CENTER STAGE: The influence of outside spending and Israel were a major focus in Michigan’s Democratic Senate debate Tuesday night as the two remaining candidates sparred over who would best stand up for their constituents.
The debate, hosted by Nexstar affiliate WOOD TV8, featured Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) and former Wayne County health director Abdul El-Sayed, facing off head-to-head after state Sen. Mallory McMorrow suspended her candidacy on Sunday. The end of McMorrow’s bid set up a direct proxy battle between the two wings of the Democratic Party, and the battle lines were clear on stage.
El-Sayed repeatedly attacked Stevens for out-of-state funding that has backed her campaign, accusing her of being beholden to outside groups instead of Michiganders.
“In this race, you’ve probably seen ad after ad after ad. Not one of those ads was brought to you by the congresswoman’s campaign,” he said. “All of them brought to you by corporate PACs and [American Israel Public Affairs Committee] trying to buy a politician who’s going to do their bidding instead of yours.”
United Democracy Project, a super PAC affiliated with AIPAC, is spending significant money to boost Stevens, who has had a reputation in Congress as being supportive of Israel.
Stevens pushed back, noting that she has been critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had criticized her in a CNN interview earlier on Tuesday. Netanyahu accused Stevens of trying to “excuse antisemitism” in response to her earlier comments saying he had made Jews “less safe.”
Stevens also sought to go on the offensive against El-Sayed.
“The difference between my opponent and myself on this issue is that I believe in a two-state solution. I can say that Israel has a right to peacefully exist alongside the people of Palestine and in Gaza,” she said, referring to an interview El-Sayed gave in which he avoided questions over whether Israel should exist.
▪ The Hill: Key takeaways as El-Sayed, Stevens tangle.
ON YOUR MARKS: The race to potentially replace Graham Platner as the Democratic nominee for the Maine Senate contest is off to a heated start, even as Platner still hasn’t said whether he will end his candidacy after an accusation of sexual assault.
Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson said Tuesday that Platner’s campaign has sought to influence the outcome of who takes his place.
“Unfortunately, Graham Platner’s team has repeatedly reached out to us in an attempt to put their thumb on the scale of what this process looks like,” Murphy-Anderson said in a video posted online. “We have repeatedly reiterated to Graham Platner’s team that they have no role in determining our next Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, nor in determining what this process looks like.”
When reached for comment, Platner’s campaign said in a statement that it had “reached out to the party to try and understand what this process would look like.”
“At no point has the campaign tried to ‘put its finger on the scale,’” the statement continued. “Over 150,000 Mainers voted for this movement, and over 15,000 Mainers volunteered their time and energy to it.”
Former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson (D), just off an unsuccessful run for governor, took an official step toward entering the race Tuesday as he formed an exploratory committee for the race.
A fellow endorsee of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Jackson will look to rally progressive support but may also headwinds due to his ties with Platner.
Other potential replacements include Nirav Shah, another failed gubernatorial candidate who served as the director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and former Senate candidates Dan Kleban, a Maine Beer Company co-founder, and Jordan Wood, a former congressional chief of staff. Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D), who dropped out of her primary race with Platner, is also in the conversation.
▪ The Washington Post: Platner ex-girlfriend said he removed condoms without consent.
▪ The Hill: Who could replace Platner if he drops out.
▪ The Hill: Democrats scramble to save winnable Senate race.
TURKISH EMBRACE: President Trump told reporters Tuesday that the U.S. would be removing sanctions on Turkey, which could pave the way for his administration to resume selling F-35 fighter jets to the country.
Trump made the comments during a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara, on the sidelines of the NATO summit, amid growing pushback to reports that the U.S. president plans reverse his ban on selling Turkey F-35s.
“We’re going to be taking the sanctions off. OK?” Trump said, responding to a question asked in Turkish, presumably meant for Erdoğan.
“I don’t want him to waste his time answering his question because we’re working closely with [Secretary of State] Marco Rubio … [Treasury Secretary] Scott Bessent, [Defense Secretary] Pete [Hegseth] and everyone else. It’s time to do that,” Trump continued.
Trump had enacted a ban on Turkey’s access to the jets during his first administration. The president’s move has been met with criticism at home and abroad, including from Netanyahu.
▪ The Hill: Five NATO flash points as Trump meets anxious allies in Turkey
▪ Reuters: NATO showcases big arms deals.
'FULLY ENGAGED’: Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has spoken with Senate Republican leaders amid mounting speculation about his condition as he’s remained hospitalized for more than three weeks.
A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said he and McConnell had a “lengthy and substantive conversation” on Monday, discussing a “variety of topics, including national security.” McConnell then spoke with Senate GOP Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) on Tuesday, according to a Barrasso spokesperson.
“Sen. McConnell was fully engaged and is eager to get back to the Senate,” they said.
The accounts seem to undercut rumors that McConnell’s health condition may be considerably worse than has been disclosed. The longtime senator, who is retiring after this year, was hospitalized on June 14, but his office hasn’t shared more about what caused the hospitalization or his condition.
Speculation spiked about whether McConnell would be returning to the Senate after emergency dispatch audio surfaced indicating that paramedics encountered an unconscious person at McConnell’s address and administered CPR.
▪ Louisville Courier Journal: Silence lets ‘rumor mill control the narrative.’
BLANCHE BLOWBACK: More than 1,200 former employees at the Department of Justice (DOJ) signed onto a letter urging senators to reject acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination to take on the role permanently.
In the letter, the employees focused on “Blanche’s degradation of DOJ’s apolitical career workforce,” accusing the acting chief of overseeing hundreds of firings “for improper, unlawful reasons,” as he worked to shape the department to reflect Trump’s priorities. Under Blanche, the former employees alleged, workers were fired for working on cases Trump didn’t like, being related to Trump’s foes, for declining to take on “vindictive prosecutions” and for refusing to lie in court.
Blanche’s hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled for July 15, and his nomination can lose no more than one GOP member’s vote to be able to reach the Senate floor, assuming all Democratic members vote against Blanche.
Senate Judiciary Committee members Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) both met with Blanche in June, characterizing their interactions as “positive” but declining to make a decision on their vote until after the nomination process.
Other swing-vote GOP senators, such as Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Bill Cassidy (La.), have avoided saying publicly how they would vote if the nomination made it to the Senate floor.
▪ The Detroit News: DOJ to send election monitors to three Michigan cities.
▪ NBC News: An FBI news conference 10 years ago changed America.
