Michelle

[Republicans against Trump @RpsAgainstTrump]

Former Trump White House attorney Ty Cobb:

“I think tonight's speech is intended to add to the predicate that he needs to declare an emergency at or about the time of the elections”

[Headquarters @HQNewsNow]

The declassified documents Trump just released tonight to “prove” the 2020 election was “rigged” actually show that Russia tried to interfere to hurt Biden and help Trump.

[Kristen @kristengough]

@PressSec The Voter Suppression Act… that disenfranchises women in particular.

Republicans can’t win so they have to cheat!

[Amy Klobuchar @amyklobuchar]

Every American has the right to vote.

But the President continues to attack that right, including once again voting by mail (which he has done himself).

He's relitigating an election he lost six years ago instead of focusing on what he should be fixing: costs are up for families across the country and his war has no end in sight. Despite everything he said tonight, Americans will go to the polls this fall because they don’t want more rubber stamps of Donald Trump.

[MeidasTouch @MeidasTouch]

EXCLUSIVE: MeidasTouch has learned new details of what really happened inside Todd Blanche's meeting with Epstein survivors today. One survivor noted Blanche was "abrasive, condescending, and intentionally noncommittal." Here are the full details. https://t.co/B5OXq1xfpX

[Norman Ornstein @NormOrnstein]

It is tempting to simply view this speech with derision. A feeble demagogue lying over and over. It is far more dangerous and insidious. Trump is trying to lay the predicate to declare a national emergency and seize control of the election machinery. Potentially to seize control of television and radio outlets. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

[Bernie Sanders @BernieSanders]

At a time when millions of Americans are finding it harder to pay for groceries, housing and healthcare, when the climate crisis is causing record heatwaves and forest fires, Donald Trump felt it appropriate tonight to spew conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.

Pathetically, in true authoritarian fashion, he even threatened to revoke the licenses of ABC and NBC because they would not cover his speech. Insane.

Too many Americans have fought and died to defend American democracy.

All of us, regardless of our political views, must stand together against this dangerous president who is seeking to undermine our Constitution and our basic freedoms.

[Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1]

Statement from Annie Farmer on meeting with Todd Blanche:

"After meeting with Todd Blanche, I feel even more confident in urging senators to vote against his confirmation as the United States' Attorney General.

"I found him abrasive, condescending, and intentionally noncommittal to survivors — a marked contrast to his public testimony during his confirmation hearing.

"While quick to point to the failures of previous administrations, he refused to take accountability for mistakes made under his own leadership. Specifically, he would not commit to an inquiry into why my sister Maria Farmer's 1996 report went uninvestigated; he refused to release documents related to internal discussions about charging Epstein that would provide important clarification about previous errors, and his explanations for his nine-hour interview with Ghislaine Maxwell and her subsequent transfer to a less secure facility were wholly dissatisfactory and contrived.

"His evasiveness felt like a deliberate attempt to claim the Attorney General's office is powerless in this matter. By passing the buck once again, he is leaving survivors trapped in the same endless loop of searching for answers and receiving none."

[Tom Nichols @RadioFreeTom]

The documents are so damning in refuting Trump's own case that I wonder if anyone in the White House actually read them (or understood what they were looking at)

[Tara Dublin aka Winona Spyder™️ @taradublinrocks]

Pete Hegseth’s senior yearbook pic has me cackling because he looks like the lead singer in a 90s pop punk cover band called All Time Low-T

lol nice alpha male guyliner, @PeteHegseth 😂😂😂

[Seth Abramson @SethAbramson]

I'm watching the Trump speech because I have to for my job and it's the most batshit crazy presidential speech I've ever heard in my nearly 50 years alive

Where it's coherent—which is only intermittently—it's on its face the largest tureen of turd soup any POTUS has ever served

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

Warnock: "The SAVE Act is about saving Donald Trump's power. It's not about saving our democracy. It is a voter suppression bill, pure and simple."

[MeidasTouch @MeidasTouch]

We watched Trump's dangerous and deranged speech so you don't have to. Here are the moments you need to know about:

— He openly laid groundwork to challenge the midterms. He claimed our elections were "compromised," clearly setting up the justification to tamper with results before a single vote is counted.

— He said he'll "correct vulnerabilities" in our elections. Translation: he told you exactly what he plans to interfere with.

— He contradicted himself on China in real time. He first claimed China was "working to influence" and "undermining confidence" in him, then said he was doing a "great job" with them back when he made the claim. He couldn't keep his own conspiracy straight.

— He claimed China rigged the 2020 election, this time by getting journalists to write bad stories about him, because China supposedly wanted Biden to win since Trump was "wise to them."

— He said they found "burn bags" from the Obama Administration full of supposedly incriminating material, without ever saying what was actually in them.

— He said he needs "urgent measures" to stop our elections from being "hacked," citing Maduro's rigged machines in Venezuela in 2020 as his "evidence."

— He attacked networks for not airing him live, accusing them of being "part of the conspiracy to rig elections" and suggesting they should lose their broadcast licenses.

— He announced he wants to seize voter data from states he's deemed "vulnerable" ahead of the midterms.

This was a sitting president telegraphing, step by step, how he plans to undermine the 2026 midterms with egregious lies and conspiracy theories.

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

Rep. Himes: "The president was setting the basis for him to turn around on election night and say, 'I warned you that the Chinese were doing x, y, and z. It happened tonight. I'm deploying federal officers from DHS to 7 states. They will be seizing ballot boxes.'"

[Michelle @SailingCrab]

@atrupar I still think there’s no way he won all seven swing states.

[Juliette Kayyem @juliettekayyem]

Do not laugh about this speech. It’s impossible to follow but he’s directly challenging our right to vote. The president of the United States is lying in order to wage war on our democracy and against the states. I don’t care your politics; everybody should be outraged.

[Mario Nawfal @MarioNawfal]

Trump's China election bombshell got barely five minutes on Fox before the channel pivoted back to Iran.

A stunning allegation, huge if true, and the coverage window closed almost instantly.

Strange.

[CBS News @CBSNews]

President Trump announced that his administration is declassifying intelligence that reveals "shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure," including "hacking, exploitation and foreign interference."

FACT CHECK RATING: False.

Officials have repeatedly said election infrastructure remains secure.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said there was “no evidence of any malicious activity” affecting the integrity of the 2024 elections. CISA also said the 2020 election was “the most secure in American history,” with no evidence that voting systems deleted, lost or compromised votes.

[Chris D. Jackson @ChrisDJackson]

And there you have it.

Donald Trump released these documents tonight believing they would finally prove the 2020 election was rigged against him.

Instead, his own release reinforced the exact opposite: Russia interfered to damage Joe Biden and benefit Donald Trump.

The central @HunterBiden -Burisma bribery smear was built on fabricated claims from an FBI informant with Russian contacts, a man now serving six years in federal prison. Meanwhile, Hunter Biden is winning millions in court over defamatory lies.

Trump tried to expose a conspiracy against himself and accidentally exposed the operation that benefited him.

Absolute, breathtaking incompetence.

Thanks for releasing the receipts, Donald!

[CALL TO ACTIVISM @CalltoActivism]

TRUMP’S SPEECH BACKFIRED SPECTACULARLY.

TURNS OUT HE WAS PEDDLING RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA TO HURT BIDEN!