A visit to Michigan from potential 2028 presidential candidate Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) was characterized by botched meetings and fundraisers, according to a new report. 
Newsom spent the first half of this week campaigning and fundraising for Democrats in Michigan while stopping for a photo op at the University of Michigan&#8217;s famed “Big House” football stadium. The visit to the critical swing state didn’t exactly go as planned, according to a <a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2026/08/12/newsoms-swing-and-miss-state-tour-01035105">report</a> from Politico’s Playbook. 
Politico reported on Wednesday that interviews with multiple Michigan Democrats raised &#8220;questions about the coastal leader’s resonance in the middle of the country and political operation following one of his most in-depth, high-touch early state trips this year.”
Newsom has long been considered one of the top contenders for the Democratic nomination, but some recent polls show his chances falling. One <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-new-2028-poll-just-shook-up-both-parties">survey</a> out of New Hampshire showed Newsom trailing Rep. Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) by 14 points and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg by 13 points.
An unnamed Democrat “insider” told Politico that Newsom&#8217;s Michigan trip was “rushed” while another person rated the trip as a “B-minus.&#8221;
Several top Democrats in the state also said they missed out on connecting with Newsom. Democratic National Committee Black Caucus chair Virgie Rollins complained that she didn’t get a meeting with Newsom — even though Politico reported a representative for Newsom did reach out to her on August 7. 
“Every Democratic president that has won an election has been in my house,” she said. “I did not hear from him. I did not get a call.”
Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI), a member of the influential Rules and Bylaws Committee for the DNC, said she did not meet with Newsom either. She referenced her support for auto manufacturing while Newsom has pushed stringent environmental standards that aim to ban the sale or production of gas vehicles by 2035. 
“I didn’t hear from the governor. I didn&#8217;t expect to: I’m a car girl,” she said. 
Additionally, a meeting between the powerful United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain did not happen despite efforts from the Newsom team. 
During the trip, two scheduled fundraiser appearances by Newsom fell through. One was for state House Democrats that ended up being called off by participants, while another for Democrat attorney general candidate Eli Savit was canceled by Newsom. That event was set to feature fundraiser Kelly Neumann, who has faced backlash for a Veterans Day post where she <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/07/21/us-news/michigans-abdul-el-sayed-to-attend-fundraiser-hosted-by-lawyer-in-nazi-flap/">revealed</a> her grandfather “was on the German side in WWI &amp; WWII.” 
Newsom did meet with Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel. He also met with Michigan Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin.
“I doubt that it will be the governor’s last time here,” Hertel said. “There will be plenty of opportunities the next time he’s here, too.”

Governor Newsom press conference in Oakland, California

Gavin Newsom Gets Rude Awakening During Swing-State Visit

2028 presidential election

Gavin Newsom

Michigan

U.S. Politics

Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) is scrambling to rewrite history — and reinvent himself — as his party lurches leftward and embraces candidate after candidate who&#8217;s younger and more extreme than the last.
Newsom, recognizing the appetite in his party for &#8220;insurgents&#8221; and agents of &#8220;change,&#8221; insisted that he could be all of those things while also bringing the experience that came with his more than two decades in elected office.
&#8220;I think what&#8217;s happening is there&#8217;s just a desire for change,&#8221; Newsom said. &#8220;I think this notion of insurgency over incumbency is the real message here, and people just want fighters — they want people with conviction, strength, clarity, people that get it and want to get things done. And they&#8217;re done with the status quo, and I totally respect that.&#8221;
Newsom went on to claim that despite his eight years as governor — and more than a decade in elected office prior to that — he was not an example of the &#8220;status quo&#8221; people were so desperate to leave behind. Instead, he still viewed himself as the &#8220;insurgent&#8221; rather than the &#8220;incumbent,&#8221; coining a new phrase to describe his position in the field: &#8220;established insurgent.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;ve long felt like I&#8217;ve been an established insurgent,&#8221; he explained, adding, &#8220;I&#8217;ve always had that mindset. I&#8217;ve been in elected office a long time, but I&#8217;ve never been naive about people&#8217;s desire for change, including my own desire for change.&#8221;
Newsom&#8217;s comments came as he traveled to Michigan, where Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed eked out a narrow victory over the more established Democrat Rep. Haley Stevens. The likely 2028 hopeful brushed aside concerns about El-Sayed&#8217;s more extreme views and alignment with far-Left streamer <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hasan-piker-gloats-over-socialist-election-victories">Hasan Piker</a> — who is well known for praising Islamist terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, idolizing communist dictators like Mao Zedong, and making outlandish claims like &#8220;America deserved 9/11.&#8221;
El-Sayed, despite being given multiple chances to denounce Piker, has doubled down at every opportunity — but Newsom did not appear to be bothered by that, and instead argued that El-Sayed&#8217;s success was simply a manifestation of the people&#8217;s &#8220;desire for change.&#8221;
Responding to Republicans who have argued that El-Sayed is just more proof that the Democratic Party is embracing the extremes, Newsom said that was &#8220;nonsense,&#8221; adding, &#8220;He&#8217;s not even a member of the DSA.&#8221;
The California governor, whose term ends in January, is expected to launch a presidential campaign ahead of the 2028 election cycle — and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-new-2028-poll-just-shook-up-both-parties">recent polls</a>, which show democratic socialist darling Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) eclipsing him, might be the inspiration behind his attempts to reinvent himself.

Governor Newsom And San Francisco Mayor Lurie Announce New Funding For Homelessness And Mental Health Ffforts In The City

Gavin Newsom Has A New Buzzword For Believing In Nothing

Democrat

Democratic Party

Democratic Socialists Of America

Media

Politics

California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom is rolling out a new organizing strategy aimed at turning ordinary online spaces — including family group chats, neighborhood Facebook groups, and alumni networks — into vehicles for Democratic messaging as he continues expanding his national political operation ahead of a potential 2028 presidential campaign.
Newsom&#8217;s federal political action committee, Campaign for Democracy, emailed supporters this week inviting them to join a new digital volunteer program designed to spread Democratic messaging through personal relationships rather than traditional campaign advertisements, The <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/08/06/us-news/gavin-newsom-recruits-supporters-to-spread-campaign-messages-in-family-group-chats/">New York Post</a> reported.
The program centers on training volunteers to carry campaign-approved messaging into online communities where politics is typically not the focus. &#8220;A lot of those spaces aren&#8217;t political at all,&#8221; the email states. &#8220;That&#8217;s the point.&#8221; 
Rather than asking supporters to simply repost campaign content, the PAC says volunteers will receive weekly training and messaging that they are encouraged to rewrite in their own words before sharing with friends, relatives, classmates, and other acquaintances. &#8220;So the task isn&#8217;t forwarding talking points or propaganda,&#8221; the email explains. &#8220;It&#8217;s taking what we send you and translating it for people you understand better than we do.&#8221;
The email argues that trusted personal relationships provide an opportunity campaigns cannot replicate through conventional advertising. &#8220;The person already in that room is the only one who can get a message in, and the only one who knows how to say it so it doesn&#8217;t feel out of place,&#8221; it says.
Supporters who enroll will participate in weekly virtual training sessions over the next eight weeks and use a web application called &#8220;Echo&#8221; to distribute campaign messaging through their existing online networks.
Political consultant Matthew Klink criticized the organizing strategy, arguing it further blurs the line between everyday social interactions and partisan politics. 
&#8220;The Left has this preoccupation of making everything political and this is carrying it to another extreme,&#8221; Klink told the Post. &#8220;We joke that families are already divided by talking politics at the dinner table — this is that on steroids.&#8221;
According to Newsom&#8217;s PAC, volunteers will receive messaging supporting Democratic candidates in competitive races across the country, including Nevada gubernatorial candidate Aaron Ford and New Hampshire Senate candidate Chris Pappas — two contests that could prove important to Democratic electoral prospects while also raising Newsom&#8217;s visibility in states expected to play significant roles during the next presidential nominating process.
The effort comes as Newsom continues building a national political infrastructure widely viewed as laying the groundwork for a 2028 White House bid, even as he continues to publicly decline to say whether he intends to run.
Newsom&#8217;s political team has framed the new initiative as part of a broader effort to help Democrats perform well in the 2026 midterms. 
&#8220;This is smart political organizing: empowering real people to persuade the people they know best,&#8221; Newsom spokesman Izzy Gardon told the Post.
Gardon emphasized that the effort relies on volunteers rather than paid influencers and said Newsom has used his national political organization to raise millions of dollars for Democratic candidates.
The digital organizing campaign coincides with Newsom&#8217;s increasingly aggressive national travel schedule. This weekend, Newsom will spend three days <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/gavin-newsom-michigan-democrats-22376220.php">campaigning in Michigan</a> following the Democratic primary victories of several Left-wing candidates, including Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed.
Newsom quickly endorsed El-Sayed after his primary victory and plans to campaign for Democratic candidates up and down the ballot while meeting with black community leaders, students, labor activists, and grassroots organizers.
The Michigan trip follows similar campaign appearances in other battleground states and adds to Newsom&#8217;s growing national profile as Democrats position themselves for both the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential cycle.

Gavin Newsom Has A New Plan To Infiltrate Your Family Group Chat

2028 Elections

California

campaigns

Democrats

Elections

Influencers

Money In Politics

Gavin Newscum. Remember him? Well, President Trump&#8217;s nickname for him just took on a whole new meaning.
All was quiet on the West Coast front for Newscum — most of the news cycle diverted to Fauci pleading the Fifth like a little girl, the Democratic Socialists of America plotting their takeover of our motherland, or Mamdani&#8217;s contempt for 9/11 victims — but that changed Tuesday for the California governor, when his former paramour emerged with an explosive <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/story/gavin-newsom-ruby-rippey-essay">essay</a> exposing the scandal.
Ruby Rippey-Tourk, deputy campaign finance director under a younger Mayor Newsom and wife of Alex Tourk, his field director, is finally telling her side of the story: an extramarital affair lasting two years, with the now-governor of California.
The takeaway? He is, indubitably and irrevocably, scum.
Imagine this. You&#8217;re in a position of power. Your best friend labors over you, day and night; so does his wife. You spend every waking moment with both of them, watching them weather the storms of substance abuse, a first pregnancy, and the ordinary vicissitudes of life. And then you start sleeping with your best friend&#8217;s newly mothered wife. Behind his back. For two years straight. You send her spiraling into full-blown addiction, gut her marriage, and detonate a one-year-old&#8217;s entire world.
That is what Gavin Newscum did to the Tourks. His friends. His subordinates. People whose entire livelihoods depended on him.
Rippey describes her marriage to Tourk as steady yet electric. Romantic and refreshing. Mostly right, and when it wasn&#8217;t, her husband still viewed it through rose-colored glasses, always seeing the best in her, always showing up for his wife and their baby.
Alex Tourk was as good a guy as it gets. He courted her by consistently showing up with mixtapes and matzo ball soup from her favorite deli, even when he figured he didn&#8217;t stand a chance. That same stalwartness carried into fatherhood and into his job, where he served Newsom as a reliable workhorse, there anytime, anyplace.
It turns out he and his wife both spent long nights enthralled by the same man; they just did it in vastly different capacities.
Newscum looked at this marriage between two hardworking people who trusted him, and made a conscious, cynical decision to break them both, one by one, from atop his City Hall tower.
Ruby lays out the relationship in full – from how it started to how it ended. And though she&#8217;s clearly responsible for her own abhorrent choices, it&#8217;s hard to read her account without concluding that Newsom&#8217;s power is what propelled her destruction.
She says it began in earnest in 2005, at a wedding in Napa Valley — one where she wore white (insane), became belligerent, and sent her husband home to their baby while she went back to an inn with the mayor. They passed out beside each other; she wet the bed. The crusade against common sense and decency was underway.
But it’s what she says about the lead-up that strikes me. In 2004, Ruby had strung together a stretch of sobriety after her pregnancy. That lasted until she, her husband, and their boss sat down at a Mexican restaurant, and Newscum commented on her body.
“You’ve lost all your pregnancy weight.”
Cue the margaritas. From that moment on, she starts obsessing over what she wears, how she looks, second-guessing every glance he holds a beat too long. The drinks start flowing again, right on schedule.
“We meet and we drink. There is sex, but it isn’t the point. The point is proximity — to power, to being chosen… It isn’t love. It isn’t romance. It’s intoxication. The text message is a hit.”
She&#8217;s captivated by his power. He holds her in the palm of his mayoral hand.
She’s relieved when he tells her it should stop. &#8220;You can&#8217;t be doing this to Alex,&#8221; he says, as if he&#8217;s the concerned friend stepping in to save the day, and not the governor-in-waiting who used his position to get her into this mess in the first place.
“Maybe now it’s over,” she hopes, desperate to be rid of his chains and of the alcoholism their affair ignited.
But it didn’t end. Over the course of the next few months, between the taxi rides home from one of Newscum&#8217;s penthouses or rooftop bars riddled with cigarettes, she turns to cocaine. Newscum does nothing to stop it. If anything, he fans the flames of her self-destruction, night after night, luring her back in, intoxicated, inebriated, incapacitated. He never tells her to get help. He never tells his friend. He casts himself as a passerby, a bystander to a mess he built.
He’s the ruinous villain in their stories, but they’re merely a footnote in his.
Ruby is the one who ends it, after checking into rehab in 2006. She confesses to her husband (Gavin&#8217;s best friend) via email in 2007 that they&#8217;ve both been lying to him and stabbing him in the back.
Alex leaves his wife and his job on Newsom&#8217;s campaign, both of which he&#8217;d spent years building, strengthening, and sacrificing for, with nothing left but a kid and an attorney&#8217;s bill.
He rebuilds slowly, forever bewildered that the two people he trusted most could do this to him. Ruby retreats into isolation, regret, and ruin, staying silent when Gavin&#8217;s memoir hits shelves, claiming it was he who &#8220;came clean&#8221; to Alex. And Gavin cashes his memoir checks, having barely acknowledged the &#8220;crazed woman&#8221; who&#8217;d &#8220;fall asleep outside his bedroom,&#8221; before ascending, smooth as ever, to the governorship.
There is no doubt that Ruby held a great deal of the responsibility for their affair, but what Newscum&#8217;s conduct reveals about him, across every stage of this, is the real story.
He used his power to pull his best friend&#8217;s wife into bed while all three of them worked under the same City Hall roof. He lied to everyone close to him for years. He is, demonstrably, the type of man who will absolutely wreck a woman’s heart if given the chance — and he did. Then he looked at the devastation, shrugged, found a carbon copy of Ruby, and married her. Her name is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hey-jennifer-newsom-is-the-racism-in-the-room-with-you-right-now">Jennifer Siebel Newsom</a>, now California&#8217;s &#8220;first partner.&#8221;
Politicians aren&#8217;t exactly famous for being good people, and sure, everybody&#8217;s got skeletons. Trump&#8217;s got some. Clinton&#8217;s got a whole ossuary.
But there&#8217;s a difference between garden-variety sleaze and this: years of lying to your best friend&#8217;s face while sleeping with his wife, watching her drown in it, then writing a memoir where you&#8217;re the hero of your own betrayal.
He’s not Newscum because Trump said so. He’s Newscum because he earned it. And now this scumball wants America to give him a promotion.

US-ECONOMY-MILKEN

Gavin Newscum: The Shoe Fits Better Than You Think

DW Opinion

Former CNN host Don Lemon is considering a presidential run in 2028.
After several months of teasing the idea, Lemon insisted he was “serious” in an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNccbHsqgWY">interview</a> last week. His statement comes at a time when the Democrats are scrambling for direction. So far, he isn’t looking like the answer.
Lemon made his career as a particularly harsh Trump critic during the first administration. He was eventually fired from CNN after “unprofessional behavior towards women” or, as it’s known when the subject in question is not a Democrat, being a world-class sleazebag. Since then, he’s gone independent, espousing ridiculous takes that somebody is probably bored enough to listen to. In January, he was <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/don-lemon-pleads-not-guilty-to-civil-rights-charges-in-anti-ice-minnesota-church-protest">arrested</a> for joining a mob in harassing a pastor over ICE deportations.
He’s louder since having gone independent, but his brand relies on cheap provocation, not political craftsmanship. A Candace Owens of the Left, in many respects.
Could Don Lemon stand a chance in the Democratic primary? He has the identity advantage of being black and gay. These characteristics make it harder for the progressives to slander his character and provide easy defenses to any attacks from the Right.
I’d be hard-pressed to say it’s impossible, but I’m skeptical. The fact that he considers himself a viable candidate speaks more to the spiraling priorities of the Democratic party than anything else. With no political experience or original vision, Lemon seems to be of the belief that sharp anti-Trumpism qualifies one for the highest political position on the planet.
Ironically, Lemon seems to be trying to channel Trump from 2016 in his political ambitions. Like Trump in the Obama years, he’s a hypercritical celebrity with a well-established ego who seems to have decided that he would be a gift to the world of politics at a time where his party is starved for leadership and direction.
His casual comment, “I actually think I would be a really good president of the United States” echoes Trump’s “I might do something” statements in the years leading up to 2016. He’s also recycling the anti-lobbying rhetoric by insisting that he’d run “without having to beg for money.”
He explicitly compares himself to the president by musing, “It seems in this day and age you don’t have to have a ton of political experience because our current president had none — that’s very obvious.”
The only problem is that, frankly, nobody cares about Don Lemon. Trump spent a lot of time teasing his run, and whenever he would, it would electrify his enthusiastic following. So far we’re yet to see anybody get excited by the prospect of President Don Lemon except for, well… Don Lemon. But he’s been tough on Trump! And that’s what matters. His delusions of grandeur show what the Left’s institutional Trump Derangement Syndrome can do to one’s own sense of self-importance, a hallmark of the Democrats today.
Though he wasn’t a politician, Trump energized a massive base that he had built through decades of critical commentary and tabloid fame. Merging the post-Tea Party populism with his own personal brand was far less of a stretch than starting essentially from scratch which is precisely what Lemon would have to do. Even when a Trump victory looked unlikely, nobody viewed his candidacy with disinterest.
In 2016, disgruntled populist voters had no real alternative to Trump. Of the 10 Republicans on the first debate stage in 2016, nine of them were pretty much saying the same thing. For better or for worse, Trump was saying something different. That made him the natural heir to any and all anti-establishment sentiment within the party.
The same cannot be said for today’s Democrats. While they’re not without their problems, very few things remain unsaid. If you’re a Democrat who’s mad about something, there’s damn well someone out there complaining on your behalf.
But it’s not like they&#8217;re swimming in great options for 2028, they don&#8217;t seem to care and Lemon might actually be a good fit for the vibes the Party is giving: unhinged, radical, still appealing to identity ideology of half a decade ago, and rampantly socialist.
Between California Governor Gavin Newsom’s establishment feel and the DSA’s <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2026/07/workers-of-the-world-arent-uniting-behind-the-dsa/">poor showing</a> with minorities, it’s likely that Lemon would be able to perform at least reasonably well with young black men. But even if he overperforms significantly with that demographic, it’s hard to see how he pulls together a winning coalition.
Ultimately, Lemon is not the representative of a powerful movement. He doesn’t have a unique charisma or entertainment factor. He has no political experience and no unique vision.
But then again, neither do the Democrats.

Don Lemon

Why Don Lemon Is The Perfect Vibes Candidate For 2028 Democrats

Donald Trump

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is blaming President Donald Trump for a recent surge in homelessness that has left thousands more people living on the streets of the so-called City of Angels.
<a href="https://www.foxla.com/news/los-angeles-homelessness-expected-rise-3-5-sources-say-ahead-lahsa-count">FOX11 reported</a> that homelessness in America&#8217;s second-largest city is expected to rise by about 3.5% when the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority releases new data Friday.
Ahead of Friday&#8217;s official release, FOX11 reported that the city estimates roughly 45,000 people are living on its streets—an 8% increase from last year—underscoring Los Angeles&#8217; ongoing struggles with homelessness and quality-of-life issues.
The looming report also undercuts Bass&#8217; campaign narrative that homelessness has significantly dropped under her rocky tenure. Her signature Inside Safe initiative has spent <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-04-05/under-la-mayors-300-million-homeless-program-40-have-returned-to-street">more than $300 million</a> to move roughly 5,800 people into interim housing, mostly hotels and motels, but about 40% have since returned to the streets, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/could-spencer-pratt-be-l-a-s-outsider-hero">The Daily Wire</a> reported. Just one in four participants has reached permanent housing, at a cost of more than $200,000 per permanent placement.
To explain the recent surge, Bass turned to her party’s favorite political punching bag: President Trump. 
&#8220;For two years straight, we drove down homelessness by historic margins — but as expected, last year our efforts ultimately couldn’t keep up with policies and funding cuts on the federal and state levels,&#8221; Bass said, according to FOX11. &#8220;The Trump administration has driven up the cost of gas, groceries, and rent — pushing more families to the edge — and slashed critical safety net funding.”
The embattled mayor, who is facing a stronger-than-expected challenge from her left flank, also took aim at Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom&#8217;s handling of the state budget.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
WATCH: Inside sources tell me L.A.’s homeless count is expected to rise… ending two straight years of reported declines.
The official numbers won’t be released until Friday, but multiple sources familiar with LAHSA’s latest count say homelessness is trending upward in Los… <a href="https://t.co/sUYPMVcN54">pic.twitter.com/sUYPMVcN54</a>
— Matthew Seedorff (@MattSeedorff) <a href="https://x.com/MattSeedorff/status/2080162994324144515?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 23, 2026</a></blockquote>
“And, last year’s state cut of over $70 million severely impacted our work to keep people housed and get more Angelenos off the streets,” she said in a <a href="https://x.com/MattSeedorff/status/2080161071936221606?s=20">statement</a>. “The lack of adequate services continues to be a real problem and a contributing factor to people cycling in and out of homelessness, and these services are controlled by LA County.” 
The latest figures come as little surprise to many Los Angeles residents, including billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso, who unsuccessfully challenged Bass in the 2022 mayoral race. “I doubt anyone living in LA is surprised,” he <a href="https://x.com/RickCarusoLA/status/2080334679530758318?s=20">said.</a>  
Some residents questioned the city&#8217;s count, arguing the actual homeless population is far higher than reported.
“I don’t listen to the numbers, my eyes are better than numbers,” one man <a href="https://x.com/RickCarusoLA/status/2080334679530758318?s=20">told FOX11</a>, in a report showing littered streets, vandalized buildings, and open drug use. 
Leftist L.A. City Councilmember Nithya Raman will face off against Bass in the November mayoral election after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/spencer-pratts-race-has-been-called-see-the-results">troves of late-arriving ballots</a> locked Republican Spencer Pratt out of the race.
Pratt’s viral campaign ads tapped into the reality TV star’s savvy social media background to push a message of change in a city plagued by chronic challenges. His platform captivated nationwide attention but ultimately fell flat in a deep-blue city dominated by leftists. 
His election defeat, however, has not stopped the Palisades wildfire victim from speaking out against the city’s leadership.  
“SHOCKER&#8230;the LA homeless count is going UP!” Pratt <a href="https://x.com/spencerpratt/status/2080284771846918154?s=20">said</a> Thursday. “I warned you guys: the more homeless people, the more money Nithya Raman and Karen Bass can launder through their corrupt NGOs. You will NEVER fix this problem by electing people who profit off it.”

US-HOMELESS-CENSUS-LOSANGELES

L.A. Mayor Blames Trump For City’s Homelessness Surge

Homelessness

Housing

Housing Crisis

Inflation

Karen Bass

Los Angeles

News

Nithya Raman

President Trump

Rick Caruso

Spencer Pratt

A bitter fight is brewing within the Democratic Party as black and Hispanic leaders battle over which voting bloc should wield the greatest influence in choosing the party&#8217;s 2028 presidential nominee. 
The &#8220;racially fraught&#8221; debate, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/07/23/democrats-black-latino-feud-2028-primary">reported by Axios</a>, centers on whether South Carolina or Nevada should hold the first competitive Democratic presidential primary, a decision that could shape which of the party&#8217;s leftist contenders gain an early advantage in what is expected to be a crowded field.
Black voters have long been the Democratic Party&#8217;s most loyal constituency, while the party leaders are also eager to rebuild support among Hispanic voters after steep losses in 2024. According to Axios, Democratic leaders remain divided over which state should go first. 
Rev. Al Sharpton recently <a href="https://scdp.org/press-release/rev-al-sharpton-stripping-south-carolina-of-its-first-in-the-nation-primary-would-be-a-slap-in-the-face-to-black-voters/">blasted</a> chatter to strip South Carolina of its first-in-the-nation Democratic presidential primary, warning that doing so would betray the party&#8217;s most reliable voting bloc. 
“You don’t forget who showed up for you when nobody else would,” Sharpton said. “Black voters have shown up for the Democratic Party again and again.” 
“To turn around now and push South Carolina to the back of the line would be a slap in the face to the very voters who&#8217;ve kept this party alive,&#8221; Sharpton added. “This isn’t about one state’s ego. It’s a test of whether the Democratic Party actually means it when it says black voters are the backbone of this coalition, or whether that’s just something we say during election years and quietly walk back once the votes are counted.”
South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Christale Spain echoed that concern.
&#8220;If Nevada gets elevated over South Carolina, it would be because of their Latino vote. So you would then be telling black voters that you matter less than brown voters. And I refuse to believe that our party wants to send any type of message like that,&#8221; she told The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/22/us/politics/south-carolina-nevada-democrats-2028-presidential-calendar.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share">New York Times.</a>
At the same time, a coalition of Latino groups has launched an 11th-hour campaign to move Nevada to the front of the presidential calendar, where nearly <a href="https://naleo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/1_23_24_-_NEF_Release_NV_Primary_Profile_-_FINAL.pdf">one in five</a> registered voters identifies as Latino, arguing the state better reflects the Democratic Party&#8217;s changing coalition. 
&#8220;The committee&#8217;s decision on which state will vote first in the 2028 Democratic presidential nominating process is a profound opportunity for the Democratic Party to better engage the voters who reflect the diversity of our nation, including Latinos,&#8221; the heads of Voto Latino and the Latino Victory Project wrote to the DNC, according to Axios. 
The Democratic Party&#8217;s shift away from Iowa and New Hampshire, which are overwhelmingly white, toward more diverse states like South Carolina and Nevada, marks the party&#8217;s continued embrace of identity politics. On Wednesday, a New Hampshire primary poll pointed to an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-new-2028-poll-just-shook-up-both-parties?author=Jacob+Wheeler&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=A+New+2028+Poll+Just+Shook+Up+Both+Parties">early shake-up</a> in the 2028 presidential race, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), a Hispanic, leading the Democratic field. 
Conservative political consultant Ryan Girdusky argued South Carolina would ultimately benefit establishment-backed candidates over far-Left figures.
“I’ve been saying this for months, they are going to pick South Carolina because black voters in the Deep South are going to reject a DSA-style candidate, and they’re not going to risk picking a Mamdani/AOC type,” Girdusky <a href="https://x.com/RyanGirdusky/status/2080273527559569551?s=20">warned</a> on X.

Kamala Harris, Al Sharpton

Black And Hispanic Democrats Whip Out The Knives Over Who Runs 2028

2028

Al Sharpton

Kamala Harris

Nevada

South Carolina

The threats to President Donald Trump and his administration are growing rapidly.
The Secret Service has investigated approximately 10,000 threats against its protectees, including President Trump, in the first half of this year, the head of the agency revealed Wednesday, <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/07/23/us-news/threats-to-us-officials-reach-unprecedented-numbers-ahead-of-rescheduled-white-house-correspondents-dinner-secret-service-boss-says/">according</a> to The New York Post.
“The numbers are numbers that this agency and certainly I have never seen in my 24-year career,” Secret Service Director Sean Curran told reporters, painting a chilling picture of an increasingly hostile political environment. In the first half of 2025, the agency opened roughly 7,000 cases.
The alarming surge comes ahead of Friday night’s rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C., which was forced to move after suspect Cole Allen stormed an April checkpoint packed with guns and knives, allegedly hellbent on killing Trump and other administration officials.
Curran defended the security apparatus, insisting “the system worked” when agents stopped Allen before he could make it in the ballroom. Yet, the relentless barrage of target-painting on the president’s back raises urgent questions about the toxic political atmosphere.
The Secret Service’s massive threat log arrives after years of terrifying, real-world attempts on Trump’s life. From a 2016 gun-grab attempt in Las Vegas and a 2017 forklift ramming attack in North Dakota, to the horrific July 2024 Butler, Pennsylvania, rally shooting, and Ryan Routh’s Florida golf course ambush, the dangers have hit unprecedented highs. Add in thwarted international assassination schemes from Iran and ISIS, and the target on Trump remains massive.
In the meantime, Left-wing rhetoric is pouring gasoline on the fire.
Democrat leaders have repeatedly branded Trump an &#8220;existential threat,&#8221; a &#8220;fascist,&#8221; and an &#8220;authoritarian.&#8221; Former President Joe Biden once boasted he’d take Trump &#8220;behind the gym and beat the hell out of him,&#8221; and infamously <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/biden-says-it-was-mistake-to-say-he-wanted-to-put-bulls-eye-on-trump-during-donor-phone-call">declared</a> &#8220;it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye&#8221; in a phone call with donors right before the Butler shooting. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) publicly egged on mobs to harass administration officials, telling crowds, &#8220;You push back on them &#8230; tell them they&#8217;re not welcome.&#8221;
The hostile drumbeat from top Democrats has only grown louder:
<ul>
<li>House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) <a href="https://floridapolitics.com/archives/792200-maximum-warfare-hakeem-jeffries-promises-dems-will-target-8-gop-incumbents-in-florida-if-redistricting-happens/#:~:text=House%20Minority%20Leader%20Hakeem%20Jeffries%20is%20threatening,statement%20shared%20by%20Punchbowl%20News'%20Jake%20Sherman.">called</a> for “maximum warfare” just days before the April WHCD attack.</li>
<li>Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) <a href="https://iqconnect.house.gov/iqextranet/view_newsletter.aspx?id=172352&amp;c=FL13VB#:~:text=Schumer%20claimed%20in%20his%20interview%20with%20MSNBC's,do.%20That's%20what%20tyranny%20is%20all%20about.%22">urged</a> supporters to &#8220;be forcefully rising up against&#8221; the president.</li>
<li>California Governor Gavin Newsom bluntly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/24/no-holds-barred-fight-californias-governor-takes-off-his-gloves-to-punch-back-at-trump#:~:text=But%20then%20Trump%20came%20for%20California%2C%20and,Newsom%20said%20on%20a%20podcast%20last%20week.">told his base</a> to “punch these sons of b*tches in the mouth.”</li>
<li>Illinois Governor JB Pritzker <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/28/jb-pritzker-speech#:~:text=Joseph%20Gedeon%20in%20Washington.%20Mon%2028%20Apr,filled%20with%20Democratic%20activists%2C%20officials%20and%20donors.">proclaimed</a> that “Republicans cannot know a moment of peace.”</li>
<li>Minnesota Governor Tim Walz went so far as to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/tim-walz-trump-administration-ice-enforcement-republicans/">declare</a> his state is “at war with our federal government.”</li>
</ul>
Most threats originate online, but as the 10,000-case milestone proves, the leap from online hate to real-world violence is closer than ever.

BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA – July 13: Former president Donald Trump r

10,000 Secret Service Threats Prove Left’s Violent Rhetoric Has Consequences

Death Threats

Hakeem Jeffries

J.B. Pritzker

Joe Biden

Josh Shapiro

Secret Service

Tim Walz

A new New Hampshire primary poll points to an early shake-up in the 2028 presidential race, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) leading the Democratic field while Secretary of State Marco Rubio gains ground on Vice President JD Vance among Republicans.
<a href="https://scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1982&amp;amp;context=survey_center_polls">The Granite State Poll,</a> conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, shows the Democratic socialist leading the hypothetical Democratic field with 22% support, narrowly ahead of former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at 21%. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) placed third with 9%. 
Notably, the quarterly survey showed support slipping sharply for several other potential Democratic contenders, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris. Newsom&#8217;s support in the Granite State fell from 15% in February to just 8% in July. Harris, the failed 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, also saw her support cut in half, falling from 10% in February to 5% in July. 
“Nearly half of socialists and one-third of progressives support Ocasio-Cortez, while pluralities of liberals and moderates support Buttigieg,” the polling report said. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
New Hampshire poll of Republican primary voters on 2028 has shifted a lot since February, when it was 53% JD Vance to 7% Marco Rubio.
It is now 36% JD Vance to 26% Marco Rubio. <a href="https://t.co/kuYmt317j4">pic.twitter.com/kuYmt317j4</a>
— Brent Scher (@BrentScher) <a href="https://x.com/BrentScher/status/2079979408043979096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2026</a></blockquote>
New Hampshire remains one of the nation&#8217;s most closely watched political battlegrounds, with its early primary serving as a crucial measure of presidential candidates&#8217; viability on the national stage. 
On the Republican side, the poll showed support for Vice President Vance slipping significantly. About 36% of likely GOP primary voters backed Vance, down sharply from 53% in February. Rubio appeared to capitalize on the shift, more than tripling his support from 7% to 26%.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley tied for third place at 8%. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis finished fifth with 6%, followed by former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard with 4%. 
Despite his decline, Vance enjoyed the highest favorability rating among New Hampshire Republican primary voters. The survey found GOP voters overwhelmingly want the party&#8217;s next nominee to build on President Donald Trump&#8217;s agenda, while only 28% said they preferred a candidate who would take the party in a different direction.
Neither Vance nor Rubio has publicly announced a presidential campaign. Still, Trump&#8217;s endorsement could prove decisive. More than 40% of Republican primary voters surveyed said his backing would significantly influence their vote.

Earth Day event in Virginia

A New 2028 Poll Just Shook Up Both Parties

JD Vance

Marco Rubio

Mark Kelly

New Hampshire

Pete Buttigieg

Republicans

A Democratic operative with deep ties to California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom&#8217;s administration secretly recorded conversations for the FBI as part of a corruption investigation that has since expanded to scrutinize the governor, his wife, and members of his inner circle, The California Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/07/02/us-news/gavin-newsom-ally-alexis-podesta-wore-fbi-wire-in-corruption-probe-lawyer/">reported</a> on Thursday.
Alexis Podesta, a power broker who has served in senior roles under both Newsom and former California Governor Jerry Brown, wore a wire to record conversations beginning as early as June 2024 while cooperating with federal investigators probing Newsom&#8217;s former chief of staff, Dana Williamson, Podesta&#8217;s lawyer revealed. Williamson pled guilty in May to conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, filing a false tax return, and lying to the FBI.
“According to court documents, between February 2022 and September 2024, Williamson conspired with Greg Campbell, 52, of Davis, Sean McCluskie, 57, of Davis, and others to steal approximately $225,000 in funds from a dormant political campaign and funnel it to McCluskie for his personal use. Collectively, they funneled the money through various business entities and disguised it as pay to McCluskie’s spouse for what was, in reality, a no-show job,” the DOJ <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-edca/pr/california-political-consultant-and-former-public-official-pleads-guilty-conspiracy">stated</a>.
Podesta, who has not been charged, has been identified by her attorney as the unnamed co-conspirator in Williamson&#8217;s case and has cooperated with prosecutors. Court records indicate she and Williamson discussed how to handle a public records request involving state litigation against a major corporate client.
The latest news is part of a broader federal inquiry that has drawn Newsom&#8217;s family finances into question. Newsom has publicly framed the expanding investigation as politically motivated retaliation by the Trump administration, <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/06/15/us-news/gavin-newsom-says-hes-being-investigated-by-department-of-justice/">saying</a>, “They’re demanding records; they’re abusing the grand jury process, digging through years and years of random documents. Donald Trump isn’t just coming after me because of my mean tweets, he’s coming after me because I’m considering running for president.”
The federal probe into Newsom&#8217;s former chief of staff began under the Biden administration.
Financial records reviewed by the Post raise questions about the finances of The Representation Project, the gender-equity nonprofit founded by Siebel Newsom. The leftist project reported $1.24 million in revenue, while adding that it spent $1.75 million in expenses last year, The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/06/26/us-news/fbi-probes-jennifer-siebel-newsoms-taxes-as-her-nonprofit-lost-1m/">noted</a>. The net assets for Siebel Newsom&#8217;s project plunged to just $44,853 from $553,081 since the start of the new fiscal year.
Siebel Newsom, meanwhile, raked in a $161,250 salary for the fiscal year ending in March 2025, The Representation Project reported. That salary came despite the nonprofit&#8217;s financial struggles and despite several of her films failing to gain traction with critics or audiences.
Separately, earlier reporting by the Post found that Newsom “helped funnel more than $4.4 million from special interests and wealthy individuals to California Partners Project, one of Siebel Newsom’s pet projects.”

US-POLITICS-BIDEN-GOVERNORS

FBI Embedded Wired Informant Inside Newsom’s Admin, Lawyer Says

Jennifer Siebel Newsom

Wire

This is republished with permission from the author. The original, “The DSA’s big city takeover,” at The Intersection can be found <a href="https://www.patrickruffini.com/p/the-dsas-big-city-takeover">here</a>.
***
The Democratic Socialists of America’s victories in congressional primaries feel seismic because they come on the heels of a string of major victories in big cities, including a DSA-backed candidate winning the Washington, D.C. mayoral primary, a DSA candidate making it to the runoff in Los Angeles, and Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York City. By the end of the year, the mayoralty of the country’s three largest cities may be in the hands of hard-left progressives.
If you’re thinking this is a workers’ revolution — not quite yet. Support for these candidates came from <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/aed48742-fe63-4697-accb-c96201b574cc?j=eyJ1IjoiY2ZvbSJ9.YJyyTVOoIwIR_L9MYp4kKM8u6Osr7CjIvM9objcYRrE">wealthier, better-educated</a> — and whiter — precincts. Even the race the DSA was not supposed to win, Darializa Avila Chevalier’s win against Adriano Espaillat, came in a Harlem-based precinct that’s seen a lot of gentrification in its Manhattan-based parts. Meanwhile, moderate Ritchie Torres saw no real challenge in a South Bronx district that’s still the poorest in the nation.
<div id="attachment_1124929" style="width: 647px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1124929" class=" wp-image-1124929" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Ruffini1.jpg" alt="" width="637" height="491" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Ruffini1.jpg 1440w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Ruffini1-300x231.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Ruffini1-747x576.jpg 747w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Ruffini1-768x592.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 637px) 100vw, 637px" />Credit: Patrick Ruffini</div>
Another area where you did not see a comparable DSA effort was the actually-wealthy 12th district, where Upper West Side liberal Micah Lasher prevailed. According to figures compiled by Kyle Tharp, the results here were <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/4b210297-260e-42d1-bd08-807a5795110e?j=eyJ1IjoiY2ZvbSJ9.YJyyTVOoIwIR_L9MYp4kKM8u6Osr7CjIvM9objcYRrE">inversely proportional</a> to the fame (as measured by social media followings) of each candidate:
<div id="attachment_1124933" style="width: 1210px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1124933" class="size-full wp-image-1124933" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Ruffini2.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="667" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Ruffini2.jpg 1200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Ruffini2-300x167.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Ruffini2-1024x569.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Ruffini2-768x427.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" />Credit: Patrick Ruffini</div>
The sweet spot for socialism is downwardly mobile, highly educated young voters — the junior copy editor living in a studio apartment whose parents were corporate lawyers living in the suburbs. And largely missing from the party are the urban working class, who are dwindling in number.
Play this out, and it’s to see mainstream Democrats hanging on in cities anywhere, at least those that are magnets for college-educated young people. The actually rich voters, like those in the 12th, are limited in number, while the working class is increasingly priced out of their old neighborhoods and is moving to the suburbs. Who else is left? Basically, the DSA’s target voter.
<a href="https://substack.com/redirect/f5a83be8-554e-4e55-ba53-7a62357037f6?j=eyJ1IjoiY2ZvbSJ9.YJyyTVOoIwIR_L9MYp4kKM8u6Osr7CjIvM9objcYRrE">Charles Franklin</a> also breaks down DSA favorability: 20-48 nationally, but 40-20 among Democrats. But it’s not limited to big cities: all sorts of Democrats, including those who live in rural areas, view the DSA favorably.
<div id="attachment_1124935" style="width: 1416px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1124935" class="size-full wp-image-1124935" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Ruffini3.jpg" alt="" width="1406" height="552" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Ruffini3.jpg 1406w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Ruffini3-300x118.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Ruffini3-1024x402.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Ruffini3-768x302.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1406px) 100vw, 1406px" />Credit: Patrick Ruffini</div>
Could far-left politics go national in 2028? The Michigan Senate primary will be a big test of this, as I <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/a317769a-1b5b-448d-a620-34cb1765ba69?j=eyJ1IjoiY2ZvbSJ9.YJyyTVOoIwIR_L9MYp4kKM8u6Osr7CjIvM9objcYRrE">wrote</a> on Wednesday. You also saw a progressive win in a Trump district, Maine’s 2nd, where it would have behooved Democrats to nominate a more mainstream alternative. Substantively, most Democratic primary voters appear to <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/05338231-3792-4982-860f-2680f93f0e64?j=eyJ1IjoiY2ZvbSJ9.YJyyTVOoIwIR_L9MYp4kKM8u6Osr7CjIvM9objcYRrE">want socialism.</a>
<div id="attachment_1124937" style="width: 1209px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1124937" class="size-full wp-image-1124937" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Ruffini4.jpg" alt="" width="1199" height="616" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Ruffini4.jpg 1199w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Ruffini4-300x154.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Ruffini4-1024x526.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Ruffini4-768x395.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1199px) 100vw, 1199px" />Credit: Patrick Ruffini</div>
Meanwhile, normie liberals like Gavin Newsom appear to be walking a <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/cc87013a-6abb-4423-a9cf-35c45662f1c1?j=eyJ1IjoiY2ZvbSJ9.YJyyTVOoIwIR_L9MYp4kKM8u6Osr7CjIvM9objcYRrE">tighter line.</a> Once surging in polls and prediction markets, he has since fallen back. His comeback strategy? Tethering himself to Joe Biden and an unpopular Democratic establishment. He’s also tried to negotiate with the unions to get a state billionaire tax off California’s ballot this fall. As it’s become apparent it’ll be a hard sell for this primary electorate, he’s <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/76de6a86-61b9-4e7e-b52b-6b0a7f2f31b7?j=eyJ1IjoiY2ZvbSJ9.YJyyTVOoIwIR_L9MYp4kKM8u6Osr7CjIvM9objcYRrE">come out</a> for a national tax.
<div id="attachment_1124939" style="width: 1466px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1124939" class="size-full wp-image-1124939" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Ruffini5.jpg" alt="" width="1456" height="1047" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Ruffini5.jpg 1456w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Ruffini5-300x216.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Ruffini5-801x576.jpg 801w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Ruffini5-768x552.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1456px) 100vw, 1456px" />Credit: Patrick Ruffini</div>
One Democrat who does seem to be making a name for himself is Jon Ossoff, whose viral rally clips have catapulted him to the top of the 2028 buzz. But something about it feels off-key, writes Kyle Tharp, a perfectly stage-managed 2012 production <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/463c76bd-3509-4dce-8a04-6af53f3923f2?j=eyJ1IjoiY2ZvbSJ9.YJyyTVOoIwIR_L9MYp4kKM8u6Osr7CjIvM9objcYRrE">out of place</a> in 2028:
<blockquote>
To play devil’s advocate, however, the problem with this strategy is that the Perfectly-Optimized, Almost-Robotic Ossoff hasn’t proven he can turn the switch off. He almost never seems like he’s speaking off the cuff, and he rarely displays any casual human banter on camera. Like Martin noted, he “speaks in paragraphs,” and every clip seemingly lands because his team engineered it to land, which is exactly the issue. When a politician’s best moments all arrive pre-planned, voters and the reporters covering them will start to wonder what he sounds like when the advance team isn’t carefully picking the camera angle. Eventually, people will get bored.
Democrats seem to care about ~authenticity~ far more in 2026 than they did during the Obama years or even when Ossoff was first elected. The politicians often breaking through in the second Trump era do so, in part, by seeming unfiltered. Trump joked and rambled for hours on Rogan, Flagrant, and Bussin’ with the Boys and his supporters loved him more for it. Zohran Mamdani built a following on selfie-cam monologues and creator collabs, many of which look like he filmed them between subway stops. Gavin Newsom is hosting his own hour-long podcast every week, and AOC has long been the master of the art of informal Instagram live streams. Younger Democrats may now spend their time watching people like Hasan Piker reacting live for six hours straight, and older Democrats are watching candidates shoot the shit with Tim Miller on the Bulwark (When Ossoff recently appeared with Miller, he seemed like The Bulwark host was giving him a root canal).
</blockquote>
That’s a perfect example of the <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/65d8f52d-38f0-4081-8dd8-ad7c147e65a6?j=eyJ1IjoiY2ZvbSJ9.YJyyTVOoIwIR_L9MYp4kKM8u6Osr7CjIvM9objcYRrE">“Joe Rogan CEO” test</a> from a16z <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/fecd50b4-efc6-4d2b-8d1c-1805a27884a5?j=eyJ1IjoiY2ZvbSJ9.YJyyTVOoIwIR_L9MYp4kKM8u6Osr7CjIvM9objcYRrE">highlighted</a> in Nathan Brand’s must-read media newsletter. Are you authentic and interesting enough to spend three hours shooting the breeze with Rogan? Kamala wasn’t — and probably knew it. Which 2028 Democrats will be?
***
Patrick Ruffini is a pollster at Echelon Insights, author of PARTY OF THE PEOPLE, and creator of <a href="https://www.patrickruffini.com/">The Intersection</a> newsletter.

Zo Money, Zo Problems political sticker, Anti Zohran Mamdani mayoral campaign, Queens, New York

Red Rover, Red Rover, Send The Socialists On Over

Darializa Avila Chevalier

New York City

Socialists

Zohran Mamdani

Rather than risk his own state&#8217;s economy by backing a California billionaire tax, Gavin Newsom tried to placate the socialists on Friday by backing a dead-end &#8220;national billionaire tax&#8221; instead. 
On Monday, Newsom told the New York Times that he was working relentlessly behind the scenes to make sure the measure was not on the ballot in November. 
“This will be defeated. There’s no question in my mind,” he <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/us/newsom-billionaire-tax-california.html">said</a>. “I’ll do what I have to do to protect the state.” 
By Friday, Newsom had failed to keep the measure off the ballot, leaving him to explain in a Substack post that a billionaire tax is a terrible idea for California, but a great idea for the country.
<div style="max-width: 728px; margin: 0 auto;"><iframe style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; max-width: 100%; width: 100%; margin: 20px auto 5px; border: 0;" src="https://player.mux.com/eq6H00ZpwJpvWo8n01kff01wayclUU4tjvh?metadata-video-content-type=embed_video&amp;metadata-video-id=332dcb3c-effb-469a-85a9-bf2c40a63025&amp;metadata-video-stream-type=on-demand&amp;metadata-video-title=2026-06-26%20Newsom%20Demands%20National%20Billionaires%20Tax&amp;poster=https%3A%2F%2Fdailywireplus-v2.imgix.net%2Fimages%2Fembedded-videos%2F99ede119-046b-420b-a774-fae29dc3a2ee.png&amp;autoplay=false&amp;accent-color=%23DB3D3B&amp;primary-color=%23ffffff&amp;secondary-color=%23000000" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Credit: @GavinNewsom via X
</div>
&nbsp;
“The fight to make the wealthiest Americans pay more in taxes is not one we should be fighting state by state. You may not be able to pick up and move to Texas or Florida to shelter your income from taxation, but I promise you that billionaires can, and do. Wealth is moveable, and it shops for the state with the lowest taxes.” He <a href="https://gavinnewsom.substack.com/p/its-time-for-a-national-billionaires">added</a>, “The fight belongs at the federal level, where this broken system was created in the first place.” 
A national billionaire tax would face steep political hurdles even under a Democratic president, making Newsom&#8217;s endorsement largely symbolic given the bipartisan opposition such a measure would likely encounter. Newsom&#8217;s symbolic proposal left neither supporters nor opponents of the billionaire tax satisfied.
Leftist influencer, Matt Bernstein, <a href="https://x.com/mattxiv/status/2070638221277450302">wrote</a>, &#8220;He is kind of the politician of all time. Changes his view three times a week, transforms himself to please whoever he&#8217;s speaking to, [with] no real aspirations besides power for himself.&#8221;
Trump’s former AI Czar and California resident David Sacks <a href="https://x.com/DavidSacks/status/2070620995480899985">said</a> Newsom had yielded to the Democratic-Socialists. “Today was the day that Gavin Newsom was supposed to save the tech industry by cutting a deal to kill the Billionaire Tax Act. Instead he came out as Democratic-Socialists of America adjacent, and the Billionaire Tax Act will be on the ballot in November.” A billionaire himself, Sacks added, “See y’all in Texas!”
Analysis from Newsom’s Department of Finance found that a state billionaire tax for California could generate tens of billions of dollars for the state, but it could lead to hundreds of millions in continuing losses if billionaires flee the state. The California Billionaires Tax would be a one-time levy that would collect <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/25/california-billionaire-tax-explainer">5%</a> of a billionaire’s net worth. The tax would be paid in installments over the next five years at a rate of 1% per year. 
If the tax is passed in November, 90% of the newly-raised revenue would offset healthcare cuts that President Trump signed into law according to the labor group backing the tax, the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West. The majority of revenue going to healthcare was another reason Newsom cited for voting against it. “This measure dedicates almost all of the revenue it raises to a single category of state spending,” he said. “It ignores our public schools, as the California Teachers Association has rightly pointed out, by failing to provide sustainable funding that our communities, parents and children deserve.”

Gavin Newsom Takes Coward’s Way Out On Major Left-Wing Demand

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