Politics

Fox News is doing its best to ignore the scoop uncovered by its sister outlet, the Wall Street Journal, that President Donald Trump was reportedly told in May that his name appears in the government’s files about accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. After the Journal published its story on Wednesday afternoon, a TV Eyes transcript search of Fox News content suggests that it was mentioned in any detail only on “Special Report,” during a brief segment with anchor Brett Baier. Otherwise, the bombshell that clarifies why Trump, his administration, and congressional Republicans continue to block release of Epstein-related files was buried by the conservative network. Fox hosts like Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Jesse Watters, and Greg Gutfeld effectively censored information damaging to Trump, hiding the report from their audiences. Fox News’ main website has also buried the story. A search for “Epstein” on the site appears to show no reporting on the Wall Street Journal’s story, and at the time of this story’s publication, the front page of the site was focused on other unrelated stories. Similarly, the New York Post—which, like Fox News and the Wall Street Journal, is owned by Rupert Murdoch—did not feature the Epstein story on the front page of the Thursday edition, even though that paper has a long history of hyping scandals involving sex. Jeffrey Epstein, shown in a 2017 photo provided by the New York State Sex Offender Registry. The decision by these arms of Murdoch’s media empire to ignore a story originating from within that empire is jarring. Fox News frequently uses Journal stories to generate hours of content as well as related stories online. Still, Trump is clearly upset at Murdoch that the Journal is reporting unflattering stories about his connection to Epstein. He is suing Murdoch and other reporters and executives at the paper after it reported that he sent a sexually suggestive letter to Epstein for his birthday. Opinion polling on the Epstein issue has been overwhelmingly negative for Trump, even as he has lied and claimed that he has gotten a surge in support. Among Democrats and independents, Trump has high negative ratings on how he is handling the Epstein scandal, and even among Republicans, the disapproval is in double digits. The decision by Fox—Trump’s most valued media ally—to bury the latest embarrassment shows an awareness that the storyline is a political liability for the administration. Fox would much rather be touting Trump’s supposed accomplishments than getting into his possible ties to sex trafficking and assaults on underage girls. Instead of covering the Trump-Epstein story, Fox has busied itself with pushing hours of coverage of a phony scandal involving former President Barack Obama and Russia. Fox and Trump are well known for pushing false and typically racist stories about Obama. Fox works by hiding stories that are damaging to Republicans, especially Trump, but it is extremely unlikely that their strategy will pan out this time.

You may want to stock up on your Halloween candy early. Food giant Nestle on Thursday announced that price hikes are coming for Kit Kat bars thanks to President Donald Trump’s nonsensical tariffs. “Will we need a bit more [pricing action]? We might need a little bit more, but most of it is already done and will be seen reflected in the next quarters,” Nestle CEO Laurent Freixe said in an earnings call, according to CNBC. Freixe blamed tariffs for the price hikes, saying the levies have made the price of cocoa increase, necessitating Nestle’s decision to raise the cost of its candy bars. “We face an unprecedented scenario, where two of our major commodities have reached historical highs,” Freixe said, referring to cocoa as well as coffee, which Nestle also said will also increase in price. The Hershey Company manufacturing plant in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Nestle is not the only company raising prices because of Trump’s idiotic trade policy. Hershey—which makes so many of the candy brands we know and love including Reese’s, Hershey Kisses, Milk Duds, Whoppers, and more—also said it is increasing prices by double digits due to rising cocoa costs.  At least Hershey said those price increases will happen later in the fall, after Halloween. And some of those costs are related to the fact that Africa—where most of the world’s cocoa is produced—is experiencing droughts that have created a cacao shortage and thus price increases. But tariffs are having an impact, too.  Cacao is a commodity that cannot be produced in most of the United States, as it requires a tropical climate to grow. Thus, almost all cacao is imported—which means it faces the 10% tariff that Trump placed on nearly every country on the planet. Trump had also threatened to implement a 21% tariff on the Ivory Coast in Africa—the largest producer of cacao in the world—before he paused those tariffs. It’s unclear if Trump would put those tariffs back into effect on Aug. 1, the new arbitrary deadline he created for countries to strike trade agreements with him before his insane tariffs go back into place. Indeed, Trump’s tariffs have made food prices steadily increase, with beef specifically seeing a major price bump. Amazon has also been raising the cost of household items, as has Walmart, Costco, and Target. It’s why Trump’s approval on inflation is in the toilet. Just 36% of voters approve of his handling of the issue, according to a new Fox News poll released Wednesday. It’s why Trump has taken to lying about the issue to try to improve his standing. But lying can’t get him far when it comes to pocketbook issues, as Americans see with their own eyes how much items cost.  

This coming weekend’s summer meeting of the National Governors Association has been planned as a postcard-perfect celebration of bipartisan policy making. At the base of the Rocky Mountains, 20 governors from both parties will gather at the Broadmoor resort, in Colorado Springs, for golf, meals, and panels featuring Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the investor Mark Cuban, and the former Obama-administration economist Jason Furman. But trouble is stirring beyond the open bars and talks about “reigniting the American dream.” Some Democratic members of the group have privately been fuming in recent months over the organization’s tepid reaction to President Donald Trump’s federal incursions into state matters. They complain that the group did not respond forcefully enough when Trump’s Office of Management and Budget briefly ordered a disruptive pause on the disbursement of all federal funds in January; when Maine Governor Janet Mills and her staff clashed with the White House the following month, over transgender sports; and in June, when Trump deployed the California National Guard to the streets of Los Angeles over the objections of local authorities. At least two Democratic governors—Tim Walz of Minnesota, the 2024 vice-presidential nominee, and Laura Kelly of Kansas—plan to stop paying dues to the organization this month when they are asked to renew their membership. They have concluded that the organization’s usefulness is now in doubt, according to two people familiar with the governors’ thinking, who requested anonymity to speak about plans that were not yet public. Other Democratic-governors’ offices have also been discussing their frustrations with the NGA and how they should respond, three other people familiar with the governors’ thinking told us. “When you are also paying dues with taxpayer dollars, it has got to be worth it, and they are going to have to demonstrate that. Right now they are not doing that,” one of these sources said. “There have been ongoing concerns about the NGA among the Democratic governors and staff, off and on, for years.” [Read: Tim Walz looks into the void] The NGA, a bipartisan group that was formed in 1908 to advise President Theodore Roosevelt on his conservation efforts, claims to be the collective voice of 55 states, territories, and commonwealths, representing their interests to the federal government. The NGA does not disclose the names of the states that pay the annual membership dues of nearly $100,000—money that governors draw from their own states’ funds. The NGA communications director, Eric Wohlschlegel, pushed back on the Democratic complaints, saying that the group had been preparing a statement on Trump’s disbursement pause when the policy was reversed, and that the NGA did engage with a reporter to correct the record on the Mills conflict. The group didn’t issue a statement about the California National Guard deployment because the governors couldn’t come to a consensus on it. Wohlschlegel added that the NGA was “focused on policy, not politics.” “The National Governors Association exists to bring governors from both parties together around shared priorities, and that mission hasn’t changed. Every public statement NGA issues reflects bipartisan consensus,” he told us. “So far this year, all but one statement has had that consensus, and when governors don’t agree, we simply don’t issue one. That’s how we preserve our role as a bipartisan convener—a principle we won’t compromise.” The Democratic frustrations arise from grievances both large and small about how the organization operates. One of the people familiar with the governors’ complaints noted that the daily internal NGA newsletter made no mention of a recent hearing on Capitol Hill in which Walz, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, and Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker testified about their concerns over Trump’s use of the National Guard in California. Those governors were not offered help preparing for the hearing by the NGA, a privilege offered to other governors, this person said. (“No request for support was made, so it’s disingenuous to suggest support was withheld,” Wohlschlegel said.) Another person described the decision to stop paying dues as the result of a broader “frustration and surprise around the fact that we are no longer able to agree and communicate concerns around states’ rights and federal overreach.” Neither Walz nor Kelly plans to travel this weekend for the meeting in Colorado Springs, where seven Democratic governors are expected to make an appearance. They are not the first governors to bolt from the collective. During the Obama administration, the leaders of multiple Republican states, including Texas and Florida, said that they would stop paying, citing the cost to taxpayers. Another person familiar with the situation told us that some Democratic NGA members have had “frustrations with places like Florida, which don’t pay dues, but still get to come if they want to come” to NGA events. The offices of Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis did not respond to emailed questions about whether their states currently pay dues. [Read: Stephen Miller triggers Los Angeles] The decisions by Minnesota and Kansas to hold back fees and pause membership in the organization come as Colorado Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat, prepares to cede his chairmanship of the organization to Oklahoma Governor J. Kevin Stitt, a Republican who serves as vice chair, this weekend at the Broadmoor meeting. Democratic Maryland Governor Wes Moore is expected to be elected the group’s next vice chair during the meeting, according to people familiar with the plan. Under the rules of the organization, the chair position rotates annually between a Democratic and Republican leader. The opposite party from that of the chair gets a majority of the seats on the NGA’s executive committee, which currently comprises five Republicans and four Democrats, and has the power to vote on whether the group releases public statements. Conor Cahill, a spokesperson for Polis, said that the Colorado governor has been “honored” to pursue a series of policy initiatives at the organization, including education and permitting reform, and defended the NGA and its mission. “During this polarizing time, bipartisan organizations are

Tjeerd Royaards Netanyahu’s Gaza horror show marches on. The post Bloody Line in the Sand appeared first on The Nation.

Adam Zyglis Maga broadens their horizons. The post HELP! appeared first on The Nation.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s office in the Bronx was vandalized early on Monday by masked protesters claiming to support Palestinian rights. They defaced her image by splattering red paint across the windows and left behind a sign reading “AOC funds genocide in Gaza.” The New York Democrat has also received violent threats in recent days, according to her senior adviser Oliver Hidalgo-Wohlleben. Last night, our campaign office in the Bronx was vandalized and we are in the process of cleaning it up. Our office is a hub in the community and we want it to be a safe space for all of our neighbors. In the past few days, we also have received multiple threats on the… — Oliver Hidalgo-Wohlleben (@OliverHidWoh) July 21, 2025 For a crowd that’s supposedly fighting for Palestinian freedom, they sure have a knack for attacking exactly the wrong people. During the 2024 presidential campaign, these activists bizarrely fixated on Vice President Kamala Harris—hardly the puppet master of U.S. foreign policy on Gaza—and heckled her relentlessly, even at her own party’s convention. They even cheered when Donald Trump won the election, with peak absurdity displayed in this viral celebratory tweet: Now it’s 2025, and they’ve left Vice President JD Vance alone. I guess vice presidents have no power over Gaza, after all?  And after dubbing former President Joe Biden “Genocide Joe,” they seem to have misplaced their creativity when it comes to Trump, who now has the power to reshape U.S. policy. Instead, he has openly embraced the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. Among other things, Trump moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, defunded UNRWA, and greenlit Israel’s annexation plans. And who could forget the video he posted of his Gaza fantasy—replete with a golden Trump idol at his Trump-branded Gaza casino?  Yet none of these pro-Palestine activists protest Trump. No chants, no stupid nicknames, no disruption. Nothing. Instead, they obsessively focus on Ocasio-Cortez, known as AOC—the true villain, apparently, of the push for peace in the Middle East. Disowned by the Democratic Socialists of America and hounded by a segment of the far left that ignores real enemies in favor of cannibalizing allies, AOC’s latest crime was voting “no” on an amendment pushed by far-right wack job Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to defund Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. AOC’s response was direct and principled. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s amendment does nothing to cut off offensive aid to Israel nor end the flow of US munitions being used in Gaza. Of course I voted against it. What it does do is cut off defensive Iron Dome capacities while allowing the actual bombs killing Palestinians to… — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 19, 2025 Only six House members supported that amendment: Republicans Greene and Thomas Massie, who opposes all government spending; and Democrats Al Green, Summer Lee, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib. It’s a bizarre coalition, to put it mildly. This was the sign left behind at AOC’s vandalized Bronx office. The far right is isolationist and opposes all foreign funding, no matter the context. The far left, meanwhile, insists there’s no distinction between offensive and defensive weapons—arguing that by shielding Israeli civilians from rocket attacks, Iron Dome enables further aggression. But there is a difference, and it matters. Because any deliberate attack on civilians—whether Israeli or Palestinian—is terrorism, period. Civilians should never be targets. And yes, that applies to Israel as well, which has shown it can eliminate threats surgically when it chooses to, as Hezbollah painfully learned. But this isn’t about untangling the endless knot of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which none of us can do (no matter how much yelling is done in the comments attached to this story). It’s about where pro-Palestinian activists choose to aim their fire. And right now, they’re ignoring the people gleefully fueling this war—Trump and his minions—and attacking people like AOC, who have neither the power nor the posture to support genocide, and who actually agree with them on the end goal! Why not go after the dozens of other Democrats who voted the same way AOC did—i.e., against Greene’s stunt amendment? Why not target Republicans who support Israeli occupation without conditions? Why team up with literal white supremacists like Marjorie Taylor Greene? Thankfully, AOC didn’t mince words. Google is free. If you’re saying I voted for military funding, you are lying. Receipts attached. Drag me for my positions all you want, but lying about them doesn’t make you part of the “left.” If you believe neo-nazis are welcome and operating in good faith, you can have them! pic.twitter.com/leQo1cvXTD — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 21, 2025 “If you believe neo-nazis are welcome and operating in good faith, you can have them!” she tweeted—and she couldn’t be more right. 

National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard is working her ass off to deflect the growing scrutiny over the Epstein files. After accusing President Barack Obama of a “treasonous conspiracy” to undermine President Donald Trump during the 2016 election, she’s now refusing to provide any real evidence. When asked to back up her accusation during a press conference Wednesday, Gabbard told reporters that they needed to figure out for themselves how to connect the dots—which two bipartisan National Intelligence committees were unable to connect.  “I’m not asking you to take my word for it. I’m asking you in the media to conduct honest journalism and the American people to see for yourself in the documents that we’ve released now,” she said. YouTube Video According to The New York Times, these “new” documents show nothing more than the internal debate within the intelligence community, but they do not contradict the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee’s 2020 findings: Russia did try to interfere in the 2016 election in favor of Trump. An Obama spokesperson has called Gabbard’s accusations “ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction,“ to which Gabbard gave a very ironic response.  “It’s a disservice to the American people that former President Obama’s office and others who are criticizing the transparency that is being delivered by releasing these documents. They are doing a disservice to the American people and trying to deflect away from their culpability in what is a historic scandal,” she said. YouTube Video Projection much?  Gabbard’s press appearance followed a statement on X calling this calorie-free conspiracy theory “the most egregious weaponization and politicization of intelligence in American history.” Meanwhile, Trump is off in a fantasy land insisting that his approval ratings are rising, even as his refusal to release the Epstein files increases concerns across party lines.

A daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know. Trump: Actually, the Epstein scandal is great for me The man never polls better than he does in his own head. ‘Release the damn files’: Outgoing GOP senator slams Trump over Epstein At this point, we’ll take any criticism of Trump from the right. Secret memo reportedly reveals Trump doesn’t actually care about the border Who needs borders when you can just deport anyone you don’t like? Trump deals another blow to American automakers Make America walk everywhere. Big Lie-boosting election clerk is begging for Trump to save her Tina Peters simply will not go away. Cartoon: Ozzy RIP to the Prince of Darkness. Conservative rich dudes think they’ll Make Movies Great Again Ah, yes, a Palantir-Ayn Rand mashup. Just what literally no one wanted. Click here to see more cartoons.

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President Donald Trump is now ordering congressional Republicans to change the subject if ever asked about his administration’s refusal to release the Epstein files. During a reception Tuesday evening, Trump told the GOP lawmakers that if they are ever asked about the Epstein files, they should respond by saying that President Barack Obama “cheated on the election”—a baseless lie that the Trump administration cooked up to distract from the Epstein scandal. “You should mention that every time they give you a question that’s not appropriate. Just say, ‘Oh, by the way, Obama cheated on the election.’ You’ll watch the camera turn off instantly,” Trump said. YouTube Video Trump is referring to a ridiculous fiction National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard helped create, in which she accused Obama of the “treasonous conspiracy” that Trump’s 2016 presidential election win was due to Russian interference. Of course, Trump’s own Secretary of State Marco Rubio oversaw a Senate investigation that found that Russia did meddle in the 2016 election and that Trump’s campaign was happy to have the foreign adversary’s help.  A cartoon by Clay Jones. Obama, for his part, gave a rare response to Trump’s latest attempt to change the subject from the Epstein files, saying that he was engaging in “a weak attempt at distraction.” “Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes. These findings were affirmed in a 2020 report by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, led by then-Chairman Marco Rubio,” Obama spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush said in a statement. But it seems that Republicans are already heeding Trump’s advice to lie about Obama to distract from the Epstein files. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin used this exact technique in an interview with NewsNation. “I also completely agree with President Trump, the major story should be what Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released,” Johnson said, after playing dumb about the Epstein files. YouTube Video Politico reported Wednesday that Trump is “furious” about the scandal his administration created by not releasing the Epstein files. And since the Trump administration claimed that there are no incriminating Epstein files, multiple reports have surfaced showing just how close—and creepy—Trump’s relationship was with Jeffrey Epstein. President Donald Trump is seen with Jeffrey Epstein at Mar-a-Lago in 1992. The Wall Street Journal revealed a birthday message that Trump sent to Epstein in 2003, which included a drawing of a naked woman along with the text, “Happy Birthday—and may every day be another wonderful secret.” CNN also uncovered photos of Epstein at Trump and Marla Maples’ wedding in 1993 and of Trump and Epstein laughing together at a 1999 Victoria’s Secret fashion show.  And let’s not forget when, shortly after his breakup with the president, Elon Musk claimed that the Trump administration’s decision not to release the Epstein files was a “cover-up” because Trump is in them. In an attempt to quell the anger, Trump is throwing meaningless breadcrumbs to his base, saying that he wants the release of grand jury testimony from the case of convicted Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. But experts say that testimony is unlikely to contain evidence implicating third parties.  Related | Is Trump preparing to pardon Epstein’s notorious accomplice? The Trump administration also said that it will speak to Maxwell—who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence—to see if she has any information that could implicate third parties. But Maxwell’s testimony in those potential interviews would be suspect at best, as she has a motive to lie for Trump in exchange for a pardon.  It’s unclear if that will pacify the MAGA base, which is enraged after being promised for years that Trump would release the files. For now, the scandal has paralyzed the House, with Speaker Mike Johnson sending the chamber home early for its summer recess to avoid a vote on bipartisan legislation that would order the release of the files. Now those same lawmakers are going home to face their constituents, who will demand answers on the Epstein scandal anyway. And surely some bullshit distraction about Obama from 2016 isn’t going to satisfy them.