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=Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) will run for governor of Alabama rather than seek a second term in the Senate, reported Yellowhammer News on Thursday.

"Back in state while Congress is in recess, Tuberville told a group of donors at a private event on Wednesday night that his mind is officially made up," reported Grayson Everett. "Rather than seeking re-election to the U.S. Senate, he is ready to run his next race in Alabama, and serve the people of the state in Montgomery instead of Washington."

A former football coach, Tuberville initially wanted to run for governor in 2018, "but decided against it when Kay Ivey chose to run for the office she constitutionally stepped into following Robert Bentley’s resignation in 2017" — which had been triggered by an explosive scandal involving Bentley using government resources to further an extramarital affair.

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In 2020, Tuberville ousted Trump's former attorney general Jeff Sessions, who held the Senate seat until 2017, in a primary where Sessions was seeking his old office back, and then defeated Democratic Sen. Doug Jones, who had been elected in a massive upset when Roy Moore, the Republican former state chief justice running in the special election to replace Sessions, was accused of inappropriate behavior with children. Moore went on to sue one of his accusers for defamation, but lost that case in 2022.

Since being elected, Tuberville — a steadfast supporter of President Donald Trump — has been at the center of numerous controversies.

He has questioned whether white nationalism is an inherently racist ideology, said that slavery reparations are an attempt to hand out money to "the people that do the crime," and spent months under the Biden administration blocking vital military appointments to try to force the Pentagon to stop giving female servicemembers medical leave for abortions.

A longtime Republican pollster said Thursday that people who voted for Donald Trump last year are already beginning to waver in their support.

Sarah Longwell has been doing focus groups of 2024 voters of Trump, tracking how attitudes are changing and why. The one thing she said is finally starting to "set in" for those voters is "maybe Donald Trump doesn't know exactly what he's doing."

She explained that the caveat is always the "hardcore MAGA people," who will never leave Trump. But another "major slice" of the coalition of people who helped elect Trump were "people who just wanted things to cost less."

Those voters, she said, were "upset about inflation" and "the cost of housing." So, they heard Donald Trump "promise to lower the price of groceries, and that he was going to lower the cost of everything. It was going to be so easy and so fast. And when you listen to voters in focus groups, they say not only are things not getting better, but it feels like they're getting worse."

ALSO READ: 'We’ve made a mistake': Trump’s trade war sends GOP into frenzy

She added they feel uncertain about the economy.

"You get other people, especially people who are cost-constrained, who are at the lower end of the income spectrum, and those people notice every dollar and the way any price that goes up," said Longwell. "And, so, from those voters who heard the promise that Trump was going to lower costs, who thought he was a businessman, who knew what he was doing, and is now watching this chaos and not seeing their prices go down. They are starting to lose faith that he's going to be able to keep the promises that he made to them."

See her comments below or at the link here.

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A Washington Post opinion editor cited Elon Musk's "skeevy approach to parenthood" to argue that the tech entrepreneur and father of 14 is not all that good with numbers.

David Von Drehle recounted a "copiously documented report in the Wall Street Journal" about Musk's desire to populate the planet that led to his lightbulb moment.

Musk's "growing concern that only an army of paid surrogates can produce enough of his babies to populate the 'legion' required to stave off the 'apocalypse" was one big red flag, according to Von Drehle.

"To think that one dumpy 53-year-old nerd is called by fate to stem the demographic tide of humankind is … bad math, to say the least," Von Drehle wrote. "Suppose Musk and his fantasy army of surrogates begin producing 10 children per day, every day, until he’s 80, 26 years from now."

ALSO READ: 'Alarming': Small colleges bullied into silence as Trump poses 'existential threat'

Von Drehle added, "Yuck — sorry to paint that picture. But also: Those efforts would produce fewer babies, total (almost 95,000), than will be born between midnight tonight and tomorrow at 7 a.m. (about 105,000)."

In addition, "Others who have followed Musk’s obsession with travel to Mars are already aware of his trouble with concepts such as distance and time," Von Drehle wrote.

"The innumeracy of Elon Musk would be a matter between him, his investors, his breeding partners and their offspring — but for his involvement in the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which has sown chaos across the federal government in pursuit of savings he seems unable to count," Von Drehle wrote. "His initial promise of $2 trillion in cuts has already deflated to $150 billion, meaning he was off by a factor of 13-plus in the space of a few months."

Von Drehle concluded that Musk is no math genius, and doesn't understand "that what he is saying just doesn’t add up."

Read The Washington Post opinion column here.

President Donald Trump's official store has started selling "Trump 2028" hats years before the next presidential election.

The new hats showed up on the official "Trump Store" website on Thursday for $50 each. Eric Trump was seen wearing the hat in an image circulating on social media. "Gulf of America" hats were also available.

According to the store, the hats were made in America.

"Due to high demand, please allow 5-10 business days to process prior to shipping," a notice on the website stated.

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Trump recently told NBC that he was "not joking" about seeking a third term.

"A lot of people want me to do it," the president said. "There are methods which you could do it."

The U.S. Constitution limits presidents to two terms in office.

A surprise decision by Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-IA) to not seek re-election in 2026 has given Democrats in the state hope that they can snag the seat in what is expected to be a midterm referendum on Donald Trump's return to the Oval Office.

According to a report from the Washington Post, Donald Trump's decision to enact tariffs that have severely impacted American farmers will likely not be forgotten when election time comes around in a state where agricultural policy is always at the top of the ticket no matter who the nominee is.

As Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Rita Hart put it, "There are a lot of people who are seeing this as an opportunity," before adding that Trump's tariffs will be front and center in the campaign.

ALSO READ:'We’ve made a mistake': Trump’s trade war sends GOP into frenzy

According to the Post's Patrick Svitek, "In Iowa — the second biggest agricultural exporting state in the country — not all Republicans have been fully onboard with Trump’s sweeping — and ever-changing — tariffs, which, at a minimum, have created deep uncertainty for farmers who make a living selling their crops to other countries."

Sam Newton, a spokesperson for the Democratic Governors Association, claimed, “It’s definitely a race we’re keeping our eye on. We believe that there’s a real opportunity for a competitive race with a strong candidate who fits the state well.”

There hasn't been a Democrat governor in Iowa since 2010.

The report also notes the election could be a harbinger on how strong Trump's pull will extend when he is not on the ballot.

You can read more here.

In an MSNBC appearance, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey slammed several of President Donald Trump’s policies because of the negative impact they are having on scientific research.

“First, let's talk about Harvard. You actually have this post that you put up, Donald Trump's cuts to universities and hospitals mean scientists are being laid off, and shutting down life-saving research. It's bad for patients, bad for science, and bad for our economy. Give me a sense of your reaction to what is happening at not just Harvard, but beyond,” Host Mika Brzezinski asked.

“Well, this is bigger than Harvard, and I stand with Harvard,” Governor Healey said. “I support what they are doing it is very, very important that Harvard filed that suit and stand up to the bully that Trump is.”

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The Governor claimed the consequences of removing funding from certain colleges, NIH, and other outlets is large. “[UMass Medical] had to lay off 200 faculty members. They've had to rescind offers to 80 graduate students. Mika these are scientists, okay? These are people who are discovering and working on life-saving cures for cancer, Alzheimer's, ALS, you name it, and all of that is being shut down.”

“Here's what also is happening, which Americans need to know. The ones benefiting from Donald Trump's misguided attacks on our universities and on research are benefiting China,” Healey said. “China is recruiting right now on our campuses all those scientists and faculty members, and students who've been laid off or had their offers rescinded and say, Come to China, we'll build you that lab. We'll give you staff. So, for a President who is about America first, he's making America last. He's making us weaker. He's making us less competitive, and it breaks my heart. It breaks my heart to know that patients will suffer [and] they're already suffering.”

She also believes, “[Trump] is driving everyone, including American students and faculty members, out of this country because they want to be able to do their research somewhere. So this is a very dangerous situation. Totally destabilizing and it's really pointing America in the wrong direction.”

The pair went on to speak about what the Bay State is doing to help small businesses dealing with tariff issues.

Watch below or click here.

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