JD Vance’s claims about a ‘pro-fraud party’ suffer from two unavoidable flaws

While making the case that Democrats are indifferent to fraud, Vance highlighted an example in which Democrats indicted someone who committed fraud.

Thursday, July 09, 2026 TODAY'S TOP MADDOWBLOG POSTS JD Vance’s claims about a ‘pro-fraud party’ suffer from two unavoidable flaws JD Vance’s claims about a ‘pro-fraud party’ suffer from two unavoidable flaws While making the case that Democrats are indifferent to fraud, Vance highlighted an example in which Democrats indicted someone who committed fraud. MORE Platner’s exit amplifies a key difference between Democrats and Republicans As the Maine Democrat, left with little choice, ends his Senate candidacy, voters are learning a fresh lesson about the major parties’ standards. MORE Platner’s exit amplifies a key difference between Democrats and Republicans As the Maine Democrat, left with little choice, ends his Senate candidacy, voters are learning a fresh lesson about the major parties’ standards. MORE GOP’s Cramer keeps trying (and failing) to defend Trump profiting off the presidency If the North Dakota Republican doesn’t care about Trump raking in billions without regard for conflicts of interest or legal limits, he should just say so. MORE GOP’s Cramer keeps trying (and failing) to defend Trump profiting off the presidency If the North Dakota Republican doesn’t care about Trump raking in billions without regard for conflicts of interest or legal limits, he should just say so. MORE Trump keeps threatening to cut off trade with Spain, but he can’t follow through “We don’t want to do any trade business with Spain anymore,” the president said. It’s not nearly that simple. MORE Trump keeps threatening to cut off trade with Spain, but he can’t follow through “We don’t want to do any trade business with Spain anymore,” the president said. It’s not nearly that simple. MORE MORE FROM THE MADDOWBLOG Historians rally to defend the Smithsonian against the White House’s ugly offensive Trump denies disaster aid to four blue states, after approving aid to six red states Trump wants a Supreme Court do-over on birthright citizenship, but he won’t get one JD Vance’s claims about imaginary voter ‘election fraud’ fall apart under scrutiny Maine Democrats face a tight, but not impossible, timeline to pick Platner replacement OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR He Lived Here for 35 Years. Put Three Kids in College. ICE Killed Him. (The Bulwark) "As soon as I found out, I knew we had to come out," he told Houston Public Media. "I knew we had to protest, and we had to come support, because we’re so used to it happening somewhere else, in another state, another city. But now, look. It’s here in our own backyard. So, it’s always been a problem, but now we have to take action." Hundreds march in protest of fatal ICE shooting in Houston’s Magnolia Park (Houston Public Media) "Federal judges have spent a full year overwhelmingly rejecting ICE’s effort to lock up people the Trump administration is seeking to deport — finding a combination of illegality, unconstitutionality, incompetence and cruelty at a shocking scale. More than 15,000 times." (Politico) “In the span of three weeks, two such pursuits in Detroit have left two people critically injured, damaged residents’ homes and property, and placed children and bystanders in mortal danger,” the letter states. “These are not unfounded notions; they happened on our streets in front of families.” After two violent crashes, Detroit officials demand ICE end neighborhood chases (Detroit Metro Times) "A government report claims DOGE didn’t access sensitive systems. It also says the agency deleted records that would show if they had." (Wired) "Last year, as Reuters exclusively reported in November, Pulte brought on Michigan restaurant owner Mark Zarkin as a consultant to mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Zarkin, a prominent Detroit-area Trump backer with no real experience in the mortgage sector, was convicted in 2000 of a felony sex crime involving a sexual encounter with a “mentally incapacitated” woman. He served time in jail and was listed on Michigan’s sex offender registry for about nine years, according to a 2019 investigation by the Detroit Free Press. For unknown reasons, a judge later overturned his conviction in an “unusual” and “rare” case, as the Free Press put it." Bill Pulte Keeps Firing Career Intel Staff. Wait Until You See Some Of His Past Hires. (HuffPost) "Trump administration appointees have overruled moves by career attorneys who had proposed suits or launched reviews to assess how the company mergers and acquisitions might lead to unfair price gouging for both consumers and taxpayers, according to the three people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal DOJ processes." (MS NOW) The Pain in Spain is Mainly in Trump's Brain (Paul Krugman wins headline of the day) Follow Rachel Maddow on Bluesky here. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT We the People America 250: Country at a Crossroads w/ Rachel Maddow, Jen Psaki, and Ali Velshi As you know, the Philadelphia event with Rachel, Jen and Ali that happened a couple of weeks ago was turned into TV that aired last Friday and we put it in the podcast feed.    BUT! In case you wanted to watch it but were busy with July 4th activities, MS NOW also put it in our YouTube channel. Rachel is mostly in the back half of the special but the whole thing is really good and worth watching. Enjoy! PRE-ORDER NOW! Rachel has a new book! "Department of Fate: The Promise, the Power, and the Collapse of America’s Most Consequential Institution" comes out November 10 but you can pre-order now. See MS.NOW/DepartmentOfFate for links and options to pre-order. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up to follow it yourself or send this sign-up link to someone you know would appreciate it. NEWS TIPS? SEND IT TO RACHEL FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM RACHEL MADDOW ON BLUESKY 229 West 43rd St. New York, NY 10036 UNSUBSCRIBE | PRIVACY | CONTACT | VIEW IN BROWSER UNSUBSCRIBE | PRIVACY | CONTACT | VIEW IN BROWSER