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President Donald Trump is simply not going to stand for the media reporting anything he doesn’t like, and he’s going to use every tool in his toolbox to make that happen. If that means prosecuting media outlets, he’s down. If it means suing them, he’s all in. And if it means gutting nonpartisan government media, he’ll do it.  On Tuesday, Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem threw a little temper tantrum about CNN’s coverage of the ICEBlock app. Yes, Noem threatened to get the Department of Justice to prosecute CNN for running a segment about an iPhone app. You’d think that CNN had presented a detailed tutorial on how to use ICEBlock to ambush Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, but the coverage is nothing more than an explainer on the app’s inventor and what the app does. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem According to Joshua Aaron, the app’s creator, ICEBlock is an “early warning system” to track ICE agents nearby. Users can report the location of agents with notes on how to identify them, and any user within a 5-mile radius will get notified—not unlike the Google Maps feature where you can report that there are police ahead.  It should go without saying, but it is not illegal to determine where ICE agents are and to tell other people. And it certainly isn’t illegal to use an app that does that. Noem’s confusion may be understandable, though, since she thinks of them as her own personal masked secret police.  Ever eager to help Trump weaponize the DOJ, Attorney General Pam Bondi already did a media hit against CNN on Fox News Monday. The app, she claimed, is “giving a message to criminals where our federal officers are, and he cannot do that, and we are looking at it, we are looking into him, and he better watch out.”  Always a legal genius, Bondi went on to say that ICEBlock is “not protected speech.” That is absolutely not the case. It’s legal to publicize the whereabouts and actions of law enforcement and even to record police. Well, at least until the Supreme Court carves out a special exception for Trump, as it’s wont to do. Attorney General Pam Bondi After Noem’s threats, Trump had to get in on the action, but he’s actually mad about something entirely different. “And they may very well be prosecuted also for having given false reports on the attack in Iran. They were given totally false reports. It was totally obliterated,” he said. “So they may very well be prosecuted for that. What they did there, we think, is totally illegal.” This is the same thing that Trump was mad about a few days ago. But back then, he was threatening the media in his personal capacity—because we now live in a world where the president is allowed to routinely sue media outlets he doesn’t like.  Despite being president, Trump has still made time to pursue his personal grievances against the media. CBS is close to paying him off over his nonsense lawsuit in which he claims that the network deceptively edited a segment featuring Vice President Kamala Harris. Related | Why Republicans desperately want the media to be their cheerleaders In other words, CBS is going to pay Trump—the person—millions and millions of dollars so that Trump—the president—will tell the Federal Communications Commission to approve a merger between CBS’ parent company, Paramount, and Skydance Media. It’s the same thing that ABC News did before Trump even took office.  Last week, Trump had his personal attorney, Alejandro Brito—who also handled the ABC suit—send letters to CNN and The New York Times threatening to sue over reporting on a preliminary intelligence report that said that Trump’s drone strikes had only knocked Iran’s nuclear program back a few months.  In his letter to the Times, Brito said that the reporting “undermined the credibility and integrity of President Trump in the eyes of the public and the professional community.” Apparently, reporting anything at odds with Trump’s assertions is now considered defamation of Trump, allowing him to sue. But it’s also now considered a crime, so Trump, as president, can get the DOJ to prosecute. And just to round things out, Trump’s already had his administration destroy the nonpartisan Voice of America for being “radical.” The DOJ is supposed to be independent of the president, not a vehicle for Trump to use for retaliatory prosecution. The president shouldn’t be able to pursue his personal civil grievances against the same media outlets that he threatens with prosecution. But it’s happening because norms have not held, and checks and balances fell apart.  Trump’s attacks on the media are an assault on the First Amendment and other core democratic principles. In other words, it’s business as usual for Trump. Campaign Action

www.patreon.com/keefknight www.keithknight.substack.com Related | Zohran Mamdani laughs off Trump’s unhinged attacks after NYC primary win Campaign Action

Zohran Mamdani crushed the competition in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, according to the ranked-choice voting results released on Tuesday by the New York Board of Elections. Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist and state assemblyman, won 56% of the vote in the final round of voting. That’s a 12-percentage-point lead over disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, his closest rival, and it represents a stinging rebuke of the Democratic establishment. x Datawrapper Content This solidifies the results of the first round of voting, which showed Mamdani with a comfortable—and surprising—lead last week. As a result, he declared victory the same night, and Cuomo conceded shortly after. And Tuesday’s ranked-choice results only widened the gap: Mamdani picked up nearly 100,000 additional votes from eliminated challengers, nearly double Cuomo’s pickup. That boost likely came from a coordinated “Don’t Rank Cuomo” campaign. In New York City’s ranked-choice system, voters can list up to five candidates in order of preference. If no one wins a majority outright, the last-place finisher is eliminated and their votes redistributed, continuing until someone clears 50%.  The anti-Cuomo campaign urged voters to leave him off their ballots entirely, depriving him of later-round votes. The effort culminated in a late-game cross-endorsement between Mamdani and Comptroller Brad Lander, who placed third in the first round, with both candidates urging their supporters to rank the other man second. Disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Mamdani’s stunning performance is proof that strategy—and grassroots momentum—can overpower name recognition. His campaign mobilized thousands of previously disengaged or unregistered voters, especially young progressives. According to The New York Times, 37,000 New Yorkers registered in the two weeks before the registration deadline, compared with only about 3,000 who registered during the same stretch in 2021, when current New York City Mayor Eric Adams was first nominated by the Democrats. Cuomo led polls after announcing his comeback bid in March, largely buoyed by older voters and name recognition. But Mamdani steadily closed the gap with relentless messaging about the city’s high cost of living and his plans to alleviate that with a bold progressive platform: rent freezes, free buses, and city-run grocery stores. His campaign drew endorsements from New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, among others. Though expected to do well with white and college-educated voters, Mamdani also put up competitive numbers in demographic groups typically considered Cuomo’s strongholds, including Black and Hispanic voters. He didn’t just win; he built a new coalition. Even so, the election isn’t technically over. Tuesday’s ranked-choice count provides a nearly final snapshot, but the Board of Elections will continue processing absentee ballots through July 15, when it plans to certify the results. Still, the writing’s on the wall: Mamdani will almost certainly top the Democratic ticket in November, regardless of Republican grumbling.  Cuomo, who previously pledged to run as an independent if he lost, has stayed vague about his next move. His campaign issued a statement Tuesday that seemed to reject the outcome of the race. New York City Mayor Eric Adams, shown in June 2022. “Extremism, division, and empty promises are not the answer to this city’s problems, and while this was a look at what motivates a slice of our primary electorate, it does not represent the majority,” it says. But if Cuomo does continue his campaign, he won’t be alone. He won’t even be the only scandal-plagued former Democrat running as an independent in the race. Adams dropped out of the Democratic primary earlier this year, and he also plans to run as an independent. He quickly went on the offensive, framing Mamdani as an untested radical. However, Adams continues to be dogged by a federal corruption investigation, which was controversially dropped by President Donald Trump’s administration. That said, he reportedly still has some backing from the city’s business elite. Meanwhile, some of Cuomo’s former allies are jumping ship. Two major unions—the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council and 32BJ SEIU—have endorsed Mamdani in November’s general election, signaling a shift in momentum. In addition to Adams, Mamdani will face Republican Curtis Sliwa and Jim Walden, a former federal prosecutor who is also in the race as an independent. Altogether, November’s general election could become a free-for-all brawl. For now, though, Mamdani and his supporters have reason to celebrate. The left didn’t just win—they steamrolled. Campaign Action

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is coming after the people who dare lend a helping hand to immigrants.  Noem shared a CNN segment to X on Tuesday that showed an up-and-coming app designed to warn immigrants, undocumented or not, about the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in their area.  “This sure looks like obstruction of justice,” Noem wrote on the post. “Our brave ICE law enforcement face a 500% increase in assaults against them,” she added. “If you obstruct or assault our law enforcement, we will hunt you down and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” she added. xThis sure looks like obstruction of justice. Our brave ICE law enforcement face a 500% increase in assaults against them. If you obstruct or assault our law enforcement, we will hunt you down and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. pic.twitter.com/9w3msUhgB0— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) July 1, 2025 Over the past weeks and months, many have taken to the streets to protest against ICE’s cruelty and presence in their cities. Some have used social media to warn people about the presence of ICE agents in their area.  And now a new app called ICEBlock allows people to anonymously submit ICE sightings, which will then alert people within a 5-mile radius of the listed location. “When I saw what was happening in this country, I wanted to do something to fight back,” Joshua Aaron, the app’s developer, told CNN on Monday. Demonstrators gather along Texas Avenue near the Brazos County Courthouse during the “No Kings” protest in Bryan, Texas, on June 14. The Trump administration’s brutal immigration crackdown has led to heart-rending scenes across the nation. For example, in late June, a mother of two appeared to be manhandled by ICE agents who were trying to force her into a vehicle as her children attempted to keep her from being taken away.  “Where’s your warrant?” one of the children demanded in a viral video of the encounter, as the daughter pleaded to the filming stranger to call the police.  It’s scenes like this, as well as raids at immigrants’ homes or workplaces, that have struck fear in families’ hearts across the country. For many, leaving their homes to do simple daily tasks like going to the doctor has become an impossible feat.  And while Noem’s social media post implies that people will use the app to attack ICE officers, Aaron encouraged users to act with kindness.  “Please note that the use of this app is for information and notification purposes only. It is not to be used for the purposes of inciting violence or interfering with law enforcement,” the app notifies users when they post a sighting. It’s unclear if the Trump administration intends to intervene with the app.  Nevertheless, as it further ramps up its deportation efforts and ushers in terrifying immigration prisons in the Florida Everglades, one thing is clear: The Trump administration doesn’t plan to stop terrorizing immigrants anytime soon.  Campaign Action

Former Rep. Colin Allred—a civil rights attorney, ex-lineback for the National Football League, and one of Texas Democrats’ brightest prospects—is making a comeback. About eight months after losing to Sen. Ted Cruz, Allred is jumping back into the ring, this time setting his sights on Sen. John Cornyn in 2026. “Texans are working harder than ever, not getting as much time with their kids, missing those special moments, all to be able to afford less,” Allred said in his launch video. “And the people we elected to help—politicians like John Cornyn and Ken Paxton—are too corrupt to care about us and too weak to fight for us.” His message is clear: He’s not finished fighting. The video emphasizes his background and the grit it took to make it to the NFL. “At heart, I’m still that undrafted kid, fighting for what’s right. I’m still that guy showering after work, instead of before,” Allred said—a subtle reference to his second Senate bid. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, shown in March 2024. Texas Democrats see an opening. Cornyn is caught in a messy fight with state Attorney General Ken Paxton, the scandal-ridden MAGA hard-liner beloved by President Donald Trump’s base. A recent Texas Southern University poll showed Paxton with a 9-percentage-point lead over Cornyn in a two-way Republican primary, but only a 2-point edge over Allred in a general election matchup. That’s why Allred’s video targets both men. Internal GOP polling reportedly confirms that Paxton is a riskier nominee in a general election. But so far, Trump has withheld his endorsement. While Paxton has been one of Trump’s most loyal defenders, Cornyn is generally seen as more electable statewide. Still, Allred shouldn’t take the primary for granted. The Democratic field could grow quickly. Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro, state Rep. James Talarico, and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke have all reportedly considered running. Former astronaut Terry Virts and flight attendant Mike Swanson are already in the race, though neither has gained traction. That’s part of why top Democrats are pushing for a unified statewide slate. With more than a dozen major offices on the ballot in 2026—including governor, lieutenant governor, and Paxton’s soon-to-be-open attorney general seat—party leaders hope to avoid a contentious Senate primary and instead focus on retaking a statewide office for the first time since 1994. Beto O’Rourke, right, hugs a supporter at a gathering during his run for governor, in Fort Worth, Texas, in March 2022. Allred arrives with some big advantages: name recognition, national fundraising networks, and potential bipartisan appeal. During his 2024 race, he secured endorsements from prominent anti-Trump Republicans, like former Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. A Texas Public Opinion Research poll shows 37% of registered voters in the state view Allred favorably—more than Paxton (35%) or Cornyn (21%). He was also the only political figure in the poll to have a net-positive favorability, meaning more voters had a favorable view of him than had a negative view. However, Allred has something to prove. His previous campaign was criticized for being too cautious, especially compared with the energy O’Rourke brought in 2018. Despite outraising Cruz, Allred lost by 8.5 points—though he outperformed Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, who lost Texas to Trump by nearly 14 points. This time, Allred promises a different approach. Now, free from congressional duties, Allred said in a recent interview that he plans to “run differently” in 2026—more aggressively, less cautiously. Allred first ran for office in 2018, flipping a Dallas-area district by defeating GOP incumbent Pete Sessions. Before that, he worked at the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the Obama administration. Now he’s betting that 2026 will finally be the year Texas flips—and that he’ll be the one to do it. Campaign Action