Is AI gonna kill us?

At the Republican midterm convention last week, Trump urged attendees to “cheat like hell.” He did this after years of falsely accusing Democrats of widespread voter fraud, of which there is no evidence.

Trump’s lies about election fraud are shaping policy. In late March, the president signed an executive order aimed at restricting mail-in voting. On Monday, the Supreme Court blocked parts of that order. And that executive order isn’t the only front on which the administration is trying to control elections. It’s also trying to get private voter data and election records.

And remember Trump’s promise that adult U.S. citizens would get $5,000 each if we reelect Republican majorities? Other Republicans aren’t too sure about the idea. If there’s one thing the party hates, it’s helping people afford to be alive. That, to them, is apparently more concerning than the very obvious attempt to buy votes.

That brings us to this week’s media literacy tip from our friends at MediaWise! Political events like the one Trump spoke at can come with a lot of takes. Here’s how to make sense of them.

In a decisive blow to people who want to listen to 2010s rap and folk pop in one sitting, Ed Sheeran’s U.S. tour has dropped Macklemore as its opener. Earlier this week, a promoter for the tour said in a statement to Rolling Stone that Macklemore “will not be performing on the remaining support dates.” They said that multiple venues wouldn’t allow a concert with Macklemore, so keeping him as the opener would lead to canceling the tour. This all came after Macklemore made pro-Palestinian statements on stage.

All of Sheeran’s other supporting acts have dropped out of the tour in protest. Macklemore has said he’ll donate $1 million from his tour earnings to organizations working with Palestinians. And he invited someone to match it: the billionaire who owns a venue that Sheeran will soon perform at, and who reportedly rallied other stadium owners against Macklemore in the first place. That billionaire’s name is Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, and he said that Ed Sheeran asked him to match Sheeran’s $2 million donation.

Censorship over Palestine is an issue affecting more than just white rappers worth millions of dollars. The Trump administration has tried to deport pro-Palestinian students. The administration has also fired judges blocking those deportations. Universities have fired and denied tenure to professors over their involvement in pro-Palestinian protests. Gaza’s health ministry reports that Israeli attacks have killed over 900 people there this year despite a ceasefire.

Leaders at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts say the venue could go bankrupt soon. Their solution: Get help from a guy who drove six businesses into bankruptcy. Officials want Trump’s help fundraising, and they predict they’ll only get that help if they give him “appropriate recognition,” which could look like text on the outside of the building mentioning him by name. Oh, and the people suggesting this? They were hand-picked by Trump himself to lead the Kennedy Center. Remember when corruption led to spicy stuff like campaign office break-ins instead of just renaming buildings?

The center’s board also voted to close most of the building for renovations that Trump wanted. Trump has said he won’t move ahead on the repairs unless a federal judge lets him put his name on the building, to the chagrin of eighth-grade field trip planners everywhere. Some have called this “sabotage” or holding the center “hostage.”

U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper keeps telling the Kennedy Center board that they can’t put Trump’s name on the building unless Congress says it’s OK. The board keeps trying to do it anyway. That same judge also ordered the Trump administration to explain whether its shutting down of the Kennedy Center violates a court order limiting its ability to shut down the Kennedy Center.

Axios reports that according to the Consumer Price Index, prescription drug prices are down about 3% from a year ago. The 90-cent drop in what I shell out to CVS every month may not feel like much, but it’s the biggest annual decline in over 60 years.

The Trump administration is taking credit, citing its TrumpRx website where patients can get discounts on some drugs. But like many things the White House says and does, it’s not fully rooted in reality.

Another reason for falling drug prices dates back to 2022, when the Inflation Reduction Act allowed Medicare to negotiate the prices of top-selling prescription drugs with manufacturers. Those negotiated prices finally took effect this past January.

But Congress has bigger-picture problems to figure out when it comes to Medicare. Part of the program is projected to become insolvent by 2033, meaning it won’t be able to pay full benefits starting more than 30 years before I’d become eligible for them. Neat!