Trump recently made claims about the security of U.S. voting machines. Pod Save America discussed those claims, and I thought their reaction was notably measured compared with a lot of the coverage I’ve seen.

I clipped the segment and attached a poll about the underlying question because I was curious what people here think.

https://vote.itsanant.com/s/labor/PSA

What are y’all’s thoughts?

Why do we think runaway country got an add free version before hysteria? Is it just based on listenership? Seems like kind of a low blow to the pod that has been with the company since the beginning…

"The tacos would come without lettuce, at this time." - The New York Times, on a Taco Bell employee's caveat to customers.

Salad Of Doom

The Trump administration’s bungled response to America’s explosive diarrhea salad crisis is a masterclass in poor leadership, former officials say.

• At this point, you can pick your metaphor for President Donald Trump’s calamitous second term. The Reflecting Pool: A literal swamp. The Great American State Fair: A total bust. The East Wing of the White House: A pile of rubble. At the end of his first presidency, Americans couldn’t find toilet paper. Now, midway through his second, thousands are being forced to use far more than they would have liked — thanks to a parasitic outbreak exacerbated by the Trump team’s mismanagement.

• Consider the confusion over the weekend. The FDA announced Saturday that a lab test had linked the outbreak to shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico. The agency then walked that back the next day, prompting Taylor Farms to claim that the FDA had “apologized.” But then, the agency announced that “overwhelming epidemiological data” continue to “converge” on Taylor Farms de Mexico and support the company’s voluntary recall.

• In other words, the false positive didn’t actually change the FDA’s initial conclusion. And the agency insists it did not “apologize.”

• While bureaucrats scrambled, the outbreak continued. More than 1,600 people have confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis across 34 states, according to federal data, and the CDC is investigating another 5,100 cases. But the numbers could be far higher, since the infection is often underreported and symptoms can take several days to develop.

Experts say the Trump administration’s staff and funding cuts to the CDC have undermined the official reaction to the outbreak.

• The department fired about one-fourth of its staff last year. The response to this outbreak “is going exactly as you’d expect,” in light of those reductions, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, the CDC’s former vaccine chief who helped coordinate the White House’s response to the mpox outbreak in 2022, told What A Day. “The problem is this death by 1000 cuts that has happened to public health.”

• Funding cuts by the Trump administration have helped to create a “perfect storm” that slowed the government’s response, a source familiar with the CDC’s investigation into the problem, told CNN.

• “The response is being hampered by the loss of specialized staff and the loss of hands-on-deck needed to identify the source of the outbreaks,” Dr.  Joel Barratt, former head of the federal lab responsible for identifying parasitic outbreaks, told the outlet.

• HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. chaotic stewardship of America’s public health agencies isn’t helping either. Leadership is supposed to communicate updates and guidance, said Daskalakis, who resigned from the department last year. But Kennedy, aka Doktor Brainwürm, hasn’t even publicly commented on the explosive diarrhea outbreak.

• Why isn’t Kennedy talking? “Maybe because he can’t spell ‘cyclospora,’” Daskalakis half-joked. “The fact that there’s not a press conference every other day to make sure that people are updated is not how public health works, and that is because the head of this thing is rotten.”

One unfortunate soul told the New York Times that she vomited as many as 20 times in a few hours last week. “It’s explosive diarrhea; you can’t not laugh at that,” she said. “But this also can be incredibly serious.”

Meanwhile On The Pod...

How Trump Went From an Anti-War Candidate to a Warmongering President (Feat. Mehdi Hasan) (07/20/26)

Iran: Trump's Forever War?

Donald Trump’s war with Iran is getting deadlier. His mind appears to be elsewhere.

The Pentagon identified two U.S. soldiers who were killed in Iranian strikes on Jordan in recent days as Tyler James Feehan, 25, and Isabella Gonzales, 19. Another service member is still missing after the attack. The U.S. also announced this morning that yet one more was killed in Iraq over the weekend during a “controlled detonation” of a downed Iranian drone.

Seventeen Americans have been killed since Trump launched war on Iran in February, a conflict his team said would last only weeks.

And the bombings continue. The U.S. launched strikes on Iran early this morning — for the ninth day in a row. Gas prices spiked above $4 per gallon again today, and there’s no sign that peace negotiations are bearing any fruit (if they’re happening at all).

“This is the wake up moment for both sides,” Ellie Geranmayeh, an Iran expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told the New York Times. “They either take the diplomatic off ramp now or risk allowing the war to spiral beyond managed escalation.”

What has Trump been up to lately? During times of war, presidents typically spend long hours in the Situation Room, huddled with their closest advisers. Not this president.

Instead, Trump has been busy pressuring Republicans to accept his bogus election fraud claims, installing new statues of the founding fathers in the Rose Garden, and photobombing the Spanish soccer team after their World Cup win. Props to the team for cropping him out of the picture!

What Else?

Donald Trump’s Qatari Air Force One will be “maxed out” with security upgrades after a month of repairs, the president told reporters. He didn’t specify what features the plane will have, but the upgrades follow New York Times reporting that it doesn’t have advanced anti-missile capabilities. Would Trump have even bothered to fix the plane if not for that reporting, which infuriated him? I doubt it!

Troy Jackson, a fifth-generation logger, is almost certain to become the Democratic Senate nominee in Maine, after all of his major opponents dropped out. While Jackson is a staunch progressive with a long history in Maine politics, Democrats worry that he simply isn’t as compelling as Graham Platner was before his campaign’s implosion. “He was never going to be like the pick of the consultant class,” a Jackson supporter from Biddeford told Politico. “He’s too much of a regular guy. He’s not the slick choice.”

Politicians are tweaking information about themselves online to influence what chatbots say about them. While most candidates could update their websites or Wikipedia pages, experts say that well-financed politicians could attempt to have a wider array of info published online, making it more likely for chatbots to use their preferred content.

Andy Burnham became Britain’s seventh prime minister in the last decade today. In his first speech in the new job, Burnham focused on the need to make the U.K. more affordable, pledging to release a 10-year plan this year. “Britain ​needs to show the world that we ⁠can regain our stability once again,” he said.

The internet is mocking of Andrew Tate, the manosphere’s chief misogynist, after he and his brother were arrested on rape and sex trafficking charges. Why? Tate was handcuffed while wearing tight capri pants and a form-fitting, half-unbuttoned, apparently silk purple shirt. “People think they’ve found Andrew Tate’s arrest outfit on sale for £29 in ASDA’s womenswear…” reads one tweet. (An attorney for the brothers described the charges as “filth and slander.”)

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Light At The End...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has terrible pull-up form, according to experts (and the Army’s own pull-up manual). “His pull-ups or chin-ups and the kicking that he does — you would never allow that. You’d stop somebody; you’d say, ‘Okay, you’re done,’ ” a retired brigadier general told The Atlantic.

A Japanese mayor became the first mayor in the country’s history to take maternity leave today. “I was very surprised myself to learn that I am the first,” Yawata mayor Shoko Kawata told Reuters. “It made me realize that until now there simply haven’t been many young women, or women in general, who have become mayors.”

Drinking three to five cups of coffee every day could help lower the risk of heart disease, according to the American Heart Association. There are countless conflicting studies on coffee’s supposed health benefits, but cardiovascular experts who weren’t involved in AHA’s statement are also touting the drink. “We could even be recommending soon that people have coffee,” Dr. Eugenia Gianos, chair of the American College of Cardiology’s Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Council, told the Wall Street Journal.

A pair of Mississippi kites (small birds of prey, not airborne toys) nested in Washington, D.C. and just had their first baby. It’s the first-known instance of the species starting a fam in the capital. While they’re commonly found in Texas and Oklahoma, their recent northward expansion is a sign that the kites are thriving.

Calendars sold in Rome that depict so-called “hot priests” are going viral on social media. The calendars, which feature a handful of handsome men in holy garb, have been sold near Vatican City for two dozen years now. The catch: Most of the “priests” aren’t priests. They’re just normal hunky dudes.

Enjoy

Payton on Threads: "babe, you okay? you’ve barely touched your apocalyptic wildfire smoke poop lettuce"

I thought for sure this photo would be included of Trump's Mentor Roy Cohn and the original Fake News originator Rupert Murdoch. Just wanted to share here

I have a solo ticket for the Lovett show at crooked con and (if I’m allowed to transfer it) a solo ticket for crooked con.

I’m (in the process of) going through a security clearance for a new job and presuming I get cleared, I won’t be able to take the time off to attend.

I’d like to donate them to someone who wants to attend, ideally someone willing to mail me some cool merch from the convention afterward so I can still make believe I was there.

"Pretty easy to follow as long as you speak fucking lunatic." - Crooked's Jon Favreau on Donald Trump's primetime speech last night.

Smoke And Mirrors

Wildfire smoke is smothering huge swaths of the U.S. But instead of fighting climate change, one denialist GOP senator has a bright idea: He wants to punish Canada.

• Plumes of smoke from wildfires in Canada and Minnesota are billowing across North America again, turning the sky orange and prompting air quality warnings across the eastern seaboard and upper midwest. In Detroit, the Air Quality Index skyrocketed to 435 this morning, which is as bad for your lungs as smoking a half-pack of cigarettes. That gave Motor City the dubious distinction of having the worst air quality in the world.

• Scientists have long warned that burning fossil fuels (like gasoline) to produce greenhouse gases will warm the climate and unleash more powerful wildfires and storms. But climate deniers would love to find another — any other — scapegoat. And now, as wildfire smoke even threatens this weekend’s World Cup final in New Jersey, a GOP senator found someone more convenient to blame: Canada.

• Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) introduced a bill that would punish Canada for failing to control the “atrocity” of the wildfires by sanctioning officials that President Donald Trump thinks are responsible for the disaster.

• Moreno’s office accused Canada of failing to invest “in wildfire prevention methods including forest thinning, fuel reduction, prescribed burns, and stronger enforcement against arson.”

• The irony is as thick as this horrible smoke. Here we have a Republican senator blasting Canada’s environmental policies and containment efforts, while the current occupant of the White House slashes public health and environmental protections; shuts down green energy projects; pays companies to abandon clean initiatives; installs a climate change denier atop the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and champions “drill, baby, drill” policies that drain natural resources.

The raging wildfires are just the latest in a series of volatile weather events that have taken place this summer.

• Europe’s catastrophic heat wave in June likely led to 10,000 more deaths than would normally have been expected that time of the year, the AP reported. At least two people died in Texas’ Hill Country this month after the region was hit with devastating flash floods, one year after flooding in the same region killed 100 people.

• Wildfire season “is getting worse,” Jonathan Overpeck, dean of the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan, told CBS News. “As long as we keep putting these greenhouse gases up in the atmosphere… we will see things get hotter, drier and burn more.”

• What would meaningful action look like? We could move toward clean energy sources like wind and solar, reduce carbon emissions, switch to electric vehicles, protect forests, and promote clean agriculture practices.

Or, you know, just blame Canada.

Meanwhile On The Pod...

Is It Time to Update the Constitution? (w/ Heather Cox Richardson) (07/17/26)

Look No Further Than Crooked Media

We hear less about ICE in the news these days, but this week's killings remind us that they're still very much around. This week on Runaway Country, journalist Alex Wagner examines the two fatal incidents on opposite sides of the country and the broader ICE crackdown that has left countless families grieving and scared.

She's first joined by the CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, to talk about the Araujo family's tragic loss and what latino communities across the country are experiencing. Then, Alex sits down with The Bulwark's Sarah Longwell to discuss whether it's possible to change everyday Americans' opinions on immigration. Watch Runaway Country with Alex Wagner on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

What Else?

The ICE officer who fatally shot a Colombian man in Maine this month has a history of violent behavior and mental health issues, the Associated Press reported, citing the officer’s relatives and court documents. David Brouillette has struggled with these issues since he was a child and should never have been given a badge and a gun, his relatives told the AP.

Trump Media & Technology Group announced that it will sell faster access to real-time posts from “the highest-ranking Truth Social accounts.” That means Wall Street firms and traders could get early access to the president’s posts, many of which include market-moving policy announcements. It’s super awesome that the folks running our country are so aboveboard and squeaky clean!

More voters would support a democratic socialist over a “Make America Great Again” backer or a Trump-endorsed candidate, a new CNBC survey found.

Speaking of which, America might be on the verge of electing its first socialist governor. Meet Francesca Hong, a 37-year-old former chef and restaurant owner who’s running for governor of Wisconsin. The state’s primary is set for August 11 and Hong’s campaign features popular progressive priorities including universal healthcare, childcare, and paid leave; abolishing ICE; reining in data centers; and protecting workers’ rights to organize.

How big a flop was Trump’s speech last night? Even his favorite morning show refused to touch it. FOX & Friends didn’t spend a single minute out of its three allotted hours today on the address, Mediaite reported. Now that’s a bad speech!

Victims of Jeffrey Epstein panned acting attorney general Todd Blanche after he met with them, with one calling the meeting “insufficient.” The meeting came after Republican Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) said he would not vote to advance Blanche’s nomination unless the acting AG met with the victims. “Unfortunately, Todd Blanche treated the meeting as a mere ‘check-the-box’ exercise intended to secure votes for his confirmation,” Danielle Bensky, an Epstein survivor, told Politico. Given everything this administration has done to sweep the Epstein scandal under the rug, did we expect anything else?

The U.S. struck bridges, energy facilities, and a crucial port in Iran on Friday as Washington steps up its pressure campaign to force Tehran to open up the Strait of Hormuz. Friday’s strikes came after Trump told the public on Thursday that the U.S. is “winning big in Iran, and you will see the fruits of that labor very, very shortly.”

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Quince's 100% European linen pants, dresses, and tops are the pieces you'll reach for all summer long. They're lightweight, effortless to style, and start at just $32.

Everything at Quince is priced fifty to eighty percent less than similar brands. They work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middlemen, so you're paying for exceptional quality, not brand markup. And it's not just apparel. Quince also offers elevated essentials for your home, from bedding and bath, to kitchen essentials and furniture.

Make your summer wardrobe feel easier. Go to https://Quince.com/WAD for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too.

Light At The End...

Zachary Zarembinski and Isabelle Richard met as teenagers in 2018 when they were both being treated at the same hospital for traumatic brain injuries. Their families stayed in touch, but Zarembinski and Richard didn’t speak again for a few years since both of them were focused on rehab and recovery. That changed in 2024, and the soon-to-be lovebirds went on their first date in October of that year. And now, they’re getting married in September. We’re not crying, you’re crying!

Arthur Brooks, a writer and professor who studies happiness, has this advice on finding the deeper meaning in life: embrace the struggle. “Happiness doesn’t come if it doesn’t have any unhappiness in it, because to be a happy person you need to be fully alive,” Brooks told The Washington Post.

Roanoke, Virginia, has joined the list of U.S. cities who boast their very own superhero. A local EMT and firefighter who calls himself the “Roanoke Raven” is gaining social media traction for doing small acts of public service — outside of his day job — while wearing a mask. The tasks range from picking up litter to donating 120 water bottles during the recent heat wave. “I think we can make the city a better place to live,” he told the local Fox affiliate. “And I think that if it takes wearing a superhero mask to do it, let’s do it.”

Red wolves, the world’s most endangered species of wolf, are making a comeback in North Carolina. Four litters of red wolf pups have been born in the state so far this year and 12 to 16 of them have survived their first few months. “It’s inspiring to see these underdogs making another incredible comeback,” Will Harlan, Southeast director at the Center for Biological Diversity, told NC Newsline in a statement.

Two paddleboarders in Texas set out to rescue what they thought was a dog from floods in Austin… but it turned out to be a raccoon! The brave little critter was swimming in floodwaters before one of the paddleboarders used his paddle to lift the raccoon onto his board. Video posted online shows the raccoon scoping out the board before crawling underneath the paddleboarder’s legs. It eventually scampered off into the trees, safe and sound, once they got to shore.

If you’re looking for ways to get your veggies in while protecting yourself against cyclosporiasis, here are eight recipes featuring seasonal produce with food safety in mind. Recipes include crispy tofu and zucchini stir-fry, grilled salmon caesar with asparagus and charred lemons, vegetable japchae, and spring onion and halloumi kebabs with romesco. Yummm.

Enjoy

Giulia Gambale on Threads: "Someone just called Trump's tantrum last night "The Pettysburg Address.""

So I understand that Alex, Ben and Dan want to expand their influence but it is really annoying that they have their own separate Substack accounts while Crooked is asking us to become a subscriber, and one way is Substack. I am not a Friend of the Pod subscriber and one reason why is because on Substack, there is only one additional newsletter that is included and its once a week. But I am a subscriber to Message Box because I find value in it. I am free subscriber to Alex and Ben's Substacks, although I do not think Ben has a paid option. But it would be ideal if they just wrote under Crooked's Substack and if they were all included within the Friends of the Pod subscription. Just wanted to send a quick rant.