Trump claims he cut ties with Jeffrey Epstein as soon as he learned the sex trafficker was poaching staff—but records show Epstein remained a Mar-a-Lago member for at least seven more years.

THE DETAILS: Trump has recently bragged that he banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago after finding out he was hiring away workers.

THE LIES: Trump, when confronted about this delay last week, dodged questions and claimed not to understand.

THE TRUTH: Trump had a long and close friendship with Epstein (birds of a feather…).

WHY IT MATTERS: Trump wants us to believe that he cut ties with Epstein right after the Giuffre incident. But that’s simply not true. So the question is… what is he hiding?

In case you needed further proof that healthcare shouldn’t be a business: Major health insurers like CVS and Humana are pulling back from the once-booming Medicare Advantage market. They’re cutting benefits and exiting “unprofitable” plans amid rising medical costs and tighter government payments. Investors are rewarding this shift in focus from growth to profitability, even as hundreds of thousands of seniors get screwed. Full story from The Wall Street Journal.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has canceled $500 million in federal contracts for mRNA vaccine development, targeting projects from companies like Pfizer and Moderna. Citing “safety concerns,” the longtime vaccine denier says the government will instead pursue “natural immunity” strategies—despite expert warnings this move will endanger lives and undermine pandemic preparedness. Full story from the AP.

Senator John Cornyn has asked the FBI to help locate and arrest Texas Democrats who fled the state to block a Trump-backed gerrymandering plan aimed at gaining five new GOP congressional seats. Democrats, now in Illinois, say they’re fulfilling their duty by denying quorum to stop what they call an attack on democracy and voters of color. Full story from The Guardian.

Rep. Mike Flood was heckled and booed at a Nebraska town hall after defending Trump’s sweeping tax-and-border bill, which slashed aid programs while boosting immigration enforcement. Voters also blasted him over GOP subpoenas targeting Democrats in the Epstein scandal—while conspicuously ignoring Trump’s own long-documented ties to the sex trafficker. Full story from the Washington Post.

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Right wing media is taking a break from fear mongering about crime in New York City… to fearmonger about Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani.

THE NUMBERS:
NYPD data shows shootings in New York City have actually dropped to the lowest level on record.

But you’d never know crime is down from their breathless coverage of nearly every incident in the city.

WHY IT MATTERS:
After years of hyping “rising crime” in big cities to attack Democrats (even though data shows crime is down), the right is now using the actual data, which shows a drop in crime, to vilify Mamdani.

THE POST’S SPIN:
The Post credits the turnaround to Adams’ “tough-on-crime” approach and warns Mamdani’s policies—like using some of the NYPD’s bloated $11B budget for mental health services and ending “elite” task forces—would cause chaos.

REALITY CHECK:
Crime began declining before Adams ramped up policing. But simply throwing people in jail doesn’t work. Recidivism remains high, and the prison system continues to rely on exploited labor, especially from Black and brown New Yorkers.

WHAT MAMDANI PROPOSES:
Mamdani’s vision centers care, not criminalization— investing in housing, mental health services, and unarmed emergency response teams. It’s a shift away from fear-based politics toward actual safety.

ZOOM OUT:
The right isn’t scared crime will rise under Mamdani—they’re scared it won’t. Because if we don’t need cops to feel safe, we don’t need their system either.

Yesterday we asked, do you think Social Security should be privatized? It was a LANDSLIDE.

RMTL voted no and said: “Like a lot of older retirees it's what we depend on and is all we have. Without it I will be homeless. I am almost 80 years old… None of us are living high on the hog. If they privatize it they will get richer while we get worse off then we are. And God help us if the market crashes most of us will be on the streets.”

David also voted no: “For Christ sake! Republicans as far back as George Bush have proposed doing this. They see money as something they alone should have.  Social Security accounts for 30% of my income. Leave it alone!”

Margaret voted no and said: “I have paid into it my whole life and we depend upon it. It should continue to go on it takes care of us middle and poor class and disabled people. This shouldn't be taken away. The rich only want to get richer!!”

Just for the record, nobody who voted yes left a comment…

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