Midwest
Democrats spotlight Biden alter-ego 'Dark Brandon' as they launch billboards near GOP convention
FIRST ON FOX – As GOP delegates, officials, activists, and supporters head to day two of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Democrats have a message for them.
The day after former President Trump was formally nominated as the GOP’s 2024 standard-bearer, the Democratic National Committee, in a messaging push shared first with Fox News, is touting what they highlight as President Biden’s “winning record.”
The DNC on Tuesday is launching eight new billboards in Milwaukee, urging Wisconsinites to “Vote Joe” and showcasing that in Biden’s three and a half years in the White House, he has “created more than 15 million new good paying jobs, lowered costs on health care and prescription drugs, and worked to strengthen our democracy, not tear it down.”
TRUMP ANNOUNCES JD VANCE AS HIS 2024 RUNNING MATE
The Democratic National Committee is putting billboards up on day two of the Republican National Convention that showcase “Dark Brandon,” in Milwaukee on July 16, 2024. ( Democratic National Committee)
The new billboards feature “Dark Brandon” – an image of Biden featuring beaming laser red eyes that was created by his detractors and co-opted by his campaign – an alter-ego of the 81-year-old president used by his political team to extoll his policy victories.
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“Restore Roe, vote for Joe,” reads an abortion-themed billboard.
Another one says “Get on board folks, we’re lowering prescription drug costs.,” while a different billboard reads “Democracy is on the ballot folks. Stand with Joe!!”
The Democratic National Committee on Tuesday is launching new billboards in Milwaukee that spotlight President Biden’s policy successes.
The DNC went up with billboards in Milwaukee earlier in July ahead of the start of the GOP convention that highlighted what they say were Trump’s failures in Wisconsin – a key battleground state – during his tenure in the White House.
However, those billboards were dropped, along with all TV ads across the country that were being run by the Biden campaign, after Saturday’s attempted assassination attempt on the former president at a Trump rally in western Pennsylvania.
Deputy communications director Abhi Rahman said that “the DNC is highlighting Joe Biden’s winning platform and policies that are delivering for the American people. We’re making sure voters know it by bringing Dark Brandon to Milwaukee to outline a bold second term agenda that sharply contrasts with what Wisconsinites are seeing on the RNC stage this week – restoring Roe, lowering costs, protecting Social Security, and safeguarding our democracy.”
Republican presidential nominee and former President Trump, left, and Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance of Ohio react during Day 1 of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July 15, 2024. (REUTERS/Mike Segar)
The billboards are being launched the day after Trump named Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, who is a top Trump supporter in the Senate and a champion of the former president’s America First agenda, as his running mate.
Rahman charged that Trump, Vance and the GOP highlighted during the first day of the convention “unpopular and extreme policies that would rip fundamental rights away from women and leave working families behind.”
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
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Wisconsin
Polaris to lay off 200 Wisconsin workers, close facility in Osceola
The move comes after Polaris announced it was separating from Indian Motorcycle.
Powersports company Polaris has announced it plans to wind down the operations at its facility in Osceola which specializes in manufacturing Indian Motorcycle.
The move impacts roughly 200 Wisconsin workers at the facility.
On Jan. 27, during a fourth quarter and full year earnings call for 2025, Polaris said the company expects to sell Indian Motorcycle by the end of the first quarter of 2026 to Carolwood, a private equity firm based in Los Angeles. However the company plans to maintain some stake in the company.
Polaris officials said called the sale of Indian Motorcycle was a “difficult decision” and added it was a “move that we believe is best for Polaris and Indian Motorcycle.”
In a post on X, Wisconsin Democrat Sen. Tammy Baldwin said:
“We have seen this story in Wisconsin too many times – a private equity firm buys a company, hollows it out, & fires its workers, all to pad their profits. It’s simply wrong.”
Midwest
Trump hits the road to sell economic wins, as Republicans brace for high-stakes midterm showdown
Trump to deliver speech in Iowa on energy, economy
President Trump is headed to Iowa to push his affordability agenda. FOX Business host Taylor Riggs breaks down the current economic wins Trump could highlight, including GDP growth and real wage increases.
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Facing a rough political climate as his party aims to hold their House and Senate majorities in this year’s midterm elections, President Donald Trump on Tuesday kicks off what the White House says will be weekly stops in states with key ballot box showdowns.
It’s part of the president’s push to showcase he’s working to combat rising prices, a top issue on the minds of Americans. And as the Trump administration reels amid two fatal shootings by federal agents in Minnesota this month of U.S. citizens protesting aggressive tactics to deport millions of undocumented migrants, it’s also an effort to pivot to the economy from immigration.
Trump’s first stop is Iowa, a one-time Midwestern battleground turned red-leaning state the president carried by double digits in 2024 where Republicans are now playing defense as they defend open Senate and gubernatorial seats, as well as three competitive GOP-controlled House districts.
In suburban Des Moines, Trump will visit a local business, meet with lawmakers, and deliver an address on the economy.
SHOWDOWN FOR THE HOUSE: DEMOCRATS, REPUBLICANS BRACE FOR HIGH-STAKES MIDTERM CLASH
President Donald Trump launched the year-long countdown to America’s 250th anniversary, with a stop at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, on July 3, 2025. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“The economy is good. It’s all good. Prices are coming way down, and we have a lot of very positive news,” Trump touted as he departed for Iowa.
And ahead of the trip, a White House official told Fox News Digital, “Inflation has cooled, economic growth is accelerating, and real wages are up for American workers.”
Deep concerns over inflation boosted Trump and Republicans to sweeping victories at the ballot box in 2024, as they won back the White House and Senate and keep their House majority.
But Democrats say their decisive victories in November’s 2025 elections, and their overperformances in special elections and other ballot box showdowns last year, were fueled by their laser focus on affordability amid persistent inflation.
The president’s approval on the economy has consistently hovered in negative territory since last March, and has dragged down his overall approval ratings during his first year back in the White House.
Among the most recent national polls — a Wall Street Journal survey conducted earlier this month put Trump’s approval rating on the economy at 44%-54%, and he stood at 35%-56% in a Reuters/Ipsos poll in the field this past weekend.
TRUMP VOWS HE’LL BE ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL ‘A LOT’ THIS YEAR
“Donald Trump has tanked the economy for working families, making the cost-of-living an inescapable hell for millions of Americans. Everyday Americans are drowning under the weight of rising costs, flat wages, high unemployment, and record layoffs — it’s no wonder they’re concerned about making ends meet,” Democratic National Committee Rapid Response Director Kendall Witmer argued in a statement.
But the Wall Street Journal poll indicated that congressional Republicans had an 11-point advantage over their Democratic rivals when it came to which party was better equipped to handle the economy.
Iowa is friendly ground for Trump, who convincingly won the state in his two presidential victories and one re-election defeat.
President Donald Trump celebrates his victory in Iowa’s Republican presidential caucuses, at a campaign event in Des Moines on Jan. 15, 2024. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
But a memo from Democratic National Committee (DNC) Deputy Communications Director Abhi Rahman claimed, “However hard Trump tries to explain away his failing economy, it’s abundantly clear that Americans aren’t buying it, especially in Iowa, where Trump’s policies are raising costs for Iowans, devastating Iowa’s agricultural economy, and destroying thousands of jobs that working Iowans rely on.”
The White House disagrees, with the official arguing that “Iowans are better off with President Trump and Republican leadership,” noting that gas prices in the state “ranked the second lowest in the nation.”
And pointing to the various tax cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Trump’s domestic legislative achievement so far in his second term, the official said, “Iowans could see their wages rise up to $61,000 over the next four years.”
TRUMP CHEERS STEADY INFLATION NUMBERS AS AFFORDABILITY FIGHT SHAPES 2026 MIDTERM BATTLE
The GOP, as it works to hold its congressional majorities, is dealing with a low propensity issue: MAGA voters who don’t always go to the polls when Trump’s name isn’t on the ballot.
But even though he’s not on the ballot this year, Trump pledged last week that he’ll be on the campaign trail “a lot” on behalf of fellow Republicans running in the midterms.
President Donald Trump gestures as he arrives to deliver remarks on the U.S. economy and affordability at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, Dec. 9, 2025. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
Trump made stops last month and earlier this month in the key battleground states of Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Michigan to highlight his accomplishments on the economy.
And the weekly trips advertised by the White House are a big change from Trump’s first term, when the president didn’t start his campaign travel blitz until Labor Day.
Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters emphasized in a Fox News Digital interview earlier this month that “the President of the United States is our secret weapon… He’s laser focused.”
“We got to make sure we turn our voters out, and we got to make sure that we have people energized. And there’s nobody that can energize our base more than President Trump,” Gruters added.
And the White House official said that the president “has always been most in his element when he’s interacting with everyday Americans, and the President’s domestic travel will allow him to most effectively underscore how this Administration has and continues to deliver economic prosperity for the American people.”
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Democrats are just fine with Trump hitting the road.
“Trump has historically low approval ratings because he has put America last, sold out working families to hand out favors to billionaires, and made life unaffordable. Hitting the road will only remind Americans of his failures and force GOP candidates to tie themselves to his cratering presidency,” DNC chair Ken Martin argued in a statement to Fox News Digital.
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Detroit, MI
Detroit handling dozens of water main breaks amid frigid stretch
DETROIT (FOX 2) – The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) is dealing with dozens of water main breaks around the city as a cold snap continues.
Gary Brown, the DWSD director, said Tuesday morning that there were “at least a couple dozen” water main breaks.
Water main break flooding:
At least three of those water main breaks led to flooding, which then resulted in frozen streets.
People on Laing near Britain, not far from Morang, have reportedly been complaining about a water main break since Monday, and 911 dispatchers have fielded calls about vehicles stuck in the ice and water.
Another water main break flooded about ⅔ of Bringard near Barlow, which is south of Eight Mile, before freezing.
Also on the east side, a water main break with less severe flooding was reported on Dequindre near State Fair.
What they’re saying:
“This is historic, regionally, to have this deep of a freeze for this long of a period of time,” Brown said.
According to Brown, the breaks have been the result of frigid temperatures and shifting.
Dozens of water main breaks reported in Detroit
The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department is going to be busy Tuesday, handling dozens of water main breaks around the city. Department director Gary Brown said a historic deep freeze is leading to a high number of breaks all at once.
What’s next:
Brown said the department is prioritizing which breaks get repaired first.
“The prioritization is any person or street that may be completely out of water,” he said, noting that as of Monday night, no residents were out of water.
While crews work to repair the breaks, the water department is urging residents to be patient.
“When you’ve got 30 or 40 water main breaks, we can’t get to everyone at the same time,” Brown said.
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