Breaking: Democrats Take Largest Lead on Congressional Ballot in 30 Years

A Fox News poll bodes well for Democrats, and Trump is trapped in Iran.

Hey, Raw America family. Welcome to the Sunday Wrapup. I’m here with my cup of coffee, and for once I want to tell you about something good that happened at Fox.

To everyone paying for this: thank you. Eleven newsletters this week. Approval from the Senate Press Gallery for Raw America to have a Congressional correspondent. An exclusive on Havana Syndrome that no billionaire-owned outlet would touch, and another on Mitch McConnell. You paid for every bit of it.

If you’re on the free list, this is the week to upgrade. We’re behind on our fundraising goals, and we don’t have an oligarch or a corporate parent to close the gap. We have you. Join our courageous community today.

Fox News Told On Itself

Something happened Wednesday that should’ve led every newscast in America, and it came from the last place you’d expect.

Fox News released its own poll. Not one Fox covered: one Fox commissioned, conducted by its own bipartisan polling team, published under its own banner. The numbers were so bad that Bret Baier and Brit Hume went on air and lamented them.

Democrats lead 53 to 46 on the generic congressional ballot. Fifty-three is the highest figure either party has recorded on that question in Fox polling since 1996. Not the highest for Democrats; the highest for anybody, in thirty years.

Democrats lead by nine on who’s trusted with the economy, the widest edge either party has held in twenty years. By 22 points on income inequality. By 21 points on healthcare. By 10 points on inflation. And Republicans are losing their advantage on immigration, a signature issue they’ve run on for a decade.

Four in ten told Fox they want “dramatic” or “revolutionary” change.

Here’s what should keep Republicans up at night. More voters now see the Republican Party as the party tied to elites. Not Democrats. Elites now means the party of Epstein, the party of corruption, the party of Trump pardons exchanged for crime.

And it isn’t just one poll from Fox. Emerson College polling surveyed 1,100 likely voters the same week and found Democrats up 11. That’s up from 10 in June, nine in May, six in January, two in December.

Five straight months of polls moving in one direction: toward Democrats.

A single poll can be noise. A series of polls is a wave.

Trump Quietly Amassing More Troops Near Iran

On Friday, the Wall Street Journal published a piece that put us as a fly on the wall in the White House. The paper revealed that in a recent Oval Office meeting, Trump went off on Iran’s leaders, deriding them as scumbags and lunatics. The war is in its fifth month; he thought it would take weeks.

Every exit he built has collapsed. He announced a ceasefire in April, right after threatening to end Iran’s civilization. In June, he signed a memo to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which was worth less than the paper it was written on. A senior official now says he’s stopped believing negotiations can work at all, and describes him as being in revenge mode.

Here’s the cost. More than a dozen American service members are dead. Oil is back to nearly $100 and gas futures are approaching recent highs. On Wednesday, the Houthis fired on two Saudi tankers. The Pentagon is moving troops into the region so Trump has more ways to escalate.

Escalate?

Trump also announced new tariffs this week. The 10-year Treasury bond, which dictates mortgage rates, hit the highest point of Trump’s second term. Mortgage rates will likely break seven percent, more than double their lows after the pandemic.

Trump is trying to change the subject. On Wednesday, he attended the dignified transfer of four dead service members, then flew to Georgia to promise a high school crowd that costs were coming down (a lie). Congressman Michael McCaul put his own president’s thinking plainly: Trump figures he gave peace a chance, so he’s back to Plan A, the military operation.

That’s not a strategy. That’s a man out of ideas, a hundred days before voters get their say.

Trump’s Justice Department Just Blinked

This week, Trump’s Justice Department was humiliated in open court. After hand-delivering subpoenas to three New York Times reporters — and targeting the phone records of one reporter’s mother and two spouses — his DOJ was forced to withdraw their attacks.

The Times reporters were subpoenaed over their coverage of the Qatari-gifted Air Force One. Specifically, they reported that Trump flew home from the NATO summit in Turkey on his original jet because the new one lacked the missile countermeasures the Secret Service desired.

Then came the hearing in Manhattan federal court. Judge Arun Subramanian told the Justice Department he would quash the subpoenas himself if the government didn’t withdraw them voluntarily.

U.S. law requires prosecutors to show they exhausted every other avenue before going after journalists directly. When pressed, the DOJ admitted it hadn’t. Then they withdrew the requests. David McCraw, deputy general counsel for the Times, called it an important First Amendment victory.

Two details, though, keep this concerning. The subpoenas were issued by U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, whom Trump has nominated to be director of national intelligence. They were signed off on by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, whom Trump wants confirmed permanently.

If the Senate confirms both men, they will control surveillance and law enforcement powers far beyond what they had when they came after three reporters and somebody’s mother.

We’ll watch and see what happens next.

Become A Part of The Independent Press

This week was a big one for Raw America. We delivered two scoops: the first on Havana Syndrome, which suggests the U.S. government is keeping a possible Russian weapon quiet, and the second on the ongoing health saga of Mitch McConnell.

Because of you, we have two new journalists in the room where it happens.

Brian Karem is our White House reporter, with decades of experience. He refused to sit down when Trump’s press secretary told him to. He’s on the hunt for good scoops, and you’ll only find them here.

Luke De Cresce is our Capitol Hill correspondent. Raw America was approved as a credentialed news organization in Congress, and Luke is our eyes and ears on the Hill. He’ll be there when senators try to duck.

That’s what your subscription is. Not a tip jar. Two reporters standing in two of the most guarded buildings in America, working for you instead of a billionaire trying to keep Trump in power.

I’m not going to sugar coat it. We’re behind on our subscription goals. If you’ve been reading for free, thinking you’d get around to it: it’s time. This is the week.

Subscribing to Raw America costs less than the streaming service you forgot you’re paying for.

If you can’t afford to subscribe, stay. I mean it. Read every word, forward us to your brother-in-law, and don’t feel bad for a second. But if you’re able to join us, we’d love to have you.

The polls this week revealed something the billionaire media won’t say. People are paying attention. They’re angry at Trump and Republicans who’ve prioritized war over healthcare.

The independent press is small. But we’re fearless, and we’re here for you. A hundred days out, this all matters more than it has in years.

Thank you for keeping us in the fight.

— John Byrne / Founder, Raw America and Raw Story