The Deep State’s raid — er, scratch that — the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) raid on former President Donald J. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home shocked the nation Monday and sent a jolt into mid-term races across the land.
A new poll from Trafalgar Polling and Convention of States reveals that 53.9% of independent voters, as well as 76.7% of Republican voters, believe Trump’s political enemies are behind the FBI raid. It was taken between August 9 and August 10 and surveyed roughly 1,000 likely voters.
Furthermore, that same poll shows that the majority of Democratic, Republican, and independent voters alike say that the FBI raid has increased their motivation to vote in the 2022 election. For the GOP, 83.3% of respondents said the feds’ search gave them extra reason to get out and vote this November.
By now, Republicans of all stripes have condemned the raid in varying degrees, with some expressing caution until more details are revealed while others claim it is more evidence that “the swamp” is out to get Trump at all costs.
Here’s a round-up of some reactions and other relevant mid-term news.
(B)Lake Of Fire In Arizona
Arizona GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake has gone full scorched earth in her reaction to the raid. The America First candidate called for a complete overhaul of the federal government until we “can figure out what the hell is going on,” to borrow a phrase from Trump himself.
“This is one of the darkest days in American history: the day our Government, originally created by the people, turned against us,” Lake tweeted. “This illegitimate, corrupt Regime hates America and has weaponized the entirety of the Federal Government to take down President Donald Trump.”
Then, she added, “We must fire the Federal Government” and promised to fight “these Tyrants with every fiber of my being.”
The Trump-endorsed Lake secured Arizona’s GOP gubernatorial nomination and is running as an outsider. In a speech, she claimed triumph over the “McCain machine” — an apparent reference and shot at the late Senator John McCain.
Lake is facing off against Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D-AZ). The Cook Political Report rates the Arizona gubernatorial race a toss-up.
GOP Senate candidate Blake Masters pointed out that his opponent, incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), hadn’t said one iota about the raid on Trump’s home.
“Why isn’t Mark Kelly saying anything??? Is he concerned about the politicization of the DOJ?” Masters tweeted. “About Joe Biden persecuting his political opposition? As usual, silence from Mark Kelly, as he helps drag the country further in the wrong direction.”
Masters is currently behind in polling but gaining ground.
He has cut Kelly’s lead in half since July. The latest poll shows Masters trailing Kelly by five points, 49%-44%. The Republican firm Fabrizio, Lee & Associates conducted the survey for America Next, a pro-Masters political action committee.
Granite State GOP Rock Solid In Condemning Raid
In New Hampshire, at least three GOP candidates running for Senate against incumbent Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) have condemned Monday’s raid.
“Whenever Democrats get desperate & low in the polls they decide to investigate President Trump,” Chuck Morse, the Republican president of the New Hampshire Senate, said.
The Republican Senate candidate also harangued the Biden administration for having “enough on their plate” with open borders, increased drug trafficking, and rising crime rates without being used for “political prosecutions.” He went on to claim that such “over the top show of power stunts” are “designed in part to distract and intimidate” and “need to stop.”
Morse warned that the FBI raid was a “foreshadowing” of what the Democrats’ proposed 87,000 new IRS agents could signal for New Hampshire families.
Many have been asking, “Where’s Hunter?” But Kevin Smith, the former director of a conservative advocacy group, is essentially asking, ‘When is the FBI going to raid Hunter?’
Smith, also seeking the Senate GOP nomination, tweeted that the raid was a “complete abuse of power” and accused the FBI of “burying evidence on Hunter Biden’s blatant corruption.”
Smith says the answer to the FBI’s probe is another investigation into “politicized government agencies.”
And then there’s Don Bolduc, a retired general considered the frontrunner in this so-far sleepy race. He said he would be concerned if the raid had happened to any former president, including a Democrat, let alone The Don.
“I think I’m like millions of Americans right now, wondering what’s going on,” Bolduc said on the radio show New Hampshire Today. “If there’s documents there that needed to be seized, fine, but there should have been a different process for this. This is a former president.”
Bolduc’s last name is French and likely derived from the term “bolduc” meaning ribbon or thread. Depending on how Granite State voters take his comments, he could be first across the finish line ribbon, or barely hang on by a thread.
Deja Vu All Over Again In Michigan
Tudor Dixon, the Republican nominee for governor, responded to news of the FBI raid by accusing current Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) and President Biden of weaponizing law enforcement against their political opponents.
“Biden raids President Trump’s home. Whitmer illegally prosecuted her predecessor & continues to go after him & his staff,” Dixon tweeted, referring to the prosecution of former Michigan GOP Governor Rick Snyder over the Flint water crisis. “Shameful abuse of power, contemptuous of American principles,” she added.
If you haven’t caught on, a key strategy for GOP candidates is tying their Democratic candidates to the woefully unpopular Biden.
“We can prosecute political opponents? Why haven’t I thought of that!” – Michigan’s Dem AG
It would appear that Michigan’s Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel apparently likes the idea of using government power to go after political opponents.
Nessel is asking for a special prosecutor to look into Republican AG candidate Matthew DePerno for allegations that he conspired with Trump supporters to gain access to voting machines on the heels of the 2020 election.
The Michigan State Police and Michigan Department of Attorney General are investigating “a conspiracy to unlawfully obtain access to voting machines used in the 2020 General Election” and have connected DePerno to the alleged plot.
Colorado’s O’Dea Says No Way To Trump 2024
“I hope he doesn’t run. I don’t want to see him as president again,” Republican Colorado Senate nominee Joe O’Dea, a first-time political candidate, told radio host Ross Kaminsky on Friday.
“I think that seeing a Biden-Trump rematch again in 2024 would rip the country apart. I think a lot of people are ready to move our country forward,” he added. “So, I wouldn’t support him running again.”
During a debate earlier this year, however, O’Dea seemed to suggest he would support Trump if he were the party’s nominee. “If Donald Trump happens to be the Republican nominee, then I definitely won’t vote for Biden,” O’Dea said a week prior to the Republican primary for the Colorado Senate seat.
The O’Dea campaign told Colorado Public Radio that he won’t vote for Biden if Biden and Trump are the nominees in 2024. Another reporter tweeted that the “campaign confirms O’Dea would still vote for Trump in 2024 if Trump is the Republican nominee.”
“If former President Trump runs, he can expect Joe to campaign alongside [other possible GOP contenders] Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, or Tim Scott,” communication director Kyle Kohli told CPR.
Dick Cheney Doesn’t Say The Word Wyoming Once In TV Ad Slamming Trump
Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) is airing a political ad featuring her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, claiming, “In our nation’s 236-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump.”
We’ll let readers decide how they feel about the comments from the former VP who started two wars, oversaw torture, and emboldened the National Security Agency … but couldn’t he have at least mentioned Wyoming in his TV ad? He didn’t say “Wyoming” once.
The ad is scheduled to run on Fox News, according to Axios.
Readers can see it here.
For her part, Liz Cheney is “down bad,” as the kids say these days. Cheney is trailing in the polls by roughly 20 points to the Trump-endorsed Harriet Hageman.
“What Does Delaware? I Don’t Know, Alaska!”
In case you haven’t heard, former Governor Sarah Palin is back in Alaska politics. The GOP congressional candidate knows a thing or two about Ol’ Joe, having faced off against him on the 2008 presidential campaign trail when he was a senator from Delaware.
Palin said in a statement that she “was outraged but not surprised” by the raid on Trump’s residence, which she claimed was meant to stop the America First movement.
“President Trump is the target of yet another partisan witch hunt, but these third-world tactics will not deter him – or me – from fighting to Drain the Swamp and return control of government to the people where it belongs,” she added.
Just hours before the raid, Trump joined Palin for a tele-rally, calling in on a phone to encourage GOP voters to choose her to replace the late GOP Rep. Don Young in the rank choice voting.
Nevada’s Gaming Industry Hedges Its Bets
A staple of the Nevada economy, its gaming industry, has collectively donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to both Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak and his GOP challenger, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo. Sisolak has the edge so far, taking in $943,000 from the industry since last year. Lombardo is about $200,000 less, receiving a total of $730,000 from the gaming industry in the same time frame, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.
Homeless Crisis In Oregon’s Leftist Paradise Takes Center Stage
Oregon, a state that prides itself on being a beacon of far-left politics, has a homelessness problem.
Oregon’s GOP gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan announced her “Roadmap for Oregon’s Future” on Monday, which promises to “declare a homelessness state of emergency.”
Her roadmap includes a plan to “[a]ddress the humanitarian crisis” of homelessness, “[r]estore safe communities” and “the rule of law,” and increase job production to help working families. She also detailed plans to boost education in the state, take care of the natural resources of Oregon in a sustainable way, and bring back trust in government.
Comeback Kent Wins It In Washington’s 3rd District
Tuesday evening, incumbent six-term Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) lost Washington’s GOP primary, conceding to America First candidate and green beret Joe Kent. Kent looked like he was going to lose, but thanks to a surge on voting day gained enough ground to overtake his opponent.