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JD Vance is reportedly considering abandoning his 2028 presidential bid. The Nvidia spy scandal is threatening Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s job. Sen. Chris Van Hollen has officially launched a challenge to Chuck Schumer for Senate majority leader. And Democrats flipped the governor’s mansions in both Alaska and Kansas.
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Vance Considers Pulling Out of 2028 Presidential Race
Hillbilly Elegy is about to get a sequel nobody asked for.
Vice President JD Vance is debating whether he should pull out of the 2028 presidential election after the GOP’s brutal midterm losses, according to CNN. Interviews with a dozen close allies suggest that Vance is not sure if any Republican can win the White House if the war in Iran is still going on.
One ally told CNN the situation is simple: “If they don’t end the war in Iran, no Republican has a shot at 2028.” Vance said the same thing the day after the midterms, declaring that “the reason we lost is the war.”
Trump publicly rebuked Vance Thursday, writing on Truth Social that “we don’t need a deal with Iran” and ordering him to “focus his complete and total attention” on crime in Democratic cities. That was a day after the pair appeared together at Arlington National Cemetery for Veterans Day, where they did not say anything publicly to each other.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is rising in the ranks as a major contender for the 2028 nomination. A recent poll by AtlasIntel had Rubio beating Vance 45 percent to 30 percent in a hypothetical Republican primary.
Nvidia Spy Scandal Threatens Commerce Secretary Lutnick’s Job
A guy who had consensual sex with an adult woman is about to bring down half the cabinet, but the Pedo-in-Chief remains.
The Nvidia spy scandal now threatens Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s job, with Politico reporting Thursday that Trump is considering pushing him out. Lutnick’s own department halted a federal probe into a company suspected of smuggling Nvidia chips to China after Nvidia’s lawyers stepped in.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently admitted he had an affair with Alice Huang, CEO of a Singapore-based company called Megaspeed. U.S. intelligence officials believe Alice Huang has been passing information to the Chinese government about Jensen Huang and Nvidia’s plans.
Trump was briefed as early as October 2025 on the suspected Chinese spy operation but did nothing. He continued working with Huang on AI policy and publicly defended him as an “honorable guy.”
Democrats who won control of both chambers last week are vowing to open major investigations into the scandal. Three House Democrats have already sent a letter to Lutnick asking what he and other senior officials knew.
Van Hollen Launches Challenge to Schumer for Senate Majority Leader
Democracy in the Senate Democratic Caucus would actually be a first.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland announced Thursday night that he is running against Chuck Schumer for Senate majority leader. He told MS NOW’s Jen Psaki that the midterm results represent “a generational opportunity for the Senate to respond to the call of the American people for change.”
Van Hollen said the challenge was not a personal grievance, but a response to the voters. He told Psaki Democrats won 56 Senate seats because of “a people-powered movement,” not anything “orchestrated from Washington, D.C. or the DSCC.”
Van Hollen admitted he’s “the underdog” but said he’s received more than 10 commitments from caucus members. At least six incoming senators have said they will not back Schumer, including Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed, Maine’s Troy Jackson, Minnesota’s Peggy Flanagan, and Kansas’ Adam Hamilton. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elissa Slotkin also said earlier this week that they would not back Schumer for leader.
Van Hollen, who isn’t a progressive, expressed doubts about passing Medicare for All and rejected calls to impeach Trump, saying Democrats “should not be focused on that at this point in time.”
Democrats Flip Governor’s Mansions in Alaska and Kansas
Somewhere in Wasilla, Sarah Palin is seeing this from her house.
Democrats won governor’s races in both Alaska and Kansas, expanding their dominance at the state level after the midterms. CNN called Alaska for Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tompkins with 50.2 percent of the vote in a crowded field. The AP reported Democrat Cindy Holscher beat Republican Ty Masterson in Kansas 50.3 to 49.7 percent.
The Alaska race flipped a Republican seat, while Holscher’s victory in Kansas kept the seat that outgoing Gov. Laura Kelly could not run for again due to term limits. The wins mean that more than 75 percent of Americans now live in states with Democratic governors.
Democrats also now control a majority of state legislatures and have trifectas in 22 states, where they hold the governor’s office and both legislative chambers. That opens the door for progressive state legislation, including joining the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which would effectively neutralize the Electoral College.
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POSITIVE STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:
Democratic Senator Proposes Lowering Medicare Eligibility Age to 50. Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin has introduced the Medicare at 50 Act, which would allow adults ages 50 to 64 to buy into Medicare with the same benefits and protections as current enrollees. Baldwin said the bill was her first piece of legislation after the midterm election, citing a doubling of ACA Marketplace premiums for that age group in 2026 that caused enrollment to fall 6 percent. The 50 to 64 age range includes more than 58 million Americans, and 11.5 percent of those between the ages of 55 and 64 have no insurance. The bill has nine co-sponsors in the Senate, including Chris Van Hollen, Tammy Duckworth, Andy Kim, and Ed Markey.
Alaskans Reject Another Attempt to Repeal Ranked Choice Voting. Alaska voters rejected Ballot Measure 2 by just 664 votes, maintaining the state’s ranked choice voting system and open primaries for the second time in two years, after a nearly identical repeal failed in 2024 by 743 votes. Trump, who has called ranked choice voting a “scam,” supported the repeal along with Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Rep. Nick Begich and Elon Musk, the biggest Republican donor in the country. Under the system, all candidates appear on the same primary ballot, regardless of party, and the top four advance to a ranked choice general election where voters rank candidates in order of preference.
NYC Council Passes Ban on Surveillance Pricing. The New York City Council passed a bill that bars companies from using algorithms and personal data to set personalized prices for consumers. The ban applies to prices listed both online and in stores, and violators could face fines of up to $1,000 per transaction. The Council cited an investigation that found Target app shoppers were charged different prices based on where they were, with one example of a 55-inch SmartTV costing $499 inside the store and $599 in the parking lot. Mayor Zohran Mamdani called surveillance pricing “just another way corporations are finding to squeeze working people.”
The SS United States Sinks to Become World’s Largest Artificial Reef. The SS United States, once the fastest ocean liner in the world, was sunk Wednesday in the Gulf of Mexico to begin a new life as the world’s largest artificial reef. The 990-foot ship is longer than the Titanic and crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times, carrying passengers including Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor, and Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy. The $13.5 million project off the coast of Destin, Florida took longer than expected, with the ship finally sinking around 9 p.m. after hours of controlled flooding. The reef will sit in 180 feet of water, with the top deck about 60 feet below the surface to allow for visits by recreational divers.
Not only should he abandon the thought of running, so should Cruz, Rubio and any of those motherfucking assholes who were involved in their attempt to destroy our country while they all made billions on our backs! They can hang it up for the rest of their miserable lives!!!
I don’t think he’s that smart.