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In today’s edition, we sort through the fallout from President Donald Trump’s speech on elections. Plus, Adam Edelman dives into the increasingly murky Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor.
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— Adam Wollner
Trump election speech fallout felt across the country and the globe
The ripple effects from President Donald Trump’s speech to the nation last night sowing doubt about election integrity four months out from the midterms were felt across the country and the globe today.
Here’s what to know.
Fact check: Trump’s sweeping claims of foreign interference in elections and the vulnerability of voting to attacks aren’t fully backed up by the newly declassified files released by his administration, Jane C. Timm reports.
Voter files: Trump said China had obtained hundreds of millions of voter registration records, but, as Ben Kamisar explains, such data is already widely available from states and companies, sometimes for a fee.
In Washington: Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin threatened state election officials with possible prison time if they don’t comply with Trump administration methods to determine whether noncitizens are on voter rolls, Rebecca Shabad writes.
Republican pushback: Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum, Sen. John Cornyn, who lost his GOP primary in Texas this year to a Trump-backed challenger, said: “We have 109 days until the midterm elections, and I don’t understand talking about what happened six years ago in light of these upcoming elections.”
Across the Pacific: Jennifer Jett notes that Trump’s revived accusations of Chinese interference in U.S. elections risk antagonizing Beijing, which rejected the claims as “entirely fabricated,” just as the world’s two biggest economies are repairing ties.
Wisconsin governor’s race sees major shake-up
With less than a month to go before the primary, the state of the Democratic field in the governor’s race in swing state Wisconsin is as unclear as ever. Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez dropped out of the race today after her campaign discovered major inaccuracies related to its financial reporting, Adam Edelman reports.
“As we have continued to dig into our financial reports, it has become clear that there are issues that would be an ongoing distraction, not just for this campaign, but for the primary and for Wisconsin. This race is too important to let that happen,” Rodriguez said in a video posted to X.
“I cannot, in good conscience, allow these questions to become a cloud over an election that Democrats need to win. Wisconsin deserves better than that,” Rodriguez added.
Rodriguez had been seen as the leading contender among more moderate Democrats in what has been a wide open race to replace Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. The primary also features state Rep. Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist who has gained unexpected traction this summer, and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, a progressive whose comeback bid after losing the 2022 Senate race has faced some skepticism.
Some Democrats are now eager to see Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who ended his campaign earlier this month and endorsed Rodriguez, re-enter the contest.
“There is an effort to get Crowley back in the race,” said one Wisconsin Democratic operative who requested anonymity to speak freely about a fluid situation. “A potential endorsement from Evers has been one of the things used to try to sweeten that deal.”
“Some believe Crowley would make the strongest general election candidate following the recent Sara Rodriguez mess and then obviously with her dropping out,” the operative added. “Crowley is seriously considering it.”
Spokespersons for Crowley and Evers didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The winner of the Aug. 11 primary will likely face Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican front-runner who is backed by President Donald Trump.
That’s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner.
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