org chart and the political media give a damn? Meanwhile, Michigan Democrats are making a pitch to the DNC to put Michigan into the first tier of presidential primaries. 

President Donald Trump’s push to reshape congressional districts ahead of the November elections suffered a double setback Tuesday, as South Carolina senators declined to do so and a federal court blocked a Republican-backed map in Alabama. As early in-person voting began Tuesday in South Carolina’s primaries, the state Senate rejected a Republican plan to cancel those congressional votes and instead schedule a new primary under revised districts designed to help the GOP oust Jim Clyburn, the state’s only black member of Congress.

A Republican win in Texas could well mean a Democratic win in November. Utterly corrupt Attorney General Ken Paxton outlasted Senator John Cornyn despite multiple national Republicans correctly pointing out that Paxton was a grotesquely flawed candidate. He’s under federal indictment, he narrowly avoided CONVICTION AFTER impeachment – BY A GOP LEGISLATURE, and he’s being sued for divorce by his state senator wife thanks to his affair with a former aide and state securities regulator.

Democrats in Washington have made it clear that a Blue Wave flip of congressional control will mean investigations into the Trump administration’s corruption. As lawmakers grow increasingly frustrated with President Donald Trump’s planned $1.8 billion lawsuit settlement fund and his thousands of stock trades totaling hundreds of millions dollars, a trio of House Democrats is launching a new caucus aimed at fighting malfeasance in government. The new End Corruption Caucus is launching at the direction of Representatives Jason Crow, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Mike Levin, D-Calif., spanning the party’s centrist to progressive wings.

When Donald Trump is feeling down, he brings in his Cabinet which spends a couple of hours telling him how great he is. On Wednesday the latest gathering focused on extolling what great things Trump has done for the economy and bringing Iran to its knees … nevermind that neither is consistent with reality. In fact, the latest reports from the Trump government is that inflation moved higher again last month … to the highest level in 3 years. Yes, inflation was lower during the final 2 years of the Biden administration.

All of this to help him cope with his cognitive decline and his pending mortality after continual images of his rotting hands, his incessant bragging about being able to pass rudimentary dementia tests (that seem to be a regular occurrence), and news that he’s had not one, not two, but THREE physicals at Walter Reed Hospital in less than a year, along with the realization that he was facing humiliation in the mid-term elections … which, all of a sudden, he claims are meaningless for him. 

And it gave Trump a chance to introduce the latest merch available for his flock to buy on his QVC-style website, even laying out his newest tacky 55-dollar baseball cap in front of each of his cabinet members. Thankfully, none of them wore them during the meeting…and there’s no report if the men in the room were wearing their Trump-mandated Florsheim shoes.

The Trump administration said Tuesday that it will admit an additional 10,000 white South Africans into the U.S. as refugees this year, increasing its historically low annual cap but still blocking people from other countries from entering through the program. Trump suspended the refugee program on his first day in office and, since then, has turned it into a vehicle to allow Afrikaners — a group of white South Africans descended mainly from Dutch settlers — into the U.S.

And there’s more than a little turmoil at Michigan State University. The Board of Trustees offered president Kevin Guskiewicz a $1-million pay raise and a contract extention. He said ‘no thanks’ and, after just two years in East Lansing, moves to President of Clemson University. This, after the board enacts controversial rules muzzling individual members … and penalizing two trustees for refusing to agree to the changes. All this adds to proposals to have the Governor appoint all university boards instead of relying on state political party nominations and partisan elections.

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On our political radar this week…

Donald Trump, who has had a lifetime personal wealth-building obsession, set a new standard for corruption this week with three outrageously grubby grifts:

State Senate Democrats have announced a comprehensive plan to fight back against likely Trump efforts to rig Michigan’s election; state House Republicans want to prohibit Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson from any role in state elections if she is also on the ballot. With Michigan’s split control of the Legislature, both efforts are probably doomed.

Michigan’s power brokers are gathering this week on Mackinac Island for the annual Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce conference. It brings together southeast Michigan business leaders, top level state and local government officials, and a lot of reporters with good expense accounts. Meanwhile, on Sunday, the three Democrats running for the U.S. Senate nomination will debate on one of the nation’s most popular podcasts, Pod Save America.

Donald Trump takes a (political) dump on two more Republican critics in primary elections: Congressman Thomas Massie in Kentucky for the sin of demanding that Trump release the Epstein files, and Senator Bill Cassidy in Louisiana for the sin of voting to convict Trump in Impeachment II and being mean to Bobby Kennedy Jr.

Trump’s endorsement of criminally indicted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for the U.S. Senate could both lose Trump the support of Senator John Cornyn for the next 7 months … and lose the Senate majority in November.

A lawsuit has been filed in state courts aimed at expanding voting rights in Michigan by making third parties relevant, without making them spoilers. We have an exclusive interview with the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, and his attorney. That would be plaintiff Jeff Timmer on behalf of the Michigan Common Sense Party, and the party’s attorney: Mark Brewer.

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On our political radar this week…

The $200-million, privately funded Trump desecration of the White House has morphed into a $1-billion project … with taxpayers picking up the tab. While the White House focused on the ballroom, taking over DC Golf Courses, repainting the reflecting pool, details of the White House UFC fight on July 4,  and signage at the newly renamed Donald J. Trump International Airport in West Palm Beach, Michigan Democrats maintained their slim majority in the state Senate with a landslide special election victory in the Saginaw Valley. Chedrick Greene did what Democrats have been doing for a year: outperformed 2024’s numbers by a stunning 20-point margin. 

 In Indiana, Trump’s vengeance … amplified by around $14-million … has purged 5 Republicans from that state’s Senate as penance for daring to defy Trump’s imperial decree: a reminder that Trump’s Republican Party is a cult of servility – or else.

The Trump bank account continues to grow, with nepo-grifters Don Jr. and Eric landing a multi-million-dollar contract from Daddy’s Department of Defense. They’ve very quickly become successful entrepreneurs in the military drone business as a supplement to their hawking of worthless meme coins and cashing in on Daddy’s power/name/greed.

The Michigan Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the battle over Michigan MAGA House Speaker Matt Hall’s refusal to follow the state constitution when it comes to sending bills passed by the Legislature to the Governor to enact into law has a Supreme Court hearing. The state Senate is the plaintiff and their lead attorney: the honorable Mr. Mark Brewer Esquire.

In the race for the Democrats’ U.S. Senate nomination, Haley Stevens picked up two significant endorsements: retired 4-term U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, and the wife of the man she wants to succeed, Senator Gary Peters (who has said he will not endorse in the primary).

All three Democratic Senate candidates are set to participate in a forum on the Pod Save America podcast, scheduled to air May 24. The podcast reaches around 1.5 million listeners … slightly more than this podcast!

Republicans are claiming that Jocelyn Benson can’t be trusted to run the November election because her name is on the ballot. One problem with their rhetoric: the elections are run by local clerks and the Board of State Canvassers, not the Secretary of State. Benson doesn’t participate in validating signatures on nominating petitions or certifying the results and has taken the additional step of formally establishing a firewall between her and administration of the election.

Not to be outdone in the “ignorance on display sweepstakes”, Trump has called for the impeachment and/or indictment of House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Impeaching House members isn’t a thing. It’s one more word salad from the mouth of someone a majority of Americans think is lacking the mental sharpness to do the job.

Trump held his first post-Correspondants’ Dinner campaign-style rally … at the friendly turf of The Villages retirement community in central Florida. Speaking to a crowd of supportive retirees, he and his fellow TV celebrity Dr. Phil repeated one of his many lies regarding the horrendous Big Ugly Budget Bill, claiming he had ended taxes on Social Security while standing in front of a backdrop making the same bogus claim.

Spoiler alert: it’s not true. What passed was a three-year, $ 6,000 tax deduction for seniors. It expires at the end of Trump’s term!