Morning Wire - U.S. Falls, America Rises, & the Platner Scandal Deepens | 7.7.26

Episode Date: July 7, 2026

The U.S. Men’s Soccer Team’s historic run comes to an end, a new sexual assault accusation rocks Maine Democrat Graham Platner, and the preliminary hearing in the Charlie Kirk assassination trial begins. Reporting from Megan Basham, Tim Rice, and Tim Pearce. Get the facts first with Morning Wire.- - -Ep. 2878- - -Wake up with new Morning Wire merch: https://bit.ly/4lIubt3- - -Today's Sponsors:Quince - Elevate your summer wardrobe. Go to Quince.com/wire for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada too.Goldbelly - If you are looking for that perfect gift, or want to impress your friends and family with an epic meal the next time you host, go to https://GOLDBELLY.COM and get 20% off your first order with promo code WIRE.- - -Privacy Policy: https://www.dailywire.com/privacymorning wire,morning wire podcast,the morning wire podcast,Georgia Howe,John Bickley,daily wire podcast,podcast,news podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Offer ends July 22nd, 2026. Visit Ancestry.ca slash beginners for details. Terms apply. The U.S. men's team's historic run comes to an end, but the tournament continues to be a massive win for the country. In this moment, we let them down, but I think altogether, people gravitated towards a team because we were relatable. We represented exactly what the U.S. was. We walked through the highlights and the controversy of the World Cup. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Executive Editor John Bickley.

It's Tuesday, July 7, and this is Morning Wire. A new sexual assault accusation rocks main Democrat Graham Platner. We have the details in the fallout. That was me recognizing what the situation was. He was heavily intoxicated, had intentions with me, and wasn't listening when I said, no. And the preliminary hearing in the Charlie Kirk assassination trial has begun. Kirk's parents and widow Erica are coming face to face with the man who is accused of killing him for the very first time. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.

Team USA's World Cup run has come to an end after falling to Belgium in the round of 16. But while Americans are understandably disappointed, there's a growing consensus that this tournament has still been an overwhelming success for the U.S. Joining us now is Daily Wire Culture reporter, Megan Basham. So Megan, before we get to the silver linings, first, walk us through what happened last night, obviously a crushing loss for a lot of Americans. Yeah, it was tough. It was a tough four-one battle in Seattle. Foller in Balligan was back in the lineup, thanks to that last-minute FIFA decision. And he did battle hard, but a lot of commentators felt that this was the U.S. team's poorest performance in the World Cup, and Belgium was already up by two at halftime.

In fact, at one point, there was some question over why the U.S. team wasn't allowed to make some of the substitutions that the coaches wanted to make. But regardless, you know, their efforts just came up short. Once Belgium scored this third goal, it was just too deep a hole for the U.S. to crawl out of. So heartbreaking on the scoreboard, but I think the bigger picture here is undeniable. Hosting this tournament has delivered historic victories for America that are going to go far beyond any single match result. Right. Well, we're going to get to some of those victories in just a minute, But I want to talk about the Balagan saga that happened before this most recent game. It was all people were talking about online.

And there's been a lot of controversy over President Trump's involvement. So what happened and how did that play out? Well, you know, I think the first thing that has to be said here, Georgia, is that the president took a stand for fairness. That's what happened. But, you know, seriously, Baligan scored in the 2-0 win over Bosnia. But he did pick up that harsh red card on a challenge. that many viewed as questionable. FIFA initially imposed the automatic one-match suspension,

and that would have sidelined him for Belgium. But then the president stepped in and made multiple calls to FIFA President Gianni Infantino after the game, asking for another review. So I saw the play, and I'm a person that loves sports, and was a good athlete, and I understand sports really well, really well. And that wasn't a foul. That wasn't even an infraction.

There was two guys running full speed that happened to crash into each. You can't take your foot and properly place it on somebody else's foot when you're going, no, these were two great athletes that got tangled up. Yes, I asked for a review by FIFA. So after this, FIFA's judicial committee used a little-known provision in its disciplinary rules to suspend that automatic ban, allowing Balligan to play while also placing him on a one-year probation. Not too surprising, this sparked a lot of fury among Belgium fans who did not want to see Balligan in that game. Now, Infantino acknowledged that yes, Trump called him, just as many heads of state call him, he said. But he emphasized that FIFA's judicial bodies are independent, and he denied that pressure from the president played any role in this decision, even if the

president's patriotic efforts on behalf of America did result in plenty of funny memes. Now, I think this hosting experience has been transformative for America, regardless of this knockout. Can you go through some of the wins that we've seen? Yeah, I think they've been enormous wins, Georgia. The World Cup brought millions of international fans to American soil, and the overwhelming feedback from them, especially from the Europeans, has been absolute positivity. Visitors have fallen in love with the real America, with our hospitality, our food. And interestingly, especially our rural charm. So you've heard from Germans, Brits, others who can't stop raving about things like Buckeys, Waffle House, free refills, ranch dressing, pickup trucks, country music, air conditioning was a big one.

And just overall American friendliness. And I think that it's been a little bit like all the best parts of our culture got the ultimate showcase here. And I think that's important because nations do spend tremendous amounts of money trying to improve their image overseas and hosting an event like the World Cup. is one of the few opportunities that we get to let millions of visitors experience our country firsthand rather than through the lens of political narratives or internet stereotypes. So after experiencing our restaurants, hotels, other local businesses, all of which did take this as a huge boon, international fans got to see what America is on their own. And they returned home talking not simply about the soccer, but also about the hospitality.

the generosity and overall just the optimism that they encountered while traveling across America. And I think that is the kind of soft power that countries simply can't manufacture through advertising campaigns. Right. And one thing a lot of people don't know, President Trump advocated very hard to have this here during his first term. So a little bit of a backstory there. Megan, thanks for reporting. My pleasure. Okay, everyone, Quince has been churning out new summer clothing. and I finally tested out their swimwear and it's excellent. I got a two-piece and here's a picture of the one that I got. I was extremely pleased with the coverage and the fabric. I wore it out on a

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And Politico says it's reviewed evidence that corruptions. robberates aspects of her claim. The accuser, Jenny Rassacott, was among a list of women in the New York Times report from a few weeks ago accusing Platter of improper behavior, but has now come forward to make clear that she's accusing him of storming into her house and raping her five years ago. Here to discuss is our D.C. Bureau Chief Tim Rice, so Tim, Tim, we've been hearing rumors of more, you know, serious allegations about to drop against Platner. He's already weathered several at this point. now we have this devastating report, and the fallout is happening very fast. First, what do we know about the claims and just how serious is this?

Yeah, John, so it's very serious. As Georgia noted, Rassikot was one of the women who was mentioned in that explosive New York Times story. She's now coming forward, both in the Politico story we had today. She also gave an in-person interview with Jake Tapper on CNN. So a couple of things to note. The first is that Rassikot says that the reason it took her so long to come forward is, because she's very supportive of Graham Platner and wanted to vote for him. So was, you know, this is not, you know, there were allegations with the New York Times report

that it was politically motivated. This is clearly not something that people can say about her accusations. And as for those accusations, Rassacott says that this happened in 2021. She had been in a sort of on again, off again relationship with Platner. He texted her one night, very intoxicated, said, I'm coming over. She said, no, you're not. I don't want you to come over. She was just sober at her house. He entered her house, Politico, when the report strangely doesn't use the phrase breaking and entering, but it seems pretty clear that's what it was.

She was home. He barges and drunk, forces himself on her. She said no, repeatedly told him that she did not want this. She says in the piece, I remember using phrases like, please stop, get off me. I don't want this. And she says in the piece, too, that there is a moment she remembers, like, realizing what was happening, right? there was this moment of this isn't just Graham being drunk and, you know, not really all there. This is, I'm being raped.

And she said in her interview with Tapper, she uses the phrase rape. She calls this a rape, which the Politico story does not go as far to do. So she said it was very clearly non-consensual. And she said that after the act, which I won't go into all of the details because they're pretty disturbing, but, you know, our listeners can go read them if they want. she says that she thought about forcing him out of her house, but he was so drunk that she was worried he would be in danger, either, you know, get hit by a car or get behind the wheel of a car.

And so she says that she waited a few days after the rape to confirm that she wasn't pregnant. And after that, she broke things off with him permanently. She has, she shared with Politico a ton of corroborating evidence, conversations with a future boyfriend whom she told the story to screenshots of text messages with friends where someone said, hey, should I set someone up with your ex-boyfriend? And she very explicitly says, you know, this is a problem I had, messages with her therapist. So, I mean, Politico has all of this. They have all of the corroborating stories. They have all of the documents that she provided. And they interviewed, you know, all the folks

that she mentioned. This is the most serious accusation that Platner has faced yet. So now the fallout has begun. We've immediately begun seeing Democrats pull their endorsements of him. First, who are some of the key unendorsments? And then when does Plattner actually have to pull out officially for Democrats in Maine to replace him? Yeah. So I should also just take a moment to note, as we heard at the top, but we'll say it again. Plattner and his campaign have both categorically denied these claims. Plattner and in his statement said that, you know, they were serious but also false. That said, the claims themselves have clearly been a red line for most every Democrat, pretty much everyone who has come out and

supported Graham Platner, has, as of this reporting, pulled their support. So California Congressman Rokana was the first to announce, followed very quickly by Hassan Piker, a commentator who is incredibly influential on the Democratic socialist side of the party. And from there, it was off to the races. The main Democratic Party pulled their endorsement. Senator Chuck Schumer from New York pulled his endorsement in a joint statement with his fellow New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who also runs the DCC, the Democratic Senator campaign committee. And Gillibrand said explicitly, if Graham Platner is the nominee, the party will not spend money supporting him in the race, which for my money, that is the death blow, right?

How are you going to run a campaign without the support of a party? Various forms of Democratic commentators who, you know, supported him strongly through the Nazi tattoo allegations and the first round of sexual assault allegations are all rushing to delete tweets and eat crow publicly. Elizabeth Warren, late yesterday, who was one of his earliest and most vociferous supporters, did not pull her endorsement notably, but said that the best thing for the party would be if Graham Platner withdrew. As of this recording, we have not yet heard from Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who

has basically said that there's nothing that Plattner could do that would cause him to pull his support, but we'll see if that comes in the coming days. And to your other question, John, the deadline to withdraw is July 13th. six days from now. Platner has until July 13th to withdraw, and then there's a whole complicated process by which the Democratic Party in Maine could replace him, and there's a second deadline. We had a great explainer about that on Dailywire.com. I encourage everyone to go read that because I'm sure I'll get the details wrong. But yes, time is running out for the Platner campaign, for the Democrats in Maine. Again, it's hard to see how he gets back from this, but we're going to have to wait and see

going to be a very interesting 48 hours. Yeah, it does feel like a question of when, not if he withdraws at this point. Tim, we always appreciate you coming on. Anytime, John. Charlie Kirk's accused killer Tyler Robinson appeared in court on Monday for the start of a multi-day hearing previewing the prosecution's case. Daily Wire contributor, Tim Pierce, is here to tell us what went down in court yesterday and what we can expect in the next few days. So, Tim, first off, can you tell us what this hearing was about? Right. This hearing is expected to last for the rest of the week, and as John said, prosecutors will outline their case against Robinson. They'll also try to convince the judge that the death penalty should be on the table here. Now, the standard in this hearing is not beyond a reasonable doubt. This proceeding is all about convincing Judge Tony Graff that there's enough evidence that this case should be examined by a jury. And because this hearing yesterday was live-streamed, we got a taste of what the rest of the week will be like. Here's some of that.

So you mentioned you heard something. What did you hear again? I heard a gunshot. Okay. And can you describe Mr. Kirk's reaction? Was that simultaneous to hearing the gunshot? Yes, it was. When he fell to the left? Yes. The defense's job here is to undermine the prosecution's case. Here's a bit of that.

Your Honor, if we could maybe not have it on the lectern screen, we're getting reports that the documents shown on the lectern screen are being live-screamed. I've streamed. So maybe if we could just not show that one until it's admitted. I'll go ahead and grant the request by Ms. Nestor. Robinson hasn't entered a plea yet, but his defense team has tried to take the death penalty off the table. But it wasn't for any reason to do with their client. They accused the prosecution of going on a media tour that violated court restrictions about speaking openly about the case. But prosecutors say their hand was basically forced.

They say they had to correct misrepresentations about certain bits of evidence. that had gained traction in the media. Now, Kirk's family was in the courtroom. Was that the first time they've faced Robinson directly? Yeah, and it was, as you can imagine, a very emotional day. Kirk's parents, Robert and Catherine were there, and, of course, his widow, Erica, was in the courtroom on Monday. Before everything got started, they released a statement, I'll read from part of that.

Every court proceeding serves as a painful reminder of his death and the loss that has irrevocably impacted our lives and the lives of his children. It ended by stating, out of respect for the judicial process, we will not be commenting further at this time. Now as for what to expect going forward, expect there to be some graphic images during this hearing. There will be warnings given, at least for the Kirk families, so that they will not have to relive that moment any more than necessary. There was also another notable person there, Donald Trump Jr. The Trumps were obviously close with the Kirk's, obviously working with Charlie and turning point over the election. Charlie was also personally close with the Trump family and often served as an unofficial advisor to the president.

Now, you've described what happened in the courtroom. What about outside the courthouse? There was some speculation. There was going to be some protesters, demonstrations. Did we see anything like that? Not really, but security was very tight yesterday. Setting aside the national profiles of Don Jr. and Erica, Tyler Robinson is obviously well known too. His case has been covered extensively in the media and will continue to be, especially with kids. cameras being allowed in the courtroom. That was another issue that prosecutors and the defense fought over earlier. The prosecution wanted them and the defense did not. Judge Graff ultimately allowed it, but for this week, he did modify his order since the last time Robinson was in court. His defense team complained that their client's face was shown too much on camera. So on Monday, the judge had the cameras moved back. Now, any watchers online are getting the same perspective as many

in the live audience. Well, this has been a long process. It's going to continue to be, we're going to monitor. Tim, thanks for reporting. Thanks for having me. Thanks for waking up with us. The reporting that fuels this show is only possible because you tune in every day and because of our Daily Wire subscribers. To enjoy the show, ad-free and join our mission, become a member at dailywire.com. We'll be back this evening with more news you need to know.