Good morning, I’m Thom Hartmann, and you’re watching Raw America.
The assault on American democracy is escalating rapidly. Steve Bannon just announced plans to deploy ICE agents to polling places in November. The Washington Post is being gutted by its billionaire owner. Republican mega-donors are openly calling out corruption in the Trump administration. And in the midst of this chaos, there’s actually some good news from New York City about workers finally getting what they’re owed.
But first: I need to be direct with you. Raw America exists because corporate outlets across America have been taken over by people more interested in pushing ideology than reporting the truth. We started this outlet as a people-powered response to oligarch-controlled media. We don’t answer to billionaires—we answer to you. If you value journalism that holds power accountable, please support our work. Subscribe, share, and consider becoming a supporter. We genuinely cannot do this without you.
Bannon Wants ICE to “Surround the Polls”
Let’s start with Steve Bannon’s latest threat to democracy itself. On his War Room podcast, Bannon declared that ICE agents will “surround the polls” during the November midterm elections. His exact words: “You’re damn right we’re gonna have ICE surround the polls come November. We’re not gonna sit here and allow you to steal the country again.”
Here’s what Bannon either doesn’t know or doesn’t care about: this is completely illegal. Federal and state laws explicitly prohibit deploying federal agents to polling places. Federal law also prohibits any activity designed to intimidate voters. This isn’t a gray area. This isn’t open to interpretation. Stationing armed federal immigration agents at polling locations is voter intimidation, plain and simple.
And that’s precisely the point. Bannon knows this is illegal. He’s saying it anyway because the goal is to scare people, particularly Latino and immigrant communities, away from exercising their constitutional right to vote. It’s the same playbook that’s been used throughout American history whenever those in power felt threatened by an increasingly diverse electorate.
This announcement came right after Trump himself called for Republicans to “take over” elections in up to 15 states, continuing his baseless claims about fraud in the 2020 election. On the same podcast, Bannon claimed without evidence that undocumented immigrants are voting in large numbers in Minnesota and New York City. There’s no proof because it’s not happening. Study after study has shown that voter fraud is extraordinarily rare in the United States.
But facts don’t matter when the strategy is fear. What we’re witnessing is a coordinated effort to undermine confidence in elections while simultaneously laying the groundwork for actual election interference. They’re accusing others of the very things they’re planning to do themselves.
Bezos Guts the Washington Post’s Newsroom
Now let’s talk about what’s happening at the Washington Post. On Wednesday morning, the storied newspaper announced mass layoffs. Employees were told to stay home and join a Zoom meeting where leadership would announce “significant actions across the company.” This is what the slow death of a great American institution looks like.
Publisher Will Lewis has made it clear that the Post will focus its resources on politics while cutting back dramatically in areas like sports, foreign affairs, and local coverage. White House bureau chief Matt Viser and seven other reporters sent a letter making a crucial point: political reporting doesn’t happen in a vacuum. These journalists rely on collaboration with foreign correspondents, sports writers, and local reporters. Gut those sections, and political coverage suffers too.
But here’s the real story: The Washington Post is owned by Jeff Bezos, one of the richest men on the planet. This isn’t about financial necessity. The Post could operate at a loss indefinitely without making a dent in Bezos’s fortune. This is about something else entirely.
We’re watching billionaires and MAGA-aligned oligarchs systematically buy up and hollow out media institutions. They’re not interested in journalism. They’re interested in control. By gutting newsrooms, they ensure that there are fewer reporters digging into corruption, fewer foreign correspondents exposing what’s really happening abroad, fewer investigative teams holding power accountable.
This is why independent media matters more than ever. If you haven’t already, subscribe to Raw America. We don’t have a billionaire owner who can decide to slash our staff because our reporting makes him uncomfortable. We have you. That independence is everything.
Billionaire Republican Calls Out Trump’s Corruption
Even some Republicans are starting to name the corruption. Ken Griffin, the billionaire hedge fund manager and major Republican donor, made stunning comments at a Wall Street Journal conference in Florida this week. Griffin accused the Trump administration of “enriching” the families of those in power and called the administration’s interference in American businesses “distasteful.”
Griffin pointed out what’s become increasingly obvious: the Trump administration “has definitely made missteps in choosing decisions or courses that have been very, very enriching to the families of those in the administration.” He asked the key question: “Is the public interest being served?”
Trump’s sons, Don Jr. and Eric, have benefited enormously from the White House’s crypto-friendly policies and have secured major business deals since their father’s re-election. They claim there’s a “huge wall” between their moneymaking and their father’s position. Griffin, along with most CEOs he knows, finds it “incredibly distasteful” when the government shows favoritism.
This is remarkable testimony from someone who gave millions to conservative groups during the 2024 election cycle. When even major Republican donors start publicly calling out corruption, that tells you something about how brazen it’s become. This isn’t normal political disagreement. This is open graft that’s so obvious even Trump’s own allies can’t ignore it.
Mamdani Scores Major Win on Behalf of Workers
But here’s some genuinely good news to close on. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a $5.2 million settlement with three delivery app companies that cheated workers out of wages. Uber Eats, Fantuan, and HungryPanda will pay nearly 50,000 workers who were denied minimum wage when customers canceled orders.
Under New York City’s minimum wage law, delivery workers must be paid for time already spent on a delivery even if the customer cancels. All three companies violated this rule. Even worse, Uber Eats was automatically deactivating workers from the app when cancellations occurred, even when those cancellations weren’t the worker’s fault. The settlement will reinstate up to 10,000 workers who were wrongfully cut off.
This is what happens when you have leaders willing to fight for working people. Mamdani stood with delivery workers in Long Island City and said, “This is the most expensive city in the United States of America, and we want to use every tool at our disposal to improve working conditions for delivery workers.”
These companies tried to cheat workers out of what they were legally owed, and they’re being held accountable.
This is the fight. Voter intimidation versus democracy. Billionaire-controlled media versus independent journalism. Corruption versus accountability. Corporate theft versus worker power. The question is which side wins. That depends on whether enough people are paying attention and willing to stand up for what’s right.
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I’m Thom Hartmann for Raw America. Thanks for watching. We’ll see you next time.
