Friday, July 18, 2025
⏰ Tick Tock
Days to Utah's 2025 municipal primary elections (8/12/2025) - 25
Days until Election Day (11/4/2025) - 109
Days until the 2026 midterm elections (11/3/2026) - 473
Days until the 2028 presidential election (11/7/2028) - 1,208
Mike Lee keeps on keepin' on...
Sen. Mike Lee's inflammatory social media presence appears to have little impact on his political standing in Utah.
Yesterday I wrote about public opinion polling measuring how Utahns view Sen. Lee along with Sen. John Curtis and Gov. Spencer Cox. What the poll reveals is a striking pattern of voter indifference to controversial behavior.
Lee’s job approval rating remained remarkably stable from the first three months of 2025 to the second. Among Utahns, 49% approve of his performance. Disapproval edged up slightly, from 35% to 36%, well within the poll’s margin of error.
In June, Lee made a series of posts on his personal X/Twitter account mocking the assassination of a Minnesota Democratic lawmaker and her spouse and the attempted assassination of another. Lee eventually removed the posts due to public outcry.
Despite the widespread coverage of these incidents, Lee’s poll number remained virtrually unchanged.
Lee hasn’t apologized for the posts, and based on these numbers, Utah voters aren’t demanding one.
Friday morning's headlines:
Utah and the west
State warned No Kings organizers "months ago" against having armed "peacekeepers," Cox says. [KSL]
Organizers of deadly "No Kings" protest push back against Gov. Cox. [KUTV]
Utah County commissioner defends decision to strengthen ICE collaboration amid criticism. [KUTV]
Local PBS, NPR stations anticipate cuts to community programs as Utah's delegates vote to slash funds. [Salt Lake Tribune]
Here's how hard funding cuts will hit Utah's public broadcasting stations. [Fox 13]
Gov. Cox: Trump first president who can fix immigration system since Reagan. [Deseret News]
Utah Tech University says it has "immunity" from a lawsuit where employees allege a toxic workplace. Does it? [Salt Lake Tribune]
Time up? Grand County votes to send letter to interior opposing Arches timed entry. [KSL]
Mike Lee wants to keep the government out of people's cryptocurrency. [Deseret News]
ICE raids disrupt utah restaurants, fuel fear. [Axios]
National
President Donald Trump allegedly wrote a bawdy letter featuring the hand-drawn outline of a naked woman to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2023. Trump denied writing the letter or drawing the picture. [Wall Street Journal]
Trump said he would sue the Wall Street Journal and it's owner over the bombshell report, and directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to begin the process of unsealing grand jury testimony in the Epstein case. [Politico]
Among the unreleased Epstein files are logs of people who potentially visited Epstein's private island and the records of a wiretap of Ghislane Maxwell's phone. [ABC News]
The House approved $9 billion in cuts targeting public broadcasting and foreign aid, sending the measure to President Trump's desk. [Washington Post]
President Trump's plan to convert Alcatraz back to a maximum security prison could cost $2 billion. [Axios]
Most Americans believe the GOP tax bill will help the wealthy and harm the poor according to new polling. [Associated Press]
Millions of Americans could face higher ACA premiums and lower subsidies because of the massive GOP tax cuts and spending bill. [CBS News]
World
Just 23% of Americans say Israeli military actions in Gaza are fully justified. [CNN]