The Hound | July 20

Hi there,

It’s Monday. Last week, when Trump delivered his primetime address on "election integrity,” NBC, ABC, and CBS made a consequential decision: they refused to carry it live. They were right. The speech was a disinformation campaign dressed as a presidential address — full of debunked claims about foreign interference and deep state cover-ups, with no credible evidence behind any of it. Trump responded by threatening to revoke their broadcast licenses.

🖊️ Sign the petition to thank the news organizations that held the line — and urge them to keep holding it. The pressure will only grow as November approaches. Trump will give more speeches, make more threats, and find more ways to demand that the media amplify his lies about our elections.

The networks that said no did something genuinely important. They refused to become instruments of a sitting president's effort to sow distrust in American elections ahead of the midterms. That is not a political act — it is a journalistic one. The public is counting on journalists to remember what they did right this week and do it again, every time. Democracy doesn't defend itself. Neither does the truth.

In addition, the United Kingdom has a new Prime Minister in Andy Burnham. And, former State Senator Troy Jackson is the presumptive Democratic nominee in the Maine Senate race, replacing Graham Platner, after all of his primary opponents dropped out and endorsed him. The Maine Democratic Party meets this weekend to formally nominate him.

Read about these, and more, with today’s stories:

Transcript: Trump’s Rage at Journos Boils Over—and Even Fox Is Rattled (The New Republic)

‘The biggest threat is the president’: election fears in Arizona as Trump sows fresh doubts (The Guardian)

Jackson Earns Senate Nomination Sweep (The American Prospect)

U.S. gas prices hit an average of $4 a gallon again as the U.S. and Iran launch attacks (PBS)

Google Is Censoring Reviews of ICE Detention Centers (The Intercept)

Why Britain is getting a new prime minister without a general election (PBS)

On This Nearly Deserted Alaska Island, You Pay to Keep Hundreds of Empty Buildings Wired for Internet (ProPublica)

Until next time,

Harry from The Hound

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