Good afternoon,

It appears we've hit a bit of turbulence in the 2024 presidential election. While Democrats are making headway on the campaign trail, former President Trump has been having a meltdown over the crowds at Vice President Harris's rallies.

Trump took to his social media site, Truth Social, to make false claims that the crowds at the Vice President's events, including one outside at an airplane hangar in Detroit, are fake and that she used artificial intelligence to create videos and pictures of them.

Ever since President Biden stepped down from the race, Trump has struggled to regain his political footing. The X (formerly Twitter) Spaces fiasco of last night is a perfect encapsulation of the flailing Trump campaign. Frustrated by the 40-minute delay to their virtual conversation, Musk blamed the tech issues on a "distributed denial-of-service attack" or in other words, an attempt to shut it down. In response, the Harris campaign has used Trump's accusations to mock Trump while continuing to work crowds in battleground states.

Here are a few important updates impacting rural America...

DEMS FORGE FORWARD IN RURAL DISTRICTS

• With Tim Walz onboard, Democrats are hoping he will be the answer to reaching voters in rural districts across the U.S. Walz previously held a conservative-leaning, rural congressional district in southern Minnesota, which he held for six terms. Since Walz's departure, the district has been represented by a Republican in Congress.

• Democrats are well aware of the challenges they are up against, but Tim Walz being on the ticket has certainly generated some much-needed optimism. The key moving forward will be for Democrats to drive up turnout in medium-sized cities and small towns and motivate individuals on the political sidelines.

• After the completion of an introductory five-state campaign tour, swing states already seem to be favoring the Harris-Walz duo. A lot can change in the months before an election, but we hope Harris and Walz maintain their momentum.

BALE-ING OUT FARMERS FACING DISCRIMINATION

• Farmers are the backbone of our country, working tirelessly to put food on American tables and fuel our economy. Yet, for far too long, farmers and ranchers across our country have faced discriminatory policies that limit people of color from accessing the financial capital and resources they need to keep farming.

• The USDA has recently taken steps to acknowledge and address the role it has played in denying farmers of color loans and opportunities. Even as recently as 2021, Black and Asian farmers have disproportionately faced loan rejections.

• Politicians like J.D. Vance perpetuate the problem by making backwards claims about these efforts to achieve racial justice as "hand[ing] out farm benefits to people based on skin color." In fact, that's exactly the problem that these programs are designed to fix! White farmers received the USDA's support, which was denied to Black and ethnic minority farmers and ranchers based on their skin color. This structural racism caused Black farmers to lose $326 billion worth of agricultural land over the course of the 20th century.

• To that end, the Biden-Harris Administration announced millions of dollars in relief payments to over 43,000 farmers who have faced racial discrimination. While this is a start, decades of discrimination cannot be unwound so easily. A group of Black farmers have sued, saying the Discrimination Financial Assistance Program should include their heirs in the program.

• In Gaining Ground: The Fight for Black Land, Emmy-nominated director Eternal Polk outlines how Heirs' Property has contributed to the loss of Black landownership. Eternal joined the 2023 Rural Progress Summit to talk to OCP board member and former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy to talk about what is being done to fight the exploitation of this law and how landowners are reclaiming their agricultural legacy and creating paths to generational wealth. Watch here.

• Tomorrow, Walz will be visiting Denver, marking the beginning of his first solo campaign event. Tomorrow's event begins his week-long tour, which will include Los Angeles, Boston, Rhode Island, and New York. The solo fundraising swing follows the tour Walz and Harris took to visit battleground states.

• OCP at the DNC – One Country is partnering with the DNC Rural Council to elevate important conversations on some of the biggest issues facing rural America. This includes a countable discussion on the impact of the Dobbs Decision on maternal health in rural America, the impact Project 2025 would have on rural America, and a fireside chat with Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear.

• OCP is also hosting a reception for the new JFK Jr memoir, An Intimate Oral History, hosted by CNN Contributor, Paul Begala.

• Stay tuned for updates on these great events next week!

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