mike brown

President Donald Trump has managed to effortlessly hijack the Republican Party’s propaganda machine to dominate the public discourse on his policies — no matter how unpopular or hurtful. But there comes a time when every machine pops a cog and careens into a wall.

For decades, the Republican Party has enjoyed the benefit of an army of propagandists parading as “news” to spread Republican talking points. Later that propaganda network expanded to include a legion of MAGA influencers and paid entertainers to broadcast GOP policies and arguments. More recently Trump has lumbered into the captain’s chair of that same propaganda network. But critics tell MS NOW anchor Nicole Wallace that Captain Trump appears to have steered his ship into an iceberg.

“There's a lot of anger out there,” former Republican speechwriter Tim Miller told Wallace. “I think there's a lot of things that … Democrats should be able to channel with voters. I mean, you've got Donald Trump's buddy becoming the first trillionaire today — Elon Musk. They're going to have the birthday party for him on the lawn. And all of this out of touch French Revolution style behavior from Trump, I think, will be manna for the Democrats politically.”

Media Matters President Angelo Carusone pointed out that the openly indifferent Trump has managed to sever his historic ties with his own MAGA voters, however.

“That was a source of his strength. I mean [in addition to] the media apparatus around him that he could use to amplify his message, but his connection to that zeitgeist allowed him to then, amplify stories and messages and capture that gut feeling that then enabled him to build power on what used to be considered the fringes and also pull in people that maybe wouldn't, have been there in the first place,” said Carusone.

But now the regrets are piling up among Trump’s voters to the point where it’s even boiling over on MAGA-bastions like daytime talk radio and focus groups and polls, he added. Worse, the massive GOP propaganda machine can’t seem to deal with it.

“[W]hen you have so much regret amongst Trump voters, amongst MAGA voters, amongst MAGA audience, MAGA media doesn't have a plan. They don't know how to deal with regretful Trump voters. So, what they end up doing is ignoring them,” said Carusone.

The tactic compares to the kind of software failure that makes a dumb Roomba bump into a wall over and over again until it drains its battery.

“And … what does that do? Well, if you're being ignored, you just get more mad. And then everything that gets said gets further and further detached. That gap becomes wider and wider and wider,” said Carusone. “This is a trend we've seen going all the way back to the way they handled the Epstein stuff. At first, they turned a crack into a full-blown fissure, and that's the feedback loop that [Trump] is in now with his audience. And so [his] … audience gets more mad because Fox and the hosts, they just ignore them. And so does Trump.”

Only now the effect is boiling over so furiously that Miller and Carusone both say even Fox News hosts are getting pushed along in the river of fury.

“It just continues to brew up, and then the personalities have to slowly start to shift. I heard Jesse Watters say something negative about Trump this week,” Carusone erupted. “That is insane. That's incredible. That never happens.”

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The Dispatch‘s national correspondent, Kevin D. Williamson, wants to ask Republicans a question.

He points to the $270 it takes to fill up the tank of a Ford Super Duty truck in his neighborhood — 48 gallons at $5.60 a gallon for diesel — and asks, “Do you feel smart?”

Citing a column by The New York Times’ Bret Stephens, Williamson weighs the pros and cons of voters electing candidates to achieve results over voters choosing “paragons of moral rectitude.”

“There is something to be said for that approach,” writes Williamson. “One of the problems with our politics is that politicians—especially presidents—are treated as embodiments of the nation, the people, and our values, to such an extent that members of a party feel alienated and humiliated when the other party’s leader occupies the White House.”

He concludes that for partisans, “inconvenient facts necessitate a kind of rhetorical two-step.”

“There are proud Trump cultists and there are embarrassed Trump cultists, and, if you press one of the latter on Trump’s viciousness—his dishonesty, his infidelity, his venality, his susceptibility to flattery, his inconstancy—he often will retreat into comfortable pragmatism,” Williamson writes.

They will say they like Trump’s “policies,” which, Williamson charges, “mainly indicates the economic conditions coincident with Trump’s first term in office, pre-COVID, which were only to a very minor degree the result of any Trump policy.”

But press the embarrassed Trump cultist further — like on the $270 tank fill-up — and they will “retreat into moralism, albeit a negative kind of moralism based in the perceived deficiencies of the Democrats rather than in any of Trump’s particular moral virtues, which, it is plain, simply do not exist.”

When Republicans insist Americans “think of the policies,” Williamson says he wonders “what those beneficial policies are.”

“The illegally initiated and incompetently executed war in Iran that is the proximate cause of that $270 diesel bill? The obviously criminal massacres of civilians on the high seas? The gross self-dealing and corruption? The elevation of wildly unqualified yes-men such as Bill Pulte to high office? The deepening debt? The rising inflation?”

Williamson says that they like the policies, “Except for the inflation, and the trade chaos, and the war, and the corruption, and the enshrinement of utter incompetence.”

He says that you “can two-step around reality any way you like, but the fact is that right now Republicans are offering both Ken Paxton and $5.60 diesel. And so I repeat the question to my Republican friends: ‘Do you feel smart?'”

Wonkette writer Robyn Pennacchia blew her top after Fox News entertainer Greg Gutfeld shared his fantasy of a woman being brutally assaulted by "male detainees." His fantasy victim: beloved children’s entertainer and YouTuber “Ms. Rachel.”

To be clear, Ms. Rachael makes videos helping kids learn their first words and sing along to “The Wheels on the Bus” and other kids’ songs.

But Pennacchia said Ms. Rachel committed the unforgivable MAGA sin of asking for tolerance. Firstly, the musical entertainer has partnered with the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, advocated for war-torn children, and she “sang a song with a three-year-old double amputee from Gaza. You know, because it’s just so rude to bring it up when children are maimed or killed in war.”

Pennacchia said America’s conservatives have generally had it in for children’s programming for decades because most kids’ shows “run in direct opposition to everything they stand for," primarily because they "teach children about sharing, about caring, about being kind to others (especially people who are different), they’re usually quite ethnically diverse, and, perhaps worst of all, they are very frequently Canadian hippies."

But Ms. Rachel called down Gutfeld’s fury by advocating on behalf of immigrant children in the U.S., visiting immigrant detention centers and singing songs to the child detainees. She also traveled to Washington, DC with more than 500 letters from children being detained in federal facilities, said Pennacchia.

“So, naturally, Gutfeld was irate, because all he wants is to live in a world in which children’s performers are a little more chill about child abuse,” she explained.

On the Thursday edition of Fox News’ “The Five,” Gutfeld called Ms. Rachel “a Trojan horse that exploits the benign innocent nature of a kid’s show host” to make critics “look like the bad guy.”

“Here’s where it gets extra creepy, though,” warned Pennacchia.

“I would love for her to do a sing-a-long with a handful of male detainees unsupervised and watch the suicidal empathy take hold as she defends, as the typical misguided leftist does, this innocent trapped man who is a refugee, who might be a felon, but I don’t know,” said Gutfeld. “… These naive virtue signalers will help a felon that will lead to their own death. She can operate in her stupidity as long as the felons are behind a wall. But she should have them come live -- take two of the guys, have them move in with you, Ms. Rachel. People have done that, and have you read what happens? It’s pretty interesting. I wouldn’t advise it.

But Pennacchia says women seeking assault should look anyplace other than a federal immigration pen, because the Trump administration detains “elementary school students and asylum-seeking makeup artists,” not criminals.

“That being said, it’s pretty g—— gross to insinuate that all undocumented immigrants are evil sexual predators — though it probably makes it easier for people like Greg Gutfeld to justify incarcerating children,” argued Pennacchia. “It’s also quite gross to openly fantasize about anyone being assaulted or killed as a result of not sharing your beliefs about something like this.”

She added that Gutfeld should remember that Fox News itself was “a pretty dangerous place to be a woman, so far as sexual harassment and assault were concerned.”

“Do you see me fantasizing about women who work there now, who also do not share my ideas, being violently assaulted by whoever wants to be the next Roger Ailes or Pete Hegseth? No, I do not. Because I am not a psychopath,” ranted Pennacchia.

President Donald Trump putting his face and name on coins and buildings is drawing comparisons to Saddam Hussein, all the way up to the painful, brutal end.

In a panel discussion on Friday, host Antonia Hylton asked political strategist Basil Smikle if he thought Trump was embarrassed by his name coming down.

Smikle remarked, "Talk about embarrassed in an era of no shame."

But MS NOW commenter, Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said recent events carried undeniable echoes of another regime that ended very badly. Kamarck commented that Trump's name coming off of the Kennedy Center is "like the Statue of Saddam Hussein being pulled down during the Iraq War." Not merely the removal of it, but the moment of significance that it marked for the people of Iraq.

Hylton was a little surprised by the comment.

"To bring up Saddam Hussein and the all that that represents — that is a major statement. I'm not even saying I disagree with it, but I do think that there are probably millions of people who are waiting for that image today of his name — you can see it right there on your screen, come down from this historic building."

She asked Charlie Sykes why the arts are such a huge thing for Trump, who has never been respected by the performing arts community.

"This really is the audacity of Donald Trump's ego and his and his vanity," explained Sykes. "But also, he does fashion himself as kind of a cultural czar, you know. But here's the guy who is about to hold a UFC cage match at the White House. But he also, you know, has these pretensions to be a culture warrior to, you know, slap his name on this cultural icon."

He said that he wasn't certain whether it would be a great turning point, but he confessed he'd be among those watching the name come down on a loop.

"I have to say that I didn't have this on my bingo card. I thought we'd have to wait until, you know, after he left office to see all the things torn down and taken down and the names removed and all of that. So this is going to be a deeply satisfying thing. And, you know, a hell of a pre-birthday present for Donald Trump if, in fact, this gets taken down as per the law. I mean, the reality is, of course, there are appeals, but the black letter of the law is very, very clear," he closed.

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Port Charlotte, Florida, is part of Charlotte County — which voted for President Donald Trump by a solid two-to-one margin in 2024. It was named one of the top ten places to retire in 2012.

Still seen as a deeply red state, Democrats are making inroads into the Sunshine State. Ahead of the August primary, in the race for governor, Republican Byron Donalds often polls ahead of Democrat David Jolly but only by single digits, according to data from The New York Times. Donald Trump won the state by 13 points in 2024.

A letter to the editor highly critical of President Donald Trump and his MAGA base in a Port Charlotte news outlet could be seen as surprising.

“MAGA crowd, Trump are all about winning,” reads the headline.

“Donald Trump and the MAGA movement have turned American politics into a fan-based team sport,” writes its author, Gayle Yarnall.

“Governing has become an us versus them rivalry regardless of the consequences. It is all about winning,” she laments.

“The 2024 election is long over. Yet, there are Trump signs, banners, and flags still posted around. It is akin to displaying the flag of your favorite teams like the Patriots or the Buckeyes. What is the purpose except to express that, ‘I’m on a winning team’?” Yarnall asks.

“No one will be persuaded to vote for Trump. The election is done and he won. Is there any memory of Reagan, Biden, Bush, Obama, or Clinton flags or signs posted months or years after the election? Of course not.”

Yarnall calls the still-flying banners and flags “visual reminders” for “those with low self-esteem, feeling left out and unheard.”

“They scream, ‘look at me, we won, I’m on a winning team,'” she says.

“Even when gas prices spike, the cost of tariffs are passed on, a war continues, inflation is rising in all sectors it matters not because my team won.”

In a last-ditch plea, Yarnall asks her neighbors, “Please remember to vote!

A judge ruled on Friday that President Donald Trump's $1.8 billion slush fund was blocked from moving forward, but when the judge's formal ruling was published, it went deeper than ending the fund.

Judge Leonie M. Brinkema wrote: "ORDERED that, to avoid any further litigation in this civil action, defendants Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, Jr., and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent FILE a declaration under the penalty of perjury that they will not take any action to create or operate the Anti-Weaponization Fund, and that the Anti-Weaponization Fund will not proceed in any manner, or under any name. If such a declaration is not filed by June 19, 2026, the Court will issue a Scheduling Order and require defendants to file a responsive pleading by June 17, 2026..."

“You’re a brave man, Mr. Block,” Judge Brinkema told Justice Department attorney Andrew Block at the start of the hearing.

“You think this is lawful business?” the U.S. District Judge asked in the explosive 30-minute hearing, as reported by Adam Klasfeld's "All Rise News."

Just last week, Blanche testified to the House and Senate, promising that the fund wasn't moving forward, but Judge Brinkema took things beyond a simple ruling.

However, The Atlantic reported Thursday evening that " administration is quietly assuring allies that payout plans remain on track."

Legal analysts mocked the text and the judge's effort to add assurances that they'd risk their careers if they ignored the ruling.

"DOJ has one week to put its abandonment of the fund in writing, under oath," pointed out Norm Eisen, whose group Democracy Defenders Action has been regularly suing the administration.

"Judge Brinkema hasn't explained which plaintiff(s) has standing nor on which of their various claims they're likely to succeed. Perhaps an opinion will follow or maybe she's saving that for later, figuring DOJ won't appeal for now," wrote Lawfare's senior editor, Eric Columbus.

Last week, in an interview with News Nation, Blanche said that he is trying to put up "roadblocks" to block Democrats from successfully prosecuting Trump and his administration officials if they win the House and Senate in November.

One of Trump's top officials is so desperate to establish himself as his 2028 MAGA successor that he is making a fool of himself, with a scathing new piece from The i Paper lambasting him as "no longer a serious person."

On Friday, journalist James Ball published a breakdown of Rubio's dignity-shredding participation in a recent UFC announcement, arguing that it is part of his broader attempt to remake himself in a more Trumpian mold as part of a desire to run for president again in 2028, which could make him the de facto leader of both the GOP and the MAGA movement. In doing so, however, Ball also argued that Rubio, once viewed as the default "grown-up in the room" in the Trump White House, is torching his credibility.

Noting that his Senate confirmation vote, 99-0, was a throwback to a pre-Trump era of largely uneventful confirmation, Ball said that Rubio was set up to be "a rare heavyweight in a cabinet full of non-entities," but now, "To say he has failed at that task would be a spectacular understatement."

"Few think Rubio was the man making any of [Trump's worst second term] decisions, but they are all happening directly under his watch – he is not only the US’s chief diplomat at a time when its relations are at an all-time low, but he was also the acting administrator of the United States Agency for International Development," Ball wrote. "As the USA prepares for its 250th birthday, Rubio has a strong case for being one of the worst-ever Secretaries of State in its entire history. But he is not letting any of the many, many stresses of his day job distract him. Instead, he’s commenting on the UFC cage fight due to happen this weekend on the White House lawn."

Ball further highlighted recent comments Rubio made while taking part in the announcement of a new partnership between the White House and UFC ahead of the promotion's fight card on the White House grounds this weekend. The "sports diplomacy" partnership purports to be using UFC to help promote American interests globally, though as Truthout noted in a report, it has also renewed "concerns about possible conflicts of interest between the franchise and President Donald Trump, who purchased up to $50,000 in stocks in UFC’s parent company, TKO Holdings, in May."

Ball was particularly critical of Rubio's comparison of the deal to the moon landing.

“When President Kennedy announced that we were going to put a man on the moon and return them safely to the Earth, no one thought that was possible, and we did it,” Rubio said. “We are a nation founded on doing what no one else dared to do, and no one else aspired to do… and at some level, that’s what this whole company, what UFC has been.”

"Perhaps Rubio really thinks organising a fighting franchise is on a par with one of humanity’s greatest scientific achievements," Ball wrote. "But the truth is, he probably doesn’t: Rubio is playing the clown because that’s what his boss wants him to do, and it’s what he believes Republican voters want to hear."

President Donald Trump has lost the Iran War, and not only can he not face it, but Zeteo's Asawin Suebsaeng also warns that things could get even worse as the mess grows.

Suebsaeng's morning newsletter cautions that Trump's "war has devolved into such a muddled Orwellian mess." His refusal to concede or accept a deal continues to make things worse.

Meanwhile, Trump has flip-flopped all over the place when it comes to the war. On Tuesday, Trump claimed that a deal was "two or three days" away. On Wednesday, the U.S. hit targets after an Iranian drone took down a U.S. helicopter. Trump threatened that night he would "bomb the sh—— out of them" and would be taking Kharg Island. Then, suddenly, Trump claimed that the U.S. has "ended the war with Iran."

CNN's Anderson Cooper mocked Trump on Thursday night for saying for the 39th time that there was a "deal with Iran."

Austrian economics scholar Murray Rothbard mocked, "The Iranian navy, which has been destroyed eight times, has apparently closed the Strait of Hormuz again, because the United States, for the seventh time, won the war that wasn’t a war, so now the United States has to open the Strait of Hormuz that was already open before the not-war began. The not-war began because Iran had uranium that was totally, completely, beautifully obliterated, so they can’t build the nuclear bomb they weren’t building, which is why the United States had to start the not-war it definitely didn’t start."

The president simply refuses to concede that he lost, Suebsaeng lamented. He recalled the Pentagon Papers scandal, which at its heart, was about administrations from both sides knowing full well that the U.S. lost the war in Vietnam. They just couldn't tell Americans. So, they continued to throw away money and American lives.

"President Trump is refusing to admit what most of his compatriots know: He lost, and there’s no sugar-coating it (but, boy, will Team Trump try)," explains Suebsaeng. The whiplash of deal or no deal in the war is "a perfect example of what happens when the world’s most chronically dunderheaded warmonger can’t just admit he got wrecked by a much smaller adversary."

“The chances of it change by the week,” one official tells Suebsaeng. “We think he’s going to, but then he doesn’t.”

By the time he backed off on Thursday, Trump still wasn't willing to acknowledge that he was being destroyed domestically and dragging his party down with him.

Suebsaeng compared the ordeal to Trump's host of NBC’s "Celebrity Apprentice," which made it clear that the president must "have his ego spared from two of the simplest words in the English language: 'I lost.'"