FLORIDA BLUES
A Democrat just flipped Donald Trump’s Florida home district in a surprise victory. It’s official: Even Trump’s neighbors are sick of his shit.
Emily Gregory never ran for public office before. She owns FIT4MOM Palm Beach, a fitness club focused on helping pregnant and postpartum mothers. But she grew increasingly dismayed at the behavior of one of her obnoxious, billionaire neighbors — the one who happens to be president of the United States — and decided to launch a long-shot bid for state rep in the deep red district. Last night, she pulled it off.
“It’s been a whirlwind. It’s very exciting,” Gregory told What A Day. “I encourage anyone thinking about running for office: If you think you should, and people tell you you’re bonkers, maybe you still should. Because I can tell you, nobody thought that this was within reach.”
Gregory’s symbolic win in Trump’s backyard is the latest sign of improving Democratic prospects for the midterms and beyond, as Trump’s poll numbers sag, the price of gasoline surges, and more American troops depart for the Middle East to fight an unpopular war with Iran.
It’s also the latest in a slew of major upsets by Democrats on the local level across the country. Gregory’s Republican predecessor won this seat by 19 points in 2024. She won by more than 2 points, running on an agenda focused on affordability and local issues that directly affect residents, such as property insurance reform.
“I just see all my neighbors as really reasonable people that just want really reasonable solutions to things that are really impacting our ability to save for the future,” she said.
Her advice to Democrats ahead of the midterms: “You always have to start the conversation listening, not talking at someone, and then your positions can evolve throughout a campaign, and you can expand your way of thinking,” she said. “Mine certainly has.”
Trump’s unpopularity is also dimming Republican prospects in at least one battleground state, according to a poll shared exclusively with What A Day.
Democrats are widely expected to win the House of Representatives in November, and look increasingly competitive in the Senate. Republicans might also struggle to hold power in important swing-states.
Consider Nevada, where Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat, is closing the gap with Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo in their race for governor. Ford currently trails Lombardo by only 3 percentage points, according to a poll commissioned by The Majority Institute, a Democratic Party-aligned firm. Last June, Ford was behind by 9 points.
What changed? Nevadans are souring on Trump, pollsters Geoff Garin and Aileen Cardona wrote in a memo. Fifty-one percent of voters said that his policies have been mainly bad for the state. And this poll was taken in February — before Trump’s war on Iran spiked gas prices.
“Voters’ unhappiness with the status quo in Nevada is a clear drag on Lombardo, and his weakness in standing up to Donald Trump on behalf of Nevada continues to be a major liability,” the pollsters write.
If Trump’s neighbors disregard his endorsements… what should the rest of us think?
WHAT ELSE? 👀
A jury found Meta and YouTube liable for harming a young woman with addictive features that led to her mental health issues. The companies have to pay $3 million in compensation, in a landmark trial that could have huge implications for social media platforms. Will a deluge of new lawsuits follow? Is social media the new big tobacco? We may all be about to find out!
The Department of Justice agreed to pay $1.2 million to Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, to settle a lawsuit over alleged wrongful persecution related to Russiagate. Donald Trump had pardoned Flynn, but that “apparently wasn’t enough,” MS NOW contributor Steve Benen writes. “Flynn wanted a payout, too, claiming federal law enforcement subjected him to malicious prosecution when they charged him with crimes he had twice pleaded guilty to. Thanks to Trump’s DOJ, he’ll now get one.”
Iran rejected a 15-point ceasefire proposal from the United States, according to Pakistani officials. The key points reportedly focus on sanctions relief rolling back Iran’s nuclear program, and reopening the Strait of Hormuz oil transit route. Iran offered a counter proposal, including reparations for the war damage and recognition of Iranian control over the strait. Wait a minute, I thought Trump won this war, like, two weeks ago? Is this the part where we all get tired of winning?
Trump’s aides have been showing him a video montage of large and successful U.S. strikes on Iran every morning, NBC News reports. One official described the montage, which normally runs for about two minutes, as “stuff blowing up.” So Trump’s team is now making military snuff films to keep the boss happy. Checks out!
The five-week DHS shutdown has caused “the highest wait times in history” at airports, according to TSA Acting Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill. She also warned that airports could close as a result of staffing shortages.
House Democrats discovered a new memo full of allegations about Trump’s conduct in the case of his mishandling of classified documents. The most damning details include the assertion that Trump “possessed documents that only six people in the U.S. government had access to, showed off a classified map to passengers on his private plane and had files relevant to his business interests,” Axios writes. Trump denied any wrongdoing in the case, which famously revealed boxes of classified documents stacked up in the Mar-a-Lago bathroom.
LIGHT AT THE END… ☀️
The nomination of Casey Means, Trump’s crackpot surgeon general pick, remains stalled in Congress, a month after she tried to convince senators that she isn’t a loopy psychedelics-loving anti-vaxxer. She would likely need full GOP support for her nomination to move out of committee, and that isn’t happening. “I’m just in the same spot,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) told reporters.
A reverend has been celebrating Mass with migrants in packed shelters in Texas and Mexico over the past five years. In this profile in the Associated Press, Rev. Brian Strassburger explains how he views the job: “I’d always thought a religious vocation or a priesthood was like this cross that you bear because God tells you you have to. He’s like, ‘Sorry, Brian, you’re one of those ones who has to be a priest.’ And you’re like, ‘OK, God,’” he said. “I started to think, what if the life of priesthood isn’t this great burden, but actually the way for me to be my best self?” An inspiration!
MAGA voters in Arkansas are fighting to prevent the state from building a new 3,000-bed prison dubbed “Arkansas Alcatraz.” One resident who lives across from the proposed site started a popular Facebook page, where he “features anti-prison memes, including one of [Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders] as a green-skinned Grinch. He also has lined his fence with plastic skeletons,” the Wall Street Journal writes.
Late night host Stephen Colbert and his son are writing a “Lord of the Rings” movie together. The film will follow Sam, Merry and Pippin more than a dozen years after Frodo’s death (sorry for the spoiler… you did have 25 years to see it, just sayin’!).
Do you love “The Bachelorette”? Well I hope you have $78 million laying around, because the California estate known as Hummingbird Nest Ranch — where one of the seasons was filmed — is up for sale. Maybe we could all go in on it together and make our own What A Day reality TV show? Now that would be fun.
Kentucky Fried Chicken U.K. is giving away a “Pickle Puffer” jacket, which holds pickles suspended in juice. Who asked for this???
Funny cartoon! Thanks What a Day!
If the pickle puffer jacket is filled with half sour kosher pickles, I'd buy one!