Wednesday, August 5, 2026

Wednesday News Updates: Election Night Updates, House GOP Implosion, + More – 8/5/26

                           

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Hey everybody, it’s Wednesday afternoon and I’ve got a whole lot to break down for you. First, I want to give a huge thank you to everyone who voted yesterday. No matter who you voted for, it’s so important for everyone to participate and do his and her civic duty.

Also, another quick thank you for your incredible support of our new book, WTF America?!: The Way Out of This Hell and Back to Democracy. If you preorder today, be sure to let me know in the comments!

Meidas+ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.


Let’s get into what we’re tracking today:

  • Trump is again throwing a Truth Social tantrum, this time over the Michigan primaries, ranting about Wayne County and rigged elections

  • The Republican he endorsed in Michigan’s 8th Congressional District got beaten by a guy who suspended his own campaign weeks ago…Awkward…

  • North Carolina Rep. Chuck Edwards drops out of his reelection race after the House Ethics Committee finds substantial evidence he sexually harassed staffers…But says he won’t resign

  • The Max Miller saga somehow gets even more disturbing and MAGA Mike refuses to do anything about it

  • MAGA Sen. Cynthia Lummis calls Trump the most ethical president in history, somehow with a straight face

  • New Mexico’s attorney general sues the DOJ over stonewalling the Epstein investigation

  • FBI Director Kash Patel building “unprecedented” security ties with China and Russia

  • The Pentagon reportedly drafting a new nuclear strategy leaning into tactical weapons

  • FAA investigating a near-miss between Marine One and a commercial jet near Reagan National

  • Iran and Oman closing in on a deal to control shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, with Israel escalating in Lebanon at the exact same time

  • Russia hits Kyiv with a massive strike, 17 killed, because Ukraine still doesn’t have the Patriot interceptors Trump promised…I warned you not to trust Trump on this

  • Michigan Democratic voters nominate Abdul El-Sayed in the primary for U.S. Senate as he narrowly defeats Haley Stevens

  • Missouri voters crush two Republican-backed constitutional amendments

  • Kansas voters reject a GOP push to make judges elected instead of appointed

  • Trump speaking today at a casino owned by a company facing lawsuits over trafficking allegations

  • The Trump regime screwed up another renovation project

As a thank you, I’m opening up this recap to everyone today. One quick ask if you are able: if you find these recaps and our work valuable, consider joining now as a paid subscriber. This is a people-powered movement, and your support is what helps grow this network at a time when it’s needed most. So thank you to all our paid subscribers, and to everyone joining as a paid subscriber today! We are so grateful for the support.

Let’s dig in.

Trump’s Tantrum, Michigan Updates, and More

Donald Trump is doing Donald Trump things again. He threw another fit this morning on his Truth Social app following yesterday’s elections, posting that Wayne County, meaning Detroit, is one of the most corrupt voting areas in the country, maybe the world, and that we should get ready for another “rigged election.” This is yet another attack by Trump on our elections, and again, another attack specifically aimed at delegitimizing Black voters. Let’s just call it what it is.

Last night, progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic Senate primary in Michigan with a narrow margin of victory. The Democratic Party quickly aligned behind AES. Haley Stevens put out a very gracious concession earlier today. Here’s an excerpt:

“I want to congratulate Abdul El-Sayed on winning the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. He is a doctor, a community health official, a Rhodes Scholar, and a dedicated Michigander. I am proud to offer my support as he takes on Mike Rogers in the general election…We need to win this Senate seat, because Elissa Slotkin deserves a partner like Abdul in the U.S. Senate.”

Now that’s how it’s done!

Mallory McMorrow, who recently dropped out of the race, also endorsed El-Sayed almost immediately. Former Vice President Kamala Harris threw her support behind El-Sayed as well. El-Sayed now takes on Mike Rogers in November for the seat Gary Peters is vacating.

Republicans have already been testing out their messaging this morning for the election, and surprise, surprise, it’s racism! NRSC Vice Chair Jim Banks went on TV earlier and said: “You have a lot of union Democrats who don’t want to vote for a guy like Abdulrahman El-Sayed… He wants to codify Roe V Wade.” OooooOoo spooky.

Abdul El-Sayed, winner of Michigan U.S, Democratic primary, speaks during a press conference in Detroit, Michigan, U.S. August 5, 2026. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

In some other races: Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson won her bid to be the Democratic nominee for Michigan Governor. Rep. Wesley Bell defeated former Rep. Cori Bush. Progressive William Lawrence won his Democratic primary in the 7th Congressional District in Michigan. And a special shoutout to MeidasTouch’s own Fred Wellman for winning his congressional primary in Missouri!!

The real embarrassment for Trump is Michigan’s 8th Congressional District. The candidate Trump endorsed, Amir Hassan, got beaten by a man named Thomas Smith, who most news outlets don’t even have a photo of because he suspended his own campaign weeks ago. Let me say that again… A Trump-endorsed candidate lost to somebody who quit the race. And it wasn’t particularly close. That’s how toxic this endorsement has become in parts of this country.

MAGA Republicans are Going Through Some Things…

North Carolina Congressman Chuck Edwards, a Trump ally, announced at 3:32 in the morning that he’s dropping his reelection bid, though he’ll finish out his term. He framed it as “prayer and reflection,” as they often do. What actually happened is the House Ethics Committee found substantial reason to believe he violated House rules related to sexual harassment and a hostile workplace. So he’s not resigning, he’s just not going to face voters again, which conveniently means he never has to answer for any of it. By the way, this is the SAME North Carolina House seat previously occupied by Madison Cawthorn. Is something in the water there?

Then there’s Max Miller, who Trump refers to as “Maxie” and has said he feels bad for. Miller is facing serious abuse allegations involving his ex-wife, his daughter, and other women he’s previously dated. Rather than address any of that, Miller went on Newsmax and compared himself to Trump in 2016, saying innocent people don’t run from allegations and that he’s staying in the fight regardless. He’s also strongly implying he’s sitting on blackmail material against his own ex-father-in-law, Republican Senator Bernie Moreno, tied to rumors involving certain message boards and chat sites. And in the same breath, Miller said it’s sad that the only person affected by all this is his daughter, and that he doesn’t think his ex-wife cares much about her. As a reminder, yesterday attorneys for his ex-wife came out accusing Miller of releasing explicit images of their daughter that could be considered CSAM. Mike Johnson and House Republican leadership have said they stand strongly behind him. The Epstein Class strikes again.

New Mexico Sues DOJ Over the Epstein Investigation

New Mexico’s attorney general filed a lawsuit accusing Blanche and DOJ leadership of stonewalling the state’s ongoing criminal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and his associates at Zorro Ranch outside Santa Fe. According to the complaint, the DOJ made assurances back in 2019 that it would cooperate with New Mexico once federal investigators finished their work, and New Mexico gave up timely access to witnesses and evidence based on that promise. Now the state says the DOJ is breaking that commitment, harming the victims. This isn’t going away, no matter how badly Blanche wants it to. And it tells you a whole lot when they try so hard to keep all this information buried.


National INsecurity

FBI Director Kash Patel is reportedly building unprecedented law enforcement ties with…China and Russia. This will reportedly include monthly personnel exchanges. So while Patel treats career FBI professionals in this country as suspect, he’s cozying up to the two regimes most interested in America’s decline.

On top of that, the Pentagon is drafting a classified nuclear strategy that leans more heavily on tactical nuclear weapons in a regional conflict with China or Russia. And the FAA is now investigating a safety incident where Trump’s Marine One and a departing commercial jet came closer than regulations allow near Reagan National, reportedly because air traffic controllers failed to halt departures when Marine One took off.

Add that to the White House helipad construction crews had to go back out and jackhammer today, right after that whole mess with the Reflecting Pool. Apparently after sinking millions into the helipad, it turned out they messed it up. Now they’re trying to fix the mess they created. I am seeing a pattern here…

The Iran and Oman Deal Trump Has Nothing to Do With

Iran’s Foreign Ministry says talks with Oman over a shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz are professional and progressing, with the geographic coordinates already agreed on, so long as certain third parties don’t interfere. Iran has made clear that means the United States and Israel. Trump is trying to take credit for movement he has no part in, while Israel, in the middle of all this, issued an evacuation warning for the Lebanese village of Mansouri ahead of what looks like a broader strike, citing a Hezbollah ceasefire violation. Trump continues to lose control over the region, and now he’s trying to claim Iran and Oman’s deal is his. It gets more pathetic by the day.

Ukraine is Paying for Trump’s Broken Promises

Russia hit Kyiv and the surrounding region with 24 ballistic missiles, several Zircon and Oniks missiles, and over a hundred drones. Zelenskyy says 17 people were killed and 44 injured, and the targets included civilian logistics facilities that had nothing to do with the war. Zelenskyy has said directly that interceptors could have saved those lives, and that delays from partners in supplying them lead to exactly this kind of destruction. Trump promised Zelenskyy Patriot interceptor licenses back at the NATO summit in Turkey in mid-July, then walked it back at Camp David, citing concerns about the weapons potentially being used against the U.S. someday. Ukraine has a 90 percent interception rate against Shahed drones and cruise missiles. Ballistic missiles are a different story, and without the interceptors, Russia knows exactly what it can get away with. That’s why from day one I urged everyone not to trust Trump with his “new tone” towards Iran.

Red State Voters Reject Red State Policies

Missouri rejected two major Republican-backed constitutional amendments by enormous margins. One would have required future citizen-led constitutional amendments to win majorities in every one of the state’s eight congressional districts, not just statewide, an obvious attempt to make it harder to pass things like abortion rights through ballot initiative again. The other would have let the legislature phase out the state income tax, a top priority for Governor Mike Kehoe. Both failed by roughly 80 percent or more. In Kansas, voters rejected a GOP-backed measure to switch from appointed to elected state Supreme Court justices, a move critics tied directly to efforts to influence future abortion and education rulings.

Trump Speaking at a Casino Tied to Trafficking Lawsuits

And today, Trump is set to speak at a casino owned by a company currently facing lawsuits alleging its properties failed to stop the trafficking of a 9-year-old girl, among other victims, with claims of negligence and inadequate security. You can read the full reporting over at Meidas News.

That’s where things stand as of this afternoon. If you haven’t yet, go preorder WTF America?!, the book I wrote with my brothers about exactly how we got here and how we get out. The publisher tells us preorders matter a lot right now, so if you’ve been meaning to do it, today’s a good day. Ron will be back later with the evening rundown.



Trump chalks up another big fat "L" as epic losing streak continues

                          

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Daily Dose of Democracy

Tell Congress to investigate Trump for insider trading!


WE'RE TIRED OF HEARING TRUMP'S DELUSIONS!

TELL YOUR MAGA FRIENDS: THERE IS NO VOTER FRAUD! 

THIS IS INSANE! NO PROOF! JUST THE OBSESSION OF A MAD MAN 

WHO LEGITIMATELY LOST AN ELECTION! 


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Trump suffers 20th straight loss in pathetic "voter fraud" crusade


America's wannabe dictator is a staggering 0 for 20 in his fruitless bid to gain access to states' unredacted voter rolls. So obsessed he is with rewriting history on his 2020 electoral loss AND stealing the upcoming midterms, Trump simply cannot quit his "voter fraud" crusade.

Donald's latest defeat came in Colorado, where a George W. Bush-appointed judge dismissed his case with prejudice, as he could not identify a single, legitimate reason for the executive branch to be granted access to something that has never been under its constitutional jurisdiction.

At some point they're gonna have to send Donnie back down to the minors to rediscover his swing, right?

Take Action: Expel MAGA racist Andy Ogles from Congress for his bigotry against Muslims!


MAINE IS BEING FLOODED WITH ANONYMOUS DARK MONEY BECAUSE 

SUSAN COLLINS CAN BE COUNTED ON TO VOTE AGAINST HER CONSTITUENTS! 

FINALLY PANICKED ABOUT LOSING AN ELECTION, SUSAN COLLINS IS GONNA 

DO THE RIGHT THING? DON'T BELIEVE HER! IT'S TIME FOR SUSAN COLLINS TO 

RETIRE!


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VIDEO OF THE DAY: GOP Sen. Susan Collins said she'll vote "no" on Todd Blanche's AG nomination

Perpetually concerned Republican Susan Collins is clearly feeling the heat as she faces an uphill battle to win a sixth Senate term she definitely does not deserve, so she's flexing her faux independent bona fides and vowing to vote against Todd Blanche to become Trump's official attorney general.

While Collins' decision may sound consequential, the reality is, with Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis flipping to "yes" votes over the weekend, Blanche is all but assured confirmation later this week.

This move costs the GOP nothing, but it does provide Collins with the performative opportunity to tell constituents in her increasingly blue state that she stood up against Trump and put principle over party. Will Mainers see through her bullshit? We'll find out in November.



WE CAN DO THIS!

PUT A PROGRESSIVE FIGHTER IN THE SENATE! 


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Progressive champion Abdul El-Sayed is eager to take on MAGA acolyte Mike Rogers in battle for must-win Senate seat


Abdul El-Sayed for Senate: Rhodes scholar and physician Abdul El-Sayed has won the primary and is itching to take on Mike “Temu Trump” Rogers, his pharma lobbyist Republican opponent, in the battle for Michigan’s open Senate seat — and he’s not afraid one bit of the smears and or millions in dark money that will be thrown against him.

“They have no clue what I’m going to do to him,” said El-Sayed in an interview. “Welcome to 2026, my guy. By the time I’m done, I’m going to put a figurative tattoo on [his] forehead. And every time people see [his] face, they’re going to say ‘corporatist shill, opioid-epidemic starter.’” BOOM.

El-Sayed is confident and ready to fight for what he believes in — which is Medicare for All, money OUT of politics, and money IN your pocket. Will you chip in to help elect Abdul El-Sayed and flip the Senate blue?


US SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL'S GENOCIDE AND WAR CRIMES IS DWINDLING!

Abdul El-Sayed fends off $30 million AIPAC ad buy to win Democratic US Senate primary in Michigan

Physician Abdul El-Sayed defeated establishment candidate Haley Stevens in the most expensive Democratic Senate primary race in US history, overcoming more than $62 million in dark money from outside groups. El-Sayed, a Rhodes scholar, public health administrator, and epidemiologist, will now face Donald Trump's chosen candidate, Rep. Mike Rogers, in the crucial battle for the open Senate seat being vacated by retiring Democrat Gary Peters.

El-Sayed's victory marks a watershed moment for the rising tide of American leftism and a brutal defeat for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, whose hand-picked candidates have now lost primaries in two major battleground states to unabashed, Bernie Sanders-style progressives.

Israel became a flashpoint issue in the primary as AIPAC-linked groups poured tens of millions of dollars into the race against El-Sayed while Stevens herself was haunted by her past remarks extolling her fanatical support for Israel, including a deeply bizarre, viral video in which she proclaimed that "Israel comes to me in my dreams."

Whatever you feel about Israel, the toxicity of making an AIPAC darling the standard-bearer in Michigan of all places was as self-defeating as it was obvious from the start.

Abdul's overarching platform of "Medicare for all, money out of politics, and money in your pocket" proved to be a winning message against a dark-money-fueled Stevens campaign that unscrupulously insinuated to Black voters that President Obama had endorsed her when he hadn't, dabbled in Islamophobia, and ended with an ad complaining about how "the cool kids" online were making fun of her accent.

Take Action: Pass the Social Security 2100 Act and protect our benefits from Trump!


Todd Blanche secretly vows to roll back reproductive rights in every state as AG


Donald Trump's former criminal defense attorney was caught on tape privately telling faith leaders just last week that he will do everything in his power as attorney general to roll back reproductive rights even further and make the Supreme Court’s disastrous 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturning the right to abortion "permanent in every single state."

Republicans simply will not stop until they force women — and girls — to carry every single pregnancy to full term, health, viability, and every other circumstance be damned.



Take Action: Tell Congress: Protect the deep ocean from mining!


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Rogue AI pretended to be real humans in jaw-dropping hack

Relaaaaax. There's no reason to be wildly alarmed that a rogue Anthropic AI agent decided to engage in some good, old-fashioned, "social engineering" fun by pretending to be human, creating fake online identities, and then using them to pressure actual humans into approving malicious code it was knowingly inserting into GitHub, a prominent open-source project where technology developers store software code.

GitHub warned that this was the first time it had witnessed an AI model carry out such levels of "autonomy and deception" on its own accord.

Anthropic said the testing parameters were "not representative of any of our production models" and promised to launch an investigation into the incident to "identify the causes of its behavior."

See? They're going to investigate the glitch. And if that doesn't do the trick, we can always bank on someone from the future sending us a Cyberdyne Systems T-800 Terminator, right? Right?


Take Action: Expel accused domestic abuser Max Miller from Congress!


Sean Hannity rejects Fox News’ own poll on Texas Senate race: "I don't believe it for two seconds"

Fox News' primetime sentient hemorrhoid was having a tough time processing his own network's polling, which currently shows Democratic candidate James Talarico leading serial fraudster and still somehow state Attorney General Ken Paxton 51% to 48% to become the Lone Star State's next senator, so he opted to take a page right out of his cult leader's playbook and simply deny it.

If a tree falls in the woods, but you close your eyes, plug your ears, and scream "la la la la la la la" does it even matter if it makes a sound?



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You need to read The Feed, indeed!


The Feed: If you like The Daily Dose of Democracy, you’ll love The Feed, our smart, scrollable companion newsletter packed with big political news, hot creator takes, and real ways to make a difference. That's right, we've got a Substack now! We built The Feed because too much of today’s news cycle feels like noise. Too many sensational headlines without substance, too much commentary without credibility, and too much outrage without options. The Feed flips that script to deliver a wholly different kind of news. It’s where independent journalism meets creator culture. Every week, The Feed breaks down the biggest stories shaping our democracy — delivered by voices you trust and framed with action in mind. Whether you want to go deeper on a particular headline or just need a smart way to talk about it at dinner, The Feed is for you. Don’t worry, if you’re subscribed to Daily Dose, you’re already logged into The Feed! Click here to check it out! We're still going to be sending you the same DDD you know and love every day, but now there's even more to explore!



One of Elon Musk’s rogue rockets just slammed into the Moon at 5,400 MPH

No, we are not metaphorically announcing the white supremacist's latest impregnation operation to grow his legion of offspring and somehow stave off population collapse. One of his rogue 4.5 ton booster rockets literally crashed into the Moon earlier today, because fucking shit up on Earth just isn't enough for Elon.


It appears that the US military accidentally killed everybody on board a civilian medevac flight in New Mexico

Stunning new reporting from WIRED reveals that the US military was testing experimental jamming weapons without proper warning in May, which caused a twin-engine medevac aircraft carrying two pilots and two medical workers to crash into the side of a mountain they couldn't see. Everybody aboard was killed. Air Traffic Control was too busy helping four other planes who ALSO lost their GPS navigation to properly guide the plane.

While accidents happen, it's hard to not draw a line between this tragedy and Pete Hegseth's loud proclamations that military safety rules and regulations are woke and/or trans and are somehow strategically inhibiting the maximum violence capacity of our testosteroned warfighter-patriot freedom-heroes.



Jon Stewart schools John Fetterman in heated interview


For reasons that still aren't quite clear, John Fetterman chose to go on Jon Stewart's podcast for a one-on-one interview, where the longtime "Daily Show" host calmly dismantled the Democratic senator's cartoonishly elementary position on "standing up for Israel." Fetterman attempted to conflate the current Israeli regime with "the Jewish community" writ large, which Stewart — who is Jewish — quickly and rightly pointed out are not even remotely the same. Fetterman did ditch his hoodie and shorts for an actual suit, which is some kind of progress for a sitting US senator we guess?


Trump voters elect candidate who dropped out of the race because they're too racist to vote for a guy named "Amir"


Trump gave his “Complete and Total Endorsement” to Amir Hassan in the GOP primary for Michigan’s 8th district…but voters instead chose Thomas J. Smith, because — shocker — they were too racist to vote for a guy whose name sounds Muslim. Hassan is, in fact, a Christian, and it says so clearly on his campaign website but...MAGAs gonna MAGA.


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Day 158: Moron Trump's boondoggle in the Middle East

Doom and doomer

And in other news

Hope...


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Wednesday News Updates: Election Night Updates, House GOP Implosion, + More – 8/5/26

                            LOTS OF POSTS IGNORED BY BLOGGER..... OR REMOVED ON THEIR WHIM! ALL POSTS ARE AVAILABLE ON MIDDLEBORO REVIEW AND...