Trump Mixes Usual Election Fraud Delusions With New Red Scare in Wake of El

In the wake of now-Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s narrow victory over the Democratic establishment-backed candidate Rep. Haley Stevens in Tuesday’s primary, President Trump is back to his old ways, giving a platform to MAGA conspiracy theories about how Detroit runs its elections. In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, he reran the 2020 tapes and sprinkled in some of the new red scare messaging that he and many Republicans have been spreading in a bid to dull voter enthusiasm for progressive Democrats. He suggested that there was some sort of malfeasance with the city’s election administration, specifically its counting of mail-in ballots, and resurrected some vintage voter fraud delusions about there being more votes than voters. Here’s his Truth Social post in full: Wayne County (Detroit) in Michigan is one of the most corrupt voting areas in the United States, if not the World. It is strictly Third World! Miracles happen in Wayne County, including more votes being cast than there are voters, by a lot. Therefore, the Communist, who is not liked in Detroit, is potentially in “Vote Counter” trouble. The Radical Left Socialist has a real shot, and don’t discount all of those fake mail-in ballots that will “surprisingly” show up at the last moment. Get ready for another Rigged Election. In November we must VOTE FOR MIKE ROGERS, and make Michigan TOO BIG TO RIG. God Bless America! Ignore the fact that President Trump’s own Justice Department sent voting monitors to Detroit for Michigan’s Aug. 4 primary after DOJ officials pushed confusing and, per TPM reporting, disputed narratives as justification for why the monitors needed to be present in the first place. Even though the election was run and the vote counted without incident — and without any complaints, at least thus far, from those very DOJ election monitors his administration deployed — that fact does not fit neatly into Trump’s efforts to paint any electoral victory that does not explicitly benefit him politically as some sort of evidence of voter fraud. Add in the Islamophobia that’ll inevitably be tied to El-Sayed’s victory and the “Communist” fear mongering that the Republican Party has not just revived this election cycle but outright embraced as a messaging platform and you land at this Truth Social post — a perfect encapsulation of the fact that Republicans have nothing to campaign on (because Trump won’t let them) beyond his election conspiracy theories and attempts to paint recent left-wing victories as a threat to America. Senate Dems Ask Interior Dept IG to Investigate Reflecting Pool Saga The top Democrats on the Senate Environment and Public Works and Energy and Natural Resources Committees, Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM), sent a letter to the Interior Department’s inspector general on Tuesday asking for an “immediate investigation” into how the vandalism claims surrounding the Reflecting Pool first emerged. “Numerous questions remain: How was the vandalism lie cooked up? How did it get to President Trump’s desk? Or did it originate from the White House?” they asked. This comes as Trump and Interior Department Secretary Doug Burgum continue to claim that vandals were responsible for the damage to the Reflecting Pool, not a botched renovation, despite the Justice Department conceding the truth in recent court filings dropping its case against people it once alleged to be vandals. U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. and former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro is in hot water with Trump over the whole ordeal. Lindsey Graham’s Sister Wants to Nuke the Filibuster As she wholeheartedly embraces the SAVE America Act, a piece of legislation her brother championed and President Trump has a pathological attachment to getting passed before the midterms, new Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) is taking her allegiance to the bill a step further than her brother. She thinks Senate Republicans should do exactly what Republican leadership refuses to entertain: nuke the filibuster to get it passed. “One of the first things I did was co-sponsor the SAVE America Act,” Graham said during a debate this week for the Republican nomination for the seat she was appointed to hold for her brother after his sudden death. She is running alongside a slate of South Carolina longtime Republican figures. “As I said earlier, I’m willing to stay through recess to get it done. What’s up with recess anyway? Who gets a month off from work? I think we should stay up there and work and get it done. “This is where I differ from my brother, getting rid of the filibuster to get this done. Because eventually the Democrats are going to get rid of it anyway,” she continued, planting her flag more firmly with Trump than her late brother was willing to go. Her brother once said that while he thinks filibuster changes would happen some day, “I don’t think it’s a good idea.” More to Read From TPM Today Kate Riga has been following the situation in Missouri this week when the state’s Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins waited until the last minute to reject a petition voters brought to trigger a statewide vote on the state’s new egregious gerrymander giving Republicans a 7-1 advantage in the state. Here’s the latest: Missouri Republicans Count on Foot Dragging to Help Jam Through Gerrymander John Light has the latest on Rep. Chuck Edwards‘ (R-NC) decision to drop his reelection bid amid a … cringe-inducing report from the House Ethics Committee recommending a censure of the congressman over sexual harrassment allegations: Chuck Edwards Drops Reelection Bid Following Embarrassing Congressional Investigation We stayed up all night (almost) waiting for the results out of Michigan last night only for the race to not be called until late morning today. Kate Riga has the details on Abdul El-Sayed’s victory and how to think about the upcoming general election: El-Sayed Topples Stevens and Establishment, Bringing Progressive Experiment to General Election Yesterday’s Top Story Trump Launches Into Extraordinary Rant About ‘Disgusting’ Blue Cities: ‘Their Trees Are All Gross’ What I’m Reading Arrested at Reflecting Pool, woman details ‘heartbreaking’ toll case has taken Corporate America got billions of dollars in tariff refunds. Where’s your cut? Abortion Foes Backed Ballot Measures in 2 Red States. Voters Said No. Even his own folks that were sent to monitor the election failed the Great and Powerful DonOLD!!! It must be hard to be a dictator with incompetent minions. Is El-Sayed a Communist or a Radical Left Socialist? It’s like saying someone is a radical right wing MAGA or a Nazi. Whoops, that’s a bad example, those are the same. But you get my gist. El-Presidente and his followers are going to have to decide if this election is about progressive socialist issues like making sure every one has health care and enough food to eat or the possibility that Communist Cuba will invade and infect us all with a Marxist wet dream. Unfortunately, the Communist takeover is more likely to occur than health care for all, so maybe Trump is on to something. On the other hand, never forget that Trump’s mentor is the same guy who advised Joseph “Are you a Communist”, McCarthy. Dudes, the call from inside the house, specifically inside Trump’s head. What is there to investigate? Toad-glans is becoming more and more “dick-tater” than dictator these days. Methinks Miss Lindsay’s sister-wife isn’t hankering to make many congressional friends soon.