A Senate panel investigating Dr. Anthony Fauci has reportedly obtained a copy of the cellphone he used during the COVID-19 pandemic ahead of a key committee vote Thursday to hold him in contempt of Congress. 
The <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/anthony-fauci-covid-phone-senate-96ebd8be?st=68LAAW">Wall Street Journal</a> reported Wednesday that the Department of Health and Human Services, which is led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, transferred a copy of the phone&#8217;s records to the Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. 
Fauci used the phone during his tenure as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, according to The Journal, which also revealed that Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Rand Paul (R-KY) have obtained &#8220;millions of additional Fauci-related pages&#8221; from government servers.
On Wednesday, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/when-it-comes-to-anthony-fauci-rand-paul-is-just-getting-started?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Mary+Margaret+Olohan&amp;category=Original&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=When+It+Comes+To+Anthony+Fauci%2C+Rand+Paul+Is+Just+Getting+Started">The Daily Wire</a> interviewed Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rand Paul, whose release of Fauci&#8217;s private diaries helped set the stage for an explosive Capitol Hill hearing where Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times.
“Historically, votes like this have gone to the full Senate, but I think there’s no absolute rule that says we can’t send it directly to the Department of Justice,” Paul said. “So my plan is that if we win the vote on Thursday, to immediately send it to the Department of Justice with a recommendation for prosecution, even if it passes the whole Senate.”
Paul’s office sent two criminal referrals to the Biden Justice Department, the senator said, and two more under President Donald Trump’s administration.
“This will be the first time that our entire committee or the majority of our committee sends it,” he noted. “So we’ll see what happens. We’ll discuss with [Senate Majority Leader John] Thune whether or not he thinks he can get the votes to do it on the floor.”
A floor vote would require 60 votes to pass, meaning Democrats would have to cooperate. Last week, Thune said that Fauci’s answers were “completely inadequate” and that the floor vote was “certainly an option that ought to be available to us.”
Paul told The Daily Wire that he does not expect Democrats to support a contempt vote and that he wants the Justice Department to prosecute Fauci for contempt of Congress. He plans to send the DOJ a legal brief arguing that Fauci could not invoke the Fifth Amendment because President Joe Biden&#8217;s pardon eliminated any risk of self-incrimination, leaving him with only an obligation to answer truthfully.
Statutory penalties for <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/2/192">contempt of Congress</a>, a federal misdemeanor, carry fines between $100 and $100,000 and a mandatory sentence of one to 12 months in prison.
“This is an important case because I think a lot of people anticipate that President Trump is going to issue similar pardons to many people in his administration who will end up being called before Congress, and the precedent here is important,” Mark Osler, a law professor and pardon power expert, told the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fauci-fifth-amendment-congress-justice-department-paul-868a0dfcf016d830571fb6a78afae4f9">Associated Press. </a>
&nbsp;
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US-POLITICS-HEALTH-VIRUS-HEARING

Fauci’s COVID Phone Turned Over To Senate Panel Ahead Of Contempt Vote

Anthony Fauci

Coronavirus

COVID-19

fauci diaries

Health

Investigations

News

Pandemic

Politics

Rand Paul

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Senate

U.S. Senate

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) on Tuesday poured more cold water on Democratic primary rival James Talarico&#8217;s campaign, raising fresh doubts about whether he can win November&#8217;s closely watched Senate race.
In an interview with <a href="http://nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/live-blog/trump-michigan-el-sayed-2026-election-congress-iran-live-updates-rcna590889/rcrd118342?canonicalCard=true">NBC News</a>, Crockett said she isn&#8217;t buying the flurry of polls showing Talarico within striking distance of — or even leading — Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in the closely watched U.S. Senate race that could flip the balance of power in Washington.
With a few months until Election Day, the traditionally safe red seat looks increasingly competitive. Three public polls released in the last week show Talarico narrowly leading Paxton, raising concerns that a bruising Republican primary may have left the GOP nominee vulnerable in November, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-race-in-solid-red-state-remains-too-close-for-gop-comfort?author=Drew+Berkemeyer&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=5&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Senate+Race+In+Solid+Red+State+Remains+Too+Close+For+GOP+Comfort">The Daily Wire reported.</a>
A <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-poll-gop-divisions-shape-texas-senate-race">Fox News poll</a> released last week found Talarico leading Paxton 51% to 48% among registered voters. A <a href="https://texaspublicopinionresearch.substack.com/p/new-poll-james-talaricos-lead-over">Texas Public Opinion Research</a> (TPOR) survey of likely voters found Talarico ahead 45% to 40%, while the latest survey from the <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/67aa7aa3e284b002cd6a420e/t/6a713767d4ed824b91ea090d/1785804647961/Texas+Statewide+August2026.pdf">Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center</a> showed Talarico leading 47% to 45%.
Even as Republicans sound the alarm, Crockett says she isn&#8217;t sold on the Talarico hype.
“I don&#8217;t know,” she said when asked whether she thinks Talarico can turn Texas blue. “I watch money.”
“When I look at the money, if Republicans start spending money in Texas, then I&#8217;ll be convinced. But right now, national Republicans decided they wanted to dump money into North Carolina, as well as Georgia. That&#8217;s where they&#8217;re fighting, and national Democrats have not decided to dump money into Texas either&#8230; I look at: where does the NRSC stand? Where does DSCC stand? Right now, neither one are investing, which tells me that their internals are saying the same thing,” she told NBC reporter Sahil Kapur. 
Since her bruising primary loss, which she has labeled a &#8220;<a href="https://www.wfmd.com/2026/07/09/jasmine-crockett-blasts-her-texas-democratic-primary-loss-as-racist-race/">racist race</a>,&#8221; the Dallas-area congresswoman has repeatedly declined calls from fellow Democrats to campaign for Talarico.
“I won&#8217;t get on the ground to really start to feel it until maybe end of September, October, as I start to dig into which races I&#8217;m going to help out in, the races that I really feel like we can win,” she told NBC. 
Crockett’s skepticism of Talarico comes as the Senate hopeful, who has sparked backlash for his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/this-book-is-gay-read-the-sexually-explicit-volumes-james-talaricos-church-gives-kids">fringe views on Christianity</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-james-talarico-says-he-loves-trans-children-in-unearthed-clip">affection for transgender children</a>, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-audio-thats-blowing-a-hole-in-talaricos-christian-persona">disdain for the American flag</a>, struggles to energize black voters. 
Some black activists have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/black-activists-threaten-to-nuke-james-talaricos-senate-run">threatened to tank</a> his campaign over what they describe as his failure to engage black voters and organizations following the perceived snubbing of Crockett. At least one elected black Texas Democrat has already predicted Talarico will lose. 
“Do I think that Talarico’s refusal thus far to engage black electeds and the black infrastructure has put him at a disadvantage? Absolutely, because there’s not a lot of time to try to rally us,” Texas State Rep. Jolanda Jones, a Democrat, <a href="https://x.com/BreitbartNews/status/2074908934507233660?s=20">warned in a recent interview.</a> 
“Talarico needs to pay for us to get our voters out. Only then does Talarico have a chance to win,” Jones said. “If he continues to do what he has been doing, I believe Talarico is going to lose.”

James Talarico & Jasmine Crockett

Jasmine Crockett Pours Cold Water On James Talarico’s Senate Hype

2026 elections

black vote

Black voters

Democrats

Elections

James Talarico

Jasmine Crockett

Midterms

Texas

The polling industry is taking another hit after getting Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary wrong, predicting a runaway Abdul El-Sayed victory in the race that instead ended in an overnight nail-biter.
Michigan Democrats on Tuesday elevated the leftist firebrand to the party’s U.S. Senate nomination, marking the biggest triumph yet for the ascendant far-Left and a humiliating defeat for the establishment’s old guard, who failed to stop him from advancing to a pivotal November clash with Trump-endorsed Republican Mike Rogers.
With more than 95% of ballots counted, media outlets called the race for El-Sayed, who led Stevens <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/08/04/us/elections/results-michigan-us-senate-primary.html">48.49% to 47.51%.</a> The unexpectedly narrow margin defied a flurry of public opinion polls showing the DSA-aligned candidate with a commanding double-digit lead.
Before Tuesday night, surveys consistently pointed to a sweeping El-Sayed victory. <a href="https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/senate/democratic-primary/2026/michigan">RealClearPolitics&#8217;</a> polling average gave him a 10-point lead, and an Emerson College survey released a week before the election showed Stevens down by 15 points.
For weeks, the flawed surveys circulated widely on social media and blasted on cable news, fueling the perception that one of the nation&#8217;s most closely watched Democratic primaries was over before voters even went to the polls.
“Polling is imperfect, but I would encourage all media going forward to decline to publish results from these outfits unless they can explain the size of this polling error,” Caitlin Legacki, a public affairs specialist who served as a spokeswoman for the Stevens campaign, <a href="https://x.com/caitleg/status/2084976477091631357?s=20">said</a> on X. “It sure looks like it was a coordinated strategy to me!”
In fact, four separate surveys commissioned by a super PAC supporting El-Sayed showed him winning by margins ranging from 13 to 19 points, a pattern highlighted by Democratic strategist <a href="https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/as-his-powers-ebb-trumps-war-with">Simon Rosenberg.</a>
“I also want to note the El-Sayed campaign and their allies have deployed a tactic in this race that’s been used by Republicans in recent years, and not by us — flooding the zone with favorable polls to shape the narrative of the race,” he warned in an August 2 Substack post.
Rosenberg argued that the decline of legacy media is opening the door for partisan groups to shape election narratives through selective polling, prediction markets, and online campaigns designed to sway public opinion.
“So if I counted correctly, El-Sayed’s world released 8 of the 18 polls we’ve seen in Michigan these past two months — 44%, again almost half. This was a major effort to shape the understanding of the race. I&#8217;m not sure there has been anything like this on our side of the game in recent years,” he said.
Michigan’s red-hot primary marks the latest polling miss for an industry already struggling to rebuild trust after flawed polling convinced many Americans that Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris were on track to defeat Donald Trump in the presidential races.
Conservative political consultant Ryan Girdusky <a href="https://x.com/RyanGirdusky/status/2084844719834620377?s=20">argued</a> that the Michigan polls oversampled white progressives with advanced degrees over other key demographic groups.
Looking ahead, the latest polling misses raise new questions about the accuracy of election forecasts predicting a Democratic sweep heading into the midterm elections, where control of the U.S. House and Senate hangs in the balance.
“Whatever happened there was a massive polling miss in Michigan, they had El-Sayed up by 15, and he&#8217;s just barely going to squeak by,” Will Chamberlain, senior counsel at The Article 3 Project, <a href="https://x.com/willchamberlain/status/2085006813099856283?s=20">said</a> on social media. “Take all those Talarico +3 polls with a very healthy grain of salt.”

Casting A Ballot

Everyone Is Mad At Pollsters Again After Botch In Michigan

Abdul El-Sayed

El Sayed

Haley Stevens

Michigan

political surveys

polling

polling industry

surveys

Embattled Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) sat down with CNN&#8217;s Jake Tapper on Tuesday and responded to allegations of abusing his ex-wife and daughter with a series of evasive answers that often raised more questions than they resolved.
Miller has been accused of abusing his ex-wife Emily Moreno — daughter of Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) — and their daughter, and his appearance on CNN was one of several public appearances the Ohio congressman made as he attempted to refute the accusations against him. But as Tapper questioned him, Miller offered very few concrete answers — and instead turned the questions on his former father-in-law.
Tapper began with a question about a &#8220;blue bunny doll&#8221; that Miller&#8217;s daughter took everywhere and asked whether Moreno had been telling the truth when he said Miller had refused to return it for two days: &#8220;If it&#8217;s true, that sounds like emotionally abusive behavior toward the toddler, to refuse to give into her when she can&#8217;t sleep without it.&#8221;
Without directly answering the question, Miller said that he agreed that &#8220;would be disturbing if the senator was telling the truth,&#8221; and then pivoted immediately. &#8220;However, he has taken two years to publicly acknowledge — for me to resign from my seat. Why is that, Jake?&#8221;
Then Miller alluded to damaging information he claimed to have on Moreno — about a &#8220;deeply and personal embarrassing matter&#8221; — and claimed Moreno had only called for his resignation because he feared Miller might share that information publicly on his livestream Sunday. Miller did not give any specifics on what that damaging information might be.
Tapper reminded Miller that he&#8217;d been asking about the blue bunny, asking again whether he&#8217;d held the toy &#8220;hostage.&#8221;
Miller denied that he had, and immediately pivoted again, telling Tapper that there had already been two investigations into him that had not resulted in charges. He said one investigation had found fault at a daycare center, and defended himself in the other case — which involved his daughter&#8217;s broken collarbone — by arguing that his wife had violated a custody agreement by taking her hurt child to the emergency room.
&#8220;When I was reported for child abuse for my daughter for a broken collarbone, my daughter was in my ex-wife&#8217;s care nine out of the last 11 days, and she took her to the emergency room, which is a contempt violation from our shared parenting plan,&#8221; Miller said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Rep. Max Miller: &#8220;When I was reported for child abuse of my daughter for a broken collarbone, my daughter was in my ex-wife&#8217;s care 9 out of the last 11 days and she took her to the emergency room, which is a contempt violation from our shared parenting plan.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/Gc05pX2g2t">pic.twitter.com/Gc05pX2g2t</a>
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) <a href="https://x.com/atrupar/status/2084749681448374468?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 4, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Tapper continued to press, asking Miller about a Dropbox link he&#8217;d shared — ostensibly to provide evidence that cleared his name — which included a photo of his daughter in a state of undress. That link remained live for a day before it was pulled down and the image removed.
Noting that Miller&#8217;s lawyer has since fallen on the sword for that &#8220;mistake,&#8221; Tapper argued that it was &#8220;shockingly reckless&#8221; to allow that to happen in the first place.
Miller protested, explaining that the photo was part of evidence in a court case and wasn&#8217;t that inappropriate — and claimed that it was being blown out of proportion by media outlets chasing a good headline.
Tapper, clearly taken aback, asked how he could defend releasing such a photo — and Miller immediately claimed he wasn&#8217;t defending it.
&#8220;You just defended it!&#8221; Tapper replied.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
TAPPER: One of the files you released was an image of your daughter naked. It was available in that drop box for a day before it was removed. Your ex-wife&#8217;s attorney says it could quality as CSAM. That&#8217;s shockingly reckless behavior.
MAX MILLER: I wouldn&#8217;t say it&#8217;s shockingly… <a href="https://t.co/l8tSilKtu5">pic.twitter.com/l8tSilKtu5</a>
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) <a href="https://x.com/atrupar/status/2084750725213532441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 4, 2026</a></blockquote>
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As the conversation continued, Tapper pressed Miller about his claims that his daughter had told him she didn&#8217;t want to return to her mother&#8217;s house. He then asked about competing claims from Emily Moreno, who said their daughter had said things like, &#8220;daddy kill you,&#8221; &#8220;daddy angry,&#8221; and &#8220;daddy&#8217;s house is scary.&#8221;
&#8220;Jake, I wish you could talk to my beautiful baby girl. She can&#8217;t string together sentences like that. She&#8217;s two and a half years old,&#8221; Miller protested.
&#8220;You just told me that she had said that she was scared to go to mommy&#8217;s house,&#8221; Tapper pushed back.
&#8220;She is. I have video of it,&#8221; Miller said.
&#8220;But now you&#8217;re saying that she&#8217;s not capable of saying ‘Daddy kill you?’ I mean, it seems like she&#8217;s either able to say one but not the other. That doesn&#8217;t make sense,&#8221; Tapper pointed out.
&#8220;Jake. To be very direct, this is incredibly disturbing,&#8221; Miller said, adding, &#8220;You have to look at the timing of everything that is taking place, right? What about due process?&#8221;
Tapper then noted that Miller had been accused of inappropriate — and even violent — behavior by other women prior to his ex-wife. Miller shrugged off one of the cases by saying he&#8217;d been &#8220;young,&#8221; and then suggested that the accounts were not credible because at least one of the women had not gone &#8220;on record&#8221; with her accusation.
&#8220;I guess the question is, are all three of these women who don’t know each other, are all three of them lying?&#8221; Tapper asked.
&#8220;Yes, it’s very easy, and I can tell you why,&#8221; Miller said. &#8220;Every single time — and people have asked me, &#8216;What are you gonna do? Are you gonna drop out of this race? Are you gonna resign? Are you gonna get out before the deadline?&#8217; And my answer to you, Jake, is no. And I can tell you why. In 2016, when President Donald J. Trump faced the most extreme allegations in the world that hit him day after day after day, and people in the media very much like yourself and others said that he would have no shot at winning, that he should not be the president of the United States. But guess what? He stayed in and he was resilient.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
TAPPER: Hold on &#8212; hold on, &#8217;cause I&#8217;m not done with the list of women who have accused you of violence. Are all three of them lying?
REP. MAX MILLER: Yes. And I&#8217;m not getting out of the race because in 2016, President Donald J Trump faced the most extreme allegations in the… <a href="https://t.co/gf76bMnzB6">pic.twitter.com/gf76bMnzB6</a>
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) <a href="https://x.com/atrupar/status/2084751783470002223?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 4, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Miller also struggled to answer questions about his alleged illegal drug use when Tapper noted that he&#8217;d been inconsistent in his answers during his custody dispute with Moreno.
&#8220;Emily Moreno&#8217;s lawyers asked you a series of questions about past alleged incidents, and some of them you denied outright — &#8216;no, that&#8217;s not true,&#8217; &#8216;no, that&#8217;s not true&#8217; — and others you refused to answer at all, your lawyers claimed that they were not relevant.&#8221;
Among the questions Miller had refused to answer was whether or not he&#8217;d ever referred to the birth of his daughter as &#8220;setting my playground on fire,&#8221; as well as several related to illegal drug use.
&#8220;I can tell you that I never did any of those things, why can&#8217;t you?&#8221; Tapper asked, suggesting that his selective refusal to answer only made him look more suspicious. He then corrected himself, admitting to smoking marijuana &#8220;before it was legal.&#8221;
Miller sputtered briefly, saying he&#8217;d be &#8220;happy to&#8221; discuss those topics, but had not answered before because answering gave the question &#8220;credibility.&#8221;
&#8220;In the Mother Jones story, it says when you were picked up for drunk driving, you had ecstasy in your system. When is the last time you used illegal drugs?&#8221; Tapper asked.
&#8220;I mean, the last time — I don&#8217;t — I would have to say, I don&#8217;t know, several years ago. I don&#8217;t have a timeframe,&#8221; Miller replied.
&#8220;Two? 20?&#8221; Tapper pressed.
Miller then claimed, unsolicited, that if anyone ever found needles it was because he was using them for &#8220;testosterone therapy&#8221; — at which point he name-dropped War Secretary Pete Hegseth and his recent initiative to keep testosterone levels steady for male service members.

Ways and Means Treasury Priorities

Embattled GOP Rep Agreed To Live Interview. It Didn’t Go Well.

Bernie Moreno

Donald Trump

House of Representatives

House Republicans

Jake Tapper

Media

Michigan&#8217;s far-Left Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed said Tuesday that he’ll tank Democrats in 2028 if they fail to embrace his radical agenda.
El-Sayed, a former public health official, <a href="https://www.politico.com/playbook">told</a> POLITICO&#8217;s Playbook on Tuesday that potential Democrat presidential candidates should consider themselves on notice unless they embrace his campaign mantra of getting money out of politics, as he put it, and passing Medicare for All.
“If not, I’m going to dog you up and down the state,” he said.
The Democrat has taken on far-Left positions, including <a href="https://statenews.com/article/2026/04/abdul-el-sayed-denounces-iran-war-calls-for-abolishing-ice-in-campus-rally">abolishing ICE</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/yes-michigans-abdul-el-sayed-really-wants-to-defund-the-police-here-are-the-receipts?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Yes%2C+Michigan%E2%80%99s+Abdul+El-Sayed+Really+Wants+To+Defund+The+Police.+Here+Are+The+Receipts.">defunding the police</a>, <a href="https://abdulforsenate.com/priority/money-out-of-politics/#h-supreme-court-reform">restructuring the U.S. Supreme Court</a>, raising taxes on billionaires, and most notably, <a href="https://abdulforsenate.com/priority/money-out-of-politics/#h-supreme-court-reform">Medicare for all</a>.
Some in the Democrat political landscape have said El-Sayed needs to shift to the middle after his primary win on Tuesday night, but note that he&#8217;s &#8220;uncompromising&#8221; and &#8220;cocky.&#8221;
“If I were still working for him, I’d advise him to moderate on immigration, policing, and centering identity politics,” former El-Sayed fundraising consultant Evan Barker said. “But based on what I know about him, he is uncompromising.”
El-Sayed notably boasted to POLITICO that he would handily win his race despite the outcome ultimately being incredibly close, and he showed off his &#8220;low stress&#8221; reading on his fitness app the night of the election. El-Sayed defeated Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), who was viewed as a leading contender by many establishment Democrats, by a narrow 1.4-percentage-point margin.
Regarding El-Sayed&#8217;s embrace of radicalism, Michigan Democrat operatives told POLITICO they were shocked by his public embrace of radical streamer Hasan Piker.
“I was really struck that he was at that <a href="https://x.com/Cappelletti7/status/2084371877477118403?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">f*cking pool party</a> with [the Twitch streamer] Hasan Piker the day before Election Day. These guys are unbelievably cocky,&#8221; one operative said.
Piker is extremely far-Left. He&#8217;s famously praised communist dictator Mao Zedong, who was responsible for millions of deaths and human rights abuses. “Mao Zedong is one of the great leaders of this world,” Piker once said, adding that he would “never” criticize Mao. He has also faced backlash over comments related to Israel and Jews. For example, he frequently uses the phrase, “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” a slogan that is broadly interpreted as a call for the elimination of Israel.
Piker recently received a glowing profile from The New York Times, which reflects the media&#8217;s and some Democrats&#8217; shift toward a more public embrace of socialism and radicalism more generally.
If El-Sayed wins the general election against Republican Mike Rogers, he&#8217;ll become America’s first Muslim senator. His parents are both Egyptian immigrants, and his father <a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2018/0329/Can-a-Michigan-doctor-become-America-s-first-Muslim-governor">was a part-time imam</a>. On his wife’s side, his father-in-law <a href="https://freebeacon.com/democrats/abdul-el-sayeds-father-in-law-a-top-donor-to-an-el-sayed-super-pac-is-among-top-leaders-of-muslim-brotherhood-organization-linked-to-terror-funding/">is a founding committee member </a>of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), which has close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, according to the federal government, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/abdul-el-sayed-secures-far-lefts-biggest-victory-yet-over-dem-establishment?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Jacob+Wheeler&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Abdul+El-Sayed+Secures+Far-Left%E2%80%99s+Biggest+Victory+Yet+Over+Dem+Establishment">The Daily Wire</a> has previously noted.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/crowd-roars-as-el-sayed-drops-an-inshallah-in-election-night-speech?author=Amanda+Prestigiacomo&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Crowd+Roars+As+El-Sayed+Drops+An+‘Inshallah’+In+Election+Night+Speech">Crowd Roars As El-Sayed Drops An ‘Inshallah’ In Election Night Speech</a>

Michigan Democratic Senate Primary Winner Abdul El-Sayed Holds News Conference Day After Primary Win

El-Sayed Threatens To Tank Dems In 2028 If They Don’t Get On Board With His Radicalism

El-Sayed Threatens To Tank Dems In 2028 If They Don't Get On Board With His Radicalism

Democratic Socialism

Democratic Socialists Of America

The Republican primary in Michigan&#8217;s 8th Congressional District went a little bit sideways when President Donald Trump&#8217;s chosen candidate lost — to a candidate who&#8217;d suspended his campaign a month earlier.
Trump endorsed U.S. Navy veteran and former federal law enforcement officer Amir Hassan, but after votes were tallied, Decision Desk <a href="https://x.com/DecisionDeskHQ/status/2084854764135711197">called the race</a> for retired General Motors engineer and small business owner Thomas Smith — who had stopped campaigning mid-July.
<a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5986241-mcdonald-rivet-hassan-michigan-house/">Smith won</a> with 50% of the vote, and Hassan walked away with 33%. Al Lemmo, to whom Smith gave his endorsement when he suspended his campaign, commanded 16% of the vote. Lemmo is a pro-life activist and retired mechanical engineer with the U.S. Army’s Tank‑Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC). He attacked Hassan during the campaign by claiming that he was a &#8220;Trojan horse&#8221; candidate and was previously a Democrat.
On July 18, Smith <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/elections/2026/08/04/amir-hassan-thomas-smith-al-lemmo-gop-primary-congress-michigan-flint-saginaw-midland/91157512007/">posted a video</a> declaring that he was putting his full support behind Lemmo. At the same time, he notified the Federal Election Commission — in a handwritten note, explaining he&#8217;d had difficulties logging into the system — that he planned to file his next report by the deadline he&#8217;d received in an email.
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Tom Smith, the candidate who dropped out of the <a href="https://x.com/hashtag/MI08?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MI08</a> Republican primary but is still poised to defeat Trump-endorsed Amir Hassan, sent this handwritten note to the FEC less than a month ago: <a href="https://t.co/xllPk5ZwTH">pic.twitter.com/xllPk5ZwTH</a>
— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) <a href="https://x.com/PatrickSvitek/status/2085008011706163379?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 5, 2026</a></blockquote>
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But because Smith withdrew from the race after the deadline, his name was not scrubbed from the ballot — and the rest is history.
In a statement issued Wednesday morning, a surprised Smith told supporters that he was &#8220;humbled and honored that Republicans have chosen me to take the fight to Kristen McDonald Rivet.&#8221;
&#8220;I look forward to working with Speaker Johnson and the entire Republican team to expand our House majority and advance President Trump’s America First agenda to lower costs for working families and make America affordable again,&#8221; he added.
Michigan&#8217;s 8th Congressional District is just one of a number of seats Republicans are hoping to flip in their efforts to retain control of the U.S. House. McDonald Rivet, a first-term congresswoman, won the open seat in 2024 when she defeated Republican Paul Junge by over six points — but Trump also won that district the same year.

United States Conservative Crisis

Trump-Backed Candidate Loses Primary To Guy Who Quit The Race A Month Ago

Michigan Primary

Republicans

Michigan Democrats on Tuesday elevated leftist firebrand Abdul El-Sayed to the party&#8217;s U.S. Senate nomination, marking the biggest triumph yet for the ascendant far-Left and a humiliating defeat for the establishment&#8217;s old guard, who failed to stop him from advancing to a pivotal November clash with Trump-endorsed Republican Mike Rogers.
With over 95% of the vote counted and after voters waited for Wayne County&#8217;s slow counting process, El-Sayed was finally projected to win Wednesday morning. Decision Desk HQ called the race at 8:35 a.m. ET, with El-Sayed at 48.9% to Stevens&#8217; 47.5%.
Early results showed El-Sayed, the former public health director for Detroit, performing stronger than expected across multiple counties. Stevens, a four-term congresswoman from the Detroit suburbs, performed the best in areas where most of the state&#8217;s black voters live, such as Wayne, Oakland, and Genesee Counties. El-Sayed, meanwhile, outperformed his benchmarks among younger voters while Stevens severely underperformed among older voters, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/08/04/us/elections/results-michigan-us-senate-primary.html">election data</a>.
Tuesday&#8217;s result caps a bruising primary and highlights the Democratic Party&#8217;s accelerating ideological shift, with the establishment failing to stop the socialist-aligned Left nationwide. Supporters of the socialist movement viewed El-Sayed as their best chance to prove a leftist candidate could win statewide in a battleground like Michigan.
Since President Donald Trump’s re-election, the Democratic establishment has watched its leftist wing barnstorm the country, racking up one victory after another. Socialist Zohran Mamdani&#8217;s upset in New York City&#8217;s mayoral primary kicked off the movement&#8217;s breakthrough, followed by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mamdanis-socialists-upset-incumbent-dems-in-house-primary-sweep">three Democratic Socialists of America-backed leftists</a> ousting longtime Democratic representatives. The socialist-aligned Left also steamrolled its way through <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-trashes-the-socialist-poised-to-be-next-mayor-of-d-c">Washington, D.C.,</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/socialist-hot-streak-continues-as-radical-leftist-unseats-15-term-democrat?author=Brecca+Stoll&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Socialist+Hot+Streak+Continues+As+Radical+Leftist+Unseats+15-Term+Democrat">Denver</a>, then succeeded in nominating <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/platner-caves-suspends-senate-campaign">Graham Platner</a> for the U.S. Senate in Maine before he dropped out of the race following a rape allegation.
In many of those races, party leaders ultimately chose accommodation over confrontation, reluctantly uniting behind nominees they had once viewed as too extreme. Michigan marked the first major exception. With control of the Senate potentially at stake, Democratic heavyweights rallied behind Stevens, fearing El-Sayed could give the GOP a ripe opportunity to flip a Senate seat and hold the upper chamber. 
High-profile establishment Democrats, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/things-just-got-harder-for-abdul-el-sayed?author=Blake+Schaper&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Major+Establishment+Democrat+Plants+Flag+Against+Abdul+El-Sayed">endorsed</a> Stevens.
“Just like me, Haley will do whatever it takes to get things done for the people of Michigan, and we need her now more than ever,” Whitmer said in a video <a href="https://x.com/gretchenwhitmer">posted</a> to X last month.
Stevens, who went viral for her quirky “<a href="https://x.com/FoxNews/status/2077370465522155935?s=20">stick it to them</a>” slogan, celebrated the endorsement, calling Whitmer “a champion for our state” who understands “the stakes of this race.”
It made little difference to an increasingly frustrated Democratic electorate that blames the party&#8217;s old guard for paving the way for President Trump&#8217;s election and return to power.
If elected, El-Sayed would become America’s first Muslim senator. His parents are both Egyptian immigrants, and his father <a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2018/0329/Can-a-Michigan-doctor-become-America-s-first-Muslim-governor">was a part-time imam</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-islamist-marxist-takeover-of-middle-america">The Daily Wire</a> previously reported. His father-in-law <a href="https://freebeacon.com/democrats/abdul-el-sayeds-father-in-law-a-top-donor-to-an-el-sayed-super-pac-is-among-top-leaders-of-muslim-brotherhood-organization-linked-to-terror-funding/">is a founding committee member </a>of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), which has close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, according to the federal government.
His background and hard-Left platform — which includes <a href="https://abdulforsenate.com/priority/money-out-of-politics/#h-supreme-court-reform">Medicare for all</a>, <a href="https://statenews.com/article/2026/04/abdul-el-sayed-denounces-iran-war-calls-for-abolishing-ice-in-campus-rally">abolishing ICE</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/yes-michigans-abdul-el-sayed-really-wants-to-defund-the-police-here-are-the-receipts?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Yes%2C+Michigan%E2%80%99s+Abdul+El-Sayed+Really+Wants+To+Defund+The+Police.+Here+Are+The+Receipts.">defunding the police</a>, <a href="https://abdulforsenate.com/priority/money-out-of-politics/#h-supreme-court-reform">restructuring the U.S. Supreme Court</a>, and raising taxes on billionaires — galvanized the Democratic Party&#8217;s far-Left base, including streamer Hasan Piker, who has said that the United States &#8220;deserved&#8221; the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
In the mold of other leftist primaries, Israel emerged as one of the race&#8217;s defining issues. Stevens has embraced her identity as a &#8220;proud pro-Israel Democrat&#8221; and benefited from roughly $25 million in support from AIPAC, <a href="https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/C00799031/2001984/se">according to FEC filings,</a> while El-Sayed has called Israel&#8217;s war in Gaza a &#8220;genocide&#8221; and opposes U.S. military aid to Israel.
One El-Sayed voter <a href="https://x.com/JWheelertv/status/2084781813067600313?s=20">told NBC</a> his friend group under 25 won&#8217;t vote for any Democratic nominee who supports Israel, saying the party will have only itself to blame if Republican Mike Rogers wins the seat.
At a recent debate, El-Sayed turned his ire on Stevens over a recent vote for U.S. military aid to Israel. 
“Just last week, our friend here voted to send $3.3 billion of your tax dollars to a foreign government. That is the pro quo that comes with a quid of $30 million spent by AIPAC,” El-Sayed said. 
Stevens fired back, <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5993136-el-sayed-stevens-michigan-democratic-senate-primary-debate/">saying</a>, “The goal is always long-term peace, and also, the prime minister of Israel has attacked me by name. Let me just say this: that the only thing that ever motivates my work is the people of Michigan, the people who I hear from.” 
The back-and-forth on the debate stage did not stop things from turning ugly on the campaign trail. Earlier this month, a black school board member supporting Stevens told El-Sayed to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/black-democrat-tells-muslim-senate-candidate-to-stop-speaking-arabic?author=Jacob+Wheeler&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Black+Democrat+Tells+Muslim+Senate+Candidate+To+Stop+Speaking+Arabic">stop speaking and playing Arabic music</a>, a viral moment that inflamed racial tensions. 
“The other candidate seems to be … doesn’t work a room. You have to know how to work the room. Don’t come out speaking only Arabic. Don’t come out with your Arabic music on,” Angie Smith said. “Represent everyone.”
Republicans see the simmering Democratic divisions as a ripe political opportunity come November. 
“The socialist takeover has its sights set on Michigan. That much is clear. They just have one major problem: we won’t let them get away with it,” <a href="https://rogersforsenate.com/news/rogers-sounds-alarm-on-socialist-takeover">said</a> Rogers, who <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/23/politics/michigan-senate-race-mike-rogers-haley-stevens-abdul-el-sayed">believes</a> his campaign is in “good shape” to win against El-Sayed. 
<a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/senate/race/488606">Cook Political Report</a> ranks the general election race, which could determine control of the Senate, as a toss-up.

Democratic Senate Candidate Abdul El-Sayed Campaigns In Michigan Ahead Of Primary

Abdul El-Sayed Secures Far-Left’s Biggest Victory Yet Over Dem Establishment

2026 election

Chuck Schumer

Democrat civil war

Election Results

Islam

Muslims

Primary

Former far-Left Squad member Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) failed to reclaim Missouri&#8217;s deep-blue 1st Congressional District on Tuesday, losing a rematch against the Democrat who unseated her two years ago.
With about 26% of the vote counted, Rep. Wesley Bell (D-MO) held a commanding lead over Bush in their hotly contested rematch of the explosive 2024 Democratic primary, winning 70.7% of the vote to Bush&#8217;s 25.8%. The Associated Press called the race at 9:02 pm ET.
Since the St. Louis-area district is overwhelmingly Democratic, Bell is heavily favored to win this fall and return to Congress.
The race flew under the headlines but served as another test of whether the Democratic Party&#8217;s leftist shift — fueled by victories from socialist-aligned candidates in New York, Washington D.C., and Denver — could propel one of the movement&#8217;s most recognizable national figures back to Capitol Hill.
Bush&#8217;s defeat suggests that with the help of the party&#8217;s establishment, some popular incumbents can still fend off challenges from Left-wing insurgents. In her bid to return to Congress, Bush tried to exploit the same issue that cost her a House seat: her anti-Israel views. In 2024, Bell defeated Bush in what became one of the most expensive House primaries in American history after pro-Israel groups, led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, poured $9.3 million into the race.
Following the Hamas-led October 7 terror attacks, Bush emerged as one of Congress&#8217;s most outspoken critics of Israel and was one of the first to introduce resolutions calling for a ceasefire. Bell, on the other hand, has continued backing military assistance for Israel while arguing the United States must support allies confronting hostile regimes.
&#8220;I think we have to support our allies not only in Israel, but in Taiwan and in Ukraine,&#8221; Bell <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-cori-bush-comeback-ex-squad-member-hopes-to-ride-left-wing-wave-back-to-congress">said</a> during a recent joint appearance with Bush. &#8220;They are on the front lines of our sworn enemies.&#8221;
Over the past year, several socialist-aligned candidates promising to upend the Democratic Party&#8217;s leadership have won competitive primaries. Bell&#8217;s victory, however, marks a rare triumph for the party establishment, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) all backing his re-election bid.
The rejection of Bush comes months after she posted a picture with Christopher Winston, a self-described Maoist streamer who goes by the name &#8220;BlackRedGuard.&#8221; Winston has a history of violent rhetoric and has argued the United States needs to be overthrown through revolution, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-cori-bush-comeback-ex-squad-member-hopes-to-ride-left-wing-wave-back-to-congress">The Daily Wire</a> previously reported.
The photo, flagged by Manhattan Institute investigative reporter Stu Smith, showed Bush meeting with members of the St. Louis Democratic Socialists of America on July 8. Winston can be seen standing next to Bush wearing a shirt reading &#8220;armed minorities.&#8221; Sharing the photo, Winston wrote, &#8220;comrades.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;m so proud to have DSA by my side, united in our fight against price gouging, big real estate, and billionaires influencing our politics,&#8221; Bush said.

Cori Bush

Squad Member Cori Bush’s Comeback Bid Ends In Humiliating Defeat

Democratic socialists

Missouri

U.S. House

Wesley Bell

As 84-year-old Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) enters the twilight of his political career, Democrats on the Left are searching for a successor to lead the movement he built. Some now believe that person could be an unlikely candidate who has never held elected office.
<a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2026/08/04/the-lefts-bern-notice-01023515">Politico reported</a> Tuesday that a behind-the-scenes battle is underway over who will inherit Sanders&#8217; political mantle after the Vermont socialist transformed the Democratic Party with his insurgent 2016 presidential campaign and helped propel a new generation of leftist candidates into office.
While names such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) have been viewed as possible heirs, some Democratic insiders question whether either has the broad appeal to unite the movement. 
“It’s not certain AOC will even run for president, and right now, just Ro is really out there trying to fill that lane. That leaves a pretty thin field to pull from,” one Democratic operative told Politico.
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Instead, some on the Left are looking outside elected office and increasingly discussing United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain.
The <a href="https://uaw.org/executive-board/shawn-fain/">57-year-old Indiana native</a> could appeal to voters seeking change and a Democratic Party desperate to stop the bleeding with the working class.
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He rose to national prominence after leading the UAW&#8217;s 2023 “stand-up strike” against the Big Three automakers, winning sizable raises while becoming one of organized labor&#8217;s most recognizable voices. Fain has also become known for his attacks on the “billionaire class,” often delivering speeches in an <a href="https://x.com/AbdulElSayed/status/2073048847656386674?s=20">“EAT THE RICH”</a> T-shirt, according to Politico.  
Unlike many of the Democratic Party&#8217;s rising stars, Fain has never held elected office, a background that some leftists reportedly view as an asset rather than a liability.
In the 2024 election, Democrats continued to win a majority of union households, but President Donald Trump made gains with organized labor. According to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-auto-tariffs-union-workers-0de3e6f328cae87ded425380d0462516">AP VoteCast</a>, then-Vice President Kamala Harris won just over half of union household voters, while Trump captured 44% — a two-point increase from his 2020 showing. Four years earlier, Biden carried 56% of union households. 
“If he’s willing to run, [he] might be the best candidate for the left,” Bhaskar Sunkara, a 2020 Sanders surrogate and former vice chair of the Democratic Socialists of America, told Politico’s Playbook. “Since he’s progressive but very much says his egalitarian value system comes from his Christianity, [he] can speak in a moral language that can reach more independents than other candidates, and I think it would set a good precedent for labor.”
Playbook also reported that Fain was recently approached about a potential presidential run and has not ruled it out privately.
“The only presidency I have ever had any interest in is with the UAW to continue to build on the great work we’ve done over the last 3 and a half years,” Fain said in a statement to the outlet. 
Fain has aligned himself with the Democratic Party&#8217;s far-Left wing. Fain bucked the establishment and <a href="https://x.com/AbdulElSayed/status/2073048847656386674?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">endorsed</a> Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed over moderate Rep. Haley Stevens, citing what he described as her ties to corporate interests.
“I talk all the time about &#8230; one of the biggest problems in this country right now &#8230; the rich, the corporate class,&#8221; Fain told <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0A_u0wSnMk">The Lever.</a> &#8220;They&#8217;ve divided the working class &#8230; while we&#8217;re busy pointing fingers at each other, they&#8217;re taking more and more of the profits we generate.” 
“It&#8217;s a scam,” he added.

Ceasefire News Conference

The Left’s Presidential Darkhorse Isn’t A Politician At All

2028 presidential election

labor

Shawn Fain.

United Auto Workers

Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) on Monday called for eliminating the Senate filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act, breaking with the position held by her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
During a Republican primary debate Monday night, Graham argued that Republicans should abolish the 60-vote threshold rather than wait for Democrats to do so first.
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&#8220;One of the first things I did was co-sponsor the SAVE America Act. As I said earlier, I’m willing to stay through recess to get it done. What’s up with recess anyway? Who gets a month off from work?&#8221; she asked, adding, &#8220;I think we should stay up there and work and get it done.&#8221;
&#8220;You have to have an ID to check out a library book, to buy alcohol, you don&#8217;t have to have an ID to vote? That&#8217;s absurd!&#8221; she continued.
Acknowledging the fact that her brother had always <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/12/trump-lindsey-graham-senate-whisperer-00994269">stopped short</a> of agreeing that the filibuster had to go, Graham argued — as many have — that Democrats were likely to get rid of it the moment they regained power.
&#8220;I am all for – this is where I differ from my brother – getting rid of the filibuster to get this done, because eventually the Democrats are going to get rid of it anyway,&#8221; she said.
Graham was appointed to the Senate after Lindsey Graham died in July from an aortic dissection. Just days later, with the full backing of President Donald Trump, she was sworn in and declared her intention to seek a full term in the U.S. Senate.
Monday&#8217;s debate had Graham facing off with her Republican opposition: Reps. Ralph Norman (R-SC) and Russell Fry (R-SC), businessman Mark Lynch and former Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC).
After Lynch aimed a series of attacks on the late senator, Graham jumped to her brother&#8217;s defense.
&#8220;Mr. Lynch mentioned Lindsey Graham multiple times, and I don’t know if he’s afraid that Lindsey beat him and now his little sister is going to beat him, but I just don’t like hearing that,&#8221; she said.
Graham said in a previous interview that she would <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lindsey-grahams-sister-breaks-from-one-of-his-defining-priorities">break </a><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lindsey-grahams-sister-breaks-from-one-of-his-defining-priorities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">with her brother</a> in another way, saying she planned to focus more on kitchen-table issues than on foreign policy and national security, as he had.

Todd Blanche Mark Up TW

Darline Graham Breaks With Her Late Brother On Another Key Issue

Darline Graham

Filibuster

Lindsey Graham

SAVE America Act

Voter ID

A Democratic congressional candidate competing Tuesday in a closely watched Michigan primary has repeatedly criticized what he calls America&#8217;s &#8220;cult of hard work,&#8221; urged the election of more socialist members to Congress, and accused Republicans of being an alliance between &#8220;fossil fuel billionaires&#8221; and &#8220;white supremacists.&#8221;
William Lawrence, a Democratic Socialists of America member, co-founder of the <a href="https://x.com/sunrisemvmt/status/2084685088919335135">Sunrise Movement</a>, and Democratic candidate in Michigan&#8217;s 7th Congressional District, made the remarks across multiple appearances on left-wing podcasts and radio programs uncovered by The Daily Wire.
Lawrence is competing in Tuesday&#8217;s Democratic primary against former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink and former Navy SEAL Matt Maasdam for the chance to challenge Rep. Tom Barrett (R-MI) in November. The district is rated a &#8220;Toss-Up&#8221; by the <a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/house/race/483311">Cook Political Report</a> and is expected to be one of the country&#8217;s most competitive House races.
In one episode of his podcast “Hegemonicon,” Lawrence described what he sees as uniquely American problems facing the political Left. &#8220;You mentioned U.S. exceptionalism, the cult of hard work,&#8221; Lawrence said of American politics and culture.
In the same discussion, Lawrence argued that the Left needs to elect more openly socialist lawmakers and specifically called for additional Democratic Socialists of America members in Congress. &#8220;I think sometimes we want to talk about accountability, as if it&#8217;s simply a moral calculation, where we need more accountable working class and progressive or Left legislator[s] — we need more accountable DSA members in Congress,&#8221; Lawrence said.
Lawrence argued that socialist lawmakers should be supported by an organized political movement capable of protecting them after taking controversial votes against the political establishment. &#8220;But to become an outsider to that is, you know, we need a lot of reinforcements,&#8221; he said.
In a separate 2018 appearance on the left-wing radio program Rising Up With Sonali, Lawrence attacked the Republican Party in sweeping terms. &#8220;I said it before. The Republican Party is an organized alliance between fossil fuel billionaires like the Koch brothers and white supremacists like Steve Bannon and Ron DeSantis,&#8221; Lawrence said. &#8220;They do not care one bit for the idea of democracy, and they are actively dismantling every piece of our civil liberties and our freedoms that we have fought and people have died for over the course of this country&#8217;s history.&#8221;
Lawrence has built his political career through left-wing activist organizations. He helped found the Sunrise Movement, the youth climate organization that became one of the driving forces behind the Green New Deal, and has campaigned unapologetically on the far-left despite running in one of the nation&#8217;s most competitive congressional districts.
His candidacy has highlighted an ongoing divide within the Democratic Party between its far-left and establishment wings. Lawrence has received the backing of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and has both <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/progressives-michigan-join-forces-key-house-battleground-crucial-senat-rcna353212">endorsed and been endorsed</a> by Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, another left-wing darling in Michigan. More moderate Democrats have lined up behind his primary opponents, with Brink endorsed by former Governor Jennifer Granholm and Maasdam backed by Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI).
Some Democratic strategists <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/6002980-michigan-democrats-senate-house-el-sayed-lawrence/">have warned</a> that nominating Lawrence could make it harder for the party to flip the district in November, arguing his far-left positions may be a difficult fit in a swing seat that President Donald Trump carried by just over one percentage point in 2024. Lawrence has dismissed those concerns, arguing voters are &#8220;tired of the status quo&#8221; and &#8220;tired of corporate-funded&#8221; candidates.
The winner of Tuesday&#8217;s Democratic primary will face Barrett in one of the House races expected to play a key role in determining control of Congress.
Republicans have already begun highlighting Lawrence&#8217;s comments. &#8220;William Lawrence is a Champagne Socialist who attacks American competition and demonizes hard work,&#8221; Republican National Committee spokesman Hunter Lovell said in a statement provided to The Daily Wire. &#8220;Lawrence hates the American way of life, and he is on a terror path to destroy our country as we know it.&#8221;

NYC-DSA holds a rally to tax the rich

Dem Socialist Candidate Rails Against American ‘Cult Of Hard Work’

2026 midterm

2026 Midterms

Congress

Democrat

Democratic Party

Leftism

Leftist Ideology

Leftists

U.S.

U.S. House of Representatives

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) said Tuesday that his former son-in-law, Rep. Max Miller (R-OH), has put his family into the &#8220;seventh level of hell&#8221; as the increasingly public feud between the two Republicans escalates.
Miller and Emily Moreno, the senator&#8217;s daughter, have spent months battling in court over custody of their young daughter, with Emily accusing the congressman of domestic abuse and child endangerment. Miller has denied the allegations, sued his ex-wife for defamation, and publicly claimed she suffers from mental illness.
Speaking with entertainment site TMZ from a Capitol Hill hallway, Moreno addressed Miller&#8217;s recent statements and took questions about why he hadn&#8217;t gone public with his feelings earlier. The one topic he refused to address was politics, saying repeatedly that he did not care about how his statements could affect Miller&#8217;s re-election campaign — and, by extension, the balance of power in the House of Representatives.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨🎥 BREAKING: Sen. Bernie Moreno speaks out on camera about ex-son-in-law Rep. Max Miller, calling his family&#8217;s ordeal &#8220;truly the seventh level of hell&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/b1OtdoJOqs">pic.twitter.com/b1OtdoJOqs</a>
— TMZ (@TMZ) <a href="https://x.com/TMZ/status/2084668961505845517?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 4, 2026</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Did the lawyer for Max Miller apologize to you?&#8221; one reporter asked, and Moreno said he had not.
&#8220;Do you think that Max Miller should resign from Congress?&#8221; another asked.
Moreno turned to face the reporters and asked, &#8220;Did you read my statement?&#8221;
The Ohio senator went on to say that he believed Miller should not serve in Congress, adding, &#8220;He needs serious help.&#8221;
One reporter pointed to a statement from Miller in which he&#8217;d said Moreno was only attacking him to &#8220;hide from&#8221; his &#8220;own circus,&#8221; and asked what that might be referencing.
&#8220;The ramblings of a madman,&#8221; Moreno said, adding, &#8220;I don&#8217;t even know what that means.&#8221;
&#8220;What do you think about Miller telling Trump he could still win?&#8221; a reporter asked.
Moreno was adamant: &#8220;Look, I don&#8217;t care about the politics. I hope that you understand — or maybe I hope that you never have to understand — what my daughter has been through, what my daughter is going through, what my wife is going through &#8230; this is truly the seventh level of hell.&#8221;
Moreno spoke with the reporters for several minutes, explaining that although his family had been dealing with the situation privately for two years, he had not spoken publicly because his daughter had asked him to help de-escalate the situation with Miller so they could co-parent. <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/08/max-miller-moreno-domestic-abuse-allegations/688159/?gift=SKtFP-7gCBnFn1bNJdqPMn3BVXlEYS7QkYI0KH5aUiE&amp;utm_source=copy-link&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=share">Reporting</a> from The Atlantic appears to back that up, with the outlet citing several sources who said that Emily Moreno did not want her daughter to grow up and see articles and videos showing her grandfather and her father attacking each other.
All of that had changed, he said, when Miller gave a public statement on Sunday and claimed that Moreno&#8217;s daughter was mentally ill.
&#8220;My daughter lives in constant fear of this man,&#8221; Moreno said, adding, &#8220;You can&#8217;t fathom what that makes me feel like when the dad&#8217;s number one job is to protect your kids.&#8221;
He explained that he had been the one to pick up his granddaughter on Sunday because he didn&#8217;t want his daughter to have to interact with Miller any more than absolutely necessary — and that they had to arrange a pickup at a local police station &#8220;because I don&#8217;t know what this guy&#8217;s capable of.&#8221;
Miller, Moreno said, initially refused to return his granddaughter&#8217;s favorite blue bunny — the one toy that she always slept with: &#8220;This girl is crying at night because she can&#8217;t sleep without her little blue bunny. His answer is, &#8216;I&#8217;m just not going to give it to you.'&#8221;
Moreno also accused Miller and his attorney, in their attempt to <a href="https://x.com/anniekarni/status/2084611256019783703">publish evidence</a> that backed his side of things, of having released photos of his granddaughter &#8220;completely naked&#8221; — something that Miller&#8217;s attorney said was &#8220;completely unintentional.&#8221;
&#8220;My personal opinion is that this is a felony and that every single human being that touched that photo and transmitted it electronically should go to jail because it is illegal to do that,&#8221; he said.
Miller also addressed the ongoing situation on Tuesday, declaring his innocence and promising to prove it through an ethics investigation — which was <a href="https://x.com/JakeSherman/status/2084702476675031241">launched</a> Tuesday.
&#8220;In light of all the renewed interest in my family affairs I am going to file my own paperwork for an ethics investigation into myself to clear my name from these horrific attacks on myself and family. I have absolutely nothing to hide. We will be providing the committee all necessary documents needed for a detail [sic] examination,&#8221; Miller <a href="https://x.com/MaxMillerOH/status/2084665339799822436">posted via X</a>. &#8220;The accusations continue to change, but my facts stay the same. I am looking forward to my colleagues reading everything for themselves.&#8221;

GOP Senator Says Family Dispute Put Him In ‘Seventh Level Of Hell’

Bernie Moreno Says Max Miller Has Put His Family In 'Seventh Level Of Hell'

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