Congress
How Trump targeting these Democrats could backfire
Donald Trump is going to war with Democrats over the military. It could backfire on him.
The president’s attacks on six Democrats who recorded a video encouraging military members to buck unlawful orders are elevating members of a faction that just delivered big off-year wins for their party. Most hail from swing states or districts, identify as centrists and are leveraging their national security backgrounds to argue that Democrats can retake the patriotic lane.
Trump is also boosting some potential 2028 presidential hopefuls, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, while further undercutting the GOP’s attempts to make New York progressives like Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez the face of the Democratic Party.
“Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump are providing Mark Kelly with the kind of visibility that almost no amount of money could buy,” said Barrett Marson, an Arizona-based Republican strategist, referring to the Defense secretary who ordered an investigation of Kelly. “Every 2028 contender wishes they could be attacked like this by the Trump administration.”
Since Trump accused the six of “sedition” and even suggested they could be executed, they’ve racked up millions of views on social media, done the cable news circuit and blasted out fundraising appeals highlighting the attacks.
It’s heightened the stature of even those who have already been the subject of speculation about their 2028 aspirations. Kelly, who was on the short list to be Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate last year, has already visited a raft of early primary and general-election battleground states this year. But only after Trump’s attack was he invited on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” this week.
In recent months, Slotkin has been testing what she calls a “war plan” to “contain and defeat Donald Trump” in speeches outside of her state, meeting with low-propensity voters and theorizing about what she calls “Project 2029.” Now she’s brought those themes to a series of interviews and public appearances over the past week.
As Democrats debate how far to lean into themes of patriotism more often claimed by conservatives, a group of lawmakers organized by Slotkin released a video with anti-authoritarian themes ahead of the “No Kings” protests last month. A follow-up video last week called on troops not to obey unlawful orders, prompting Trump’s explosion.
The president posted on social media they were committing “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL” by suggesting military members ignore their chain of command and shared a post calling for traitors to be hanged. The White House later denied Trump was threatening the lawmakers with death. Since then, the Pentagon has opened an investigation into Kelly, who is a retired Navy captain, and the six lawmakers claim the FBI has made inquiries through congressional authorities.
Democrats, particularly those with military backgrounds, have leapt to their colleagues’ defense, echoing their message about following the law and accusing Trump of weaponizing the government against his political opponents.
“Trump knows that we’re a threat” to Republicans’ grip on Washington, said Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), a military veteran whose Serve America PAC supports several of the Democrats in the video. “These are great leaders who can take the fight to Trump and MAGA.”
“It’s classic Trump — he ratchets everything up to an 11 and it blows up in his face,” said Austin Cook, a Democratic strategist and former Slotkin spokesperson. “Not only did it reinforce everything swing voters have always hated about him, but it’s also given this group the biggest megaphone they’ve ever had.”
But Tim Edson, a GOP strategist and former political director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said the video will only confirm the GOP base’s preconceived, negative views of Democratic officials.
“Republicans believe these Democrats are deranged with hatred of Trump, and it’s just their latest attempt to undermine lawful policies simply because they’re Trump’s policies,” Edson said. “These embarrassing antics only rally Republicans to the president.”
Some Democrats think it’s too early to tell how things will shake out for the “seditious six,” as some Trump officials are calling the lawmakers.
“Whether it works or not will depend on what comes next, if an illegal order actually does come down they get to be leaders saying ‘I told you so,’” texted one strategist who has consulted for Democratic veterans and was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “If one doesn’t, they’ve simply made themselves victims to Trump’s latest attacks. Most Democrats fail at playing on his turf.”
Kelly doubled down on the video’s message during his talk-show appearance Tuesday night and noted some of his Republican colleagues are expressing support: “People are starting to take a look at this and saying, ‘Wow, this is just nuts that he’s going after U.S. senators and members of the House for something they said.’”
A top pollster for President Donald Trump is pushing back on recent public polling showing Republican Mike Rogers trailing progressive Abdul El-Sayed in the marquee Michigan Senate race.
Tony Fabrizio, who is conducting polling for Rogers, says the polls released this month are over-sampling Democratic-leaning voters, specifically college-educated and Black voters, according to an internal memo obtained by Blue Light News. A Susquehanna poll released this month showed El-Sayed leading by seven points and a TIPP poll showed him leading by four points.
El-Sayed’s lead in those polls is a “fake narrative,” Fabrizio wrote. His polling for AARP — conducted alongside Democratic firm Impact Research — showed the race essentially tied.
The warning follows huge polling misses in the Democratic primaries in the Michigan, Wisconsin and Florida, which he wrote were “some of the most egregious examples of public polling failures in recent memory.” It’s also a sign that Republicans are wary of the string of bad polling numbers for Rogers in the race, which is crucial for determining control of the chamber.
Jim Lee, CEO of Susquehanna Polling and Research, told Blue Light News that the firm did not oversample any demographics. “I think their head is in the sand,” Lee said, noting in part what he said was a gap in enthusiasm between Democratic and Republican voters this cycle.
TIPP didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Fabrizio, in the memo, argued on the Susquehanna poll: “50% of the sample in this survey is college-educated – making them massively overrepresented to what they should be. We took a look at 2022 and 2024 Exit Polls and VoteCast data and, as shown below, there is no indication that the Michigan electorate will be anywhere near 50% college-educated. In fact, it is unlikely they will be even 40% college-educated.”
He also noted “a huge gap” between college-educated and non-college educated voters.
“This was the driving issue of the public polling misses for President Trump in 2016 and 2024, especially in the Upper Midwest states of Michigan and Wisconsin,” Fabrizio added. “By increasing college-educated voters by 10+ points, and thus decreasing non-college educated voters by the same, we can pretty much guarantee this poll is significantly overestimating El-Sayed’s vote share.”
President Donald Trump and hemp industry lobbyists are hoping to win a final vote on Capitol Hill next week to skirt a ban on intoxicating products — with shutdown politics as leverage.
Nine months ago, Congress cleared a bill to close a loophole created in 2018 that allowed the sale of some hemp-derived products containing types of THC colloquially known as “diet weed.” That ban is supposed to take effect in mid-November, or roughly 11 weeks, to limit overall THC levels in hemp products that can get people high — including gummies, canned drinks, pills and vapes.
But Trump and industry leaders successfully lobbied Senate leaders to add language to a government funding patch earlier this month to delay the ban until mid-December, with the administration promising instead to finalize regulations cracking down on how the products are made and sold.
Now House Republican leaders are aiming to clear that bill for Trump’s signature early next week, according to three people granted anonymity to disclose private discussions. And many GOP lawmakers are not pleased at the prospect of being rolled.
Rep. Riley Moore (R-W.Va.) told reporters last week that he expected House lawmakers would “iron out” some “sticking points” with the Senate-passed funding bill, “particularly the hemp issue,” rather than pass the legislation without changes — which appears to be GOP leadership’s current plan.
Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) was more blunt: “it is morally reprehensible to threaten a shutdown over a loophole Congress agreed to close to less than a year ago,” he said in a statement Thursday.
Yet despite fierce pushback from lawmakers warning that the intoxicating products are harming Americans, hemp industry leaders are preparing for a victory, betting members of Congress ultimately care more about swiftly passing legislation to avert a Sept. 30 government shutdown before the midterms.
“Any effort to try to shut down the government — over a one-month delay on a hemp issue — I don’t think is going to fly well with most members of Congress,” Jonathan Miller, a top lawyer for the U.S. Hemp Roundtable advocacy group, said in an interview this week.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment about its plans for imposing new rules on hemp products in the coming months. But the Trump administration is expected to need more time than mid-December to finalize regulations, so hemp industry representatives are discussing a “regulatory bridge” that would impose temporary rules while continuing to avoid a full ban, according to Miller.
That could include restricting purchase to adults age 21 and older, blocking imports from China, mandating certain manufacturing practices, cracking down on copycat products that look like popular candy or potato chips and requiring transparency in product labeling.
While lawmakers have been back home over their summer break, hemp industry leaders have fanned out across the country to make their case for this plan. “The hemp industry does not have an August recess,” Christopher Lackner, head of the Hemp Beverage Alliance, said in an interview this month of the group’s work to facilitate passage of the Senate-passed funding bill.
Trump administration officials have also been telling reluctant lawmakers they will use the one-month delay to work on regulations. “The White House has committed to me that they’re committed to regulate the industry,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said in an interview this month.
Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), who fought in the Senate to retain the ban as originally intended, said White House officials have said “they don’t want another extension, and I agree with that.”
In a statement, Ricketts said that “manufactured high-THC products like gummies and drinks are putting our kids in the hospital” and need to be taken “off our shelves.”
Some supporters of the ban say the White House and industry are just employing delay tactics to get to December, when lawmakers will face another pressure campaign to delay the ban while they are motivated to avert a shutdown before leaving town for the holidays.
“What they’re really after is to try to jam this on some must-pass, end-of-the-year funding,” Budd told reporters earlier this month. “That’s really what this is about.”
Budd fought to block the delay in the Senate as part of the government funding measure, but his amendment to that end was shot down 61-32 before the chamberpassed the legislation, sending it on for House action.
Trump personally called Budd after the senator filed the amendment and talked about creating federal regulations for hemp products, according to a Senate aide granted anonymity to describe the private discussion.
Days later, Budd demanded a vote on the amendment anyway and continues to slam the hemp industry.
“It is clear that businesses that sell unregulated, intoxicating products will stop at nothing to protect their bottom line, even at the expense of children’s health and safety,” he said in a statement this week.
Besides lawmakers fighting to ban intoxicating hemp products, others are pushing alongside the White House and industry for federal regulations.
Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-W.Va.) has crafted legislation that would direct the Food and Drug Administration to create federal rules for intoxicating hemp products and wants to see mandates for third-party testing, as well as new THC limits per serving.
Griffith told reporters Thursday the “deadline push” in the Senate-passed government funding measure “is not long enough” to finalize necessary regulations.
Since state limits for THC vary widely throughout the country and the federal government has taken years to step in since the hemp loophole was created in 2018, Griffith argued it makes more sense to regulate the intoxicating products than to enact a federal ban.
“That horse is out of the barn,” he said. “What we need to do is corral it.”
Kelsey Brugger, Amanda Friedman and Rachel Shin contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump’s $400-million super PAC is taking its first steps into the general election: hosting a public event in battleground Michigan, headlined by Vice President JD Vance.
Battleground Republicans have been clamoring for Trump’s MAGA Inc. to spend in competitive races. The Michigan event is an early indicator of how the massive group might seek to use its funds to help the party keep control of Washington.
Vance will be joined in Sterling, Michigan, on Monday by GOP Senate nominee Mike Rogers, 10th District nominee Mike Bouchard Jr. and gubernatorial nominee John James, along with several other Michigan Republicans, according to an event advisory from MAGA Inc.
The GOP sees Michigan’s open seat as its best Senate pickup target this fall as Rogers faces former public health leader and progressive Abdul El-Sayed, who emerged from a grueling primary earlier this month.
“MAGA Inc. will be hosting events throughout the nation to ensure that Republicans retain control of Congress in order to finish cleaning up the mess the Biden-Harris-Pelosi-Schumer Democrats left,” said Alex Pfeiffer, spokesperson for MAGA Inc. “We’re not going back to their record inflation, open borders, and surging crime.”
MAGA Inc. is sitting on more funds than any other super PAC, and Republican donors and battleground candidates have been hoping it will unleash that money to help the party keep control of the House and Senate.
So far, the group has only spent only a few million dollars out of its massive fundraising haul, and its funds have largely gone to competitive Republican primaries. Most recently, it spent $827,000 on phone calls and text messages to boost Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.) in the state’s special primary.
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