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The suspected source of the cyclospora outbreak, gave $1 million to the MAGA Inc, PAC just days after the Trump administration delayed food tracing rules.

Phones Failed After Helene, But Amateur Radio Operators Summoned Help and Supplies. Tropical storm Helene created a massive communications blackout in Western North Carolina, killing internet and cell service for most of the 400,000+ people who live in the greater Asheville area. Even 911 was down. But for Thomas Witherspoon, 53, of Swannanoa, his ability [...] The post Amateur Radio to the Rescue appeared first on DCReport.org.

Republican lawmakers are moving on from Donald Trump’s election conspiracy.The president spent more than 25 minutes last week addressing the public—and his supposed congressional allies—to revive his 2020 election fraud claims. He demanded that Republicans prioritize mail-in ballot bans and voter roll purges, and investigate what he claimed was a nationwide cover-up by the “deep state.” Days later, however, the conservative caucus appears to have completely missed the message.Most GOP candidates aren’t willing to revisit Trump’s thoroughly debunked election fraud claims as the issue has failed to galvanize voters, The Washington Post reported Monday.The day after Trump’s address, former Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley—who is trailing former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper in the race to replace retiring North Carolina Senator Thom Thillis—held a 34-minute campaign event that touched on none of Trump’s advertised priorities. Instead, Whatley told local voters that the number one issue this election cycle is “keeping our kids and our communities safe.” Whatley had previously supported Trump’s 2020 election fraud claims. But when asked by a Post reporter to expound on Trump’s latest speech, Whatley simply mentioned that he is a “big proponent of election integrity.” Top Republicans also seemed disillusioned with the president’s fixation. Outgoing Texas Senator John Cornyn lamented to the Post that “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.”The situation for the campaigning caucus is precarious: If they attempt to get in good with the MAGA movement by publicly supporting the president in an act of fealty, they also risk alienating independent voters in their districts who have become increasingly disillusioned with Trump’s second term.Paul Shumaker, a veteran Republican strategist and longtime political adviser to Tillis, told the Post that the “clear and simple” explanation for the difference in messaging is that voters are focused elsewhere.“If candidates are not talking about the economy, if candidates are not talking about affordability, if they’re not talking about how they’re going to make people’s lives at home cheaper and less expensive, then they’re not talking about the issues that voters care about,” Shumaker said.Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist who served in the State Department during Trump’s first term, said many GOP candidates seem relieved that Trump’s prime time speech has failed to make major waves. “If the president makes outrageous claims about an election and no one is listening, did it even happen?” Bartlett asked rhetorically when describing the Republican response to the Post.Democrats have criticized the address for laying the groundwork for potential challenges to the upcoming midterm elections. They have good cause to believe so: Last week, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced that the government already plans to take action against state election officials who refuse to bend to the White House’s demands. In a press conference, Mullin pledged that state officials who decide not to scrub their voter registration lists could be fined or even jailed for their disobedience.Mullin does not have the authority to make such a threat, however. The Department of Homeland Security lacks the necessary authority to either withhold federal grants or force states to purge voter rolls. Only Congress has the power to do that.

Trump towers?Donald Trump’s presence loomed large over FIFA’s World Cup Finals on Sunday—but footage from the event has sparked speculation that the president’s actual stature may be smaller than he claims. For years, Trump has claimed to be six feet, three inches tall. His past two annual physical reports, published in April 2025 and April 2026, confirmed this, asserting that the president is 75 inches tall—equal to six feet, three inches. But a video shared Sunday on social media by the White House showed Rodrigo Hernández Cascante, the six-foot-three captain of Spain’s national football team known as Rodri, towering over Trump. If both men are supposedly the same height, why does Trump appear so much shorter?.@POTUS congratulates Spain captain Rodri on winning the 2026 @FIFAWorldCup Golden Ball award pic.twitter.com/qle8N0HQ3l— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 19, 2026Considering soccer cleats only add about an inch maximum of height, it seems unlikely Rodri’s footwear is responsible for the difference. In the video, Trump appears much closer in height to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who is reportedly only five feet, 11 inches tall. The debate about Trump’s height has been going on for decades. In 1999, Trump told Maureen Dowd of The New York Times that his seemingly diminutive stature was merely a trick of the camera. “I photograph short. I’m six foot three,” he said.As recently as last month, the president appeared much shorter than Republican Senator John Thune, who is widely reported to be six feet, four inches tall. In response to those photographs, The Daily Beast’s Joanna Coles suggested that Trump was actually getting shorter. “He’s shrinking into the giant shrimp that Steve Bannon said that he was,” Coles said. “I think that Donald Trump is literally shrinking as we see him.”It’s certainly not impossible. It’s a scientific fact that people can get shorter as they age, and last month, Trump officially became an octogenarian. Still, the president clearly feels the need to lie about his height, when Americans can see for themselves that the president just doesn’t measure up.

The rule changes focus on the “duration of status” system, which has allowed qualifying visa holders to stay in the US.