‘Hanging by a thread.’ After Politico’s revelation that Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner allegedly raped a woman, it says his campaign’s future is looking grim.
■ Platner’s endorsements are dropping like flies.
■ Of Platner’s assertion that he’s “taking the time to reflect,” NOTUS says, “Generally, that kind of reflection ends with dropping out.”
■ Columnist and former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich—a self-described “enthusiastic proponent of young progressives who are now taking on establishment Democrats”—says “Platner must exit, now.”
■ Former AP D.C. bureau chief Ron Fournier says Platner’s “toast—and perhaps so are Democrats’ prospects for defeating Republican Sen. Susan Collins—because Maine Democrats refused to acknowledge the obvious: Platner never was a worthy candidate.”
■ Law professor Joyce Vance: “A candidate who has sexually abused women … should be out. He’s not fit. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Brett Kavanaugh seeking confirmation to become a Supreme Court justice. Or an Eric Swalwell who’s a representative in the House.”
■ Abortion, Every Day columnist Jessica Valenti: “If Democrats weren’t so obsessed with chasing ‘moderate’ male voters, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
■ Statistician and FiveThirtyEight founder Nate Silver: “Platner has given Democrats far too many reasons to cut their losses.”
Whoops. With the aliveness of Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell in question, The Hill accidentally published an article suggesting he’s dead.
■ His staff has said nothing since pronouncing last week that he was “continuing his recovery” in a hospital.
‘Overturn this.’ Belgium—and its soccer fans—are mocking President Trump’s World Cup meddling after its team knocked the U.S. out of the competition.
■ Historian Heather Cox Richardson: “The president of the United States pressuring the president of FIFA to change the rules for his favored player perfectly represents the way Trump thinks about the rule of law in the United States.”
‘Brazen abuse of authority.’ A New York man who emailed a critical note to the former head of ICE—calling him “a monstrous human being” who “will never know peace”—is suing the government on First Amendment grounds after federal agents visited his home with a warning.
■ Columnist Heather Delaney Reese: Trump’s post-midnight social media spree after America’s 250th birthday fireworks “was disturbing, even for him—100 posts in one day!”
AI safety law. Gov. Pritzker’s signed a bill requiring artificial intelligence companies to devise plans against “catastrophic risk.”
■ It makes Illinois the first state to require AI labs get those plans audited by third parties.
■ House Speaker Chris Welch: “These decisions are too consequential to be left to a federal government that can’t even meet people’s basic needs.”
■ Tech watchdog Cory Doctorow says U.S. state governments can beat Big Tech: “When states fine U.S. companies and order their breakup, it’s a lot harder for those companies to flout those orders.”
■ Microsoft’s cutting 4,800 jobs.
Not deep enough? The Chicago region’s Deep Tunnel network of underground tunnels and reservoirs is, for the first time, close to full after this weekend’s heavy rains—meaning that even a little more rain carries the risk of region-wide flooding.
■ Three children who died in a boat that capsized in Friday’s storms at Lake Geneva have been identified as residents of Batavia and Wheaton—ages 6, 7 and 10.
■ Axios Chicago offers a guide to dealing with storm damage.
■ To make up for that fog-ruined Independence Day fireworks show, Navy Pier’s offering free rides on its Ferris wheel Wednesday nights through Labor Day.
■ Columnist Eric Zorn sees objections to the sensible heat-wave advice “turn up your thermostat” as “just part of the bizarre Red Scare quality to Republican rhetoric these days.”
‘A beacon of Black accomplishment.’ The Sun-Times reports the death at 99 of George E. Johnson, who founded Johnson Products Co.—with hair care products designed for Black consumers.
■ A friend celebrates Johnson’s wider contributions to Black culture: “Without George Johnson … there would not have been a Soul Train or a Soul Train Music Awards.”
■ The Tribune (gift link): “Emmett Till would’ve been 85 this year. A Bronzeville exhibit reflects on his legacy.”
■ Chicago’s celebrated Jesse White Tumblers take the spotlight tonight on NBC’s America’s Got Talent.
‘The audience didn’t leave. They stopped coming on purpose.’ News consultant and veteran Chicago TV executive Jill Manuel says Reuters’ 2026 Digital News Report “confirms what local TV has been afraid to say out loud.”
■ Maybe Republicans’ regulatory threats are chilling ABC’s The View: Since the FCC launched its witch hunt in February, Semafor reports the show “hasn’t featured a single political candidate running in a competitive midterm race.”
■ Mark Jacob at Stop the Presses: “The former MSNBC … has found its footing as a major pro-democracy voice. … While other networks and The New York Times clutch their pearls and say Trump is ‘testing norms,’ MS NOW is calling out corruption and authoritarianism. It calls lies ‘lies.’”
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