Dear Mother Jones Reader, 

President Donald Trump and his rat pack are once more claiming an election has been rigged. This time, they’re insisting that the recent California primary was fraudulent. Do they have any evidence? Nope. But we know why they’re pushing this crap.

Before I get into that, you can guess why I’ve reached out again: We need you. Let me give you the rundown. We’re near the end of our Summer Membership Drive to meet a $200,000 goal. With that money, we can continue producing the kickass journalism that’s greatly needed at this pivotal movement. The team tells me we’re still behind where we should be, with just five days left in the month. So we’re counting on readers like you to help us. If you’ve been waiting to give, now is the time.

Okay, back to the matter at hand. The main Republican candidate in the race for Los Angeles mayor, washed-up reality star Spencer Pratt, was in the lead for second place until mail-in votes were counted and he ended up in third—which kept him out of the subsequent runoff. This wasn’t unexpected. It’s widely known that Democrats tend to vote by mail more than Republicans. Yet Trump once again insisted that nefarious forces conspired against his party, and other Republicans grumbled along with their cult leader.

It’s no surprise Trump again is pulling this BS. He’s been hawking this self-serving conspiracy theory of stolen elections since 2020, with his assertion that the election was rigged (it wasn’t). While Trump continues to fixate on an election that happened six years ago, a big question for many people is whether they ought to worry about him threatening the upcoming congressional elections. And we’ve reported on the many moves he and the GOP have taken or considered to disenfranchise or thwart certain voters and skew the midterms in Trump’s favor.

At Mother Jones, we know that the future of American democracy is at stake right now. These are perilous times, and my colleagues and I will not normalize the reprehensible conduct of the Trump White House. We won’t let up on reporting and revealing the relentless efforts of Trump and his minions in the GOP and the MAGA media to undermine elections and assault the voting rights of Americans. Ever since he returned to the presidency, we have been exposing the many aspects of Trump’s war on elections. I’m proud to say we have stood out among media outlets in doing so. And we will continue chasing this all-important story as these crucial elections approach. 

But allow me to speak plainly: The more support we receive from our readers—people like you who realize how important independent journalism is right now—the more we can rip the hide off these threats to American democracy. 

All of us at the DC bureau, plus my colleagues in New York, San Francisco, and all across the country, know that our work is possible only because of our readers. That’s why I’m pestering you. We want to pursue these enemies of democracy to the fullest extent. With your help, we can.

The deadline for this drive is only a few days away, and we’re still not close to our goal. Can you help us get there? Whatever amount you can send before June 30—$10, $50, or $100—helps fund more investigations, more revelations, more exposés. Every single dollar you give will help us to dig up and share the information the nation needs to preserve our democracy and safeguard our future.

This is how we can fight back together.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for having our back,