Pass the new Senate bill to ban lawmakers from corrupt stock trading!

Saturday Dose of Democracy:

Trump-backed MAGA candidate caught in humiliating trap
Trump-backed MAGA candidate Bernie Moreno, who is campaigning to oust longtime Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, walked himself into a spectacular faceplant on Thursday while attempting to tout his accessibility in contrast to his opponent. “I can tell you this, if I'm here, I will talk to you at any point in time, even take tough questions. Sherrod Brown won't do that,” Moreno declared. “If you can't come out here...and talk to reporters...and be unequivocal and clear, you have no business being in elected office.” Punchbowl News reporter Andrew Desiderio IMMEDIATELY took Moreno up on this offer, asking if his position on abortion conflicts with the Republican Party’s new platform. Moreno responded — and we are not making this up — "Look, we're not here to talk about abortion.” Incredible stuff.

Take Action: Pass a constitutional amendment to deny Trump immunity!

VIDEO OF THE DAY: Trump pulls dangerous new stunt ahead of Republican convention
SEVEN battleground states are sending FAKE electors to the RNC in Milwaukee next week, where they will anoint Donald Trump the GOP's nominee. Several of them are actually facing criminal charges right now. Brian Tyler Cohen and Glenn Kirschner break down the gravity of the situation and the very real threat the Republican Party poses to American democracy. "It's like a mugshot is a passport into Trumpworld. It's almost a requirement that you have either been convicted of something...or you are pending charges for trying to criminally interfere," Kirschner said.

Take Action: Demand Congress take action to limit presidential immunity!

Pennsylvania org leads new fight for justice
POWER Interfaith: Our society is riddled with deep-rooted injustices, inequities, and discrimination at a foundational level, and tackling these enormous problems is a monumental challenge that starts at the bottom. That’s why POWER Interfaith is mobilizing the public and leading campaigns to create lasting change and hold our leaders accountable for their actions. Will you chip in to support their efforts to tackle crucial issues like educational injustice, environmental racism, vote suppression, education discrimination and the carceral state?

Major Democratic donors freeze $90 million to largest Biden super PAC until he drops out
Major Democratic donors have reportedly told the largest pro-Biden super PAC that approximately $90 million in pledged donations are now on hold until President Joe Biden steps down from the ticket. According to two sources with The New York Times, multiple eight-figure donor commitments have been frozen following the president’s poor performance in last month's debate against Donald Trump. The super PAC Future Forward refused to speak about the situation when asked by the Times, but one adviser with the group told the outlet that they expect paused donations to return once the uncertainty regarding Biden’s political future is resolved.

Take Action: Demand live fact-checking at presidential debates to stop Trump's lies!

Rightwing claim of "0% chance" of fair US election previews effort to undo 2024 result
Surprise, surprise. The Heritage Foundation, the right-wing think tank packed to the gills with former Trump staffers and officials who also just so happened to author the radical, right-wing Project 2025 manifesto, have already begun previewing their plans to overturn the 2024 election with a top official saying there was a "0% chance of a free and fair election." Mike Howell, who you may recall just got into an expletive-laden text beef with self-described "gay furry hackers," mapped out several utterly implausible scenarios that definitely will not take place after the election. Howell's outlandish schemes involve Barbra Streisand being kidnapped by Hamas, antifa-BLM protesters taking over a detention facility, and the FBI arresting Trump after he wins the election. Lacking any semblance of self-awareness, the think tank's terminally broken braintrust actually said the following: "President Biden is very well-positioned to hold the White House by force in the case of an unfavorable electoral outcome." Gee, wonder what events in recent history they're basing that hypothetical conclusion on?

Hungary’s authoritarian leader Viktor Orban gushes over Trump after "peace talks" at Mar-a-Lago
Cool, cool, cool. Just one Kremlin-friendly authoritarian nutjob meeting up with another Kremlin-friendly (wannabe) authoritarian crank to undermine the legitimacy of the ongoing NATO summit in the face of Ukraine's downright existential war with Russia. It's all good, though. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who dubbed his visit "peace mission 5.0," said convicted felon and MAGA cult leader Donald Trump is totally gonna solve the international community's many, many intractable problems and deliver world peace. Finally!

RFK Jr. reportedly sent apology text to woman who accused him of sexual assault
Anti-vax screwball and imminent election spoiler Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sent a text apologizing to a woman who accused him of sexual assault in a Vanity Fair article, it was reported on Friday, just days after the increasingly isolated member of the famous political dynasty tried to brush off his latest scandal. Kennedy said in the text that he had "no memory" of the incident (damn those pesky brainworms!) but nevertheless apologized in a message his accuser called "arrogant" and an attempt at "damage control," according to The Washington Post. Eliza Cooney, who was once a nanny and legal intern and lived in the Kennedy family home, said Kennedy made inappropriate advances and sexually assaulted her in a pantry there in the late 1990s. She was 23 at the time. Kennedy was then 45 and married with children.

Brian Tyler Cohen makes MAJOR announcement
Shameless by Brian Tyler Cohen: Everybody's favorite YouTube commentator, podcaster, and MSNBC contributor Brian Tyler Cohen has written a book, SHAMELESS: Republicans’ Deliberate Dysfunction and the Battle to Preserve Democracy! Shameless breaks down the lies and hypocrisies of a Republican Party steeped in MAGA mania and what steps Democrats must take to fight back, with a special foreword by Rep. Jamie Raskin. Pre-order your copy here!

Shocker poll suggests Trump’s lying may be huge weakness for him
A new Marist poll takes the novel step of asking registered voters which is more off-putting in an occupant of the Oval Office: dishonesty or excessive age. The results are surprising, and along with other polling along these lines, it should influence how Joe Biden’s and Donald Trump’s relative qualifications for the presidency are covered from here on out. The results were lopsided: By 68 to 32 percent, respondents were more concerned about the lying than the aging. Given the relentless media focus on presidential age of late, that’s simply remarkable.