On Thursday Night Trump addressed the nation. It was, as expected and anticipated, a combination of ‘Gibberish,’ ‘Drivel,’ and ‘Horseshit’.
Many networks opted not to carry his loony-tunes address-to-the-nation.
If you missed it, then here is a quick summary from those that took a hit for the team and actually watched …
And here are some reactions to it …
CBS gets called out …
Great work by Zachary Cohen at CNN …
As I mentioned above, many networks, including CNN knew it would be a fact-free rant, so they did not give him air time …
One further thought on it all is this …
I love that thought, so let’s expand upon it a bit and spell it out with crayons for those MAGA sitting at the back. As a rather obvious foundation, most of what Trump has claimed over the years is a lie, but the big one, the one that threatens all of us, has been his claim that 2020 was stolen.
So here is where things stand according to both MAGA who parrot what he says, and of course the man himself:
- When Obama was president in 2016 and we had an election that Trump won – that was fair
- When Trump was president in 2020 and we had an election that Biden won – that was rigged
- When Biden was president in 2024 and we had an election that Trump won – that was fair
So why according to MAGA and Trump himself, is Trump incompetent at securing elections when he is in charge?
As always, it is the political cartoonists, the official court jesters who in a very shakespearean move, speak the truth far better and far clearer than anybody else dares to.
The court jester’s privilege was to laugh at the king. The political cartoonist’s job is to make sure we still can.
Ann Telnaes – In case you missed Trump’s speech
Clay Jones – Trump has explosive diarrhea cha-cha-cha! #Trump #ExplosiveDiarrhea #Electionfraud #TrumpLies #MAGA
Michael de Adder – points out that his evidence is total bullshit … (it’s funny because we all, and I really do mean ALL including MAGA even if they don’t admit it, know it is true) …
The other big news item has been his war where things are rapidly escalating.
Hostilities with Iran are escalating
The key insight is clear: the June peace framework has effectively collapsed, and the conflict has shifted from intermittent retaliation back to sustained warfare centred on control of the Strait of Hormuz. The most serious escalation this past week is that strikes have expanded beyond military targets into power, water, oil and transport infrastructure, while Iran has widened attacks across Gulf states and Jordan.
Who the aggressor continues to be is transparently clear over the past week.
From 12 July onward the US began consecutive nights of major strikes. Washington is no longer simply retaliating against particular Iranian attacks: it is attempting to impose economic and maritime pressure directly on Iran.
Iran meanwhile expanded missile and drone attacks against US-associated targets in the region, including attacks directed toward Jordan and Bahrain.
15-16 July the US intensified operations further.
The original renewed US strikes were framed mainly as destroying Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping. By the end of the week, the target set had widened toward transport, electricity, water and other infrastructure connected directly or indirectly with Iran’s military operations.
Iran responded by explicitly threatening a much wider regional economic war. It warned that continued American attacks could mean no oil or gas would leave the Gulf, and Tehran signalled that its Houthi allies could threaten the Bab al-Mandeb, potentially disrupting Red Sea shipping as well as Hormuz.
That is perhaps the most dangerous strategic possibility now: simultaneous disruption of both Hormuz and the Red Sea route.
By 17-18 July Iran responded to all this with attacks against multiple US allies and bases around the region.
Civilian infrastructure is now becoming part of the battlefield. US strikes have reportedly damaged: bridges, roads, tunnels, electricity facilities and desalination infrastructure in southern Iran. A strike reportedly disrupted water supplies to around 10,000 people near Jask, while facilities on Qeshm Island were also damaged.
Iran has retaliated in kind by attacking Kuwaiti water and energy infrastructure.
This is a dangerous shift from military targets and maritime targets, toward infrastructure essential to civilian populations. Once each side justifies infrastructure attacks as retaliation for the other’s infrastructure attacks, escalation becomes much harder to contain.
We are now in a sustained renewed war phase, but neither side yet appears to be using its maximum capability.
One very big risk is that if the Houthis seriously re-enter the war and attempt to shut or heavily disrupt Red Sea shipping while Hormuz remains largely paralysed, the conflict stops being primarily a US–Iran military problem and becomes a major global economic crisis.
Reminder: The idiot-in-chief very stupidly started this clusterfuck of an utterly pointless and totally illegal war.
As for some of the other new items from the past week, ICE was making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
More Deaths at the hands of the ICE Gestapo
Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, 26 — Biddeford, Maine — 13 July
An ICE officer fired through Durán Guerrero’s windscreen while agents were conducting surveillance at an address connected with another person’s deportation order. DHS said the officer feared for public safety but did not explain precisely how Durán Guerrero presented a lethal threat. Officials subsequently acknowledged that he was not the person agents had been seeking.
Until ICE are held accountable this won’t stop. Why would it? www.wmtw.com/article/sign…
In fact, these past few days, it has not just been one murder, but multiple murders by ICE: two people shot by agents, one killed while fleeing an operation, and one death in custody.
- Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52 — Houston, Texas — 7 July – An ICE officer shot Salgado Araujo while he was driving his construction crew to work. ICE officers were looking for somebody else but pursued his van after deciding he resembled their target.
- Unidentified 28-year-old Mexican man — St Augustine, Florida — 14 July – The man fled on foot when ICE and Homeland Security Investigations agents approached four people at a petrol station. He ran across a busy road and was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer.
- Jesús Manuel Arenas-Silva, 45 — Georgia — 13 July – Arenas-Silva was found unresponsive on a bus while being transferred between ICE detention facilities. ICE lists the suspected cause as cardiac arrest. His family says agents failed to provide essential medication despite repeated requests
Last Tuesday (July 14) the DHS response to the murder of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero was to halt routine traffic stops.
Then last Wednesday (July 15) Trump steps in and mandates that those routine traffic stops must continue. He owns all this.
Clay Jones – ICE has an official procedure when it comes to shootings #ICE #MAGA
Daniel Boris – Make It Make Sense.
Corruption on a truly epic scale
You all can buy a private jet now because of the tax cuts he gave you … right? (or was that just tax cuts for the rich). I’d ask if the penny has dropped yet, but unfortunately I can’t, he has taken that penny away from you.
Multiple layers of Lunacy and utter incompetence
Here you go, a tweet that has been fixed …
Tariffs as a response to for Canadian Wildfires
He was threatening Canada for wildfires – it is utterly insane.
Canadian Political Cartoonist Hraeme MacKey joins up the dots for you …
Dave Whamond also points out the contrasting wildfire response …
Daniel Medina – Record shattering heat waves, huge deadly floods, long lasting wildfires, stronger hurricanes, & the upcoming super El Niño. #Climatechange is real and we need to stop treating these disasters like bad luck and start doing something about it! #globalwarming #capitalism #heatwave #backtonature
Todd Blanche
Blanche had his confirmation hearing this past week.
The Judiciary Committee has not yet voted to advance his nomination, and there has therefore been no full Senate confirmation vote. That’s because the Republicans don’t have the dots to do it.
Thom Tillis had threatened to withhold his vote unless Blanche met Epstein survivors. Blanche held that meeting on Thursday. The survivors described it as dismissive and a box-ticking exercise, but Tillis publicly praised Blanche for meeting them, so Tillis now appears more likely to support him.
The principal unresolved vote is John Cornyn. He remains concerned about the proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” compensation fund and the separate arrangement protecting Trump and members of his family from tax audits. Blanche said the fund was not currently proceeding, but did not give Cornyn the absolute assurance he wanted that it could never be revived. Cornyn therefore said he was still undecided.
Based on Cornyn’s remarks, the committee vote is most likely during the coming week, after which a full Senate vote could follow fairly quickly if he is approved.
Daniel Boris – Rubber Stamp Man.
The White House Rapist
He finally paid up because he had no choice.
Daniel Medina – (July 15th) Yesterday our president paid E. Jean Carroll $5.6 million for sexually assaulting her. The federal judge clarified that what he did was rape. The most powerful man in the world & our president is a literal rapist. #ejeancarroll #trump #believewomen #ejeancarrollwins #politicalart
Clay Jones – E. Jean Carroll is now $5.6 million richer. #Trump #EjeanCarroll #TrumpInflation #Trumpeconomy #MAGA
MAHA – Alternative “Science”
Yep, we now have Cyclosporiasis.
Last July, under RFK Jr’s leadership, the CDC ended mandatory FoodNet tracking for six of the eight pathogens it had routinely monitored, and to be clear, one of those 6 was Cyclospora. Additionally, the wider cuts to state and federal public-health staffing have also been consequential. Now, here we are with a rising tide of Cyclosporiasis on a national scale.
It is yet another “Oh, that is what that was for” moment.
Apparently actions really do have consequences. What a shock!
Dennis Goris – Getting to the bottom of it #foodborneillness
MAGA Christian Cranks
The nuttier right-wing religious fanatics within the MAGA cult are as always doing their thing, and so here are this week’s samples of raw unadulterated lunacy along with a bit of debunking under each.
Shane Vaughn rages at Republicans who refuse to “blindly follow” President Donald Trump: “Put on the jersey. Put on the cheerleader outfit if you have to. Cheer for your quarterback. Help your team WIN. Or take off that red jersey, walk across the field, and be honest about which side you’re actually helping. But stop standing at midfield, arms crossed, criticizing every play, obstructing your own offense — and calling it ‘independent thinking.’“
- Shane Vaughn has accidentally explained the problem with Trumpism: it is not a political movement, but a loyalty cult with matching jerseys.
- Democracy requires citizens and lawmakers to think, question, scrutinise and sometimes oppose their own side. Vaughn wants cheerleaders who clap on command, treat the president as quarterback, and regard independent thought as treason. – That is authoritarian fandom.
- A president is a public servant, not the captain of Team Jesus-MAGA. Republicans do not owe Trump blind obedience. They owe the country judgment, honesty and constitutional restraint.
- When your political philosophy is “put on the outfit and cheer whatever the leader does,” you have stopped defending democracy and started auditioning for a dictatorship’s pep squad.
Everett Piper declares that “without Christianity in the public realm, our country — indeed, every country — will inevitably become a hell on earth.”
- Centuries of Christian political dominance produced inquisitions, witch hunts, slavery, sectarian slaughter and rulers claiming divine approval.
- History does not show that Christian power prevents hell. It shows how easily religion can help administer it.
- Take for example Japan: Christians not having an entitlement to rule everyone else means long lives, universal healthcare and functioning public transport (Oh the horror!).
- Joel Webbon is not “giving his wife’s vote back.” He is confiscating it, dictating how she must use it, and calling the theft biblical submission.
- That’s not a marriage. It is voter suppression with matching wedding rings.
- Christian nationalism in miniature: one man, two ballots, and God conveniently agreeing with the man holding both.
Lance Wallnau is confident that President Donald Trump will be able to “work his way out” of the war with Iran: “The guy has an anointing on him.“
- He murdered their head of state who is also their religious leader, and his replacement has vowed revenge. You really don’t work your way out of that.
- When Trump escalates a crisis, it is strategy. When he flounders, it is 4D chess. And when nobody can explain how he gets out, Lance Wallnau simply pours imaginary sacred oil over the mess and calls it prophecy.
- “God chose him” is the Christian-nationalist version of “the dog ate my evidence.”
Joel Webbon insists that, contrary to public perception, he is not a “far-right extremist” but rather just “a moderate centrist.“
- Joel Webbon calling himself a “moderate centrist” is like a flamethrower insisting it is merely a slightly enthusiastic candle.
- This is a man who promotes male rule, female submission and Christian political domination, then acts baffled when people place him on the far right. Apparently “centrist” now means standing exactly halfway between theocracy and an even more aggressive theocracy.
- You do not become moderate by relabelling extremism. You just become an extremist with a branding problem.
Lauren Witzke blames the cyclosporiasis outbreak on the fact that “we brought in 50 million illegal aliens under the Biden administration.“
- Lauren Witzke has solved epidemiology the MAGA way: ignore the investigators, invent 50 million immigrants, and blame foreigners before the laboratory results arrive.
- The CDC says the outbreak’s source is still unknown, that the confirmed domestic patients had not recently travelled abroad, and that Cyclospora is generally contracted through contaminated food or water—not passed directly from person to person.
- And “50 million” is pure fantasy. Even a Republican House committee counted 10.8 million border encounters—not 50 million people admitted, and not even 10.8 million unique individuals, since the figures include repeat encounters and people who were expelled or removed.
- This isn’t public-health analysis. It’s xenophobia wearing a plastic lab coat, desperately hoping nobody asks to see its evidence.
- Influence is not incumbency. Advice is not executive power. And “I think Obama secretly ran everything” is not constitutional analysis—it is conspiracy fan fiction. By Patrick’s logic, every influential adviser, spouse, donor and television host is an illegal shadow president.
- The hypocrisy is especially rich: while Patrick invents an imaginary Obama third term, a Republican congressman has actually proposed changing the Twenty-Second Amendment specifically so Trump could seek one. Apparently third terms are unconstitutional only when they exist entirely inside Dan Patrick’s head
- Eric Metaxas has apparently reached the stage of MAGA brain-rot where a public-health advisory is indistinguishable from martial law.
- An air-quality alert does not “tell” him what to do. It warns that wildfire smoke may damage his lungs and suggests limiting exposure. He remains gloriously free to stand outside, inhale Canadian soot by the bucketful, and prove his devotion to liberty through respiratory inflammation.
- Freedom means the government cannot arbitrarily control you. It does not mean experts must remain silent because Eric becomes emotionally overwhelmed by useful information.
- “How dare they warn me about danger?” is not rugged individualism. It is the political philosophy of a toddler approaching a hot stove.
Weirdest of the Weird
Even amongst the weird, there are some who tell reality to F**k Off whenever it comes calling.
“Prophetess” Kat Kerr continues to insist that the 2020 election will be overturned: “The left are about to be crushed down and there will be the biggest landslide of fraud exposure in the history of America and even the world. The Father has assured me they will happen.“
- Nearly six years after the 2020 election, Kat Kerr is still treating her failed prophecy like a delayed Amazon parcel: don’t worry, God says it’s definitely coming.
- The votes were counted, recounted, audited, litigated and certified. What never appeared was the promised landslide of fraud—so Kerr simply moved it permanently into the future, where it can never be disproved.
- And notice the supposedly divine message isn’t about truth, reconciliation or justice. It is about “the left” being “crushed.” Apparently the Almighty now communicates exclusively through MAGA revenge fantasies.
- “The Father assured me” is not evidence. It is the theological equivalent of “my uncle works at Nintendo.” A prophet whose predictions never fail because reality is always just about to catch up is not a prophet. She is an election conspiracy theorist with an invisible source and a strict no-refunds policy.
- Remind me once again what the Bible in the OT advises should happen to false prophets.
Reflecting Pool Update
We have the big reveal.
Now we can see these slashes ourselves and immediately the name of the vandal is clear. The slashes are tyre tracks from his own convoy, he literally did it himself and then blamed others as he always does …
Media Silence
Assisted Living
Matt Wuerker – The US Senate. The greatest assisted living facility in the nation
Even More Political Cartoons from the past week
As always, there are many more excellent cartoons.
Clay Jones – I can’t wait to find out if he’s right. #Trump #Khamenei #IranWar #Iran #MAGA
Clay Bennett – A Republic
Clay Jones – Blame Canada, China, Iran, Antifa, and testosterone. #Trump #Canada #China #Iran #Antifa #Testosterone #PeteHegseth #MAGA
Dennis Goris – Don’t forget the compensation #radicalleft
Reactions to Lindsey Graham’s Death
Daniel Medina – Rest In Piss Lindsey Graham. Lindsey Graham died, and I haven’t spent a second since I found out mourning. He spent his entire life in Congress making life worse for everyone. The world is better today than it was yesterday because he’s dead. #LindseyGraham #maga #news #MitchMcConnell #trump
- For those unfamiliar with the flag symbolism: When upside down then under the US Flag Code, this traditionally signals “dire distress” involving extreme danger to life or property. It is now also commonly used as a political protest suggesting that the country itself is in crisis. Adding in Half Mast, the traditional mourning signal, then with the above it is the country in distress and that is being mourned.
Finally
.Jon Stewart on Lindsey Graham’s Death & America’s Geriatric Political Class | The Daily Show
5,366,563 views 14 Jul 2026 #DailyShow #MitchMcConnell #Trump
Senator Lindsey Graham’s sudden death prompts Jon Stewart to dive into the gerontocracy problem in Washington, D.C., Trump’s backhanded tribute to his deceased “friend,” the bucket list that Graham never got to complete, and how Mitch McConnell somehow managed to outlive his colleague from South Carolina. #DailyShow#LindseyGraham#MitchMcConnell#Trump
- 0:00 – Jon Stewart’s TDS Welcome
- 0:28 – Donald Trump Gives Backhanded Eulogy to Lindsey Graham
- 4:53 – Jon Recaps Graham’s Bucket List Items He Didn’t Complete
- 6:58 – Mitch McConnell Provides “Proof of Life” After Rumors Swirl of His Death
- 9:10 – Republicans Struggling for Power With Graham’s Passing
- 10:09 – Lindsey Graham Marks Sixth Member of Congress to Die This Term
- 11:30 – Jon Stewart Questions The Long-Past-Retirement Age Government