President Trump left the White House for Michigan today, a state Republicans think they can flip. Early in-person voting is already underway ahead of the state’s August 4th Senate primary, and Trump-endorsed Mike Rogers is positioning for a pickup while the Democratic Party spends the week explaining away its own chairman’s temper.
The New York Times reports that DNC Chair 𝐊𝐞𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧 threw his phone at a junior aide’s desk during an outburst at party headquarters, an episode serious enough that it triggered 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐑 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭. Multiple people familiar with the incident described worsening conduct from Martin as financial pressure mounts; separate reporting puts the DNC roughly $𝟐 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐝.
Tonight, Michigan Democrats hold a Senate primary debate between Rep. Haley Stevens and Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, two candidates in a 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 with less than three weeks before voters decide. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was pressed on the Martin story and offered nothing but deflection.
None of this is happening in a vacuum. Democrats are trying to project unity against a president they insist is unpopular, while their own party chairman can’t make it through a bad week without launching a phone across a room. Michigan Republicans, meanwhile, are simply showing up.
𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐑.