Hello,

Wednesday night, as bombs began raining down on Ukrainian cities, Donald Trump called into Fox News to blame – you guessed it – Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton.

As Russian tanks began pouring over the Ukrainian border, Fox News host Laura Ingraham had the gall to call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “pathetic.”

And if you tune into Tucker Carlson these days, you’ll see a show that might as well have been written and produced by Russian state media. Fox News showcases the chasm between traditional GOP normative behavior and the fringe-right cabal now headed by Donald J. Trump.

As the commander of military forces in East Africa, I asked the American Forces Network to replace Fox News during meal hours for troops. Why? Because they were harmful to America's outreach overseas. They put our troops in jeopardy and made my job harder. Today, they have accomplices.

Without Fox News, Trump would have only ever been a bungling celebrity who foolishly and laughably ran for president.

Real-time reckoning of lies needs real-time litigation. There is such a thing as gross distortions of fact and purveyors of such must pay a debilitating price. My answer to Fox when I was an admiral in the U.S. Navy? I pulled the plug.

If I defeat Chuck Grassely and turn Iowa blue this November, I will be the most senior military person ever elected to the United States Senate. And I think it’s about time we had more people in leadership who understand the true costs of war and media manipulation of facts, commonly called disinformation.

The polls show we can win. The pundits say we must win. And with your help today, we can fight back against McConnell’s Super PAC lies and protect our Democratic majority in the Senate.

We need to raise another $300,000 before our critical end-of-month deadline, but right now, we’re still falling dangerously short. If we’re going to defeat Chuck Grassley and turn Iowa blue, I need grassroots donors like you to give now:

Please, will you chip in $5 or more right now – every dollar you can spare before our critical end-of-month deadline – to help me defeat Chuck Grassley, turn Iowa blue, and protect our Democratic Senate majority?

Fox News’ propaganda cannot go unanswered. But it takes significant funding to run a full-scale campaign and take on all of Grassley’s and McConnell’s lies.

I’m not taking a dime of corporate PAC money, so whatever you can give today will go a long way.

I am so thankful to have you on the team,

Mike Franken, VADM, U.S. Navy (ret.)