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NEWS

‘Big deal’: Former Governors Thompson, Walker work to unite GOP, stump for Trump

Two former Wisconsin governors are teaming up in the battleground state. Their goal: Unite Republican voters to help elect former President Donald Trump.

Former Governors Tommy Thompson and Scott Walker are joining forces this election cycle to stump for Trump, an announcement that came during the former president’s rally in Racine last week.

“Scott Walker and I are going to cross this state with you hand and hand because if we win, and we are going to win, Wisconsin is the difference,” Thompson told the crowd of supporters.

In a state where four of the past six presidential elections have been decided by less than a percentage point, Republicans are putting the duo together on the campaign trail — a move that some believe could bring more enthusiasm to the presidential race.

Bill McCoshen, a lobbyist and GOP strategist who previously served as chief of staff to Thompson, says both former governors can bring a boost to the Trump campaign and appeal to suburban women, a key voting demographic that’s have trended away from Trump in recent years.

“Sending the message to party regulars that Tommy and Scott are on the same page is a big, big deal,” McCoshen said. “The party has been divided over the last few years and bringing them back together means everyone is pushing in the same direction.”

—CBS 58, Milwaukee

WEC staff: Vos recall organizers submitted enough signatures, but legal question remains

Conservative activists trying to remove Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos from office submitted enough signatures to trigger a recall election in his old district, according to staff at the Wisconsin Elections Commission. But a big question remains about whether a recall election can happen there in light of Wisconsin’s new legislative maps.

Recall organizer Matthew Snorek said he submitted more than 9,000 signatures to the WEC on May 28. After an initial review, WEC staff determined that organizers turned in 6,866 valid signatures from residents in Vos’ old 63rd Assembly District.

In order to trigger a recall election organizers needed 6,850 signatures, which equates to 25 percent of the number of people who voted in that district during the last election for governor. According to the WEC staff memo, they cleared that mark by just 16 signatures.

But whether Vos can even be recalled from the 63rd Assembly District “remains an unresolved legal question” according to the WEC staff memo. That’s because the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s liberal majority declared in December that maps drawn by Republicans in 2022 were unconstitutional, ruling that no future elections could be held using those districts. That includes Vos’ old 63rd Assembly District.

—WI Public Radio

Eric Hovde pushes Tammy Baldwin to agree to more debates in Wisconsin U.S. Senate race

Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Republican businessman Eric Hovde don’t agree on much of anything — including how many debates they’ll participate in ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Foundation announced Monday that the candidates will square off in an Oct. 18 debate, which will take place at WMTV-TV in Madison and will be televised and broadcast on radio throughout the state.

Hovde, a banking and real estate mogul, has also agreed to participate in debates hosted by Milwaukee’s WISN-TV and Green Bay’s WFRV-TV.

Asked whether Baldwin is considering agreeing to the other debates, a campaign spokesman said, “Tammy is looking forward to debating Eric Hovde at the WBA debate which will air in every media market across the state this fall.”

In a statement, Hovde called on Baldwin to participate in all three proposed debates.

“The people of Wisconsin deserve to hear about the choice they have in the Senate election this fall, and I call on Sen. Baldwin to agree to debates across Wisconsin to explain her record as a career politician responsible for higher inflation and open borders,” Hovde said. “I am happy to contrast that with my background as a political outsider who will get things done and who will put Wisconsin ahead of special interests.”

Asked whether Baldwin is considering agreeing to the other debates, a campaign spokesman said, “Tammy is looking forward to debating Eric Hovde at the WBA debate which will air in every media market across the state this fall.”

—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Most Americans plan to watch the Biden-Trump debate

Most U.S. adults plan to watch some element of Thursday’s presidential debate and many think the event will be important for the campaigns of both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say they are “extremely” or “very” likely to watch the debate live or in clips, or read about or listen to commentary about the performance of the candidates in the news or social media.

About half, 47%, of Americans say the debate is “extremely” or “very” important for the success of Biden’s campaign and about 4 in 10 say it’s highly important for Trump’s campaign. About 3 in 10 Americans say it is at least “very” important for both campaigns.

Most Democrats, 55%, think the upcoming debate is extremely or very important for the success of the Biden campaign. About half of Republicans, 51%, say the same thing about the importance of the debate for the Trump campaign. Only about one-third of independents say the debate, taking place at a CNN studio in Atlanta, is highly important for either campaign.

About 4 in 10 say they are likely to watch or listen to some or all of the debate live, while a similar share say they will watch or listen to clips later. Another 4 in 10, roughly, expect to consume commentary about the debate and candidate performance in the news or on social media. Republicans and Democrats are more likely than independents to be following debate coverage in some capacity

—Associated Press

Trump offers to take drug screening if Biden agrees to same test

Former President Trump has volunteered to undertake a drug test before Thursday’s debate if President Biden agrees.

Trump made the comment via Truth Social, his proprietary social media platform.

“DRUG TEST FOR CROOKED JOE BIDEN???” Trump wrote in all capital letters. “I WOULD, ALSO, IMMEDIATELY AGREE TO ONE!!!”

The Trump team has made the hypothetical use of drugs at Thursday’s CNN Presidential Debate, a prominent talking point — continuing the former president’s longstanding claim that Biden is unable to speak for long periods of time without medication.

Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, the White House physician-turned-House lawmaker, demanded in a letter last week that Biden submit to a drug test before the debate with Trump.

—FOX News

Poll: Black Voter Support for Trump at 23% — Nearly Double from 2020

A CBS News/YouGov poll published this week shows former President Donald Trump is making gains with black voters, with support at 23 percent — nearly double from 2020.

Exit polling in 2020 showed only 12 percent black voter support for Trump (which was still higher than in 2016, at only eight percent).

At the same time Trump has been gaining support among black voters, black voter support for President Joe Biden is down significantly.

Exit polls in 2020 showed 87 percent support for Biden, according to CNN. However, the recent CBS News/YouGov poll only 75 percent support.

—Breitbart News

Squad Member Down: Jamaal Bowman Loses Primary to George Latimer

On Tuesday night, just a little over 20 minutes after the polls closed in New York, Decision Desk HQ called the NY-16 Democratic primary in favor of Westchester County Executive George Latimer, dealing a serious blow to Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), a member of the Squad, who has now lost his seat.

Latimer was endorsed by pro-Israel groups such as the Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI) and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Especially with Bowman taking (an) anti-Israel stance, the Israel-Hamas war in the days following the October 7 attack were often at the forefront of this primary race, the most expensive House primary race in U.S. history.

Many also still continue to mock the Squad member for how he pulled the fire alarm late last September when Congress was voting to avert a government shutdown, despitw how there was no fire.

—Townhall

Police use the mail to spy on you: 60,000 cases in last decade with little pushback

In the last decade, the US Postal Surface has received more than 60,000 requests from law enforcement for information based on inspecting people’s mail, a congressional probe found, with the agency granting virtually all of them.

Since 2015 alone, the USPS has granted 97 percent of requests from agencies like the IRS, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security, sharing information gleaned from the outside of mail like names and addresses in a practice known as mail cover.

Though the practice is legal, it has come in for criticism from a group of US senators, whose questions to the USPS in 2023 prompted the disclosure of the recent mail cover data, which was first reported by The Washington Post.

“These new statistics show that thousands of Americans are subjected to warrantless surveillance each year and that the Postal Inspection Service rubber stamps practically all of the requests they receive,” Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon told the paper, arguing the USPS was “refusing to raise its standards and require law enforcement agencies monitoring the outside of Americans’ mail to get a court order, which is already required to monitor emails and texts.”

In response, USPS chief postal inspector Gary Barksdale cited jurisprudence dating back to the 1870s, when the US Supreme Court found, as part of a case about lotteries operating via mail, that Americans were entitled to an expectation of privacy for what’s inside their letters, information that requires a warrant to access.

What’s on the outside, on the other hand, is fair game, Barksdale said.

“There is no reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to information contained on the outside of mail matter,” he wrote.

—The Independent

Open Borders Kill: Migrants Are Dying of Dehydration in the Heatwave

Security forces in the Mexican desert near the U.S. border are on high alert following the discovery of a deceased 45-year, likely from heat stroke. The deceased man had been abandoned by his trafficker, who later buried him in the desert. Upon the family’s request, the trafficker disclosed the body’s location. During a search, authorities found six other migrants, one showing signs of dehydration. It is the second death from dehydration in Chihuahua state within a week. Temperatures in the area have exceeded 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

Migrants on their journey to the United States from Latin America navigate a landscape fraught with dangers, including hazardous river crossings, aggressive wildlife, and violent criminal gangs. Now, extreme heat poses an additional threat. The Mexican government has reported 155 heat-related deaths so far, with 30 occurring in the past week alone.

The U.S. Border Patrol has documented 77 deaths in the El Paso sector, which includes parts of Texas and New Mexico, since October. The leading causes of death in the area are heat stroke, drowning, and falls from the border wall.

Joe Biden’s mass parole of illegal immigrants, coupled with gifting them more work permits and new deportation protections, is incentivizing more people to undertake the potentially deadly journey to the U.S.

According to Mexico’s National Institute of Migration (INM), approximately 1.3 million migrants traversed Mexican territory between January and May of this year.

—The National Pulse

Abe Lincoln wax sculpture melts in brutal DC heat

He kept a cool head during the American Civil War, but a heatwave proved too much for his statue. A wax effigy of President Abraham Lincoln has melted as temperatures soared over the weekend in the nation’s capital.

The head went first, then one of his legs dripped off its torso and a foot turned into a blob. The chair sank into the ground.

The head from the 6ft wax sculpture of the Lincoln Memorial is now under repair, leaving behind a wire sticking out of the 16th president’s neck.

The memorial rests on the site of Camp Barker in Washington DC – a Civil War-era refugee camp that housed formerly enslaved and freed African Americans – now home to an elementary school.

The replica is more than just a wax statue – it is also a candle. And this is not the first time it had issues with melting.

The statue was installed at the same location last September, but the first version of the wax monument included over 100 wicks that were prematurely lit, melting a significant portion of the art installation ahead of its dedication ceremony.

The new version installed in February has strategically placed (and fewer) wicks. A plaque below reads: “Please blow out your wick within 1-2 minutes.”

The wax head is set to be reattached this week, local media outlets reported.

—The BBC

OPINION

Young Voters No Longer Get a Charge Out of the Biden Presidency

According to a Fox News poll last week, 60% of voters under 35 disapprove of Mr. Biden compared with 45% of those over 65.

A majority of young voters said Donald Trump would better manage the economy, better handle the war between Israel and Hamas, show more mental soundness, and return normalcy and stability. Mr. Trump may not be stable, but there’s no denying prices were more stable—and there was less social and global unrest—during his presidency.

Seniors, on the other hand, favored Mr. Biden on every issue and attribute.

What explains this disparity?

Older people may simply find Mr. Trump’s boorishness more off-putting. But they have also benefited more from the rapid appreciation in prices of homes and other assets during the Biden presidency, while fewer have suffered the decline in real wages caused by inflation. Many are enjoying their golden years traveling while young people feel stuck in place.

Most young Americans can’t afford to buy a home, and many are struggling to find work. The employment-to-population ratio for 20- to 24-year-olds is 65.3%, a sharp drop from 68.2% before the pandemic. Unemployment among college grads between 22 and 27 was 4.7% in March—about the same as in autumn 2008—compared with 3.7% for all workers. This is a historical aberration.

Only in the past two years has unemployment among young grads been consistently higher than for the rest of the workforce.

Meantime, serious auto and credit-card delinquencies among those 18 to 39 are approaching rates last seen during the 2008-09 recession. Young people are finding the Biden presidency more costly for their finances and futures than they expected. Any surprise many want to switch back to Mr. Trump?

—Allysia Finley, Wall Street Journal

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY – In 2015 the US Supreme Court agreed 5-4 that the Constitution protects the rights of same-sex couples to marry no matter where in the US they reside.