Graham Platner<\/b> won the Maine Democratic primary for Senate<\/a> after weathering allegations about his past<\/a>, formally setting up the November bout for a seat that could be pivotal in determining which party controls the Senate.<\/p>\n The liberal upstart will face longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins<\/b> in a closely watched race that will show whether the Democratic and independent voters whom Platner has courted will overlook his baggage in the general election.<\/p>\n In Maine, as well as South Carolina<\/a>, Republicans competed in crowded congressional and gubernatorial races. Backing from President Donald Trump <\/b>elevated some GOP candidates over prominent politicians, including Rep. Nancy Mace<\/b> (R-South Carolina), who did not make it out of her primary race.<\/p>\n Read more from Praveena Somasundaram<\/b> here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Jane Fonda<\/b> has been arrested for her beliefs since before most Americans were born. Now, at 88, she says the country is facing something more dangerous than anything she\u2019s witnessed in six decades of activism \u2014 worse, even, than the Red Scare that once motivated her father.<\/p>\n On Sunday, while President Donald Trump<\/b> hosts a UFC cage fight<\/a> on the White House South Lawn for his 80th birthday, the famed actress will be in New York leading a protest sing-along against him. She\u2019s been doing some version of this for nearly 60 years \u2014 and she says the stakes have never been higher.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s happening now in this country is much more grave, much more serious than what was happening back in the late \u201940s and early \u201950s,\u201d Fonda said in an interview with The Washington Post. \u201cEverything is different now, because the rules of democracy, the laws that we, I\u2019m afraid to say, maybe took for granted … are being taken away.\u201d<\/p>\n Free speech under the Trump administration is facing unprecedented attacks and must be defended, Fonda said. It has been nearly 80 years since a group of Hollywood icons, including her father, actor Henry Fonda<\/b>, was a member and supported the Committee for the First Amendment to stand up to McCarthyism.<\/p>\n The group was formed in 1947 in response to House un-American Activities Committee hearings targeting Hollywood figures accused of being communists, a precursor to the blacklist era often associated with Sen. Joseph McCarthy<\/b> (R-Wisconsin).<\/p>\n In 2025, Fonda relaunched the free speech committee her father was a part of, arguing it was needed at a time when Trump was using the government to target people<\/a> like ABC\u2019s Jimmy Kimmel <\/b>and others.<\/p>\n On Sunday, the committee will host a protest celebration in New York<\/a> called Rise Up, Sing Out: A Concert for the First Amendment. The event, held on Trump\u2019s birthday, will feature performances by Rufus Wainwright, Bette Midler<\/b>, Patti Smith <\/b>and others. The event will be streamed online, and organizers hope it is as much a sing-along as a performance. \u201cStanding up and making your voice heard … is not eating broccoli,\u201d Fonda said of the event. \u201cIt\u2019s fun.\u201d<\/p>\n Fonda\u2019s activism is the stuff of legend \u2014 and for some, derision. A fervent anti-war activist, Fonda traveled to North Vietnam in the 1970s to protest the Vietnam War, earning her the disparaging nickname \u201cHanoi Jane.\u201d She later <\/b><\/i>apologized for the visit and photos taken during it<\/a>. Fonda sparred with President Richard M. Nixon<\/b>\u2019s administration after the trip \u2014 including first lady Pat Nixon<\/b><\/a>. And Nixon was recorded on one of his White House tapes saying<\/a>, \u201cWhat in the world is the matter with Jane Fonda? … She\u2019s a great actress. She looks pretty. But boy, she\u2019s often on the wrong track.\u201d<\/p>\n Over the subsequent 50-plus years, Fonda has protested everything from the need to address climate change to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to civil rights issues. In 2019, Fonda was arrested multiple times<\/a> for protesting climate change outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n For her, this work is the culmination of her decades of activism.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m the proudest of what I\u2019m doing right now,\u201d Fonda said. \u201cWe\u2019re changing things. We\u2019re actually moving the needle.\u201d<\/p>\n Fonda\u2019s decision to relaunch the committee her father belonged to adds another layer to a complicated relationship with her father, a longtime actor well-known for playing Tom Joad<\/b> in \u201cThe Grapes of Wrath.\u201d \u201cMy dad was not a communicative person. He just didn\u2019t know how,\u201d she told<\/a> interviewer Andy Cohen<\/b> in 2022.<\/p>\n But, in an interview with<\/a> Chris Wallace <\/b>in 2023, Fonda said that before he died in 1982, she was able to \u201ctell him that I loved him and that I forgave him for, you know, whatever didn\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Fonda told us she never really talked to her father about his activism, but that the work Henry Fonda<\/b> undertook in film and life \u2014 from \u201cThe Grapes of Wrath\u201d to \u201c12 Angry Men\u201d to \u201cThe Wrong Man\u201d \u2014 \u201cwas like the mulch, the fertilizer in my soul for when the time came that I was going to start being an activist in 1970.\u201d<\/p>\n Much of Fonda\u2019s most recent activism has centered on one man: Trump.<\/p>\n The actress has spoken out on everything from Trump\u2019s climate record to his curbing of free speech. She denies personal antipathy \u2014 \u201cI don\u2019t hate him. I feel sad for him,\u201d she told CNN<\/a> \u2014 but has said his presidency is the \u201cmost frightening\u201d of her lifetime.<\/p>\n Trump, never one to shy away from commenting on his critics, responded to Fonda\u2019s frequent arrests in 2019. \u201cNothing changes,\u201d he told a rally crowd in Louisiana<\/a>.<\/p>\n In her interview with The Post, Fonda was more concerned about Trump and Republican attempts to silence dissent, through mergers among large media companies<\/a> as well as through threats against news coverage the president does not like<\/a>. Fonda said she was heartened by the way many either canceled or threatened to cancel their Disney+ streaming subscriptions<\/a> in response to Kimmel\u2019s suspension over comments he made about Charlie Kirk.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is new. This hasn\u2019t happened during my lifetime to me or the people that I know,\u201d she said. But that response, and Kimmel\u2019s reinstatement days later, showed \u201cthis is what is effective. Strikes, boycotts, boycotts.\u201d More are coming, she said.<\/p> Read more As Mystics stick with their cozy home, fans see Caitlin Clark\u2019s magic up close<\/a><\/p>\n Fonda remains politically active. While she was a fervent supporter of Kamala Harris<\/b> in 2024, she now thinks she shouldn\u2019t run in 2028. \u201cWe have to win. I don\u2019t think she can win,\u201d she said. Fonda also endorses candidates through her own political action committee, where she focuses on backing down-ballot candidates who are \u201cbrave\u201d and stand up to power.<\/p>\n Through that work, the actress has begun to feel like Trump, despite his power and office, is on his heels.<\/p>\n \u201cThe zeitgeist has shifted,\u201d Fonda concluded, citing \u201cNo Kings\u201d protests in deep red communities and other recent protest movements. \u201cAnd we want to encourage that.\u201d<\/p>\n A major espionage bill expires on Friday, and the intelligence community is urging Congress to get its act together and renew it. But divisions on the Hill are muddying the path forward.<\/p>\n The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act has long been a source of contention among social conservatives, particularly Section 702, which allows the government to collect communications of foreigners abroad without individualized warrants. But Americans\u2019 messages can be swept up when they communicate with those targets.<\/p>\n Social conservatives demand provisions that require warrants to collect the information, but the intelligence community under successive presidential administrations has pushed back on doing so. Trump is no different.<\/p>\n \u201cI want a warrant. If you\u2019re going to surveil an American you\u2019ve got to have a warrant. Tell me how that doesn\u2019t work,\u201d Sen. Rick Scott<\/b> (R-Florida), one of the holdouts, told us.<\/p>\n To add more complication to the matter, Democrats are refusing to renew the legislation so long as Bill Pulte<\/b> is serving as acting director of national intelligence. Pulte has no background in intelligence, which is required by law for the position, and even several Republicans were skeptical about his appointment. The White House has indicated Trump will soon pick a permanent appointment for the position.<\/p>\n When asked about finding a new DNI to calm Democratic concerns, Senate Majority Leader John Thune<\/b> (R-South Dakota) said: \u201cI think they\u2019re weighing seriously making a longer-term pick.\u201d<\/p>\n Cap City News (Wyoming)<\/b>: Another day, another city council debating a proposed data center plan. This time in Wyoming<\/a>, where there has been backlash to \u201cthe potential annexation of 3,500 acres of land to city limits for Microsoft\u2019s planned data center development.\u201d<\/p>\n The San Francisco Standard<\/b>: This is a fascinating look at how the rise of AI in Silicon Valley has coincided with the rise in Christianity<\/a>. \u201cThere\u2019s been a shift,\u201d one tech worker told the publications. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people out there who are being more bold in their faith.\u201d<\/p>\n Tampa Bay Times<\/b>: International students from countries impacted by the president\u2019s travel ban are graduating from some of Florida\u2019s top schools \u2014 and then grappling with their futures in the United States<\/a>.<\/p>\n We asked about your excitement for the World Cup, and, well, one email from reader Maria Jose Aguilar Porro<\/b> in Spain really stood out to us.<\/p>\n \u201cMy name is Maria, and since I read you every day from Spain, I obviously root for our National Team in the World Cup,\u201d she wrote, adding three exclamation points for her side. \u201cWe are willing to watch their debut next Monday, probably with friends to enjoy the quality of our team! We are four in my family and all of us have Spain\u2019s T-shirt ready to wear during the matches!!\u201d<\/p>\n Spain should have a great World Cup. The team is currently ranked second in the world, behind 2022 winner Argentina. But many power rankings have them in the top positions, powered by young stars Lamine Yamal<\/b>, Pedri<\/b> and Gavi<\/b>.<\/p>\n Douglas Corkhill<\/b>, a longtime reader, said he was going to the Haiti-Morocco match in Atlanta later this month, where he will be \u201cpulling for Haiti because Trump probably won\u2019t let any of their \u2018sh****** country\u2019 fans into the country.\u201d<\/p>\n And Michael Fallon<\/b> said he is rooting for Cura\u00e7ao.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy? Because it\u2019s the smallest nation to ever make the World Cup (both by population and land mass),\u201d he wrote. \u201cI don\u2019t expect that Blue Wave will become the tournament\u2019s \u2018Cinderella\u2019 and make an unexpected run. But it feels like they will bring World Cup joy just by stepping onto the pitch with Germany this coming Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n Please plan for this newsletter to be unabashedly pro-World Cup in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n Today we wrote about Jane Fonda<\/b>, the widely known actress and activist. She has long divided opinions \u2014 Dan here, I know this personally within my own extended family \u2014 and her work in Vietnam in the early 1970s made her a target for the next five decades. So we wanted to ask you: What do you think about Jane Fonda\u2019s activism? Do you appreciate the work she has done? Or do you think she has gone too far at times? Let us and your fellow Early Brief readers know at earlytips@washpost.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Thanks for reading. You can follow Dan and Matthew on X: @merica<\/a> and @matthewichoi<\/a>.<\/p>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/fc96d1ef37495135d1b2c22135c2df6c-1024x693.jpg\")
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