Flotsam and Jetsam - Trump Says China Messed with 2020 Election, Intelligence Covered for Them

President Trump gave a national address last night, and the major networks, with the exception of Fox, refuse to run it live, preferring to cherry-pick clips to make him look bad. As we expected, the subject was largely revelations about the 2020 elections recently pried out of the reluctant hands of the intelligence agencies, that China hacked the voter roles (why? or was just because they could), and boosted opposition to Trump, that the intelligence agencies conspired to conceal that, the same agencies that pushed the Russian collusion delusion in 2016 and after, and that the American voting system is full of holes by design, from 200,000 illegal aliens (at a minimum) registered to vote, and mass mail-in voting as a potential vehicle for fraud. All stuff we kind of knew. Hopefully, though this is the start of some real actions. So, nothing really new here, but additional confirmations of what we already suspected.

Before the speech, Althouse found "Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee are urging the nation’s top spy chiefs to stop President Donald Trump if he tries to declassify cherry-picked intelligence material that unfairly sows doubt about the 2020 election..." at Politico. So, inciting insurrection. Clandestine @WarClandestine, "This clip is extremely important, because it reveals how the Dems/MSM plan to counter the revelations about 2020. They are going to try to shame MAGA into “letting it go”, because it happened 6 years ago. They are using the Hillary “what difference does it make” defense. They are going to try to belittle and dismiss the magnitude of the findings, in a desperate attempt to avoid accountability for their treasonous activity. They have been caught, and they know it. Their only remaining hope is to convince the American People that it’s not a big deal. They will fail." Teri Christoph at RedState hears She's Back! Karoline Leavitt Torches CNN Anchor's Shameless Gotcha Ahead of Trump's Address to Nation. Northern Barbarian @xnoesbueno, "Tragically, no matter what evidence he presents, it will be disputed, dismissed and/or ignored by people who will shriek dictatorship and election-rigging when he moves to address the corruption. Tragically, because confidence in election outcomes is now a partisan issue. ..." QuoteJoshua Reid | Redpills.tv @realjoshuareid, "BREAKING: If these reports are accurate, Thursday night could become one of the most consequential Presidential Addresses in modern American history. According to @PaulSperry_, President Trump is expected to present newly declassified intelligence alleging: ▪️ Chinese interference in the 2020 election ▪️ Hacking of state voter registration databases, ▪️ A broader intelligence cover-up involving FBI, CIA, and ODNI records, ▪️ More than 100,000 non-citizens including illegal immigrants on voter rolls, If this evidence is released as reported—and the four sets of declassified FBI, CIA, and ODNI documents are made public this Friday—it won’t just reopen the debate over 2020 and potentially lead to indictments. It will set up the predicate for Trump to declare a National Emergency on Election Integrity and Infrastructure." Driscoll at Insty is GETTING READY FOR THE SPEECH: Cynical Publius @CynicalPublius, "Going into tonight's speech, remember this: all the GOP wants to do is make voter fraud detectable and provable. That's it. For some odd reason Democrats support systems that make voter fraud nearly undetectable to a standard a court wlll recognize. Odd, doncha think?"

As usual, sundance at CTH hosts the address largely without comment, President Trump Speech to the Nation – 9:00pm ET Livestream Links. If you prefer with your speech with a little left-wing cant on the side, you can find it at Althouse, "What Trump did NOT do was even purport to show a single ineligible voter voted in the 2020 election, or..." "... that any voting machines were actually compromised, voting machines or voter registration databases breached, or election results inaccurately reported. Overall, this was an underwhelming announcement delivered with low energy that changes nothing about how state and local election administrators should run elections. If his government had actual evidence of noncitizen voting, there would be indictments; Trump has been hounding US attorneys to bring such cases, and the fact that he hasn’t shows that these claims likely have no legs.... He also did not offer anything new by way of policy proposals...."Writes Rick Hasen, in "Trump’s Underwhelming Announcement on Voting Does Not Even Purport to Show That Any Illegal Votes Were Cast in the 2020 Election or That Voting Machines Have Been Hacked or Vote Totals Inaccurate; He Also Made a Pitch to Pass the SAVE America Act But Offered No New Federal Mandates" (Election Law Blog)." Matt Vespa at TownHall, President Trump Reveals What We All Suspected About the 2020 Election in Primetime Address. Mary Chastain at LI, Trump: Declassifying Documents Showing China’s Election Interference and “Deep State” Cover Up. “In light of the brand new and irrefutable information I have revealed tonight, my administration is in the process of notifying states whose election data was compromised by the People’s Republic of China and others.” ThePersistence @ScottPresler, "If I were the Republican Party, I would do a query for every address where 6+ voters are registered. Then, I would go through that list to look for how many of those addresses are P.O. Boxes, vacant lots, malls, businesses, churches, shelters, or other non-residential locations. Then, after locating those non-residential locations, I would see how many of those voters voted & whether they voted by mail."

Spencer Pratt @spencerpratt, "Notice how Nithya Raman just completely disappeared after they blocked us out of the general election? She's not campaigning at all. Like a pickpocket disappearing into the crowd. Just a ghost. I told you her campaign was a scam. Colluding with Bass from the start." From RCP, Latino Voters and the SAVE Act. Most support voter ID. 

At Althouse, JD Vance on Joe Rogan. "I'm only an hour and a half into this, but it seems the 2 men are handling themselves well enough" At News Wax, Vance Says Admin 'Screwed Up' Epstein Files, Hits Israel. It was a no-win situation. No matter how swiftly or how completely you released the material, it would never be enough for skeptics, who would, and did, accuse you of holding out. The Victory Girls think Marco Rubio Gives an Epic Speech on Political Terrorism. PJM's Sarah Anderson calls it a Must Watch: Rubio Goes Hard on the 'Unique Evil' of Far-Left Terrorism, Promises More to Come. At Todd Blanches confirmation hears Matt Margolis sees Former AG John Ashcroft School Adam Schiff in the Most Brutal Way ""Mr. Blanche has said that he believes the president has both the right and the duty to use the Justice Department to go after his enemies," Schiff said, before turning to Ashcroft and asking, "Do you subscribe to that view?" It was a trap dressed up as a question, and Ashcroft didn’t fall for it. "I believe that the Attorney General of the United States has the right and responsibility to enforce the law uniformly, and if the law has been broken by the president's 'enemies,' he has a duty," Ashcroft said, adding that lawbreakers "do not become exempt from following the law merely by their enmity to the president of the United States." Then he flipped the script entirely. "As a matter of fact, the people who break the law are in enmity with the people of the United States," Ashcroft said. "We used to call people who break the law, 'public enemies.'"" At Twitchy, CNN Legal Analyst Norm Eisen Flirts With Libel of Todd Blanche on Nicolle Wallace’s Show.

John Ocasio-Rodham Nolte @NolteNC, "Trump is the most dynamic and effective president I’ve seen in over 40 years of watching politics. And even if I agreed with you, I’d still rather have the GOP in power at cocktail parties than demonic Democrats opening the border and butchering kids. I’m fine with complaining about the GOP, even Trump. But this “why should we vote for them” approach is suicide-by-killing-the-good-in-pursuit-of-perfect." Quote Tomi Lahren @TomiLahren, "Replying to @NolteNC I’m a little sick of these republicans talking a big game and riding on Trump’s coattails only to get to DC and shill for the foreigners. We didn’t elect them to go to cocktail parties and fundraise for their next election. It’s diabolical. If we do get taken over my the communist Left it’ll be because the do NOTHING right betrayed us and our vote! I will NEVER apologize for calling out so-called public servants. Ever. They work for us and right now, they are doing a piss poor job."

At the Chronic, Trump’s OMB Puts Taxpayers Back in Control of Their Money. Rapid Response 47 @RapidResponse47, "@POTUS announces that any American veteran who has driven a heavy truck for our military will soon be eligible for a Commercial Driver's License." Newsweek whines Trump To Fast-Track Truck Licenses For Veterans–Who Is Eligible?

Althouse, "Pete Hegseth wants a manly military. And he really, really wants you to know how badly he wants a manly military.", ""In his 2024 book, The War on Warriors, Hegseth worried that the military risked becoming 'effeminate, and apologetic'; he insisted that what liberals really want is 'soft men, and a weak military,' and he scolded 'Pentagon pussies' who refuse to stand up for soldiers on the battlefield. As secretary of defense, Hegseth has blocked the promotion of female military officers, removed the first woman to lead the Navy, and ordered a review of women’s 'effectiveness' in ground-combat roles. He has also used the Defense Department’s social-media channels to post a steady stream of tougher-than-thou videos...." So begins the Atlantic article, "Pete Hegseth Wants YOU to Test Your Testosterone/The secretary of defense has a questionable plan to monitor the hormone levels of every service member over 30" (gift link)." A better use of money than vaginoplasties for men. Insty, PENTAGON REFUSES TO PUNISH PILOT FOR LOW BEACH FLYOVER.

This is one of the most brilliant moves Hegseth has made. Here’s why:

Experienced pilots are freaking out in my DMs about these close flybys. Even some based people I follow and love, like @MCCCANM, are questioning them while my son’s class of young student aviators can’t stop… https://t.co/vM9pjQrv9O pic.twitter.com/Se1IjH1BnZ

— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) July 16, 2026

Beege Welborn at Hat Hair, David Muir and ABC News Thought They Had the Blues UPDATE. Pete Hegseth @PeteHegseth, "The flyovers will continue until morale improves." At News Wax, Guard Deployment to DC Will Last Through Trump's Term and 6th Straight Day of Attacks Underway as US Strikes Deeper Into Iran.

Ben Whedon at JTN, Senate GOP poised for largest turnover of the millennium due to Trump primaries, retirements, "Republicans currently have 53 seats in the upper chamber, but are essentially guaranteed to see at least eight of their ranks not return for the next Congress, marking what will be the largest instance of intra-party turnover in the past quarter-century." Depends on how you count Mitch.

PJM's VodkaPundit gasps when hear hears Oligarchs Just Snuck HOW MUCH Money Out of Russia? Three hundred billion dollars, a real vote of confidence.

Kevin Killough at JTN reports Critics cast doubt on Biden's claims he personally wrote upcoming memoir ""How many chapters are about your time hiding in the basement while someone else ran the White House?" Rep. Nancy Mace asked in response to the announcement."

Amy Curtis at TownHall has a hopeful New Poll that Shows Socialism Isn't As Popular As the Left Wants Us to Believe. At PJM, Matt Margolis hears the Democrats Got Some Devastating News About the Midterms and Stephen Kruiser hears The Commie Call Is Coming From Inside the Democrats' House. From WUWT, Regarding Energy, the Left Wants Us to Live Smaller Lives. Americans Don’t Do That. Shut up, eat the bugs, freeze in winter, bake in summer. PJM's Bob Spencer, Mamdani Is Enraged Over Shocking ICE Murder, but of Course He’s Lying Again.

At NYPo, Swalwell pal Sen. Ruben Gallego had sexual relationships with two House staffers, sources reveal to The Post. "Minutes after this article was published, the senator gave a non-denial to an NBC News journalist on Capitol Hill, uttering, “I’m not going to engage in gossip.” At Ace, Surprise! Eric Swalwell's Adultery Wingman, Rueben Gallego, Banged At Least Two House Aides, "Noooooo. Not the guy who handed his nine-months-pregnant wife divorce papers so he could bang his side-piece openly (while claiming it's a "new relationship"). I shan't believe it. Take your filthy lies, NY Post, and hit the road, Jack!!!" Ryan King at NYPo, Arizona Congressional Dem hopeful caught following OnlyFans, witchcraft accounts. Kurt Schlichter at TownHall just says Leftist Women Are an Abomination. He didn't have to be sexist. Capt. Ed at Hat Hair, sees Desperation? DNC Demanded NDAs Before Finance Meeting.

Misty Severi at JTN reports Fetterman draws red line for Democratic Party, says he would leave if it abandons Israel. "The warning comes the same day that over 100 House Democrats voted against sending more aid to Israel, though the amendment containing the proposal failed to pass because of wide Republican support."

Libs of TikTok @libsoftiktok, "Los Angeles International Airport railway is now $1 billion over budget and years delayed The contractor is now SUING the city for blaming them for the delays and claims the delays were actually the city’s fault Another Newscum failure reeking of corruption." Unleash Prosperity claims Obamacare Fraud Cut in Half This Year.

Insty demands “JUSTICE.” "Now More Than Ever, Ensuring Supreme Court Justices’ Personal Security Is Critical. “This is outrageous stuff and, obviously, totally unacceptable." From Bearing Arms, Supreme Court Ruling in Viramontes Could Reshape Gun Rights Nationwide and Ninth Circuit Judge Says It's Time for SCOTUS to 'Benchslap' Court Over 2A Rulings. "So, what to do? I have a suggestion. The Supreme Court should consider summarily reversing some of our wayward Second Amendment decisions. To put it more colloquially, it’s time for some benchslaps. Nothing less will give this court any pause before ultimately blessing every arms restriction it reviews." From Shooting Newsweek, Reducing Violent Crime Isn’t Complicated, You Just Have to Want to Do It. John Sexton at Hat Hair examines The Latest Attempt to Use the Courts to End Fossil Fuels.

At Althouse, "I do love revenge, I will say that,' adds Meeropol, 57, taking a sip from an iced Americano... 'I’d always loved revenge movies." "That's from "The woman behind E Jean Carroll: I do love revenge, I will say that/Ivy Meeropol has made a film starring one of Trump’s biggest foes. And she has her own beef with the president — dating back to her grandparents’ execution" (London Times). Meeropol = Ivy Meeropol, the documentarian who made a movie about the man, Roy Cohn, who "helped to send her grandparents, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, to the electric chair, leaving her father orphaned at the age of ten." Now, Meeropol has a movie about E. Jean Carroll."

Hat Hair's Dave Strom notes 'Diversity' Is Not Our Strength if They Hate Us and When 'Human Rights' Becomes Civilizational Suicide. From Ace, Gaza Family of 18 Wins "Right" to Settle In England Despite Speaking No English and Being Determined to be a Net Detriment to Society, "The judge agreed the family of welfare ticks would be a net negative to British society, but commanded them all to be settled in England anyway, because... because the family would be missing out if they weren't allowed to jump on the UK welfare train," and The Illegal Alien Truck Driver Who Killed Three People Last Year Gets Less Than Five Years in Prison, "Yeah, a little more than four years sounds right for a Family Annihilator." Well, no widows or orphans. Jesse Kelly @JesseKellyDC, "If you’re a ruler and you don’t care about your country, the foreigner is a much better resident than the citizen. The foreigner won’t complain while you pillage the place. He only asks for a cut of the loot and some legal protections." Quote Alex James @actualAlexJames, "Why did all Western countries suddenly implement infinity migration without any public discussion or vote?"

John Sexton hears Bluesky Gave Up on Competing with X. At the Eternally Radical Idea Greg Lukianoff has More tips for being non-partisan in a partisan age "It ain't easy, it can be exhausting, and you're not always going to get everything right. But you have to keep trying." No I don't.

From WaEx, The zombies aren’t coming. They’re already teaching your kids. Campus Reform, LSU fires former DEI official earning nearly $330K amid spending cuts. "The university eliminated 25 positions as part of an effort projected to save $3.7 million." At CJ, How a Mellon Grant Fueled Fringe Scholar-Activism in Texas, "Funding of $5 million supported academics who want to “decolonize education” and dismantle capitalism and “heteronormativity.”" Ben Smith at RedState, Are You Serious? Virginia School Board Refuses to Drug Test Teachers After Classroom Fentanyl Overdose. "A Virginia school board voted 4-3 to protect teachers from the indignity of drug testing, two years after a second-grade teacher overdosed on fentanyl in her own classroom, in front of her students."

Oilfield Rando @Oilfield_Rando, "Hearing from tradesmen that one of their main job criteria is bureaucracy. Employers will hire them away from other employers with the promise of same money, but not having to deal with all the app shit. The compliance/app regime is getting that bad, even out in the field."

Taco Bell manager confident Cyclospora came from farmers market down the street. pic.twitter.com/NYUZle5Rkx

— U.S. Secretary of Common Sense (@ScottButtram) July 15, 2026