July 23, 2026
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Michael's Daily Notes
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Last Thursday, President Trump took primetime to declare American elections compromised: China holding 220 million voter files, voting machines a "cyberthreat," and — the headline number — 278,000 noncitizens registered to vote, per DHS.
The reaction was brutal. ABC, NBC and CNN declined to air the address in full. Fact-checkers found no evidence any noncitizen on those lists had voted. Election officials in both parties called the numbers "wildly speculative." David Becker of the Center for Election Innovation & Research — my guest today on the radio program — put it best: "The White House promised a bombshell, and they delivered a dud."
After all, the New York Times had already spelled out the real facts in January: the administration's own DHS review checked 49.5 million voter registrations and referred just 10,000 — 0.02 percent — for further investigation, with no tally of how many actually voted. A DeSantis appointee in Florida ran 176,000 names, got 15 hits, and declared: "We have clean voter rolls."
But wait, there’s more…as Ron Popeil would have said. Days after the speech, New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill — a Democrat — admitted a Motor Vehicle Commission software glitch had mistakenly registered about 6,600 noncitizens over a full year. And: Roughly 400 of them voted. No race was affected — but the error sat undetected until now. Expect to see this story on loop as Trump pushes for his SAVE Act.
So the research says noncitizen voting is vanishingly rare. New Jersey says the safeguards can fail in bulk. Hence today's poll question at Smerconish.com.
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DAILY POLL
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New Jersey mistakenly registered 6,600 non-citizens to vote, and about 400 did so — is that an aberration, or the norm?
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TOP STORY
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The U.S. Air Force launched a B-1 long-range bomber from the U.K. on Tuesday to strike Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets in Iran, marking a significant escalation of the American military campaign as President Trump weighs a return to major combat operations within days.
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TODAY'S YOUTUBE
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SPONSORED BY PARX CASINO
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IN OTHER NEWS
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The House narrowly passed a nearly $1.15 trillion annual defense policy bill that boosts military spending, military pay and key defense programs, while exposing sharp partisan divisions over the Iran war, Pentagon priorities and voter ID legislation.
The Trump administration signed a commercial nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia that would allow U.S. companies to develop nuclear power projects in the kingdom, though the deal is drawing scrutiny over the absence of stricter nonproliferation safeguards.
French lawmakers voted 279-81 to bar children under 15 from creating social media accounts starting in September, with existing accounts blocked in January 2027, making France the first EU country to impose such a ban and only the second worldwide after Australia.
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A MESSAGE FROM INCOGNI
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That scam call wasn’t random.
Scammers don’t just guess your number. They buy personal info from data brokers - companies selling your phone number, home address, relatives’ info, and more online. That’s how a “random” call turns into phishing, impersonation, identity theft - or just someone knowing more about you than they should. That’s where Incogni steps in. It removes your personal data from these databases and keeps removing it automatically. Use the 4th of July discount and get 58% off for July with code SMERCONISH.
After the House voted in bipartisan fashion to make Daylight Saving Time permanent, the measure faces steep resistance in the Senate, where Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton has vowed to block fast-track passage and Western senators warn a later sunrise would endanger schoolchildren and workers commuting in the dark.
A new global survey finds Americans are more likely than people in any other country to view politics as a threat to their personal safety, reflecting rising polarization even as road accidents and crime remain their top daily safety concerns.
The Trump administration is considering military action in Mali against JNIM, an al-Qaeda-affiliated group, which would make it the eighth country targeted with U.S. strikes since the start of President Trump's second term, current and former officials said.
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CARTOONS
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by Steve Breen
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MORE NEWS
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Robert Chavez, a Vietnam War veteran, says he regrets striking a younger spectator in the head at Wrigley Field on Sunday after the man refused to stand for the national anthem before the Cubs' 10-1 win over the Twins, in a viral clip that has split opinion online.
OpenAI's recent AI agent security test highlights not just the risks of autonomous systems, but the need to redesign Internet trust and governance as AI agents become active participants in the world's digital infrastructure.
A Memphis pizza restaurant that refused service to National Guard members over its owner's opposition to a federal anti-crime task force says business has surged as supporters organized a "buy-cott," despite calls from conservative activists to boycott the establishment.
For the Left
The U.S. is shifting its annual $200 billion federal R&D funding away from colleges and pushing aid the toward individual scientists instead, with the Trump Administration arguing that excessive University bureaucracy has thus far held the country behind.
For the Right
On Wednesday, scientists from the University of Miami transported 30 pieces of endangered Elkhorn coral, a population decimated by heatwaves, from offshore nurseries to a land based hatchery as climate change threatens to wipe out entire reefs.
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