Trump's Approval Ratings Plummet as He Targets Election System
Donald Trump's approval ratings are mired in the 30s as the Iran war rages on with no end in sight. As prices rise and the US's reputation tanks, Trump is building self-serving monuments and putting his face on new $1 coins to ensure he leaves a lasting legacy. When the going gets tough, Trump tends to go into full-on victim mode.
On Thursday, the president gave a televised primetime speech in which he rehashed all his usual grievances: a random jab about trans people, boasting about how he's single-handedly made America great again, demonizing the media, and complaints about how unfair it was he lost to Joe Biden in 2020 coupled with accusations about Chinese interference and misinformation about election integrity.
Networks Decline to Broadcast Trump's Speech
NBC and ABC – two of the 'big three' TV networks in the US – had so little faith that Trump's speech would contain anything of public importance that they declined to run his speech on their main broadcast channels. CBS, which has become the official Trump appeasement channel, did broadcast the speech but warned viewers not to trust Trump. 'Honestly, much of what the president has said on [election integrity] is false,' anchor Tony Dokoupil said in advance of the speech.
Trump's Claims Are a Calculated Attempt to Undermine Future Elections
Trump's claims about the electoral system being compromised aren't just false: they're a calculated attempt to undermine future elections. As numerous Democrats and voting rights groups are warning, the president appears to be laying the groundwork to interfere with the upcoming midterms. Step one in rigging an election: undermine people's confidence in the electoral system. Trump has been doing this repeatedly for years.
Step two: get rid of the independent agencies that ensure election integrity. Earlier this month, Trump fired the last three members of the US Election Assistance Commission (EAC), a bipartisan agency that develops election administration guidance. Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, called the move a 'brazen attempt to seize control of our elections before a single vote is cast'.
Save America Act Could Disenfranchise Millions
Step three: pass the Save America Act, which requires documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote. Critics warn that the logistical burdens of the act, which featured heavily in Trump's Thursday speech, could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters. These include married women who changed their maiden names and lack proof of citizenship reflecting their current names, as well as low-income Americans who don't have a valid US passport.
Trump has been working on step three for a long time: the Save America bill has died and been resurrected multiple times. Still, Trump is desperate for success by any means possible, even calling for eliminating the filibuster to get the legislation to pass. 'We can only lose the midterms if we allow ourselves to lose the midterms, if we are foolish, stupid and unwise,' Trump said in a speech in front of Mount Rushmore on 4 July. 'But if we terminate the filibuster as we should do and immediately vote for the Save America Act, then we will not lose an election for a hundred years.'
Threats and Intimidation: Step Four
Step four: use threats and intimidation to try and get your way. On Friday, Markwayne Mullin, the homeland security secretary, threatened state election officials with possible prison time if they don't comply with Trump administration efforts to determine if noncitizens are on voting lists. Data shows that non-citizens registering to vote is exceedingly rare. The real message Mullin is sending here is that there will be consequences if state officials don't bow to Trump's election security demands.
And if all the above fails and it looks like the Republicans will lose miserably in the midterms? Then there's always step five: declare an emergency that lets you seize voting machines or deploy the national guard to intimidate minority voters. Ty Cobb, a member of the first Trump administration legal team, told PBS on Thursday that he thinks Trump's speech 'is intended to add the predicate that he needs to declare an emergency at or about the time of the elections'.
Other News: Gender Gap, Gaza, and More
In Sweden, considered Europe's most gender-equal country, twice as many men as women support the far-right party, with men in the private sector most likely to vote rightwing. A political science professor told the Guardian: 'The fact that women have not shifted to the right to the same extent, regardless of whether they work in the public or private sector, stems from their greater reliance on a well-functioning welfare state, given that they still bear the primary responsibility for caregiving in the private sphere.'
Meanwhile, Gaza flotilla activist Anna Liedtke told the Guardian about being raped in Israeli detention. 'It's clear they want to break our will and silence us, making this so traumatic that we will never talk about Palestine again,' Liedtke said. She is the first flotilla activist to talk publicly about rape in Israeli detention, but more than a dozen others have reported sexual assault. The UN has added Israel to a blacklist for sexual violence in conflict.
In a bizarre story, a Maryland man stole a kitten called Magnolia from a pet store then tried to use the feline in a bank robbery. He reportedly asked a bank employee to hold Magnolia before slipping them a note asking for all their money. The man has been arrested, and Magnolia is now available for adoption.
