Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at Background Briefing.org. I'm Ian Masters, and today we'll examine a number of stories and issues in the news.

We'll begin with the results of yesterday's Michigan primaries, which had Biden at 81% of the

Democratic vote with the uncommitted protest vote against Biden's stance on Gaza at 13%.

Joining us to discuss how much Biden's ties to Netanyahu threaten his re-elections is John Nichols,

The Nation Magazine's Washington correspondent.

His books include The Fight for the Soul of the Democratic Party,

the endearing legacy of Henry Wallace's anti-fascist, anti-racist politics,

and most recently coronavirus criminals and pandemic profiteers,

accountability for those who cause the crisis.

We will discuss his latest article at the nation.

Michigan voters made it clear Biden's Gaza policy could threaten his re-election.

Then we will assess the impact of Senator McConnell's announcement today that he is stepping down from Republican leadership of the Senate in November while remaining to serve out his term.

Joining us to discuss Senator Ted Cruz's role in ousting the longest-serving Senate leader,

who acknowledged he is out of step with Trump's GOP, is Ben Jacobs, a political reporter based in Washington, D.C., who has covered

three presidential campaigns and countless federal and state elections, as well as Capitol

Hill, the White House, and the Supreme Court. Previously, a congressional reporter at The Guardian

and The Daily Beast, his writing has also appeared in Vox, New York Magazine, The Atlantic,

The Washington Examiner, and the New Republic, among many others. Then finally, we'll look into

the embrace of fascism by Trump's government in waiting on display at CPAC and speak with Adel

Stan, an independent journalist who is a longtime chronicler of the right wing of U.S. politics.

A winner of the Hillman Prize in Opinion and Analysis Journalism.

Her work has appeared in Mother Jones, the nation, and the American prospect,

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