Republicans defend Trump’s disturbing thirst for revenge

Congressional Cowards is a weekly series highlighting the worst Donald Trump defenders on Capitol Hill, who refuse to criticize him—no matter how disgraceful or lawless his actions.

President Donald Trump has been inching the United States toward becoming an authoritarian state since he put his hand on the Bible and took the oath of office for a second time back in January.

But the inching turned into a full-on slide this week, as Trump took tangible steps toward weaponizing the Department of Justice to jail his perceived enemies and silence those with views that differ from his own.

There were fewer comments than usual this week, as Congress is in recess and thus lawmakers are not on Capitol Hill, and safe from reporters asking them to comment on Trump’s impeachable actions.

But the Republican lawmakers who did comment this week cheered Trump's actions.

Following reports that Trump's newly minted U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia will seek an indictment against former FBI Director James Comey—even though career prosecutors said they do not believe probable cause exists to charge him with a crime—multiple GOP lawmakers applauded.

Related | Republicans cheer Comey indictment—to their own peril

"James Comey betrayed our nation. He meddled in the 2016 election, concealed the baseless Trump-Russia probe, abused FISA with the Steele dossier, leaked classified memos to spark the Mueller witch hunt, and lied to Congress. The DOJ should indict him. Justice must be served," Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) wrote in a post on X.

Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) went a step further, saying on Fox Business, "In my opinion he should be charged with treason."

And Rep. Derricek Van Orden had a more succinct response to the news of Comey's possible indictment.

"Prison," Van Orden wrote in a post on X.

Van Orden later said he was excited about the possibility of DOJ officials resigning in protest over a possible Comey indictment, saying that it would be "Outstanding."

"In SEAL training we call this 'self selection,'" Van Orden wrote.

Meanwhile, other Republicans continued to applaud Trump for trying to force ABC to pull comedian Jimmy Kimmel from the airwaves.

“It is reasonable for the FCC commissioner to say what he basically said, which is when he said, 'You can do this the easy way or the hard way, either back off, Disney ... or you’re going to deal with the fact that you’re going to have licenses,'" Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) told right-wing hack Glenn Beck.

They also refused to say Trump should rule out a third term—which the Constitution explicitly prohibits.

“Trump 2028. I hope this never ends,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told Fox News’ Sean Hannity.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) refused to condemn Graham for cheering on a blatantly unconstitutional action.

“Well, I didn't see—I know Lindsey said that before—and I think he generally expects a, you know, a pretty lighthearted response when he says it,” Thune said.

Less scary but embarrassing nonetheless were the Republicans who defended Trump's moronic speech to the United Nations on Tuesday, with others joining Trump's attacks against the organization over the failure of an escalator that Trump and first lady Melania Trump attempted to ride.

Thune called Trump's embarrassing speech that diminished the United States on the world stage "Straight talk from the president."

"He puts out the unvarnished truth," Thune said of Trump's idiotic remarks.

"President Trump commanded respect at the UN, while Biden's wandering turned America into a global punchline," Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) wrote in a post on X, which is the absolute opposite of reality. "It's great to have leadership that doesn't apologize for American strength once again!"

Meanwhile, Steube called for an "investigation" into the escalator situation at the U.N., saying that it “could not be a coincidence" that the escalator stopped right when Trump was on it.

Never underestimate Republicans' ability to debase themselves in subservience to Dear Leader.

Clips of the week: Trump makes a terrible eulogist, diplomat, and doctor

President Donald Trump showed up at the United Nations this week and told world leaders that their countries were “going to hell”—and somehow, that was the least asinine thing he said. After briefly signaling support for our NATO allies, he quickly backtracked. Meanwhile, with a government shutdown looming, Trump and the GOP seem to have abandoned even the pretense of negotiation.

And it’s all on video.

'You are envy, you are hatred': Kirk memorial turns into unhinged rally

President Donald Trump used his time at the memorial service for conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Sunday to further obscure Kirk’s long record of hateful and bigoted views. He was not alone, as the procession of speakers turned what was billed as a solemn service into a fiery political rally.

Angry old man yells at the UN for an hour

Trump visited the UN this week, delivering a speech that can only be described as embarrassing.

Fox News slobbers over Trump's unhinged UN speech

Trump’s rambling, lie-filled speech to the United Nations forced Fox News into desperate spin mode, praising the moment as “raw truth” despite the cringe-worthy display.

Press secretary falls on her face defending Trump’s abuse of power

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tied herself up into knots trying to spin the president’s descent into authoritarianism

Trump waters down major NATO promise

Trump met with world leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, following his torturous speech to the United Nations. In a span of about two-and-a-half minutes, Trump supported NATO’s need to confront Russian military aggression and then backtracked on his support if NATO were to take such an action.

Hakeem Jeffries issues biting warning to businesses bending to Trump

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on CNN and warned companies that cut pay-to-play deals with the Trump administration that the Justice Department won't always be under Trump’s corrupt control.

For more video content, check out Daily Kos on YouTube.

Ex-FBI Director James Comey charged with making false statement and obstruction

James Comey was charged Thursday with making a false statement and obstruction in a criminal case filed days after President Donald Trump appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute the former FBI director and other perceived political enemies.

The indictment makes Comey the first former senior government official to face prosecution in connection with one of Trump’s chief grievances: the long-concluded investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump and his supporters have long derided that investigation as a “hoax” and a “witch hunt” despite multiple government reviews showing Moscow interfered on behalf of the Republican’s campaign.

The criminal case is likely to deepen concerns that the Justice Department under Attorney General Pam Bondi, a Trump loyalist, is being weaponized in pursuit of investigations and now prosecutions of public figures the president regards as his political enemies.

It was filed as the White House has taken steps to exert influence in unprecedented ways on the operations of the Justice Department, blurring the line between law and politics for an agency where independence in prosecutorial decision-making is a foundational principle.

Comey was fired months into Trump’s first administration and has long been a top target for Trump supporters seeking retribution. Comey was singled out by name in a Saturday social media post in which Trump complained directly to Bondi that she had not yet brought charges against him.

The following evening, Trump said in a Truth Social post aimed at the attorney general that department investigations had not resulted in prosecutions. He said he would nominate Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide, to serve as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. She has been one of Trump’s personal lawyers and does not have experience as a federal prosecutor.

“We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility,” Trump wrote, referencing the fact that he himself had been indicted and impeached multiple times. “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”

The office that filed the case against Comey, the Eastern District of Virginia, was thrown into turmoil last week following the resignation of chief prosecutor Erik Siebert under pressure to bring charges against another Trump target, New York Attorney General Letitia James, in a mortgage fraud investigation.

Halligan had rushed to present the case to a grand jury this week. Prosecutors were evaluating whether Comey lied to Congress during testimony on Sept. 30, 2020, and they had until Tuesday to bring a case before the five-year statute of limitations expired. The push to move forward came even as prosecutors in the office had detailed in a memo concerns about the pursuit of an indictment.

Related | Trump builds strong impeachment case against himself

Trump has for years railed against both a finding by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia preferred him to Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election and the criminal investigation that tried to determine whether his campaign had conspired with Moscow to sway the outcome of that race. Prosecutors led by special counsel Robert Mueller did not establish that Trump or his associates criminally colluded with Russia, but they did find that Trump’s campaign had welcomed Moscow’s assistance.

Trump has seized on the fact that Mueller’s investigation did not find that the Trump campaign and the Kremlin colluded, and that there were significant errors and omissions made by the FBI in wiretap applications, to claim vindication. A yearslong investigation into potential misconduct during the Russia investigation, was conducted by a different special counsel, John Durham. That produced three criminal cases, including against an FBI lawyer, but not against senior government officials.

The criminal case against Comey does not concern the substance of the Russia investigation. Rather, it accuses him of having lied to a Senate committee in his 2020 appearance when he said he never authorized anyone to serve as an anonymous source to a reporter about the investigation.

Mike Pence and Joseph Clancy stand near Donald Trump as he shakes hands with James Comey during a reception in the Blue Room of the White House in Jan. 2017.

Trump’s administration is trying to cast the Russia investigation as the outgrowth of an effort under Democratic President Barack Obama to overhype Moscow’s interference in the election and to undermine the legitimacy of Trump’s victory.

Administration officials, including CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, have declassified a series of documents meant to chip away at the strength of an Obama-era intelligence assessment published in January 2017 that said Moscow had engaged in a broad campaign of interference at the direction of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Comey has for years been a prime Trump antagonist. Comey was a senior Justice Department official in Republican President George W. Bush’s administration, was picked by Obama to lead the FBI in 2013 and was director when the bureau opened the Russia investigation.

Comey’s relationship with Trump was strained from the start and was exacerbated when Comey resisted a request by Trump at a private White House dinner to pledge personal loyalty to the president. That overture so unnerved the FBI director that he documented it in a contemporaneous memorandum.

Related | Trump moves even closer to indicting his enemies—first stop, Comey

Trump fired Comey in May 2017, an action later investigated by Mueller for potential obstruction of justice.

After being let go, Comey authorized a close friend to share with a reporter the substance of an unclassified memo that documented an Oval Office request from Trump to shut down an FBI investigation into his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Trump and his allies later branded Comey a leaker, with the president even accusing him of treason. Comey himself has called Trump “ego driven” and likened him to a mafia don.

The Justice Department, during Trump’s first term, declined to prosecute Comey over his handling of his memos. The department’s inspector general did issue a harshly critical report in 2019 that said Comey violated FBI policies, including by failing to return the documents to the FBI after he was dismissed and for sharing them with his personal lawyers without FBI permission.

Related | DOJ's latest firing ensures Epstein scandal won't go away

Earlier this year, the department fired Comey’s daughter, Maurene Comey, from her job as a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York. She has since sued, saying the termination was carried out without any explanation and was done for political reasons.

Impeach RFK Jr.? This House Democrat plans to try.

Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens of Michigan announced Thursday that she plans to introduce articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., citing his unscientific medical practices as a threat to public health.

“RFK Jr. is making our country less safe and making healthcare less affordable and accessible for Michiganders. His contempt for science, the constant spreading of conspiracy theories, and his complete disregard for the thousands of research hours spent by America’s top doctors and experts is unprecedented, reckless, and dangerous,” she said in a statement.

Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens of Michigan

Stevens added that she believes that Kennedy has violated his oath of office and that she intends to “lead the charge to remove him.”

Similar to that of the president, articles of impeachment must pass the House, followed by a Senate trial. If convicted in the Senate, an official can then be removed from office.

Stevens has accused Kennedy of dereliction of duty, citing cuts to vital research, promotion of medical falsehoods and conspiracies, lying about his views during his confirmation hearing, and failing to administer the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which are under his control.

The impeachment charge follows President Donald Trump’s widely derided presentation on Monday, where Kennedy appeared alongside Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Mehmet Oz. Together, they falsely claimed that autism can be linked to vaccines and the use of acetaminophen

In response, scientists and doctors from around the world have lashed out at the Trump administration, highlighting the dangers of their unscientific medical claims—particularly among vulnerable children.

But despite the public outcry, the autism quackery embraced by Trump, Kennedy, and Oz has received support from key GOP figures.

A cartoon by Pedro Molina.

“God bless President Trump and RFK Jr. for asking the questions and starting to use their positions, their platform, to give parents informed consent,” Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said.

The autism debacle is just the latest in a string of failure and embarrassment from health agencies on Kennedy’s watch. His decision to censor CDC reports and muzzle experts contributed to an unprecedented measles outbreak in Texas earlier this year.

Kennedy has repeatedly pushed unscientific fears about COVID-19 vaccines and beefed up the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices with compliant followers who have limited access to vaccines.

In his confirmation hearings, Kennedy said that he would uphold existing vaccine standards, but in office he has done the opposite. He’s also pushing to limit access to abortion pills while trying to pressure international scientists against publishing objective research on the effectiveness of vaccines.

Americans have died as a result of Kennedy’s malpractice, which has been enabled by Trump. If successful, Stevens’ impeachment plan could put a stop to it all.

Fox News Politics Newsletter: Zelenskyy questions effectiveness of UN amid global conflict

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content. Here's what's happening…

-Mangione, Catholic Church shooter, Kirk shooter, ICE shooter all allegedly had engraved ammo

-DNC holds onto decades-old Jeffrey Epstein donations after other Dems returned theirs

-TPUSA to give away 5,000 Charlie Kirk ‘freedom’ shirts at Penn State-Oregon game Kirk planned to attend

Only "friends and weapons," not international laws, can protect against war and authoritarian ambitions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned on Wednesday during an address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

The Ukrainian leader, who has been pleading with the international community to do more to counter Russian President Vladimir Putin amid his more than three-and-a-half-year-long war, once again cautioned that Ukraine may have been the first European nation to bear Moscow’s affront to international order, but it will not be the last.

"Putin will keep driving the war forward wider and deeper. And we told you before, Ukraine is only the first. And now Russian drones are already flying across Europe," Zelenskyy said. "Russian operations are already spreading across countries, and Putin wants to continue this war by expanding it…Read more

CHA-CHING?: Trump tariffs haul over $200B in revenues as Supreme Court weighs challenge to legality

WEDDING BELLS: Congratulations pour in after White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino shares marriage proposal video

POWER ALLY: Kamala Harris plays up relationship with Hillary Clinton as wedge with Biden widens

LONG APPLAUSE: UN gives round of applause after Palestinian Authority president accuses Israel of ‘genocide’

ACCESS DENIED: Abbas to address UN after visa clash with US as questions swirl over Hamas

SYRIA'S UN MOMENT: Syrian president's historic UN speech joined by thousands rallying outside for peace and Trump's support

TRUTH COMES OUT: Gazan boy alive after ex-GHF 'whistleblower' falsely claimed IDF killed him

JETS FOR FUEL: Trump: Erdogan could be ‘influential’ in ending Putin’s war amid push to cease Russian oil sales

PEACE VIA STRENGTH: Lithuanian president credits Trump's 'strong' UN address

'A TERRIBLE MAYOR': Trump accuses London of wanting 'Sharia law' in UN speech, mayor hits back

MAFIA TACTICS: Senate progressive accuses Trump of ‘mafia-style blackmail’ in shutdown fight

SEEKING OUSTER: Michigan Democrat Rep. Stevens cites 'health care chaos' in impeachment move against RFK Jr.

SOUND OF SILENCE: Ilhan Omar silent after call to 'abolish ICE' over story on 5-year-old that NBC was forced to correct

GENERALS GATHER: Hegseth orders hundreds of military commanders to Virginia for unprecedented meeting

CLOCK RUNS OUT: In trying to secure Comey indictment, US prosecutors have short window — and a difficult case to make

GAVELED OUT: Chaos erupts during immigration hearing as Democrat lunges at chairman’s gavel: 'I'm tired of you'

HONOR CODE BUST: New Jersey governor hopeful blocked from Naval Academy graduation over cheating scandal

BALLOT BRAWL: Republican aiming to flip blue state rips Dem rival for blaming 'everything on Trump’

COMMISSION CHAOS: Ousted director says America250 leaders 'hate Trump more than they love America’ after firing for Kirk post

HEROES IN ACTION: Border Patrol agents rescue cyclist who fell 'more than 50 feet' into remote canyon

PERIMETER SECURED: Charlie Kirk's accused assassin encountered by police during return to crime scene: law enforcement sources

HIGH STAKES: Who is Kathryn Nester, Charlie Kirk assassination suspect Tyler Robinson’s attorney?

Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

Michigan Democrat Rep. Stevens cites ‘health care chaos’ in impeachment move against RFK Jr.

A congresswoman from Michigan announced Thursday that she will introduce articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., citing the "health care chaos" and rising costs during his tenure.

Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., has repeatedly called for Kennedy's removal, most recently citing funding cuts for cancer research, infant death syndrome and combating addiction, as well as increased health care costs.

Kennedy’s restriction of vaccine access is another issue, as well as him spreading of "absurd conspiracies" that have put people’s lives in danger, Stevens said.

REPUBLICAN DOCTORS CLASH WITH RFK JR OVER VACCINES IN TENSE SENATE SHOWDOWN

"RFK Jr. is making our country less safe and making health care less affordable and accessible for Michiganders," Stevens said in a statement. "His contempt for science, the constant spreading of conspiracy theories, and his complete disregard for the thousands of research hours spent by America’s top doctors and experts are unprecedented, reckless, and dangerous.

"Enough is enough — we need leaders who put science over chaos, facts over lies, and people over politics, which is why I am announcing today that I have begun drafting articles of impeachment against Secretary Kennedy."

In a statement to Fox News Digital, HHS communications director Andrew Nixon said Kennedy "remains focused on the work of improving Americans’ health and lowering costs, not on partisan political stunts."

RFK JR AND TOP DEM CLASH DURING HEATED SENATE HEARING: 'THIS IS ABOUT KIDS'

Stevens also accused Kennedy of lying during his confirmation hearings about the promises he made that had not come to fruition. Chief among them is Kennedy's promise not to break up the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) vaccine panel of independent experts.

Stevens alleged Kennedy had failed to carry out the statutory duties of HHS in administering the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the CDC.

The congresswoman also said Kennedy has politicized the FDA and ended public comment for HHS rulemaking.

Stevens is one of several Democrats calling for Kennedy to step down. The secretary most recently faced scrutiny over his firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez.

Trump moves even closer to indicting his enemies—first stop, Comey

The pace at which President Donald Trump is committing impeachable offenses is quickening.

On Wednesday, multiple media organizations reported that Trump's new U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia is planning to seek an indictment against former FBI Director James Comey—even though the Department of Justice does not believe probable cause exists to charge Comey with a crime.

The news comes days after Trump already fired the former U.S. attorney for the EDVA, Erik Siebert, because Siebert wouldn't heed Trump's demand to charge his enemies with crimes.

That’s an impeachable offense in and of itself. But now, Trump's replacement is actually following Dear Leader's orders and will seek charges against people Trump has vowed to get retribution against. It's a terrifying and stomach-churning instance of lawfare that should get Trump impeached and removed from office, but won't because Republicans are cowards who excuse Trump no matter how deplorable his actions.

Interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Lindsey Halligan

MSNBC, which first reported the news, said interim EDVA U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan will move to charge Comey with lying to Congress. She will do that even though Halligan was told by DOJ officials that in a memo that, "there isn’t enough evidence to establish probable cause a crime was committed, let alone enough to convince a jury to convict him," according to MSNBC reporter Ken Dilanian.

Comey would be the first Trump "enemy" charged by the Trump administration.

But Trump is also demanding that Halligan indict New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff with mortgage fraud, even though there is no evidence that either committed that crime.

Halligan is reportedly gearing up to charge James—who Trump loathes because she successfully sued Trump for business fraud, with a judge finding Trump liable for inflating his net worth in order to receive more favorable loans.

Aside from using the power of the presidency to try to jail his opponents, Trump is also trying to silence dissent and speech he doesn’t like.

Trump’s Pentagon is attempting to limit what reporters can report. And Trump is trying to pressure media organizations to remove programming from the airwaves in order to avoid being hit with costly lawsuits (see Kimmel, Jimmy).

What’s more, Trump is also closing criminal investigations into his allies (see Homan, Tom), and engaging in blatant corruption by giving out pardons to people who line his pockets with crypto cash.

"The point here is to get a few of Trump's political adversaries in jail, but the real point is a tried and true tactic of despots all over the world, which is to just harass and intimidate their political opposition so that protesters don't show up, candidates don't run,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said Thursday morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “That's how democracies die."

Murphy: "The point is to get a few of Trump's political adversaries in jail, but the real point is a tried & true tactic of despots all over the world, which is to just harass & intimidate their political opposition so that protesters don't show up, candidates don't run. That's how democracies die." [image or embed]

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) September 25, 2025 at 9:17 AM

Ben there, done that: Trump’s latest unqualified hire is a familiar face

Although he didn’t take an official role in President Donald Trump’s administration this time around, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson is proving to be quite the jack-of-all-trades.

When the onetime neurosurgeon isn’t showing up at the Religious Liberty Commission to basically agree that the Declaration of Independence and the Bible are the same thing, really,  he’s now going to be a sort of roving expert on nutrition, health, and … rural housing? 

Urban and rural housing! Talk about range!

On Wednesday, Carson was sworn in as the national nutrition adviser at the Department of Agriculture. Besides his nutrition/health/housing portfolio, he’s also supporting Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins’ work on the Make America Healthy Again Commission. Makes sense, really. Can’t let Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have all the fun issuing incoherent reports

Related | RFK Jr.'s plan to 'Make Our Children Healthy Again' is another miss

Oh wait, sorry. Carson is also going to be the “Department’s chief voice” on rural health care quality. Got it. 

Carson is just as qualified for all of this as he was to be HUD secretary during Trump’s first term—which is to say, not at all. His tenure in that position will largely be remembered for referring to enslaved people brought here in chains as “immigrants” and spending $31,000 on a conference room table. 

Even in Carson’s glowing bio, you see no mention of nutrition, housing, or health care, save for him reminding people that he was the HUD secretary. Otherwise, it’s a litany of his neurosurgery accomplishments in the 1980s and 1990s, which has a vague “30-year-old still bragging about his high school football years” vibe to it. 

Carson is emblematic of the administration’s approach to everything: piling multiple jobs on people with no qualifications. There’s Lindsey Halligan, who was chosen to wreck the Smithsonian based on her past role as one of Trump’s personal lawyers, and is now also going to be the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. 

Or how about a different former Trump personal lawyer, Todd Blanche, who is both deputy attorney general and the acting librarian of Congress, because why not?

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has an ever-shifting number of jobs, but the one he is definitely least qualified for is being head of the National Archives.

Ric Grenell, when not wrecking the Kennedy Center, apparently also travels overseas to secure the release of U.S. citizens and also oversees the federal response to wildfires, because those are definitely all things that go together. 

And last and certainly least, there’s former “Real World” star Sean Duffy. Not content to be wildly unqualified for his primary job as transportation secretary, he’s also now running NASA.

Related | Sean Duffy finds a new mode of transportation to be scared of

This multiple-job nonsense is partly borne out of a lack of regard for government service. Trump doesn’t care who runs the Smithsonian or the Library of Congress, as long as they are ideologically aligned with Trump. 

But the reality is that Trump, having fired agency heads with actual experience, has no desire to replace them with career employees from said agencies, and also doesn’t want to have new nominees go through the Senate confirmation process. So, he can take someone already confirmed by the Senate for one position and just double them up elsewhere. 

Meanwhile, Ben Carson will decide what food your kids eat, which hospitals serve your rural community, and what rural housing you can access, and … come on.

Why are we pretending he’ll do any of those things? Carson will just be another weird MAHA mouthpiece ranting about food additives or whatever. But hey, at least he’s getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to honor all his accomplishments—whatever those are. 

The Recap: Kirk memorial widens the political divide, and Newsom’s winning plan

A daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know.

Trump is losing ground on one of his signature issues

If you lose on your defining topic, what’s left?

Trump builds strong impeachment case against himself

To say Trump had himself a busy weekend is an understatement.

'You are envy, you are hatred': Kirk memorial turns into unhinged rally

Trump and the Republican Party continue to cynically weaponize Kirk’s death.

Cartoon: Lowering the temperature

As if that’s possible right now.

Most California voters are lining up behind Newsom to fight Trump

Newsom’s gamble might just pay off.

Hakeem Jeffries issues biting warning to businesses bending to Trump

Trump may think he’s king, but his reign won’t last forever.

Press secretary falls on her face defending Trump’s abuse of power

This is a special kind of gaslighting.

Trump uses Kirk's death to silence critics—and voters aren't pleased

After all, voters will have the last word.

Click here to see more cartoons.