President Joe Biden and Donald Trump are essentially tied in the national polls. Almost anything could tip the election. And, as Chris Lehmann reported this week, there is some good news on this front. The Beltway pundits were wrong; Trump’s conviction did not give the former president a boost. In a new poll from Politico, 21 percent of independent voters say it makes them less likely to vote for him, and only 5 percent describe themselves as more likely to support him on the basis of his felon status.

And it’s not just his criminal conviction that’s harming his presidential chances. As Joan Walsh explained on Tuesday, Democrats are finally taking advantage of a Trump gaffe. The party and its backers are paying for 10 billboards in Milwaukee to highlight the fact that Trump has called it a “horrible city.” This is not the first time, by the way, that Trump has insulted a majority-Black city. Historically, as John Nichols details, Trump has fared poorly in Milwaukee, a city whose residents feel abandoned by the GOP. Four years after losing Wisconsin, Trump still hasn’t gotten the message that criticizing a city whose votes could decide the election isn’t going to do him any favors.

Let’s hope the far-right lag spreads across the globe. French President Emmanuel Macron has called for snap legislative elections, which will determine if the specter of an upset win by Marine Le Pen’s National Rally materializes. Complicating matters further, Dave Zirin and Jules Boykoff note, are this summer’s Olympic Games, which begin in Paris on July 26. If the elections go badly, Zirin and Boykoff warn, France could see a 28-year-old far-right TikTok star become prime minister. If that isn’t enough to scare voters, I’m not sure what is.

—Alana Pockros

Engagement Editor, The Nation