Trump cultists

The Verge reports: Conservative activist Robby Starbuck will serve as an advisor at Meta to address “ideological and political bias” within the company’s AI chatbot, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The move comes as part of a settlement Meta reached with Starbuck, who filed a lawsuit claiming Meta AI wrongly stated he was involved in the …

The Texas Tribune reports: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday asked a Tarrant County judge to jail former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, in another escalation in Republicans’ broader effort to put an end to Texas Democrats’ walkout over a new congressional map. Paxton sued O’Rourke and his political group, Powered by People, last week, arguing that the group was …

The Atlantic reports: Kari Lake has been making the rounds on right-wing media in recent weeks to pitch herself as a devoted enforcer of President Donald Trump’s broader agenda. Her latest targets are J-1 visa holders who worked for Voice of America. Obscure to most Americans, they have attracted Lake’s attention in part because they embody a trifecta of triggers …

Mediaite has the transcript of the wild exchanges between an HBO lawyer and extremist Laura Loomer during her deposition over her $150 million lawsuit against Bill Maher for joking that she was having sex with Trump. BOLGER: Can you explain to me what it means to say that [Marjorie Taylor Greene] has “the Arby’s in her pants”? LARRY KLAYMAN, LAURA …

Axios reports: President Trump’s nominee to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics, E.J. Antoni, suggested the possibility of suspending the bureau’s monthly jobs report. It’s one of the world’s most fundamental pieces of data, crucial for investors to understand the health of the U.S. economy. Antoni made the suggestion in an interview with Fox Business in response to concerns over …

The New Republic reports: Texas House Speaker Duston Burrows revealed Monday that Republicans had tasked the state Department of Public Safety to create a tip line—(866) 786-5972, incidentally the same number as the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Fusion Center—hoping that average citizens would help them hunt the wayward lawmakers. “Many have submitted tips about the whereabouts of absent members,” …

Gothamist reports:  Ex-Gov.Andrew Cuomo is resuscitating his moribund mayoral campaign with a catty new social media presence and a populist housing policy proposal favored by opponents of rent regulations: kick the “wealthy” out of rent-stabilized apartments. After the post went viral, Cuomo doubled down by proposing a new regulation on rent-regulated apartments that would prohibit landlords from leasing their vacant …

The Huffington Post reports: A TV reporter went viral last week after online conspiracy theorists accused her of being a “lizard person,” but she’s leaning into the madness. “The internet comes in tsunami swells,” Molly Martinez told HuffPost. “This will blow over.” Martinez, a journalist in the Washington bureau of local TV chain Gray Television, was seen on camera June …

“I think we have a very good chance at this. I’ve never lost a subpoena battle, I’ve been chairman of that committee for a year and a half, this is the most challenging subpoena I’ve ever issued, but what makes this subpoena different is that the Democrats voted with Republicans. “This is a bipartisan, congressionally-approved subpoena, and I think that …

Politico reports: Presidential Donald Trump on Monday endorsed Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones for governor in what is expected to be one of the key 2026 races. Trump praised Jones for his loyalty and his athletic accomplishments as a former captain of the University of Georgia Bulldogs. Presidential Donald Trump on Monday endorsed Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones for governor …

“Listen, all those big blue states, they’ve already gerrymandered. Look at the map of Illinois. Look at the map of California, New York and Massachusetts, and so many other blue states they gerrymandered a long time ago. They got nothing left with regard to what they can do. And know this: If California tries to gerrymander five more districts, listen, …

The Hill reports: The Republicans’ “big, beautiful bill” will make the poorest Americans even poorer, while padding the wallets of the highest earners the most, according to an analysis released Monday by Congress’s budget arm. The assessment, conducted by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) at the request of top Democrats, found that the top 10 percent of earners in the …

Raw Story reports: Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) faced jeers and heckling at a town hall event over his support for President Donald Trump and the One Big Beautiful Bill. LaMalfa began the event on Monday by noting that one member of the audience had insulted President Donald Trump by calling him “the big orange man.” “No fascism in America!” a …

Austin’s NBC affiliate reports: The Texas House once again convened Monday at 1 p.m. to try to meet quorum, one week after Democrats left the state to block mid-decade congressional redistricting. The House had 96 members, four short of a quorum. Two Democrats — Reps. Eddie Morales and Terry Canales — returned to Austin Monday after being absent Friday, though …

The Muddy River News reports: Illinois Republican Jil Tracy has filed a petition in Adams County in pursuit of Texas lawmakers who are hiding out in Illinois in political protest. Tracy wants to be clear that she’s serving as legal counsel to the Texas Attorney General as a private attorney and not in her elected capacity. Tracy also wanted it known …

Florida Politics reports: Leading Florida Republicans say the state deserves more U.S. House seats — as many as five of them. And Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier say the state should get them before the 2026 Midterms. That adjustment would happen with a new census, both said, but could also be done by revisiting decisions made after …

Politico reports: Andrew Cuomo’s latest attempt to dislodge Zohran Mamdani from his commanding position in the race for mayor is focused on his rent-stabilized apartment. The former governor is seeking to turn Mamdani’s winning cause of affordability against him by questioning why someone with his privilege — a state assemblymember’s salary ($142,000) and filmmaker and professor parents — should occupy …

NBC News reports: Sen. Lindsey Graham said in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that Russia and Ukraine would have to swap some territory to end the war, echoing President Donald Trump‘s comments about land exchanges. “I want to be honest with you, Ukraine is not going to evict every Russian, and Russia is not going to Kyiv, …

Politico reports: After bringing longtime Trump adviser Jason Miller on board in April, India has nonetheless been walloped by Trump over the past two weeks. Tariffs for India are now set to rise to 50 percent, after the country failed to secure a trade agreement and Trump decided to jack up tariffs in response to its purchase of Russian oil. …

“I think a lot of people are seeing higher prices. Our family’s in the construction business, and we get a lot of our timber from Canada and other countries. Yes, it’s higher. Steel prices are up, but it’s for the good of the country. Should we expect high prices for a short time? Yes. But overall, we couldn’t keep going …