Donald Trump won reelection with 312 electoral votes, but the popular vote shows a closer outcome between him and Vice President Kamala Harris. Among the 74.5 million people who did vote for her (with current tabulations coming within about 1.5 percentage points of all votes), some now treat the news like the plague. For the sake of sanity and self-preservation, they’re turning it off and tuning out.
Adam Schiff Stays Steadfast In Face Of Trump’s Tyranny Talk
Sen.-elect Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) isn’t going to let President-elect Donald Trump discourage him from doing his job in Congress.
During a Sunday appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Schiff appeared unwavering when asked if he was worried about being targeted by Trump and his vows to retaliate against his political opponents.
After host Kristen Welker shared a clip of Trump comparing Schiff and other Democrats to “the enemy from within,” the newly elected senator dismissed Trump’s “dictator talk” while warning Americans of the dangers of having an aspiring strongman in office.
Trump Is Running His Transition Team on Secret Money
President-elect Donald J. Trump is keeping secret the names of the donors who are funding his transition effort, a break from tradition that could make it impossible to see what interest groups, businesses or wealthy people are helping launch his second term.
Mr. Trump has so far declined to sign an agreement with the Biden administration that imposes strict limits on that fund-raising in exchange for up to $7.2 million in federal funds earmarked for the transition. By dodging the agreement, Mr. Trump can raise unlimited amounts of money from unknown donors to pay for the staff, travel and office space involved in preparing to take over the government.
The Rude Pundit: Democrats Must Stand Up for the Rights of Transgender People, Including Trans Youths
It wasn’t that long ago, less than ten years, in fact, where, in a confirmation hearing for Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch, Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was a prick even before his mouth became Donald Trump’s penis koozie, wailed and gnashed about the growing passage of laws in the states allowing same-sex couples to marry, “What’s the legal difference between a ban on same-sex marriage being unconstitutional but a ban on polygamy being constitutional? Could you try to articulate how one could be banned under the constitution and the other not?” While this whole issue would be put to rest a few months later by the then-relatively sane Supreme Court in the Obergefell decision, Graham’s screaming mimi routine had been echoing throughout the nutsosphere for years: same-sex marriage would lead to legalizing marriage with animals or marriage with babies. It was crazy shit. One ultra-evangelical group of fucknuts said that if New York legalized same-sex marriage in 2011, it “could prove to be decisive in the culture war for America’s soul.”
Pete Hegseth Falsely Claims He Was ‘Completely Cleared’ On Sex Assault Allegation
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to oversee the entire U.S. military, former Fox Newspersonality Pete Hegseth, was confronted Thursday by a reporter who asked point-blank whether he raped a woman in 2017, as described in a police report.
“As far as the media is concerned, it’s very simple,” said Hegseth, who was on Capitol Hill to meet with senators tasked with weighing whether to approve him as the next U.S. defense secretary.
“The matter was fully investigated, and I was completely cleared, and that’s where I’m going to leave it,” he said.
Trump’s Team Threatening GOP Senators With Elon Musk-Funded Primaries If They Vote Against Cabinet Picks, Reports ABC
ABC News’s Senior White House Correspondent Selina Wang reported on Thursday that President-elect Donald Trump’s team has been threatening Republican Senators with Elon Musk-funded primaries if they vote against his cabinet nominees.
“Well, Trump has been working the phones. He’s been upping the pressure on Senate Republicans, even calling some of them directly. This is as JD Vance is also making the pitch. It was up on Capitol Hill with Matt Gaetz yesterday meeting with some of those Senate Republicans,” Wang began.
Could Matt Gaetz decide to keep his House seat? It’s complicated.
Ever since Matt Gaetz resigned from the House — and subsequently withdrew his name from consideration to be President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general — questions have swirled about his political fate.
While Gaetz resigned last week from the current Congress, he was re-elected this month to represent his Florida district when the next session begins in January. That raises the question: Could he return?
Here’s what to know.
Trump names longtime ally Pam Bondi as his new attorney general pick after Matt Gaetz withdraws
President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday named longtime ally Pam Bondi as his new choice for attorney general, capping a tumultuous week for previous pick Matt Gaetz.
Bondi’s elevation came just hours after Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration following increased scrutiny over allegations of sexual misconduct.
If confirmed, Bondi would lead the Justice Department and set the agenda for federal investigations and prosecutions. Trump’s pick for the nation’s top law enforcement official comes as some of his critics fear he will use his administration to seek retribution against them.
4 Trump administration picks have sexual misconduct allegations in their past
Matt Gaetz, Pete Hegseth, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Elon Musk are all in line to serve as top government leaders.
All have faced varying degrees of sexual misconduct allegations.
The president’s picks to carry out his agenda reflect an incoming administration hostile to the norms of the “Me Too” movement. Behavior that might have gotten a person fired or canceled (or not nominated to a cabinet position) over the last several years, appears to be less problematic in the Trump 2.0 era.
Leaders at Walmart And Lowe’s Warn That Trump’s Tariffs May Cause Price Hikes
The vast tariffs President-elect Donald Trump has promised to implement will likely lead to price increases at major American retailers like Walmart and Lowe’s, the companies’ chief financial officers said this week.
Walmart CFO John David Rainey told CNBC it is not yet clear which items would be affected.
“We never want to raise prices,” Rainey told the outlet Tuesday. “Our model is everyday low prices. But there probably will be cases where prices will go up for consumers.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson says he supports banning transgender women from using women’s bathrooms
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday he supports restricting “single-sex facilities” in the Capitol, including restrooms, to “individuals of that biological sex”— which would effectively ban the first transgender congresswoman from using women’s bathrooms in the next Congress.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., introduced a resolution this week that would ban transgender women from using women’s bathrooms and other facilities at the Capitol. She said Tuesday that the bill “absolutely” targets Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, D-Del., the first openly transgender person elected to Congress.
Democrats try to force a full House vote to release Matt Gaetz report as House Ethics panel has ‘no agreement’
Members of the House Ethics Committee met behind closed doors Wednesday but did not reach an agreement on whether to publicly release a report detailing their sweeping investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general.
Several Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have said they want to review the House report on the yearslong investigation into Gaetz, R-Fla., before a Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for him next year. The Ethics Committee had examined allegations that Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts, gave special favors to people with whom he had personal relationships and obstructed the House probe.
Dean Obeidallah: Donald Trump, Matt Gaetz are Pete Hegseth are the worst versions of men
Matt Gaetz and Pete Hegseth are the worst version of men. But then again so is adjudicated rapist Donald Trump—which explains why he picked these two despicable, unqualified white men to be his Attorney General and Secretary of Defense.
The red flags about Gaetz and Hegseth ranging from sexual misconduct to bigotry would deem them unfit to serve in any presidential administration–any administration except Trump’s that is. The reason being all Trump cares about is abject loyalty and both clearly have sworn allegiance to Trump–much in the same way Hitler required the members of the military swear allegiance to him above Germany.
Read the rest of Dean Obeidallah’s piece at and subscribe to his Substack
Republicans Are Mad That Democrats Are Confirming Lots Of Biden’s Judges
Senate Republicans are acting pretty mad that Democrats are using the lame duck to confirm lots of President Joe Biden’s judges.
“I’m a bit frustrated,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) told reporters Tuesday. “After last night’s voting extravaganza, I wonder what we are doing.”
Capito was referring to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) scheduling votes on some of Biden’s court picks on Monday night. Republicans don’t have the votes to stop Biden’s nominees from advancing, so they dragged out the process by hours, forcing time-consuming votes on otherwise routine procedural steps.
It kept everyone in the Senate later than they wanted to be.
What to know about Dr. Oz as Trump picks him to lead Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that heart surgeon-turned-TV-host Dr. Mehmet Oz would lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
“America is facing a Healthcare Crisis, and there may be no Physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to Make America Healthy Again,” Trump said in a statement. “He is an eminent Physician, Heart Surgeon, Inventor and World-Class Communicator, who has been at the forefront of healthy living for decades.”
The position of CMS administrator requires Senate confirmation.
Tracking Trump’s picks to serve in his Cabinet, administration
President-elect Donald Trump, ahead of his return to power in January, is announcing who he wants to fill Cabinet positions and other key roles inside his administration, including names like Marco Rubio, Tulsi Gabbard and Matt Gaetz.
Trump began to roll out his nominees and appointees just days after his election victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. Among them are some of his staunchest allies on Capitol Hill and key advisers to his 2024 campaign.
Trump will have a Republican-controlled Senate and possibly a Republican-controlled House to help usher his picks through. But he’s also urging the incoming Senate leader to embrace recess appointments, which has led to speculation some of his choices may be more controversial.
Gaetz sent over $10K in Venmo payments to 2 women who testified in House probe, records suggest
The House Ethics Committee obtained records, including a check and records of Venmo payments, that appear to show that then-Rep. Matt Gaetz paid more than $10,000 to two women who were later witnesses in sexual misconduct probes conducted by both the House and the Justice Department, according to documents obtained by ABC News.
The Venmo records show that between July 2017 and late January 2019, Gaetz — who was first elected in 2016 — allegedly made 27 Venmo payments totaling $10,224.02 to the two witnesses, who were over the age of 18 at the time.
Trump Praises ‘Extremely Cordial’ Meeting With MSNBC’s Joe and Mika: Congratulated Me On a ‘Great and Flawless Campaign’
President-elect Donald Trump spoke to Fox News Digital on Monday about his recent meeting with MSNBC morning show hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, praising the discussion as ‘“very cordial” and something that should have happened “long ago.”
“I received a call from Joe Scarborough requesting a meeting for him and Mika, and I agreed that it would be a good thing if such meeting took place,” Trump told Fox’s Brooke Singman. “We met at Mar-a-Lago on Friday morning at 8:00.”
“Many things were discussed, and I very much appreciated the fact that they wanted to have open communication. In many ways, it’s too bad that it wasn’t done long ago,” added Trump.
House Ethics Committee to meet Wednesday amid growing pressure to release Gaetz report
The House Ethics Committee is set to meet Wednesday as it faces increasing pressure to release a potentially damaging report detailing its investigation into allegations former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, two sources told CBS News.
The movements of the Ethics panel have been under heightened scrutiny since President-elect Donald Trump announced last week that he had selected Gaetz to serve as attorney general. The Florida Republican resigned his seat in the House in the wake of the announcement, which ended the Ethics Committee’s jurisdiction over Gaetz since he is now a former member.
Trump picks a second Fox host to join his Cabinet, with Sean Duffy for Transportation
President-elect Donald Trump on Monday named former congressman and Fox Business host Sean Duffy as his pick for transportation secretary in the next administration.
Duffy is the second Fox host Trump has tapped for a Cabinet post after he said last week that he would nominate Fox News personality Pete Hegseth to lead the Defense Department. Hegseth left Fox News after Trump’s announcement.
In a statement announcing him, Trump described Duffy, R-Wis., as “a tremendous and well-liked public servant.”
Gaetz allegedly flew 2 women to New York, paid them for sex: Attorney
Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, allegedly paid for two women in 2019 to travel to New York to have sex, watch his appearance on Fox News, and attend the Broadway show “Pretty Woman,” an attorney for the women told ABC News.
In an interview with ABC News’ Juju Chang, Florida attorney Joel Leppard revealed new details regarding his clients’ closed-door testimony before the private bipartisan committee — including that his clients told congressional investigators that Gaetz paid for them to travel across state lines to have sex on at least two occasions.
Read the rest of the story at NBC News
Charlie Pierce: The Democrats Need to Stop Giving Such a Damn
It is a very, very bad day when I have to wonder about Sherrod Brown, whose loss two weeks ago is incalculable. But he gave an interview to Tiger Beat on the Potomac and, well, his analysis was acute and —thank you, Jesus—he avoided TBOTP’s Eugene Daniels’s attempts to blame the Democratic party’s commitment to universal human rights for the fact that the country has turned once again to a vulgar talking yam.
J. Ann Selzer Is Ending Her Election Polling Career Following Iowa Fail
J. Ann Selzer, who wrongly predicted Iowa would turn blue and vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in this year’s election, is ending her polling career to take on new opportunities.
“Would I have liked to make this announcement after a final poll aligned with Election Day results? Of course,” Selzer wrote Sunday in a guest column for the Des Moines Register. “It’s ironic that it’s just the opposite.”
In the column, she noted that she had already planned to part ways with the Register prior to the election polling results.
GOP Senator Says Chamber Should ‘Absolutely’ Have Access To Matt Gaetz Ethics Report
Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin (Okla.) said Sunday the Senate should “absolutely” have access to the findings from a House Ethics Committee investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz.
“I believe the Senate should have access to that,” Mullin told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “Now should it be released to the public or not? I guess that will be part of the negotiations. But that should be definitely part of our decision making.”
President-elect Donald Trump nominated Gaetz to serve as his attorney general last week, a decision that sent shockwaves through the Justice Department. If confirmed, Gaetz would be tasked with overseeing the agency that investigated him on allegations of sex trafficking.
Biden authorizes Ukraine to strike Russia with U.S.-supplied long-range missiles
President Joe Biden has authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-provided long-range weapons inside Russia for limited strikes, according to two U.S. officials.
Longtime restrictions are being eased as North Korea has deployed thousands of troops to the Kursk region of Russia to support Russian troops fighting Ukrainian forces.
The new authority applies to Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, which Ukrainian officials have sought from the Biden administration. U.S. officials had resisted, citing concerns over limited stockpile, the repositioning of Russian assets outside of ATACMS range and the fact that Ukraine has been using other assets with success, primarily drones, making ATACMS less critical to the fight.
Trump defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth denies sexual assault allegation, acknowledges payment to accuser
Former Fox News host Pete Hegseth’s attorney on Sunday confirmed to NBC News that Hegseth, whom President-elect Donald Trump has named as his candidate for defense secretary, paid a woman an undisclosed amount after she accused him of sexual assault.
“In 2023, Hegseth paid the complainant as part of a civil confidential settlement agreement and maintains his innocence,” Timothy Parlatore, Hegseth’s attorney, said in a statement.
He also denied that the encounter between Hegseth and an unnamed woman, which she alleges happened in 2017, was sexual assault.
The Rude Pundit: Biden Will Be Remembered More for What He Didn’t Do Than What He Did
Other than the election and everything related to it, one thing stuck in my craw this past week, and it stuck there hard, so much so that I can’t cough it up. At her daily briefing, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked if President Joe Biden would pardon his son Hunter, who is facing sentencing after pleading guilty to federal charges related to tax evasion and lying on an application for buying a gun. She responded, “We’ve been asked that question multiple times. Our answer stands, which is no.”
Now, you can tell me that Joe Biden respects the law and lots of such shit. But Hunter Biden was the subject of a slavering witch hunt by Republicans who were out to destroy his life for simply being Joe Biden’s son. The fact that we know anything about him at all is a testament to how clean Joe Biden’s record is: they had nothing on the father, so they went after the son so they could make the father guilty by association. In other words, the motherfuckers wanted blood, and they weren’t going to stop until they got it.
The Onion buys InfoWars in bankruptcy auction
The satirical website The Onion purchased InfoWars on Thursday, a capstone on years of litigation and bankruptcy proceedings following InfoWars founder Alex Jones’ defamation of families associated with the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.
Those families backed The Onion’s bid to purchase InfoWars’ intellectual property, including its website, customer lists and inventory, certain social media accounts and the production equipment used to put Jones on the air. The Connecticut families agreed to forgo a portion of their recovery to increase the overall value of The Onion’s bid, enabling its success.
Elon Musk’s new ‘department’ seeks ‘super high-IQ’ staff for unpaid jobs
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s new commission to slash government spending began soliciting applications for staff jobs Thursday, saying it wants to hire “revolutionaries” who score highly on IQ tests.
“We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting,” the so-called Department of Government Efficiency said on X.
“If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants,” the post said.
Senators want details of Matt Gaetz ethics probe before his confirmation vote for attorney general
Republican senators are preparing for a robust vetting of Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department, with a keen interest in details from a House Ethics Committee investigation into the former congressman from Florida.
The ethics panel has been investigating Gaetz off and on since 2021, most recently focusing on alleged sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, accepting improper gifts, obstruction and other allegations. But the results of that probe may not become public because Gaetz resigned from the House at noon on Thursday. The Ethics Committee has jurisdiction only over sitting House members.
Trump picks RFK Jr., anti-vaccine activist, for health and human services secretary
President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday picked Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist who dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Trump, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
Trump made the announcement on his social media platform, Truth Social.
“I am thrilled to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS),” he wrote. “For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health.”
Malcolm Nance: My Family Died For The Republic We Have Just Lost
William Henry Nance, was an African-American man aged 37. He was sweating profusely in a US Army Hospital bed in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. At that time, the fort was one of the last major government outposts protecting what would be known as Indian country. Wagon trains and lone riders were heading west to populate land allotments given to them by the US government. Of course the land was taken from the Native Americans, but they were not considered people. The US Army provided protection to these settlers.
Read the rest of Malcolm Nance’s piece at and subscribe to his Substack
Trump thanks Biden for ‘smooth transition’ in White House meeting
President-elect Donald Trump returned to Washington on Wednesday — entering the White House for the first time since he was voted out of office — to meet with President Joe Biden for a ceremony meant to signal the peaceful transfer of power.
The two men appeared briefly for photos, with Biden speaking first and calling for a smooth transition.
Trump responded that politics “is tough” but thanked the president for a smooth transition. “You’re welcome,” Biden responded. They did not respond to shouted questions from reporters.
Republicans win the House, NBC News projects, as Trump’s party takes full control of Washington
Republicans will maintain control of the House of Representatives by the thinnest of margins, NBC News projected Wednesday, handing President-elect Donald Trump and his party all the levers of power in Washington.
A Republican-controlled Congress will allow Trump to quickly fill out his Cabinet and other top administration roles and advance his agenda for at least the next two years, though Democrats will have some sway with small majorities in the House and Senate.
House Republicans’ razor-thin victory was propelled by Trump’s decisive win over Vice President Kamala Harris in both the Electoral College and the popular vote. It represents a stinging blow to Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the Democrats, who now will have virtually no check on Trump, a man they warned on the campaign trail is a threat to democracy, an extremist and a fascist.
Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s pick for top intel job, has been accused of ‘traitorous’ parroting of Russian propaganda
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, former Democratic lawmaker Tulsi Gabbard, has been accused of amplifying Russian propaganda and would come to the job having never worked in the intelligence world or served on a congressional intelligence committee.
Gabbard, who served in the Hawaii Army National Guard and was deployed to Iraq with a medical unit, has long criticized U.S. foreign policy as imperial and heavy-handed. She also has sharply criticized Trump in the past over his approach to the Middle East during his first presidential term, portraying him as dangerous.
Trump announces Matt Gaetz as his pick for attorney general
President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday that he will nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., to be the 87th attorney general of the United States in a move that could fill the nation’s top law enforcement position with an ardent supporter who was once criminally investigated by the department he would oversee.
No charges were filed in the case, which was investigated by the FBI and centered on allegations of sex trafficking. It ended last year. Afterward, Gaetz called for abolishing the bureau.
“I don’t care if it takes every second of our time and every ounce of our energy, we either get this government back on our side or we defund, get rid of, abolish the FBI,” Gaetz said at last year’s Conservative Political Action Conference.
Mike Johnson Pleased To Report Election Not Tainted By Fraud This Time
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Tuesday that the widespread voter fraud he’d warned about all year turned out not to be a problem in last week’s elections that Republicans happened to win.
“I’m happy to report to you that because of all the emphasis we placed on that, and because of all the attention the American people put on it, that I think we were able to limit, to a high degree, the amount of fraud and irregularity and many of the things that concerned all Americans after 2020,” Johnson said in response to a question from HuffPost.
Trump says he will nominate Kristi Noem for homeland security secretary
President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem to be the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, four sources familiar with the decision confirmed Tuesday morning.
“Kristi has been very strong on Border Security,” Trump said in a statement announcing he will make the nomination. “I have known Kristi for years, and have worked with her on a wide variety of projects — She will be a great part of our mission to Make America Safe Again.”
As homeland security secretary, Noem would oversee a number of key federal agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Secret Service, the Transportation Security Administration and the Coast Guard.
Trump picks Fox News host and Army National Guard veteran Pete Hegseth for defense secretary
President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday named Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host and military veteran, as his pick for defense secretary.
In a statement, Trump described Hegseth as “tough, smart and a true believer in America First.”
“With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice — Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down,” Trump said.
Trump says Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will head a new ‘Department of Government Efficiency’
President-elect Donald Trump named tech billionaire Elon Musk and conservative activist Vivek Ramaswamy on Tuesday to head up a new Department of Government Efficiency, fulfilling a campaign pledge to give Musk sweeping oversight of government spending.
Trump said in a statement on to social media that the department will help “dismantle Government Bureaucracy” and slash excess regulations. The name of the agency, DOGE for short, is a reference to a meme and a cryptocurrency associated with Musk.
“This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!” Musk said in the statement released by the transition team.
Trump Transition Co-Chair Floats Plan To ‘Yank’ Vaccines ‘Off The Market’
The co-chair of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s transition team promoted the debunked theory that vaccines cause autism in a CNN interview Wednesday. He also said Trump ally Robert F. Kennedy Jr., hopes to get “data” through a Trump administration to have vaccines pulled “off the market.”
Howard Lutnick, the billionaire CEO of investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and a longtime friend of Trump’s, told the network’s Kaitlan Collins that vaccines are “not proven” to be safe. Lutnick said he’d recently been schooled on vaccines by Kennedy, the failed independent presidential candidate and anti-vaxxer who has endorsed Trump.
Harris rebukes Trump for saying he will protect women whether they ‘like it or not’
Vice President Kamala Harris chastised Donald Trump on Thursday after the former president said he would protect women whether they “like it or not,” calling the comments “very offensive” and reflective of an individual who doesn’t understand women.
Harris told reporters that the remarks revealed how Trump sees women and showed a disregard for their autonomy. Her criticism added to a backlash from critics who have seized on the comment, characterizing it as a demonstration of Trump’s long history of misogynistic statements and a reminder of the civil court case that found him liable for sexual abuse.
Polls show Harris with big early-vote lead — despite GOP gains
But there are plenty of reasons not to overinterpret the data Musk and his allies are citing, as The Post’s Philip Bump and Lenny Bronner wrote Wednesday. Those include that 2020 was an unusual election held during a historic pandemic, that many early votes are “cannibalized” from voters who otherwise would have turned out on Election Day anyway, and — perhaps most notably — that we don’t actually know who these people are voting for.
Trump and Vance Escalate Efforts to Sow Doubts on Pennsylvania Voting
Former President Donald J. Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, escalated their false attacks about the security of the Pennsylvania elections on Thursday, ramping up baseless accusations about voter fraud that could erode confidence of the results in one of the most critical battleground states.
On Thursday Mr. Trump posted on his social media site that Pennsylvania was “cheating” and breaking the law. He called for prosecutions, though he made no specific allegations. Earlier in the day, Mr. Vance seized on deceptive posts online claiming that Democratic Party volunteers were impersonating election officials at polling sites.
Trump Nearly Face-Plants On A Garbage Truck During A Trashy Photo-Op
Donald Trump’s photo-op with a garbage truck on Wednesday almost got off to a disastrous start as the former president appeared to miss the door handle and almost slipped on the wet ground.
Trump also briefly grabbed his right thigh, then ultimately made it into the truck with some visible effort.
Trump later in the evening said that the truck was too big.
“I said how the hell do you get into this truck? It’s way up high,” he said at a rally in Wisconsin. “I said they didn’t have to buy it that big, right? You have to get it that big?”
More than 55 million people have voted early in run-up to Election Day
More than 55 million people have cast their ballots either in person or by mail during early voting, according to recent figures, weighing in on the presidential contest and down-ballot races ahead of Election Day on Nov. 5.
Data compiled by the University of Florida Election Lab shows that more than 29 million early votes have been cast at polling places in-person, and another 25.9 million mail ballots have been returned. There were more than 65.6 million mail ballots requested.
A higher number of registered Democrats, just under 11 million, have already voted, compared to nearly 10 million registered Republicans, according to data from 25 states that report party registration. Of those who have submitted ballots in-person during early voting, 3.8 million are registered Republicans and 3.1 million are registered Democrats
Los Angeles Dodgers defeat New York Yankees in five games to win World Series
The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees 7-6 in Game 5 on Wednesday to win the World Series four games to one.
The Dodgers were trailing 5-0 before they scored five runs in the fifth inning — all of which came in the wake of three fielding miscues by the Yankees. New York retook the lead in the sixth inning, but two sacrifice flies by Los Angeles in the top of the eighth put the visitors ahead for good.
“We just took advantage of every mistake that they made that inning,” Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández said of the fifth. “We put some good at-bats together. We put the ball in play. A lot of people say ‘when you put the ball in play, things might happen.’ It happened to us in that inning, and we scored five runs.”
Supreme Court allows Virginia to purge voter rolls ahead of the election
The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed Republican officials in Virginia to revive a plan aimed at removing noncitizen voters from the rolls ahead of next week’s election.
The justices blocked a federal judge’s ruling that put the program on hold and required the state to restore 1,600 voters to the rolls.
The brief order noted that the three liberal justices on the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, all dissented.
Malcolm Nance: Kneel. Pray. Win. We Have Orders from General George Washington.
The morning before I left on a weeklong bus tour of the southern states for National Security Leaders for America (NSL4A), I visited my late wife at Washington Crossing National Cemetery. Even though I go quite regularly, there was something special about this trip. I would share a bus from Florida, Georgia, to North Carolina with admirals, generals, and ambassadors. NSL4A had been a non-partisan advocacy group of high-ranking government policymakers from the defense, intelligence, and State Department. But this year was different.
Read the rest of Malcolm Nance’s piece at and subscribe to his Substack
Nikki Haley pans Trump world for ‘bromance and masculinity stuff’
Former presidential candidate and onetime U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley criticized Trump world on Tuesday for being “overly masculine with this bromance thing” after former President Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
The event in New York City drew a massive crowd and featured speakers who were divisive, dark and, at times, offensive.
On Fox News on Tuesday, Haley addressed a comedian’s racist jokes about Puerto Rico and Latinos, a moment that has roiled the Trump campaign and was condemned by multiple Republicans, including members of Congress.
Steve Bannon released from prison after serving contempt of Congress sentence
The last time Steve Bannon was a free man, Joe Biden was the presumptive Democratic nominee for president.
Early Tuesday, Bannon, the right-wing podcast host and former Donald Trump campaign official, was released from federal Bureau of Prisons custody, with exactly one week to go until voters choose between his former boss and Vice President Kamala Harris on Election Day.
Randilee Giamusso, a Bureau of Prisons spokesperson, confirmed that Bannon was released. He returned to hosting his “War Room” podcast later Tuesday morning.
Trump rallies in majority-Latino Pennsylvania city after supporters’ crude and racist remarks
Former President Donald Trump worked Tuesday to tamp down anger over a comedian’s insulting jokes about Latinos and Puerto Rico at his rally at Madison Square Garden, campaigning in a majority-Latino city as the uproar threatens to erode gains he has made with Latino voters.
Trump made no mention of the comedian’s remarks in New York City in his 75-minute address, citing polls that show him performing well among Latino voters and voicing solidarity with Puerto Rico.
Kamala Harris pairs anti-Trump attack with economic pitch at packed DC rally
Kamala Harris called on Americans to “turn the page” on the Donald Trump era at a rally Tuesday, rallying thousands of voters at the site where the former president addressed the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6.
On a chilly fall evening one week before Election Day, the Democratic nominee criticized her Republican rival as “unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievance and out for unchecked power.” She vowed to govern as a pragmatist by listening to everyone, including “people who disagree with me.”
Ballot drop box fires in Oregon and Washington are likely connected, officials say
Ballot drop boxes in Portland, Oregon, and neighboring Vancouver, Washington, were set on fire Monday morning in what authorities believe are connected incidents about a week out from Election Day.
An identical Volvo was spotted at both scenes, and the use of an “incendiary device” in Portland was “similar in nature” to what occurred in Vancouver, the cities’ police departments said. Portland police described the act as targeted and intentional.
Three ballots were damaged in Portland, while potentially “hundreds” were affected in Vancouver, local officials said.
CNN bans conservative guest for telling Muslim journalist ‘I hope your beeper doesn’t go off’
CNN has banned a conservative commentator from appearing on the network again after he told a Muslim journalist “I hope your beeper doesn’t go off,” an apparent reference to the spate of exploding pagers in Lebanon that killed members of the Hezbollah militant group last month.
Ryan Girdusky made the comment during a heated debate with Mehdi Hasan, a prominent British-American broadcaster and an outspoken critic of Israel’s war in Gaza, on “CNN Newsnight” with host Abby Phillip.
The guests were discussing the racist jokes made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, which overshadowed former President Donald Trump’s rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Sunday and continue to make headlines two days later.
Kamala Harris to hold campaign rally in Washington DC tonight
Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to deliver a speech in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, one week before Election Day.
Harris’ rally comes as the election hangs on a knife’s edge, with polls in various swing states showing a statistical tie between the Democrat and Republican former President Donald Trump.
Trump on Tuesday morning is scheduled to hold a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida. On Sunday, Trump held a rally at Madison Square Gardenin New York City.
Vance says ‘we have to stop getting so offended’ when asked about racist jokes at Trump rally
Sen. JD Vance said Monday that while he hadn’t heard the racist jokes made by a comedian at his running mate’s New York City rally the previous night, he thinks Americans need to “stop getting so offended.”
“I’m just — I’m so over it,” Vance said after an NBC News reporter asked about the inflammatory remarks about Latinos and others by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, the first speaker at former President Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
“I’ve heard about the joke, I haven’t actually seen the joke that you mentioned, but I think that it’s telling that Kamala Harris’ closing message is essentially that all of Donald Trump’s voters are Nazis, and you should get really pissed off about a comedian telling a joke,” Vance said.
Charlie Pierce: Trump’s Madison Square Garden Rally Was a Pageant of Lowbrow Fascism, and It Wasn’t Even Funny
And at the end of the day, all that was proven was that these people can’t even be fascists with any kind of dignity. In February 1939, with World War II having already begun at the Marco Polo Bridge two years earlier (although nobody knew it at the time) and seven months before the Wehrmacht rolled into Poland, there was a famous rally in the old Madison Square Garden held in concert with the German-American Bund and the isolationist America First crowd. The latter was insignificant. It was a Nazi rally.
The Rude Pundit: We Need to Be Done With Donald Trump
One of the most stunning things about the last near-decade now is how much the country has been contorted by one man. We’re in this fucked beyond fucked moment, teetering on the brink of totally and irrevocably fucked, because of Donald Trump. Yes, it’s also everyone who voted for him, everyone who elevated him, everyone who kowtowed to him, and everyone who wipes his ass so that he keeps going. But, in the end, it comes down to one goddamned man. It’s perfect example of what happens when your nice little democracy relies too much on basic human decency and when the decent ignore or elide the acts of the indecent.
Far-Right Figures Escalate Talk of Retribution and Election Subversion
In the weeks after the 2020 election, retired Gen. Michael T. Flynn, Donald J. Trump’s former national security adviser, was a key figure in efforts to subvert the election outcome. In recent interviews and speeches, he and an associate are warning that this year’s election will be stolen from Mr. Trump, advising supporters to take action to prevent a theft and vowing retribution once Mr. Trump is back in power.
At the Rod of Iron Freedom Festival, a far-right event in Pennsylvania this month, Mr. Flynn told the crowd that after a Trump victory: “Katie, bar the door. Believe me, the gates of hell — my hell — will be unleashed.”
In the heart of Philadelphia, Harris argues Trump is about ‘retribution and revenge’
Vice President Kamala Harris, campaigning in Philadelphia on Sunday, described a stark choice voters face in the presidential election, inviting them to visualize either her in the Oval Office or her opponent, Donald Trump, “stewing over his enemies list.”
Speaking to reporters after an appearance at a Black church in West Philadelphia, Harris reiterated an argument she has been making of late that the election comes down to a binary choice between two candidates with vastly different conceptions of presidential power and responsibilities.
“Just imagine the Oval Office on Jan. 20,” she said, invoking the date that the next president will be inaugurated. “It’s going to be one of two people. It’s going to be Donald Trump or me.”
Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally overshadowed by his allies’ crude and racist remarks
Former President Donald Trump delivered his standard lines on topics from immigration to the economy Sunday at a packed rally at Madison Square Garden, an event that was designed to be the start of his closing argument nine days out from Election Day at a venue off the battleground map that he has wanted to campaign at for years.
But Trump’s remarks in his hometown, New York City, which went for more than an hour, were overshadowed by comments made by warm-up speakers in the roughly five hours before his prime-time address. They included a comedian’s racist jokes about Latinos and Black Americans and were condemned by multiple Republican members of Congress, as well as speakers who used increasingly inflammatory language to describe Vice President Kamala Harris.
Harris regains slight lead nationally yet Electoral College holds the cards: POLL
Vice President Kamala Harris has regained a slight lead among likely voters nationally in the latest ABC News/Ipsos poll, albeit with the race close enough to leave the outcome of the 2024 presidential election to the uncertainties of the Electoral College.
Turnout is key. Just 2 percentage points divide Harris and Donald Trump among all registered voters, 49-47%. This goes to a slight Harris advantage among likely voters, 51-47%, with some pro-Harris groups showing a bit more propensity to vote.
Compared with earlier this month, Harris has regained a more customary Democratic advantage among Hispanic people and widened her advantage among suburban women, while remaining strong in core groups including Black people. Trump pushes back in rural areas and among non-college white men, and runs competitively among younger men.
Elon Musk ‘Has Been in Regular Contact’ with Putin Since 2022, WSJ Reports
Billionaire tech CEO Elon Musk has had “regular contact” with Russian President Vladimir Putin since 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday night.
According to the newspaper, Musk has regularly communicated with Putin, who asked him not to activate his Starlink internet in Taiwan as a “favor” to Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Journal reported:
“Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a linchpin of U.S. space efforts, has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since late 2022. The discussions, confirmed by several current and former U.S., European and Russian officials, touch on personal topics, business and geopolitical tensions.”
‘Y.M.C.A.’ vs. The Boss: Kamala Harris Answers Trump With A Rocking Rally Of Her Own
A DJ spun banger after banger. President Barack Obama warmed up the crowd. Rock legend Bruce Springsteen sang and played guitar. And Kamala Harris played lead vocals at a packed college football field in the Atlanta suburbs on Thursday, firing up thousands of people into a joyous frenzy just days before the November presidential election in one of the country’s most crucial swing states.
Harris supporters sang, danced and swag surfed along to soul and hip-hop jams at her first rally featuring a musical performance, a day before none other than superstar Beyoncé is set to headline another event for the vice president in Texas. Top celebrities, including Samuel L. Jackson, Spike Lee and Tyler Perry, also spoke on her behalf as the smell of barbecue and Mexican burritos wafted out from half a dozen food trucks parked on the football field.
Trump denies ever saying he wanted generals like Hitler’s or that the Nazi leader ‘did some good things’
Former President Donald Trump on Thursday denied ever having said positive things about Hitler during his time in office, including that he needed “the kind of generals that Hitler had.”
“I never said that,” Trump said in response to a reporter’s question about an article this week in The Atlantic.
“I would never say that,” he added, directly denying the magazine’s reporting.
Trump went on to criticize the article’s author and the publication, calling it “a failing magazine.”
Trump says the U.S. is ‘like a garbage can for the world’ as he dials up immigration rhetoric
Former President Donald Trump said Thursday the U.S. is “like a garbage can” for the rest of the world because of its border policies during an immigration-focused rally in Tempe, Arizona, less than two weeks out from Election Day.
“They unleashed an army of migrant gangs waging a campaign of violence,” said Trump, who regularly uses dehumanizing language when he talks about undocumented immigrants. “We’re a dumping ground. We’re like a garbage can for the world.”
Immigration has been a major focus for Trump throughout the campaign, when he has highlighted stories about undocumented immigrants’ committing crimes and blamed them for a surge in violence.
Man arrested in Arizona DNC office shootings: Police
A suspect has been arrested in connection to three separate shooting attacks on a Democratic National Committee office in Arizona, according to the Tempe Police Department.
Jeffrey Michael Kelly, 60, faces multiple charges that include unlawful discharge, shooting at a non-residential structure, terrorism and criminal damage.
Kelly is also accused of “hanging suspicious bags of white powder from several political signs lined with razor blades” in Ahwatukee, police said.
Former Model Says Trump Groped Her During Encounter Facilitated By Epstein: Report
Less than two weeks before the presidential election, a former model has gone public with accusations that Donald Trump groped her in a 1993 encounter facilitated by the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Stacey Williams, now 56, shared the incident with the Guardian on Wednesday, saying she felt Trump’s actions were part of a “twisted game” he and Epstein were playing with her.
According to her recollection to the Guardian, Epstein introduced Williams to Trump at a 1992 Christmas party, and it was clear to her that the two men “were really, really good friends and spent a lot of time together.” She said she and Epstein began dating shortly after the party.
Justice Department warns Musk’s PAC that $1M voter giveaway could be illegal
The Justice Department has sent a letter to tech billionaire Elon Musk’s super PAC, America PAC, warning that its $1 million daily giveaway in battleground states may run afoul of federal law, a source familiar with the matter said.
The letter, which was reported earlier by CNN, came from the department’s Public Integrity Section, the source said. That section handles election-related prosecutions and related cases.
The Justice Department declined to comment, and the super PAC’s treasurer did not immediately reply to a voicemail message requesting comment.
Kamala Harris calls Trump a ‘fascist’ as she argues he’s ‘dangerous’ and unfit for office
Vice President Kamala Harris called former President Donald Trump a “fascist” at a CNN town hall Wednesday in Pennsylvania — echoing his onetime chief of staff’s criticism as she makes a more vocal pitch to voters that he is unfit for office.
John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general who was Trump’s longest-serving White House chief of staff, came forward this weekto warn that his former boss meets “the general definition of a fascist.” And he said that in private conversations, Trump admired dictators and said he wished he had military generals as loyal as Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s.
Harris said Kelly’s comments, coming just two weeks before the election, are “a 911 call to the American people.”
Bob Cesca: Yes, Joe Biden Really Did Prevent World War III
Caught in the constant undertow of the Donald Trump tsunami, it’s easy to lose touch with qualities we ought to prioritize in our political leadership. It’s understandable given decades of misguided hack punditry and horserace election coverage that too often misleads us into believing that whoever had the most recent zinger…
Read the rest of Bob Cesca’s piece at and subscribe to The Banter…
Kamala Harris Says She’s Ready If Trump Goes Back To 2020 Ploys
Vice President Kamala Harris said her team is prepared to counter former President Donald Trump if he prematurely declares victory in the 2024 election.
Harris spoke with NBC News’ Hallie Jackson on Tuesday, with just two weeks to go until voters head to the polls. Harris has been on a nonstop tour of swing states across the nation and has used her appearances to cast the race as a choice between stability and chaos.
Jackson asked what her team planned to do if Trump once again declared victory — as he did in 2020 — before all votes had been counted.
Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries arrested on sex trafficking charges
Mike Jeffries, the former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, has been arrested on sex trafficking and interstate prostitution charges, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Jeffries was arrested in West Palm Beach, Florida. Two associates, Matthew Smith of West Palm Beach and James Jacobson of Wisconsin, were also arrested in connection with sex trafficking charges.
Jeffries and Smith made their initial court appearance in West Palm Beach on Tuesday afternoon.
Biden says ‘Lock him up — politically lock him up’ in remarks about Trump
President Joe Biden on Tuesday echoed language former President Donald Trump has used in the past, saying of the former president that “we gotta lock him up.”
Speaking at a campaign event in New Hampshire, Biden said Trump’s policies are so “bizarre” and dangerous that if he’d warned about them five years ago “you’d lock me up.”
“We gotta lock him up,” Biden said to applause from the small crowd before he appeared to catch himself and added, “politically lock him up.”
Former White House chief of staff John Kelly says Trump meets the definition of a ‘fascist’
John Kelly, who was White House chief of staff during the Trump administration, said in a series of recent interviews that former President Donald Trump meets the definition of a fascist.
The remark, published Tuesday, was made in one of Kelly’s interviews with The New York Times. Audio of his comments was made available online.
“Certainly the former president is in the far-right area, he’s certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators — he has said that. So he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure,” Kelly said.
Kamala Harris’ Record Campaign Money Haul Laps Donald Trump In Final Weeks
Vice President Kamala Harris has lapped former President Donald Trump in fundraising after pulling in a record $1.6 billion across various campaign committees compared to $700 million for Trump.
In total, Harris has raised $928 million for her official campaign, $364 million for the Democratic National Committee and another $307 million for a joint fundraising committee after accounting for transfers made to her official campaign and other party committees, according to FEC filings running through Sept. 30. That total, which includes funds raised when President Joe Biden was the party’s candidate, is a record sum for a presidential candidate.
Fox News Decision Desk Chief Predicts When We’ll Know The 2024 Election Winner
Arnon Mishkin, who runs the Fox News Decision Desk, said he thinks the winner of the 2024 presidential election won’t be known for at least several days after the final ballots are cast on Nov. 5.
“It is dependent on a number of states, like Pennsylvania, that we believe are going to be reporting in a pattern similar to the way they have reported in the past,” Mishkin told Politico in an interview published Monday.
The “over/under is Saturday,” he explained.
Tim Walz says Trump is ‘spiraling down,’ pitches Harris’ message of change
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, appearing on ABC’s “The View” on Monday, gave a more definitive answer to a question his running mate Vice President Kamala Harris did not have an answer to at first: What policy would he have handled differently from President Joe Biden over the past four years.
Maybe better prepared as a result, Walz said he wished one of their ticket’s proposals — an expansion of Medicare — “would have been proposed sooner,” and later said Harris was “really leaning into these issues” on matters such as the care economy and child care affordability — a departure from the current administration, which he said are “tackling the issues that they need to.”
Harris holding moderated conversations with Liz Cheney in 3 battleground states
Vice President Kamala Harris is doing a series of moderated conversations with former Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney in suburban cities in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin on Monday — the day before in-person voting begins in Wisconsin.
With roughly two weeks until Election Day, the effort is part of the Harris campaign’s effort to reach swing voters in the crucial battleground states. Harris is speaking with Cheney in the suburban areas of Chester County, Pennsylvania; Oakland County, Michigan; and Waukesha County, Wisconsin.
The conversations were to be moderated by Bulwark publisher and longtime Republican strategist Sarah Longwell and conservative radio host and writer Charlie Sykes.
Charlie Pierce: Trump Looked Like an Adorable Lil’ Cutie Pie at His McDonald’s Campaign Visit
Golf is a game of long shafts and balls, and what say we leave it there, okay?
Also, El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago looks adorable in a full-body apron.
Semi-seriously, I’m not sure why everybody is making a big deal about this McDonald’s stunt. It was fake? Color me not astonished. It’s an example of what a veteran pol once told me about campaigning: Sooner or later, no matter how smart you are, or how brilliant your strategy is, you have to pet the pig. This was petting the pig, not dissimilar to flipping pancakes in New Hampshire or wolfing down corn dogs at the Iowa State Fair. (In 2000, Republican candidate Gary Bauer nearly killed himself flipping flapjacks in New Hampshire.) And then there was Speaker Moses, appearing with Jake Tapper on CNN, finding himself driven to distraction by the topic at hand. Well, it wasn’t exactly a drive. More like a short putt.
U.S. investigating apparent leak of ‘top secret’ U.S. documents about Israel
U.S. officials are investigating the apparent leak of two top-secret U.S. documents that show American spy agencies tracking possible Israeli preparations for conducting an attack on Iran, three U.S. officials said.
The region has been on edge awaiting Israel’s response to an Iranian missile barrage launched on Oct. 1, which Iran said was in response to Israel’s invasion of Lebanon and the assassination of its allies, including Hamas’ Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah’s powerful leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in Beirut.
Trump attempts to troll Harris by serving french fries at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s
Former President Donald Trump served up french fries Sunday at a Philadelphia-area McDonald’s, oversalting spuds and peppering in some jabs at Vice President Kamala Harris.
The franchise in Feasterville was closed for normal business during Sunday’s photo op. The customers who went through the drive thru were pre-selected by the franchise and the local Trump campaign team, according to a person familiar with the event. The cars were also screened and searched, and the people in them were wanded down, according to the source.
Harris Rallies Georgia’s Black Churchgoers With Help Of Stevie Wonder
Kamala Harris on Sunday summoned Black churchgoers to turn out at the polls and got a big assist from music legend Stevie Wonder, who rallied congregants with a rendition of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.”
Harris visited two Atlanta area churches as part of a nationwide push known as “souls to the polls.”
It’s a mobilization effort led by the National Advisory Board of Black Faith Leaders, which is sending representatives across battleground states to encourage early voting.
Trump makes vulgar comments about Arnold Palmer at Pennsylvania rally
Former President Donald Trump delivered unusual and vulgar remarks Saturday about the late golf legend Arnold Palmer while campaigning in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, as the campaign enters the final stretch to Election Day.
The former president spoke for more than 10 minutes about Palmer, who was born in Latrobe, at a rally at the local airport named in Palmer’s honor.
“He was an incredible man, he was an incredible champion, and he came from Latrobe,” Trump said.
Then his comments appeared to go off script.
The Rude Pundit: It Really Matters That We Don’t Know a Great Deal About Donald Trump
The louche punditocracy of the corporate media made a huge deal about “what we know” when President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and was replaced with Vice President Kamala Harris. Story after story was all about how voters didn’t “know” Harris and how that would impact her election chances. And it never really stopped. Hell, at the beginning of this month, Fox “news” was still blaring, “Some Biden 2020 voters say they don’t know enough about Kamala Harris,” with an article that included such insightful words from supposedly undecided voters like “She has been the vice president for the past four years and not really implemented anything,” which means they’ve probably only been watching Fox “news.”
But there’s a fuck of a lot we don’t know about Donald Trump and it’s some pretty basic, life-or-death shit. I mean, think about what we do know. It’s a fact that he’s a rapist. It’s a fact that he’s a 34 times convicted felon. It’s a fact that he stole money from a charity. It’s a fact that he defrauded people with Trump University. It’s a fact that he is currently out of jail on bail. All these are Things We Know.
Battle of the billionaires: Harris deploys Mark Cuban as Elon Musk stumps for Trump
As Elon Musk steps up his work on behalf of former President Donald Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris is calling in her own billionaire, Mark Cuban, to reprise the role he played for Hillary Clinton in 2016 by holding a series of high-profile appearances alongside her and her husband this week.
Cuban appeared with Harris in Wisconsin on Thursday and is set to hold a town hall for her Saturday in Phoenix before he heads to Michigan on Sunday to campaign alongside second gentleman Doug Emhoff.
“This election is a battle for entrepreneurs,” Cuban said in La Crosse, Wisconsin, on Thursday, before he warned that Trump’s trade and tariff policies would drive up prices, ruin Christmas by making gifts more expensive and “crush the dreams” of entrepreneurs by making their costs unsustainable.
Jan. 6 rioter who attacked multiple officers sentenced to 17 months in prison
A Texas woman who pleaded guilty to assaulting police during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was sentenced to 17 months in prison on Thursday.
Dana Jean Bell’s sentencing is just one among scores of other defendants set to face accountability for their roles in the attack on the U.S. Capitol in the coming weeks, even as former President Donald Trump attempts to rewrite the history of that day in his bid for reelection – including describing it as a “day of love” during a town hall Wednesday.
Thursday’s sentencing hearing, however, painted a much different picture of the day’s events.
Harris jabs at Trump with help from Molly Shannon in Al Smith dinner video
Vice President Harris on Thursday swiped at former President Trump with jokes about his election denialism and his criticism of Detroit during a pre-recorded video address to the Al Smith charity dinner in New York City.
Harris did not attend the dinner in person as she campaigned in Wisconsin. Instead, she addressed the event via a video that featured comedian Molly Shannon portraying her “Saturday Night Live” character Mary Katherine Gallagher, who is a Catholic school girl.
“So tell me something, I’m giving a speech. Do you have some thoughts about what I might say tonight?” Harris asks Shannon in the video.
Biden, Harris say Yahya Sinwar’s death offers chance to end Israel-Hamas war in Gaza
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris described Thursday as a good day for the world after the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
Sinwar, considered the mastermind behind the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel that prompted war in Gaza and wider regional conflict, was killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Thursday.
Biden, in a lengthy written statement, said he had directed U.S. intelligence officials to help Israel locate and track Sinwar as well as other Hamas leaders hiding underground.
‘Visibly Showing Disgust’: Trump Town Hall Audience Wasn’t Buying His ‘Stream Of Lies’
Donald Trump faced a rare non-MAGA audience on Wednesday during a Univision town hall event featuring undecided Latino voters.
And it didn’t go well for the ex-president.
One former Republican offered Trump the “opportunity” to win back his vote ― then confronted Trump directly over his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection, his botched response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and how many members of his own administration have since turned against him.
Liam Payne, member of One Direction, dies after falling at hotel in Argentina, officials say
Liam Payne, a member of the British pop band One Direction, died Wednesday at age 31 after he fell from the third floor of a hotel in Argentina, local authorities said.
Sistema de Atencion Medica de Emergencia, the emergency health service, said in a statement to Telemundo, NBC News’ Spanish-language sister network, that Payne fell from the balcony in Palermo.
Police “were directed to the hotel by a 911 call reporting an aggressive man,” said the emergency services agency. It did not say whether drugs or alcohol were involved, just that the 911 call reported that could be the case.
The agency confirmed Payne’s death, it said.
Harris slams Trump for claiming to be ‘the father of IVF’
Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday slammed former President Donald Trump’s recent comments about in vitro fertilization, pointing to his administration’s impact on abortion restrictions across the country.
Harris told reporters that she “found it to be quite bizarre” when Trump said at an all-women Fox News town hall that aired Wednesday morning, “I’m the father of IVF.”
“He should take responsibility for the fact that 1 in 3 women in America lives in a Trump’s abortion ban state,” Harris said as she departed Detroit. “What he should take responsibility for is that couples who are praying and hoping and working towards growing a family have been so disappointed and harmed by the fact that IVF treatments have now been put at risk.”
Harris spars with Fox News host and says she wouldn’t be a ‘continuation’ of Biden
In a combative interview with Fox News, Kamala Harris said in the most emphatic terms to date that, if she wins the election, she would pursue an independent presidency that wouldn’t be a repeat of President Joe Biden’s nearly four years in office.
“My presidency would not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency,” Harris told interviewer Bret Baier, an anchor with Fox News. “And like every new president that comes to office, I will bring my life experiences and professional experiences” to the job. “I represent a new generation of leadership.”
Harris faced criticism over her recent interview on ABC’s “The View,” in which she couldn’t identify any policy differences she has had with Biden since she has been his vice president.
Ted Cruz Dodges Abortion Question In Senate Campaign Debate With Colin Allred
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) repeatedly avoided giving a direct answer to questions about his position on abortion rights during a debate with Rep. Colin Allred, the Democrat hoping to spoil his bid for a third term.
Debate moderator Gromer Jeffers asked Cruz whether he would support exceptions to abortion bans for cases for rape and incest.
“Well, listen, abortion is an issue that many Texans, many Americans, care deeply about, and it’s an issue that people of good faith can disagree,” Cruz said, adding that it’s appropriate for states to set their own laws.
Kamala Harris is set for her first Fox News interview today. What to know.
Following a cautious rollout after moving to the top of Democratic ticket, Harris has in recent days embraced a spate of unscripted interviews in a bid to engage a broader audience. She has appeared on CBS News’s “60 Minutes,” the popular “Call Her Daddy” podcast, SiriusXM’s “The Howard Stern Show” and on Tuesday participated in a live interview with Charlamagne tha God, a well-known radio personality.
Trump’s erratic endgame: Dark threats, personal insults and some dancing
With three weeks left until Election Day, Trump is running an unorthodox, freewheeling campaign, directing threats and insults at a wide mix of people and institutions, pushing his travels deeper into Democratic states where nonpartisan analysts do not regard him as competitive, and wielding darkening rhetoric about undocumented immigrants and personal attacks against Harris at campaign events where he often veers off-script and has mixed up words.
Kamala Harris urges Black Americans not to be fooled into sitting out the race
“The solutions that we all want are not going to happen in totality because of one election,” Harris said during a conversation with radio host Charlamagne tha God that was broadcast live across 140 radio stations. She acknowledged the sentiment of some Black men that Democrats have not always delivered on their promises, but urged them to fight through their disillusionment and vote in November rather than letting Trump and his allies dissuade them from voting.
Armed Man Arrested After Reportedly Threatening FEMA Workers In North Carolina
A North Carolina man was arrested on Saturday and accused of threatening federal emergency responders who have been administering aid since Hurricane Helene ravaged parts of the state last month.
The man, William Jacob Parsons, 44, of Bostic, N.C., was charged under a law that makes it illegal to carry a weapon in a way that threatens the public. He was arrested at a supermarket where a Federal Emergency Management Agency bus was parked, according to Capt. Jamie Keever, a spokesman for the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office. Mr. Parsons had a handgun and a rifle in his possession.
No FEMA personnel were at the site, he said.
Harris calls Trump ‘increasingly unstable and unhinged’ during Pennsylvania rally
Vice President Kamala Harris deployed a new show-and-tell approach to lambasting former President Donald Trump at her Monday night rally, playing clips of him calling his opponents the “enemy within” and saying that it signaled that he was “increasingly unstable and unhinged.”
“After all these years, we know who Donald Trump is: He is someone who will stop at nothing to claim power for himself,” Harris said during her campaign stop in Erie, Pennsylvania.
“And you don’t have to take my word for it. I’ve said, for a while now, watch his rallies, listen to his words,” she added.
Kamala Harris Agrees To Fox News Interview
Vice President Kamala Harris has agreed to a sit-down interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, the network announced Monday.
The interview will be taped in Pennsylvania and is expected to consist of 25 to 30 minutes of questions. It’s scheduled to air on Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. EST, on Baier’s show, “Special Report with Bret Baier.”
Baier serves as the network’s chief political anchor.
Trump’s Bizarre Turn At Town Hall Has Critics Asking New Questions About His Health
Donald Trump’s critics say the former president’s strange town hall event on Monday is raising new questions about his health and mental stamina.
The Q&A event was paused when someone in the crowd fainted, then paused again when someone else fainted in the room, which Trump complained was too hot.
“Personally, I enjoy this. We lose weight, you know,” Trump joked. “No, you lose weight. We could do this ― lose 4 or 5 pounds.”
After the second person fainted, Trump decided to ditch the Q&A.
Charlie Pierce: Another Nutcase with a Gun Tried to Show Up to a Trump Rally, This Time in Coachella Valley
Apparently, another right-wing gun fondler showed up at the former president*’s Coachella fiasco this weekend. (Oh, to bask in the aroma of the breezes at a manure farm near the Salton Sea, especially when the temperature clears 100 degrees.) This guy never got within shouting distance of the president, who was yelling some out-and-out fascism over the fields of manure and the many acolytes gathered there. Then many of the acolytes in question were stranded at the manure farm after the event because the organizers apparently hadn’t paid for buses to take them back from the event to the parking lots.
Harris releases her medical report to give Trump’s health and advanced age new scrutiny
Vice President Kamala Harris released a report with details about her health and medical history on Saturday, as the Harris team tries to place former President Donald Trump‘s health and advanced age under new scrutiny.
Harris “remains in excellent health,” her physician, Dr. Joshua Simmons, said in a letter on Saturday. “She possesses the physical and mental resilience required to successfully execute the duties of the presidency, to include those as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief.”
Biden, surveying Milton’s aftermath, announces $600M for rebuilding in Florida and other states
President Joe Biden announced while surveying storm-damaged Florida on Sunday that over $600 million will flow to states affected by hurricanes Helene and Milton, which ravaged Georgia and North Carolina as well.
During remarks in St. Pete Beach, a barrier island city off of St. Petersburg, Biden said nearly $100 million of the money would go toward improvements to Florida’s power system. He noted it was his second time visiting the state in two weeks.
Trump wasn’t in danger from armed man at California rally, officials say
A Las Vegas man was charged with possession of a loaded firearm and a high-capacity magazine on Saturday after deputies assigned to a rally by former President Donald Trump in southern California’s Coachella Valley stopped him at a checkpoint.
Federal law enforcement said Trump was not in danger.
The suspect, 49-year-old Vem Miller of Las Vegas, was stopped by deputies at 4:59 p.m. in a black SUV at the intersection of Avenue 52 and Celebration Drive, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office.
The Rude Pundit: Unfucking What You Can… A Case for Voting for Harris Even If You’re Pissed About Israel
I’m going to try to be as clear as possible here in where I’m coming from.
I’m not going to make this about Israel’s war with Gaza and Lebanon except to say that I stand with the large number of Israelisand Palestinians and the Lebanese people who want a ceasefire and the hostages and prisoners brought home. Nor am I going to talk about the Biden/Harris administration’s continued policy of arming Israel. I’ve been pretty clear that I oppose the blank check on weapons the United States has given Israel and that conditions need not only to be met but enforced when it comes to massacring civilians. I want the mass killing of children to end. Dismiss me if you want because of that.
Trump says big companies have ‘raped our country’ in economic speech
Former President Donald Trump said in an economic address Thursday that the U.S. has allowed “big companies” to “come in and raid and rape our country.”
“‘Oh, he used the word ‘rape.’ That’s right. I used the word ‘rape,'” Trump said at the Detroit Economic Club after his remarks were met with what sounded like some gasps from the audience. “They raped our country,” he repeated.
Trump did not specify what companies he was referring to but indicated he was talking about businesses that export goods to the U.S. that were made overseas.
Biden calls on Congress to “move as rapidly as they can” on emergency funding after hurricanes
President Biden gave an update Thursday on the government’s aid efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, urging Americans affected by the hurricane to continue to exercise caution and follow the directions of local authorities as dangerous conditions persist.
“We’ve had search and rescue teams at the ready for any calls for help this morning,” he said from the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. “There are still very dangerous conditions in the state, and people should wait to be given the all clear by their leaders before they go out. We know from previous hurricanes that it’s often the case that more lives are lost in the days following the storm than actually during the storm itself.”
Obama rips Trump, chides Black men over ‘excuses’ for not voting for Harris
Former President Barack Obama sternly chided Black men over “excuses” to not vote for Vice President Kamala Harris during a stop at a campaign field office on Thursday in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood ahead of his rally, saying he finds them sitting out or voting for former President Donald Trump “not acceptable.”
The event kicked off a blitz through battleground states as Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign deploys its strongest political asset headed into the final stretch.
“I remember when I was running for the U.S. Senate there were people who didn’t think I could win that and, certainly, when I was running for president, people like, ‘what’s his name, again?’ And ‘that’s not going to happen,’” Obama said. “And that included, by the way — in our own communities there were people who were skeptical. They liked me and they really liked Michelle, but they thought, ‘well, that’s not going to happen,’ because sometimes we have a tendency to put a ceiling on ourselves.”
Steven Beschloss: Snapshot… The Appeal of Kamala Harris
I thought about holding off for a couple of days and sharing these data points as part of a broader discussion, but they are so interesting and uplifting that I’m spotlighting them now. I’m not talking about the overall polling by New York Times/Sienna College that currently has Kamala Harris edging out Donald Trump 49 to 46 percent nationally—which is a positive shift but still too nail-bitingly tight for comfort. Rather, I’m focused on some of the underlying indicators in this survey conducted between Sept. 29 and Oct. 6 that illustrate voters’ moods and attitudes.
Read the rest of Steven Beschloss’ piece at and subscribe to his Substack
‘It’s so stupid’: Biden shoots down Marjorie Taylor Greene’s conspiracy theory about controlling the weather
As President Joe Biden delivered a stark warning Wednesday about the dangerous hurricane barreling toward Florida, he shot down misinformation about the storm, including one particular conspiracy theory propagated by Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
“Marjorie Taylor Greene, the congresswoman from Georgia, is now saying the federal government is literally controlling the weather, we’re controlling the weather. It’s beyond ridiculous. It’s so stupid. It’s got to stop,” Biden said in televised remarks at the White House.
Biden, Netanyahu speak for 1st time in months as Israel plans response to Iran attack
President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Wednesday, according to the White House.
Vice President Kamala Harris also joined the call, the White House said.
It marked the first phone call between the two leaders in months, and since fighting has intensified in the Middle East as Israel continues its war against Hamas in Gaza while also seeking to root out Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters the call lasted about 30 minutes and included a “range of issues.”
Harris’ political operation crosses $1 billion raised for the 2024 election
Vice President Kamala Harris‘ presidential campaign operation crossed the $1 billion fundraising threshold in September, two months after she took over as the Democratic Party’s standard-bearer, according to two people familiar with the numbers.
The figure includes money raised by the campaign committee itself and by a campaign-affiliated joint fundraising committee that also collects cash for the Democratic National Committee and state parties.
Milton Slices Across Central Florida as Powerful Hurricane
Milton carved a path of destruction after crashing ashore Wednesday evening on Florida’s Gulf Coast, making landfall near Sarasota and making its way across the state overnight with ferocious winds and heavy rains.
The storm had already soaked and battered the state for much of Wednesday and unleashed a spate of tornadoes that caused even more damage and destruction.
Malcolm Nance: A Horrible Anniversary… October 7 One Year Later
On this first anniversary of the 10–7 massacre, I made a special video where I visited the sites of the massacres and heard the voices of the dead. Listen to the story carefully because it is heartbreaking. I find it very hard to watch, but we must witness how old this horrific cycle of violence came about.
FBI foils alleged ISIS-inspired Election Day terror plot by Afghan national
The Justice Department announced the arrest Tuesday of an Afghan national living in Oklahoma and accused him of plotting to kill Americans on Election Day on behalf of the terror group ISIS.
Nasir Tawhedi, 27, is alleged to have sought to purchase semiautomatic firearms and ammunition to further his alleged plans to carry out the attack, and even went so far as to liquidate his family’s assets and resettling family members overseas in preparation.
According to the complaint, Tawhedi entered the U.S. in September 2021 on a special immigrant visa and is currently on parole status pending adjudication of his immigration proceedings.
Trump disputes report that, as president, he secretly sent Putin COVID-19 testing kit
Former President Donald Trump is disputing a report that he has had “as many as seven” phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin since he left the White House, and that, back when he was in office, Trump secretly sent Putin a COVID-19 testing kit for his personal use.
Journalist Bob Woodward wrote about the alleged interactions between Trump and Putin in his soon-to-be released book, titled “War,” according to the Washington Postand CNN.
Woodward reportedly cited an anonymous Trump aide as the source for his reporting regarding Trump maintaining contact with Putin after leaving the White House.
Kamala Harris kept up a media blitz while Donald Trump postponed a virtual town-hall event.
Vice President Kamala Harris, in a blitz of interviews on Tuesday, pitched a proposal to help people raising children while also caring for aging parents and denounced former President Donald J. Trump, calling some of his statements “surreal” and saying he was too friendly with Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin.
On “The View,” Ms. Harris said the former president’s willingness to spread false information during the response to Hurricane Helene showed how he “really lacks empathy on a very basic level.” A couple of hours later, on Howard Stern’s satellite radio show, she faulted Mr. Trump over a new report that he had sent Covid tests to Mr. Putin for his personal use at the height of the pandemic. Her interview with Mr. Stern was also one of the most revelatory she has given about herself as a person.
Fearful Residents Flee Tampa Bay Region As Hurricane Milton Takes Aim At Florida Coast
Fearful Florida residents streamed out of the Tampa Bay region Tuesday ahead of what could be a once-in-a-century direct hit from Hurricane Milton, as crews worked furiously to prevent furniture, appliances and other waterlogged wreckage from the last big storm from becoming deadly projectiles in this one.
Tuesday marked the last chance for millions of people in the Tampa metro area to prepare for lethal storm surges, ferocious winds and possible tornadoes in a place that has narrowly avoided a head-on blow from a major storm for generations.
“Today’s the last day to get ready,” said Craig Fugate, a former FEMA director who previously ran the state’s emergency operation division. “This is bringing everything.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis Refused To Answer Hurricane Relief Calls From The White House
The White House called out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at a Monday afternoon press briefing in response to reports that the Republican has refused to answer phone calls from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris about hurricane relief efforts.
“It’s up to him if he wants to respond to us or not,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters with a shrug Monday, confirming the reports.
“We invited the governor, right, to come and survey the damage areas with the president. Obviously, we were in Florida, we invited the governor of Florida to come. It was his decision not ― to not attend or not be there with the president,” Jean-Pierre said. “The president has reached out around Hurricane Helene. He reached out. It is up to the governor. It is really up to the governor.”
’60 Minutes’ Kicks Off With Detailed Damning Explanation About Why Donald Trump ‘Backed Out’
CBS News’ “60 Minutes” on Monday opened with a detailed account from correspondent Scott Pelley on the lead up to former President Donald Trump bailing on the show’s customary interview with presidential candidates before the election.
“It’s been a tradition for more than half a century that the major party candidates for president sit down with ’60 Minutes’ in October,” Pelley explained.
Harris undergoes a ’60 Minutes’ grilling as Trump sits it out
Vice President Kamala Harris for weeks was criticized for avoiding tough questions that came with long-form traditional media interviews.
In an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes” that aired Monday evening, she faced many of them all at once.
Chief among them was whether she regretted the initial border policy during the Biden administration that allowed a historic swell of immigrants across the border.
“Was it a mistake to loosen the immigration policies as much as you did?” “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker asked.
Foreign adversaries will try to cast doubt on election results after Nov. 5, U.S. intel officials say
Foreign adversaries will try to shake Americans’ confidence in the legitimacy of election results in November by giving voice to false claims or spreading their own disinformation about ballot counting, U.S. intelligence officials said Tuesday.
“As we approach Election Day, the intelligence community is also stressing that foreign efforts to undermine America’s democracywon’t end on Nov. 5,” a senior intelligence official told reporters in a virtual briefing.
In its latest assessment of foreign threats to the election, intelligence officials said the main foreign powers seeking to shape the outcome of the vote — Russia, China and Iran — also were focusing on meddling in congressional and state races.
Charlie Pierce: Trump’s Comments About Undocumented People’s ‘Genes’ Is One Of The Worst Things He’s Ever Said
I don’t want to alarm anyone unduly, but the Republican candidate for president of the United States has said something in public that hits the trifecta of being a lie, insane, and historically vile. It is a parlay beyond the reach of most politicians, and of all decent humans everywhere. He was in conversation with Hugh Hewitt, but even that is no excuse. We’ll get to the interview in question. First, however, some preliminary crazy:
[Kamala Harris] wants to go into government housing. She wants to go into government feeding, she wants to feed people. She wants to feed people governmentally. She wants to go into a communist party type system. When you look at the things that she proposes, they’re so far off, she has no clue.
One-year mark of Oct. 7 attack prompts U.S. intelligence warning of violent extremism
A joint federal intelligence bulletin obtained by CBS News warns of potential violent extremism and hate crimes committed in response to the one-year mark of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the militant group Hamas and the resulting conflict in Gaza.
The bulletin, authored by FBI, Department of Homeland Security and National Counterterrorism Center, was first disseminated by federal law enforcement to local law enforcement partners late Wednesday.
The agencies found that the one-year mark of the attack “as well as any further significant escalations” in the Israel-Hamas war “may be a motivating factor for violent extremists and hate crime perpetrators to engage in violence or threaten public safety,” the bulletin read.
Vance says a future Trump administration would defund Planned Parenthood
Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, confirmed to reporters Saturday that former President Donald Trump is “consistent” in his views on defunding Planned Parenthood.
A journalist asked Vance, R-Ohio, whether a future Trump administration would defund Planned Parenthood, the reproductive health care group that has garnered opposition from many conservatives for its pro-abortion-rights positions.
“On the question of defunding Planned Parenthood, look, I mean our view is we don’t think that taxpayers should fund late-term abortions,” Vance said after Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. “That has been a consistent view of the Trump campaign the first time around. It will remain a consistent view.”
Harris and Walz embark on massive media blitz
With 30 days to Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are launching a media blitz that began on Sunday, with the two set to appear in a handful of interviews with traditional and new media figures, a senior Harris campaign official told NBC News.
The two sat down with CBS’ “60 Minutes” for separate interviews that will air on Monday, and each will appear on late-night comedy shows later this week. Harris will appear on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” on Tuesday while Walz will sit down with Jimmy Kimmel for the Monday edition of “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
While in New York on Tuesday, Harris is also set to appear on “The View” and “The Howard Stern Show.”
Mike Johnson won’t commit to bringing House back before the election for more hurricane relief
House Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday did not commit to calling Congress back into session before the election after President Joe Biden pressed congressional leaders about potential funding shortfalls in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Johnson was asked about Biden’s letter to congressional leaders on Friday requesting more money for federal disaster recovery efforts and after Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned that the department doesn’t have enough money to get through the rest of hurricane season.
The Rude Pundit: Three Things That Matter from The Vice-Presidential Polite-Off
My quick take on the vice-presidential debate last night between Peter Thiel’s gimp and Governor Care Bear is that it doesn’t matter who “won.” If you give a shit about reality, Walz won. If you prefer your political leaders to be smooth-talking sociopaths spewing bullshit, Vance won. Otherwise, beyond a surprise line or two (like Walz saying that his son witnessed a shooting), it was a disappointingly normal debate where the Democrat was overly deferential and polite and the Republican was a merry liar.
But three things stand out for me.
First, to that liar point, the most important moment in the evening was when the moderators corrected Senator JD Vance. Talking his usual fuckery about immigration, Vance said, “In Springfield, Ohio and in communities all across this country, you’ve got schools that are overwhelmed, you’ve got hospitals that are overwhelmed, you have got housing that is totally unaffordable because we brought in millions of illegal immigrants to compete with Americans for scarce homes.” After Walz spoke, quoting the Bible, moderator Margaret Brennan added, “And just to clarify for our viewers, Springfield, Ohio does have a large number of Haitian migrants who have legal status. Temporary protected status.” And that’s absolutely, completely true. Vance tried to lump legal immigrants in with undocumented ones.
Los Angeles District Attorney Says He Is Reviewing Menendez Case
George Gascón, the Los Angeles district attorney, said on Thursday that his office was reviewing a decades-old case involving the brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez, who killed their parents in their Beverly Hills home and were sentenced to life in prison.
The case in the 1990s was one of the first to draw a daily national audience to a televised criminal trial. By their own testimony, the two young men marched into the den of the family’s mansion one evening with shotguns and fired more than a dozen rounds at their mother and father while the couple sat on the couch.
Dockworkers strike suspended, tentative agreement includes 62% pay raise over 6 years
A historic United States port strike has been suspended and a tentative agreement was reached “on wages,” according to the International Longshoremen’s Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance.
“Effective immediately, all current job actions will cease and all work covered by the Master Contract will resume,” the ILA and USMX said in a joint statement Thursday evening.
The tentative agreement would increase workers’ wages by 62% over the life of the 6-year contract, sources familiar confirm to ABC News.
Tim Walz makes direct appeal to conflicted Muslim voters
Vice presidential candidate Tim Walz addressed a Democratic Muslim voter group Thursday night as the Harris campaign works to engage a group of voters who threaten to defect in large numbers over the Biden administration’s handling of the deteriorating situation in the Middle East.
The virtual event, organized by Emgage Action, which endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris last week, was the most direct pitch yet to conflicted Muslim and Arab voters from her or Walz.
The appearance, which coincided with the launch of a group called Arab Americans for Harris-Walz, comes after Harris’ top national security adviser met with Arab and Muslim community leaders.
Liz Cheney campaigns with Kamala Harris for first time, as campaign continues GOP outreach
Former Rep. Liz Cheney, the highest-profile Republican to announce her support for Vice President Kamala Harris, joined her on the campaign trail at an event at Ripon, Wisconsin, the birthplace of the Republican Party.
“I am proudly casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris,” Cheney said Thursday.
Cheney, along with her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, announced in September that Harris would have their vote. The Cheneys and Harris have practically nothing in common in their views on policy, but they a shared antipathy for former President Donald Trump and see him as a threat to democracy after the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Trump Goes off in First Interview Since Latest Jack Smith Filing: ‘They Rigged the Election’
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan unsealed the motion, which contained several new revelations.
Hours later, the former president attended a fundraiser in Houston, where Ali Bradley of NewsNation caught up with him.
“We know that Special Counsel Jack Smith had filed court documents calling her actions in the aftermath of the 2020 election, quote, ‘a private criminal effort,’” she told Trump. “Can you respond to that?”
“Yeah, he’s a deranged person,” he replied. “I call him deranged Jack Smith.”
WORLD Israel says 8 soldiers killed in Lebanon amid “intense fighting” on the ground with Hezbollah
Israel’s military said Wednesday that eight soldiers had been killed in “intense fighting” with Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon, three days after it launched ground operations in the country. The update on the ongoing ground raids came almost a year after Israel launched its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for that Iran-backed group’s Oct. 7 terrorist rampage, prompting Hamas’ ally Hezbollah to start firing rockets at northern Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces announced the beginning of it said would be “limited, localized, and targeted ground raids” against Hezbollah in Lebanon on Monday, after about two weeks of blistering airstrikes on the group’s strongholds in southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut. Those ongoing strikes have killed more than 1,000 people and displaced about 1 million from their homes, according to Lebanese officials.
Biden visits Carolinas, Harris goes to Georgia to view Hurricane Helene damage
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took separate tours on Wednesday of the catastrophic damage resulting from Hurricane Helene, from which at least 183 people have died.
Biden visited North Carolina and South Carolina days after the storm swept through Florida and traveled north, causing damage as far north as Tennessee and Virginia. He is also expected to travel to Georgia and Florida on Thursday.
Trump ‘resorted to crimes’ to stay in office after 2020 loss, Jack Smith’s team says
Former President Donald Trump was “fundamentally” acting as a private candidate for office and not as president of the United States when he sought to overturn his 2020 election loss, special counsel Jack Smith’s team argued in a filing Wednesday that revealed new details of the scheme at the heart of Trump’s federal election interference case.
The filing asserts that Trump knew that the claims he was spreading about the 2020 election were lies, with Smith’s team arguing that Trump didn’t believe his own falsehoods but instead spread them as part of his broader scheme to stay in power.
‘That Is a Damning Non-Answer’: Walz Hammers Vance for Refusing To Admit Trump Lost Election
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz scolded Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance for refusing to say whether former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election on Tuesday.
During CBS’ vice presidential debate, Walz criticized Trump’s refusal to concede the 2020 election and the subsequent January 6 Capitol riots, declaring, “He was very clear. I mean, he lost this election and he said he didn’t. 140 police officers were beaten at the Capitol that day.”
He continued, “They were chanting, ‘Hang Mike Pence.’ Mike Pence made the right decision. So senator, it was adjudicated over and over and over. I worked with kids long enough to know, and I said as a football coach, sometimes you really want to win, but the democracy is bigger than winning an election. You shake hands and then you try and do everything you can to help the other side win.”
What products could be affected by the port strike?
The first dockworkers strike at major East and Gulf coast ports in almost half a century could soon mean shortages of bananas and pricier imported cherries at U.S. grocery stores. That’s because both fruits are among the more than 100 categories of food that depend on the now-shuttered operations, with the labor dispute also expected to delay auto shipments.
Just how much American consumers and the U.S. economy will be impacted by the strike’s immediate disruption of ports that handle about half of the country’s trade in cargo containers depends on the duration of the work stoppage, now in its first day.
“Each day that this goes on it creates a backlog of containers and ships,” American Farm Bureau Federation economist Daniel Munch told CBS MoneyWatch. “A 3-to-5-day strike will take two weeks to clear — if it goes into three-week territory, it will be early January before it gets cleared.”
Iran has launched a ballistic missile attack on Israel
Iran launched ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday, causing sirens to sound all over the country, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Orange fire illuminated the sky over Israel as NBC News crews in both Tel Aviv and across the border in Tyre, Lebanon, viewed the apparent missiles being fired. Smaller streaks of light were also seen, appearing to come from Israel’s aerial defense system as it tried to ward off the attack.
Booms were also heard in video captured by NBC News, but it’s unclear whether the sound erupted from clashing missiles in the air or from Iranian missiles landing in Israel.
5 key takeaways from the VP debate between JD Vance and Tim Walz
Republican Sen. JD Vance and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz clashed Tuesday on everything from economic and gun policy to immigration and school shootings in the only vice presidential debate of the 2024 election.
The Ohio senator and Minnesota governor largely kept things cordial personally, even appearing chummy at times and saying they could work with each other. But they repeatedly attacked each other’s running mate and defended their party policies and tickets.
The debate, hosted by CBS News in New York City, could be the last event featuring candidates from both campaigns, with Kamala Harris and Donald Trump not currently scheduled to debate again.
‘He’s lying’: Biden hits back at Trump on storm Helene as he announces plans for surveying damage
President Joe Biden angrily hit back at Donald Trump’s false accusations after the former president and Republican presidential nominee leveled a baseless claim about the federal response to Hurricane Helene on his social media platform.
Earlier on Monday, Trump suggested that Biden and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper were ignoring the devastation wrought by the storm, which has killed over 100 people and left hundreds missing and unaccounted for in the Tar Heel state.
In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote that he “[didn’t] like the reports” he was allegedly getting about the federal and state governments “going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas” hit by the hurricane.
Port strike called at East and Gulf Coast cargo facilities as dockworkers walk off the job
Thousands of dockworkers at ports from New England to Texas went on strike just after midnight on Tuesday as they rally for higher pay and more job security.
The work stoppage, the first at East and Gulf Coast ports since 1977, follows a lengthy impasse in labor talks between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), a shipping industry group representing terminal operators and ocean carriers.
The strike was expected to involve 25,000 workers, according to USMX, and close 14 ports: Baltimore; Boston; Charleston, South Carolina; Jacksonville, Florida; Miami; Houston; Mobile, Alabama; New Orleans; New York/New Jersey; Norfolk, Virginia; Philadelphia; Savannah, Georgia; Tampa, Florida; and Wilmington, Delaware.
Israeli military says “targeted” ground operation in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah has begun
The Israeli military says it has begun a “limited, localized” ground operation against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.
In posts shared on social media, the Israeli military said it was carrying out “targeted” ground raids in villages close to the Israeli border.
“A few hours ago, the IDF began limited, localized, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon,” the military said. “These targets are located in villages close to the border and pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel.”
Tim Walz and JD Vance’s 2024 VP debate is Tuesday. Here’s what to know.
Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — both relative newcomers to the national political spotlight — face off Tuesday in the only scheduled vice presidential debate before the November election.
The debate is being held three weeks after former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris had their only scheduled debate.
Walz, who is Harris’ running mate, has had a long career in politics but was largely unknown to voters outside of Minnesota before he joined the Democratic ticket.
Dean Obeidallah: Long time CNN anchor shares that if hosts slam MAGA guests you could be fired
We all watched in disbelief as the CNN moderators failed to fact check Donald Trump during the June presidential debate as he unleashed a firehose of lies. Beyond that we’ve seen other CNN anchors remain silent when MAGA representatives are on air peddling misinformation. Why? Well as former long time CNN anchor Don Lemon candidly told me, those anchors fear being fired because the policy to allow Trump and MAGA supporters spew lies on air comes from the top.
Lemon explained in our interview on Friday that the demise of corporate media can be linked to corporate media outlets –not just CNN of course—repeatedly “both siding” issues regarding Trump and the unique threat he poses.
Read the rest of Dean Obeidallah’s piece at and subscribe to his Substack
Charlie Pierce: Trump Ranted and Raved About Immigration, ‘The Purge,’ Movie Casting at a Rally In Pennsylvania
The former president* of the United States, who is also the current Republican nominee for president, got up onstage in Pennsylvania on Sunday and said a great deal that was insane. I just thought I’d take note of that. He said of undocumented people:
They don’t even think about it….These are rough, vicious, rougher than you can possibly imagine. And I say it all the time, if you want to do a movie about some of these people… There’s no actor that could play the role. You know, these actors, some of them are very shaky. You see a big actor and you say, “He’s got no muscle content.” NO MUSCLES! Then they bring in another one, and they say, “He’s got a weak face.” These guys have the whole package.
(Note for context: I do not know what constitutes a “weak face.” And I’d like to point out that, since 2001 anyway, a lot of actors have played rough, vicious foreign terrorists—and have made a lot of dough doing so.)
Hassan Nasrallah, Who Led Hezbollah for Decades, Killed By Israeli Airstrike Into Lebanon
Hassan Nasrallah, who led the militant Hezbollah organization in Lebanon for more than three decades and built it into a domestic political force and potent regional military power with ballistic missiles that could threaten Tel Aviv, was killed on Friday in heavy Israeli airstrikes just south of Beirut. He was 64.
Both Hezbollah and Israel announced his death on Saturday. Israeli officials had said that Mr. Nasrallah was the target of the attack, which rocked the area known as the Dahiya, a dense urban area south of the capital, with such violent force that residents fled in fear as a giant mushroom cloud rose over the city.
Harris vows to keep Biden’s border crackdown: “The United States is a sovereign nation”
During a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris vowed to keep President Biden’s asylum crackdown in place if elected, solidifying Democrats’ embrace of more stringent immigration rules.
Harris used her visit to Douglas, Arizona, to address one of the most pressing political vulnerabilities faced by her presidential campaign: illegal immigration. It’s an issue that Americans have grown increasingly worried about in recent years amid record levels of migrant crossings at the southern border, polls show.
Trump calls for Harris to be ‘impeached and prosecuted’ at Pennsylvania rally
With less than 40 days left until November’s election, former President Donald Trump continues to escalate his personal attacks against Kamala Harris, calling for the vice president to be “impeached and prosecuted.”
Throughout his campaign rally speech in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, Trump said Harris should be disqualified from running for president, resign from office and be investigated at the highest level.
“She should be disqualified. She should resign the vice presidency and go home to California,” Trump told the cheering crowd while discussing the “invasion” at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Death toll rises to 30 in Buncombe County, North Carolina, after Helene: Sheriff
Thirty people have been confirmed dead after Tropical Storm Helene ripped through Buncombe County, North Carolina, Sheriff Quentin Miller said early Sunday evening.
“We’re still conducting search operations, and we know that those also may include recovery operations,” he said at a news conference.
The county remains under a state of emergency, with officials saying they are working hard to help those impacted by Helene, which hit Florida’s Big Bend as a Category 4 hurricane before moving up through Georgia and the Carolinas as a tropical storm.
The Rude Pundit: The Climate Crisis Should Be a Bigger Issue in 2024
I was finally able to reach my friends in Boone, North Carolina and Damascus, Virginia by text today. They said that they are physically fine, but they have no power, no internet, no water, scant cell service, and no way out, really, right now. Both towns are flooded, mud-covered, devastated. One texted that he’s “emotionally wrecked” as he waited in a line to get a shower at a truck stop. Because he’s my friend, of course he added, “Just found out I didn’t have to blow the attendant.” We went back and forth a bit on this lucky truck stop employee before I figured I should let him go for the sake of his battery. He probably had more important things to take care of, like getting the tree off his car. I didn’t get to ask him how his dogs did.
Hurricane Helene was going to be a motherfucker of a storm. Forecasters saw that from the moment it formed, and they predicted the storm surge and the wind damage that would hit Florida, which was, in context, pretty fortunate that Helene didn’t turn slightly more east and directly hit Tampa/St. Petersburg. The area that was hit is not densely populated, but it badly fucked up towns in the Big Bend coast, like Cedar Key and Steinhatchee, wiping a couple off the map.
Harris met with Zelenskyy; Trump set to meet with the Ukrainian president Friday
Harris reiterated her support for Ukraine in remarks at the White House after her meeting with Zelenskyy, telling reporters, “I’ve been proud to stand with Ukraine, I’ll continue to stand with Ukraine, and I will work to ensure Ukraine prevails in this war.”
Harris framed Ukraine’s fight against Russia as reflecting American values, saying: “The American people know well the meaning of freedom, of independence and the importance of rule of law. These ideals are central to who we are as Americans, and some of the most important moments in our history have come when we stood up to aggressors like Putin.
Here Are The Wildest Parts Of New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ Federal Indictment
New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) is fond of responding to his detractors with a bit of advice: “Let your haters be your waiters when you sit down at the table of success.”
The Department of Justice now seems to have a few things to say about Adams’ success. In a 57-page, five-count indictment unsealed Thursday, federal prosecutors accused him of taking bribes from foreign nationals and doling out favors over a span of nearly a decade.
Others in his orbit have also been investigated by federal authorities, leading to several high-profile resignations this month — among them police commissioner Edward Caban and mayoral legal adviser Lisa Zornberg.
Harris to visit U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona to tout toughness on immigration
Vice President Kamala Harris is planning to visit the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona on Friday as her campaign attempts to show she is the best-prepared candidate to tackle the simmering issue of immigration.
Why it matters: Harris has faced relentless attacks from former President Trump and Republicans who claim she’s ill-equipped to handle what they’ve called a crisis at the southern border.
Driving the news: At Friday’s campaign stop in Douglas, Arizona, Harris will discuss border security, according to a campaign aide speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a trip that was still being planned.
John Fugelsang talks to NPR about the Sexy Liberal Tour
Our very own John Fugelsang spoke to NPR Phoenix. John talks about his a way of cutting through the noise with humor that makes you think. Whether you’re laughing at his punchlines or nodding at his insights, his comedic take on politics is as relevant as ever. Check out this KJZZ feature:
Zelensky to make urgent in-person plea to Biden and Harris at the White House
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the White House on Thursday could be his final chance to convince a receptive American president of his country’s war aims.
The precise details of the “victory plan” Zelensky plans to present in separate meetings to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are unknown, having been closely held until they are presented to the American leaders.
But according to people briefed on its broad contours, the plan reflects the Ukrainian leader’s urgent appeals for more immediate help countering Russia’s invasion. Zelensky is also poised to push for long-term security guarantees that could withstand changes in American leadership ahead of what is widely expected to be a close presidential election between Harris and former President Donald Trump.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams indicted by federal grand jury: Sources
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted by a federal grand jury, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
In a speech addressed to New Yorkers on Wednesday, Adams vowed to fight what he called the “entirely false” indictment with “every ounce of my strength and my spirit.”
“I always knew that If I stood my ground for all of you that I would be a target — and a target I became,” Adams said.
Adams is the city’s first sitting mayor to be indicted.
Harris outlines $100 billion manufacturing plan, vowing pragmatism over ideology
Kamala Harris vowed to govern as a pragmatist who wouldn’t be captive to ideology in an economic speech Wednesday while outlining $100 billion in new investments in manufacturing, a major issue in this battleground state.
Harris proposed an “America Forward” agenda that calls for tax credits to boost investment and create industrial jobs, along with investments in artificial intelligence, science and energy development, as well as supporting American-made products.
“This plan will cost approximately $100 billion and will be paid for by a portion of the proceeds of international tax reform, which seeks to prevent a global race to the bottom and to discourage inversions, outsourcing, or international tax strategies designed by corporations to avoid paying their fair share to the United States,” the Harris campaign said in a fact sheet.
House Republicans Defy Donald Trump, Pass Government Funding Bill
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday defied former President Donald Trump by approving a government funding bill without a crackdown on the imaginary threat of widespread voter fraud.
The bill passed in overwhelming bipartisan fashion, by a final tally of 341 to 82, with 209 Democrats and 132 Republicans in support and only 82 Republicans against.
The legislation will now head to the other side of the Capitol, where senators are expected to approve it Wednesday evening, averting a government shutdown at the end of the month.
Man charged with attempted assassination of Trump at Florida golf course as case is assigned to Judge Aileen Cannon
Prosecutors on Tuesday filed the charge of attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate against Ryan Wesley Routh, the man they say camped outside of Donald Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course for hours on end, armed with a rifle that he pointed through a chain-link fence with a clear shot to the next hole where the former president was headed on September 15.
Routh, allegedly “stalked” Trump in Florida for more than a month, prosecutors told a federal magistrate judge on Monday, with cell phone data allegedly placing Routh at the golf course as well as Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence across several days between August 18 and the day Routh was arrested.
Routh was originally charged with two gun-related offenses, including obliteration of a firearm’s serial number and possessing a firearm while a convicted felon, while the investigation continued.
Trump Spent His Night Hate-Watching Stephen Colbert And Raging About It Online
Donald Trump, currently vying for the job of president of the United States, spent part of his Tuesday evening watching a PBS interview with “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert.
Then, he complained about it on social media.
“Why would they be wasting time and the public’s money on this complete and total loser?” the former president wrote on his Truth Social website. “He is not funny, which he gets paid far too much to be, he is not wise, he is VERY BORING, and his show is dying from a complete lack of viewers.”
Trump suggested that CBS fire Colbert and replace him with “almost anyone, right off the street, who would do better, and for FAR LESS MONEY.”
Haitians Want Trump Arrested For ‘Harmful Lies.’ The Campaign Responded With Another Lie.
Leaders of a Haitian nonprofit group in Springfield, Ohio, filed a criminal affidavit Tuesday against former President Donald Trump and his Republican running mate, Sen. JD Vance, seeking their arrest over racist lies that Haitian immigrants were “eating the cats, dogs, and pets of people” in the community.
The affidavit, filed in Clark County Municipal Court by Guerline Jozef, co-founder of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, alleged the former president and the Ohio senator had violated criminal laws including disrupting public services, making false alarms, complicity, aggravated menacing and telecommunications harassment and complicity.
Under Ohio law, private citizens are permitted to file an affidavit asking the courts to find probable cause that alleged offenders have committed a crime.
Harris campaign office damaged by gunfire in Arizona
Police are investigating what appears to be gunfire damage overnight at a Democratic Party-coordinated campaign office for Vice President Kamala Harris.
The incident occurred just a few days before Harris is scheduled to visit Arizona as she campaigns for president.
“We can confirm that on 9/23/24, what appears to be damage from gunfire at … a DNC Campaign Office, was discovered,” Tempe police said in a statement to NBC News on Tuesday.
Trump seeks to derail major court filing by federal prosecutors in election interference case
Lawyers for former President Donald Trump are pushing back against efforts by federal prosecutors to streamline arguments and potential appeals in his 2020 election interference case, arguing they could improperly influence the 2024 race for the White House.
In papers filed Monday in federal court in Washington, defense attorneys contended that special counsel Jack Smith’s plans to file an oversized brief about whether certain Trump actions from his presidency were official or unofficial acts is improper and should not be allowed.
“Departures from these practices should never be countenanced because they risk allowing prosecutors to impact national elections, but the situation is even worse here where the Special Counsel’s Office is seeking to do so by turning criminal procedure on its head in order to file a 180-page false hit piece,” Trump’s lawyers argued.
Kamala Harris Is Set to Visit Border, Cutting Into Trump’s Immigration Edge
Vice President Kamala Harris is planning to visit the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday during a trip to Arizona, according to two people briefed on the preparations, as she seeks to counter former President Donald J. Trump’s advantage with voters on the issue of immigration.
The trip is set to be her first visit to the southern border since President Biden dropped out of the race.
Ms. Harris may give remarks about border issues during the visit,according to the people, who insisted on anonymity to discuss a trip that has not yet been made public. The people said final details about exactly where Ms. Harris would visit or what else she might do on the trip have not been decided. The Harris campaign did not immediately provide a comment.
JD Vance Lays Into the Media for ‘Debunking’ Springfield Migrant Claims Instead of Listening to ‘People Speak Their Truth’
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance laid into the media for “debunking a story that comes from the residents of Springfield” on Monday, and urged journalists to listen “to people speak their truth,” after he was criticized for promoting unfounded allegations about Haitian migrants eating pets in Ohio.
“I wish the American media was half as interested in the stress on the local schools, the stress on the hospitals, and unaffordable housing as they are in debunking a story that comes from the residents of Springfield,” said Vance at a campaign rally in North Carolina, Monday.
He then questioned, “Did you ever think about listening to people speak their truth instead of listening to some bureaucrat and assuming that everything they tell you is true?”
The Rude Pundit: Springfield, Ohio Is a Warning About a Second Trump Administration
As odious as the vast majority of her statements and her beliefs are, former Republican presidential candidate and winner of “Most Predictable Hypocrite of the Year” Nikki Haley did get something right about Donald Trump before her defiance crumbled. She spoke frequently about the “chaos” that follows in Trump’s wide wake, like Godzilla without the personality marching through Tokyo again. She even had an ad called “More Chaos,” where the narrator says things like “The chaos that surrounds him is bad enough” and “with Trump it’s just more chaos.” It’s an apt, if relatively benign, word for the clusterfuck of madness, violence, hate, and stupidity that Trump brings to pretty much every situation.
Charlie Pierce: Election Deniers’ Georgia Scheme Is Going Exactly According to Plan
The ratf*cking of Georgia’s elections got a big boost on Friday when, as expected (from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)…
The Georgia Election Board’s Republican majority voted Friday to require a hand count of all ballots after polls close on election night, a new requirement that could delay results of the presidential race.
County election directors universally opposed the eleventh-hour counting mandate, saying it would undermine voter confidence in the election results. They said results will come in more slowly, ballot box seals would be broken and manual counts could be inaccurate.
House Republicans reject their own funding bill with a shutdown around the corner
House Republicans on Wednesday defeated their own plan to avert a government shutdown at the end of the month, with the party divided over the length of a short-term funding bill and what, if anything, should be attached to it.
It was an embarrassing blow to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who had yanked the same funding package off the floor last week amid growing GOP defections, only to watch it collapse on Wednesday in a vote that seemed doomed from the start.
The vote was 202-220 with two members voting present. In all, fourteen Republicans voted against the package, and three Democrats — Reps. Jared Golden of Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Don Davis of North Carolina — voted for it.
Iranian hackers sent stolen Trump campaign info to Biden campaign associates (who dismissed it as spam), FBI says
Iranians sent “unsolicited emails” that included stolen material that was not publicly available from former President Donald Trump’s campaign to people associated with his Democratic political rival, the FBI and two other government agencies said Wednesday.
The FBI and officials from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said there was “currently no information” indicating that recipients associated with President Joe Biden’s campaign had responded to the emails, which the government officials condemned as part of an effort “to stoke discord and undermine confidence in our electoral process.”
The agencies had confirmed last month that Iran was behind efforts this year to compromise presidential campaigns of both parties after Trump’s campaign accused Iran of a hacking attempt in June.
Fed goes big with interest rate cut in a bid to head off an economic slowdown
The Federal Reserve said Wednesday it was lowering its key interest rate by half a percentage point, an unusually aggressive move designed to cushion the economy from a further slowdown.
The central bank noted job gains had slowed while inflation had made further progress toward its 2% goal.
At a follow-up news conference, Fed Chair Jay Powell said the labor market and the economy in general remain in “solid shape.”
By making the larger cut, he said, “our intention is to keep it there.”
Malcolm Nance: Spy Catchers Win! DOJ Catches Moscow’s Covert American Influencers
David Rubin, Tim Pool, and Benny Johnson were the Commentators being paid millions by Moscow’s Agents. (Photo: Mediaite)
US spy catchers made an amazing find that was revealed in an unsealed indictment this week. The Department of Justice unsealed indictments yesterday that allege the sanctioned news organization, Russia Today established a covert scheme to fund American right wing media influencers with as much as $10 million of cash to get Donald Trump elected again. The influencers were part of a media group out of Tennessee, called Tenant media. Tenet operated five of the top pro-Trump voices in the MAGA world including Tim Pool, Mark Rubin …
Read the rest of Malcolm Nance’s piece at and subscribe to his Substack
It’s The Free Speech TV Fund Drive!!
It’s the Free Speech TV Fall Pledge Drive! This election could turn the tide of our democarcy and together we can make sure FSTV is here to fight back. To donate call 877-378-8669, go to https://freespeech.org/donate or text FSTV to 44321 to become a sustaining member today!
Judge orders Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs sent to jail while he awaits sex trafficking trial
Sean “Diddy” Combs, the spotlight-adoring music impresario who helped launch the careers of some of the biggest names in hip-hop and R&B, was denied bail and sent to jail Tuesday after being accused in a three-count federal indictment of having used his sprawling business empire to abuse, threaten and traffic women in order to “fulfill his sexual desires” and protect his reputation.
Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York accuse Combs of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution in the indictment unsealed Tuesday.
It accuses Combs, 54, along with members of his security and household staff, personal assistants and other associates in his businesses, of “creating a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice.”
‘A crying shame’: Harris rips Trump’s remarks about Springfield, Ohio
Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday ripped Donald Trump’s repeated bashing of Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, saying the former president was “spewing lies grounded in tropes.”
“It’s a crying shame. Literally,” Harris said in her most extensive remarks to date about her Republican opponent’s baseless claims.
“I know that people are deeply troubled by what is happening to that community in Springfield, Ohio, and it’s got to stop,” she said during a discussion hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists.
Exploding pagers belonging to Hezbollah kill at least 9 and injure more than 2,750 in Lebanon
The militant group Hezbollah said Tuesday that pagers belonging to its members had blown up across Lebanon, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 2,750, according to the country’s Health Ministry.
Iran-backed Hezbollah pinned the blame for the widespread and simultaneous blasts on Israel, without providing evidence. Israel did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the accusations and the explosions.
More than 200 people were in critical condition, the public health minister, Dr. Firas Abiad, told reporters. According to The Associated Press and Al Jazeera, officials updated the death toll after Abiad’s news conference.
Charlie Pierce: Turns Out Chief Justice John Roberts Is Quite a Hack Himself
I confess, I fell for Chief Justice John Roberts’s whole shtick for longer than I should have. That whole “institutionalist” jive got by me far too easily. The presence on the Supreme Court of obvious hacks like Mr. Justice Thomas and Mr. Justice Alito obscured the fact that Roberts is one of them. Over the weekend, The New York Times turned on all the lights.
‘If I Have to Create Stories…’ JD Vance Defends Pushing Baseless Migrant Pet Eating Smear in Jaw-Dropping, Trainwreck CNN Interview
Vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) defended pushing the baseless smear of Haitian migrants eating household pets in Springfield, OH — a claim which has been widely debunked.
In a shocking 16-minute interview on CNN Sunday, the Ohio senator was called out by CNN’s Dana Bash for peddling the claims.
“Before Donald Trump talked about eating dogs and cats on a debate stage, it was you, Senator, who first elevated this baseless rumor,” Bash said. “These are your constituents. So why are you putting them at risk by continuing to spread claims about Haitian immigrants, despite officials in your state saying that there’s no evidence and pleading for you to stop?”
‘The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived!’ Trump Gets Pilloried for Saying ‘I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT’
Former President Donald Trump is getting pilloried for ramping up his attackson Taylor Swift — following the pop mega-star’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris.
In a Sunday morning post to his Truth Social platform, the former president declared in all-caps “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!”
The post drew mockery and condemnation — with a common reaction being a reference to a popular Swift song title.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says baseless claims about Haitian immigrants are ‘garbage’
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Sunday decried former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating dogs and other pets as “garbage” but stopped short of directly condemning Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, for spreading the false claims.
“There’s a lot of garbage on the internet. You know, this is a piece of garbage that was simply not true. There’s no evidence of this at all,” DeWine said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week” when he was asked whether it’s responsible for Trump to push the false claims.
Asked what he would say to Trump after he pointed out that there is no truth to his claims, DeWine condemned groups that have marched in Springfield as part of a hate campaign against Haitian immigrants and went on to praise Haitians as hard-working people who have brought “positive influences” to the town.
Suspect in apparent Trump assassination attempt is arrested; officials say he had AR-style rifle, scope and GoPro
A man is in custody after shots were fired Sunday afternoon in what the FBI is calling an apparent “attempted assassination” of Donald Trump at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida — two months after an attempt on the former president’s life at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
Trump, who was rushed to safety during the incident, said in a Truth Social post Sunday night that “it was certainly an interesting day!” He also thanked Secret Service and law enforcement, writing in all capital letters that “The job done was absolutely outstanding.”
Nearly 10 hours earlier, shortly before 2 p.m., Trump was playing a round of golf near his Mar-a-Lago home when a Secret Service agent spotted a rifle with a scope in the bushes outside the course, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said at a news conference.
The Rude Pundit: The Joy of Watching Kamala Harris Beat Down an Old Man
It’s not hyperbolic to say that Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, beat the shit out of former president (no, really, he was once president. Of the whole United States) and current GOP nominee Donald Trump at last night’s debate. She didn’t just get the best of him, throwing down genuine facts and insulting observations in equal measure. She beat him down in a way that he probably hasn’t been beaten down since his hideous father likely pounded him. She degraded his record, reduced his presence, and obliterated his talking points. She was, to this incredibly biased observer, near perfect in her execution of the execution of Trump’s ego. Harris fucked him up good.
And, goddamn, we needed it. We needed to see someone say exactly who he is with clarity and energy, someone willing to go there, to all those weird and dangerous alleyways where his brain resides, and someone willing to call the Devil “the Devil” to his stupid, evil face. The dichotomy was stark. She’s smart; he’s dumb. She’s poised; he’s belligerent. She gives a damn; he couldn’t fucking care less. She’s lively; he’s a fucking lump.
Harris rides post-debate momentum into North Carolina with raucous rallies and large crowds
Riding high on momentum two days after the presidential debate, Vice President Kamala Harris was greeted by a deafening crowd here Thursday, eager to see the Democratic nominee push to the next phase of her campaign.
Harris told supporters it was time to turn the page from Donald Trump while again challenging the former president to a second debate, which she did earlier in the day at her rally in Charlotte.
“We owe it to the voters. Because here’s the thing: In this election, what’s at stake could not be more important,” she said.
$47 million flowed into the Harris campaign in the 24 hours after the debate
Vice President Kamala Harris raised $47 million in the first 24 hours following her debate with former President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday night, a sum that will likely expand a widening funding gap between the two campaigns.
That tally, shared by the Harris campaign with The New York Times, included donations from 600,000 people. It is her largest 24-hour fund-raising period since an initial burst of donations when she entered the race in July and raised $81 million on the first day.
‘Disturbing’: Lindsey Graham Says Trump Shouldn’t Pal Around With 9/11 Conspiracy Theorist
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is urging Donald Trump to stay away from far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, who was spotted traveling with the former president on his plane on Wednesday.
“We have policy disagreements but the history of this person is just really toxic,” Graham told HuffPost on Thursday. “I mean, she actually called for Kellyanne Conway’s daughter to hang herself. I don’t know how this all happened, but, no, I don’t think it’s helpful. I don’t think it’s helpful at all.”
Earlier this week, Loomer wrote on social media that the White House will “smell like curry” if Vice President Kamala Harris, who is South Asian, wins the presidential election, earning a strong rebuke from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). She has also called the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks an “inside job” and is known for her virulent anti-Muslim rhetoric.
Trump Scared: ‘There Will Be No Third Debate!’
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump spent Thursday afternoon on a social media spree, posting on Truth Social at least a dozen times in a two-hour period.
In one post, the former president asserted that “polls clearly show” that he won the presidential debate against Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday, then he cited that as justification for refusing to participate in another debate against the Democratic nominee.
Trump provided no polling details to back up the claim, which runs contrary to the general consensus and instant polls on his debate performance.
Grieving Ohio Father Tells Trump and Vance to Stop Talking About His Son
Barely an hour before the presidential debate the father of an 11-year-old Ohio boy killed when an immigrant’s minivan crashed into a school bus lashed out at Donald J. Trump and his running mate, JD Vance.
Speaking during public comment at a regular meeting of the Springfield City Commission, the father, Nathan Clark, called them “morally bankrupt” politicians spreading hate at the expense of his son, Aiden. Mr. Clark said, “This needs to stop now.”
The death of Aiden Clark, who was thrown from the bus after the minivan driver, who is Haitian, veered into oncoming traffic just over a year ago, shook residents of Springfield, a blue-collar town between Dayton and Columbus. And it touched off a wave of angry rhetoric over the thousands of immigrants from Haiti who have settled in the area since the pandemic.
Trump Says He Had a Great Debate. His Allies Privately Say Otherwise.
Former President Donald J. Trump went into sales-pitch mode immediately after Tuesday night’s debate, walking into the spin room to extol his own performance, crowing on Fox News and going on a late-night posting spree to hype unscientific online polls that he said showed he had crushed Vice President Kamala Harris.
“That was my best Debate, EVER, especially since it was THREE ON ONE!” Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social, minutes after the debate ended, referring to the two ABC News moderators.
Mr. Trump was insisting the same things privately to advisers and allies in the hours after the debate, according to three people with direct knowledge who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private conversations. Mr. Trump appeared jubilant, as if he truly believed what he was telling them, the three people said.
GOP Pollster Delivers Some Really Bad News To Trump After Debate Disaster
Longtime Republican pollster Frank Luntz said the presidential election is basically over after Vice President Kamala Harris drubbed Donald Trump at Tuesday night’s debate.
“I’m trying to decide if I want to go on record and the answer is yes,” he told Piers Morgan on Wednesday. “I think that he loses because of this debate performance.”
He added:
“This is not the worst debate performance I’ve seen in my career, but it’s very close to it. The conversations about people eating dogs and cats, calling the leader of Hungary one of the greatest world leaders, repeatedly missing the opportunity to focus on inflation and affordability, and the complete inability to present his point of view without completely tearing into her, into Joe Biden, into whomever was in his sights. It was a pretty negative performance. Pretty pessimistic. Cynical. Contemptuous. And I think that this will cost him.”
More than 337,000 people visit Taylor Swift’s link to register to vote
Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris for president may boost voter registration beyond Democrats’ “wildest dreams.“
The General Services Administration, which oversees the website, confirmed to NBC News that as of 2 p.m. ET Wednesday, 337,826 people had visited a custom URL that Swift posted on Instagram when she announced she was endorsing Harris.
The custom URL directs people to vote.gov, a website that helps visitors register to vote in their states. The site also breaks down Americans’ voting rights, explains election processes and provides a road map to frequently asked questions.
Malcolm Nance: Spy Catchers Win! DOJ Catches Moscow’s Covert American Influencers
David Rubin, Tim Pool, and Benny Johnson were the Commentators being paid millions by Moscow’s Agents. (Photo: Mediaite)
US spy catchers made an amazing find that was revealed in an unsealed indictment this week. The Department of Justice unsealed indictments yesterday that allege the sanctioned news organization, Russia Today established a covert scheme to fund American right wing media influencers with as much as $10 million of cash to get Donald Trump elected again. The influencers were part of a media group out of Tennessee, called Tenant media. Tenet operated five of the top pro-Trump voices in the MAGA world including Tim Pool, Mark Rubin …
Read the rest of Malcolm Nance’s piece at and subscribe to his Substack
Taylor Swift endorses Kamala Harris after presidential debate
Pop superstar Taylor Swift endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential candidacy on Tuesday night after the high-stakes debatewith former President Donald Trump, calling the Democratic nominee a “steady-handed, gifted leader.”
“I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election,” Swift said in a post on Instagram to her more than 283 million followers. “I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos.”
Swift went on to say that she was “heartened and impressed” by Harris’ selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, praising him as a champion of “LGBTQ+ rights, IVF and a woman’s right to own her body for decades.”
With smirks and head shakes, Harris uses the split-screen format to provoke Trump
It began just as they appeared before the audience.
Vice President Kamala Harris walked across the stage into former President Donald Trump’s space, reached out her hand and introduced herself.
Trump, visibly taken aback, shook her hand.
The assertive move by Harris was one that ended up setting the tone for the next 90 minutes, where Harris made her case to become the nation’s next president as much through body language as she did through words.
And in that period, she repeatedly got under Trump’s skin, sending him into angry screeds where he struggled to stay on topic and, at times, careened into confounding anecdotes.
6 key takeaways from the first Harris-Trump presidential debate
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump clashed in their first presidential debate Tuesday in Philadelphia, less than two months before Election Day.
Heading into the debate, Harris appeared to have more to gain — and more to lose. A New York Times/Siena College poll found that 28% said they “need to learn more about Kamala Harris,” compared with just 9% who said the same about Trump. Overall, Trump led Harris by 1 point among likely voters, with 5% unsure or not backing either.
The debate covered a wide range of issues and featured a series of intense exchanges between the two bitter rivals. Harris presented herself as a pragmatic problem-solver and diminished Trump as a wannabe dictator who can’t keep his rally crowds engaged. Trump attacked Harris as a radical and frequently returned to his theme of criticizing migration, sometimes veering into conspiracy theories.
Flash Poll: Majority of debate watchers say Harris outperformed Trump onstage
Registered voters who watched Tuesday’s presidential debate broadly agree that Kamala Harris outperformed Donald Trump, according to a CNN poll of debate watchers conducted by SSRS. The vice president also outpaced both debate watchers’ expectations for her and Joe Biden’s onstage performance against the former president earlier this year, the poll found.
Debate watchers said, 63% to 37%, that Harris turned in a better performance onstage in Philadelphia. Prior to the debate, the same voters were evenly split on which candidate would perform more strongly, with 50% saying Harris would do so and 50% that Trump would. And afterward, 96% of Harris supporters who tuned in said that their chosen candidate had done a better job, while a smaller 69% majority of Trump’s supporters credited him with having a better night.
Legendary actor James Earl Jones dies at 93
Legendary actor James Earl Jones, best known for his innumerable movie roles and the booming voice of the character of Darth Vader in the “Star Wars” franchise, has died, his representative confirmed to ABC News.
He was 93 years old.
Jones died on Monday morning at his home in Dutchess County, New York, surrounded by his family, according to longtime agent Barry McPherson.
The thespian, whose powerful, deep voice brought to life the iconic villain of Darth Vader, acted for more than six decades and won three Tony Awards, including a lifetime honor in 2017, two Emmys and a Grammy. He was recognized for lifetime achievement by the Academy Awards in 2011.
Harris, Trump campaigns spin expectations ahead of ABC News debate
Vice President Kamala Harris said in an interview that aired Monday that she expects former President Donald Trump to lie during the ABC News presidential debate on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign and surrogates continued to insinuate on Monday that the former president’s strategy at the debate will be to tie Harris to what they say are her policy failures and “disasters” as a leader of the Biden-Harris administration.
With time ticking down until the two meet for the debate, both candidates are working to spin expectations in what is expected to be a key moment for both campaigns as they look to appeal to voters ahead of what’s expected to be a close contest in November.
In a radio interview with morning show host Rickey Smiley, Harris said “we should be prepared for the fact that he is not burdened by telling the truth.”
Ohio police have ‘no credible reports’ of Haitian immigrants harming pets, contradicting JD Vance’s claim
Police in Springfield, Ohio, said Monday they had received no credible reports of immigrants harming pets, contradicting a claim by Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance.
The senator from Ohio, as well as other Republican lawmakers and several conservative commentators, have in recent days asserted without evidence that the arrival of thousands of immigrants from Haiti had created chaos in Springfield.
In a post on X, Vance wrote Monday that “people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country.”
Trump is increasingly vowing to prosecute political foes and others he says are ‘corrupt’ if he wins
Over the past two weeks, former President Donald Trump has become increasingly explicit in describing plans to use the Department of Justice to prosecute scores of people he has declared corrupt, if he wins in November.
Legal experts said Trump will face obstacles. Judges, prosecutors and juries, for example, could decline to try or convict people if there is scant evidence they committed a crime.
But the experts also said the Supreme Court’s recent immunity decision gives a president the power to order the attorney general to indict any individuals they wish without facing legal consequences themselves.
The Rude Pundit: Note to Corporate Media… You Don’t Have to Act Like Trump and Vance Are Serious People
Let us say, and why not, that Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz is asked about his GOP counterpart and declares in an interview, “JD Vance’s whole purpose in this world is to blow goats.” When asked what he means, Walz could clarify, “I mean that Senator and Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance has one reason for living, and that’s to suck goat dick. His entire life would be unfulfilled and he will be miserable if he doesn’t fellate goats on a regular basis. And I mean the whole act. From gently tongue-bathing the goat’s enormous testicles to bring it to full erection and then going down on that straw-sized dick until it ejaculates in his mouth. A goat dick-less JD Vance has no real value system or meaning in his life and he would have chosen a path to misery.”
How should the major media outlets react to such an absurd thing? Would CNN ask Vance if Walz is correct? Would they have a panel discussion on the idea that orally pleasuring goats is Vance’s purpose? Would commentators on the left quickly agree with Walz and insist that Vance’s lack of blowing goats clouds his judgment and the only way he can be a contributing member of society and not some sad goatless dude is to take the goat jizz regularly? Would other Democrats praise Walz for being brave enough to say the truth about Vance and goat blowing?
Charlie Pierce: What Was Judge Juan Merchan Thinking Delaying Trump’s Hush-Money Sentencing?
Oh, Judge Merchan. You were inches from a clean getaway. From The New York Times:
In a ruling on Friday, the judge, Juan M. Merchan, cited the “unique time frame this matter currently finds itself in” and rescheduled the sentencing for Nov. 26. He had previously planned to hand down Mr. Trump’s punishment on Sept. 18, just seven weeks before Election Day, when Mr. Trump will face off against Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidency.
Harris-Trump ABC News presidential debate: How to watch, what to know
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are set to face off in their first debate of the 2024 election tomorrow night, moderated by ABC News.
With only weeks until Election Day, the debate is a crucial opportunity for both candidates to work to sway undecided voters in what’s expected to be a close contest.
The debate is a chance for Harris — who became the Democratic candidate after President Joe Biden left the race following his lackluster June debate performance — and Trump to explain their policies on key issues. It’s the first time the pair will meet in person.
New Poll Shows Trump Leading Harris By 1%
A new poll from The New York Times and Siena College that surveyed likely voters indicates the presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump is nearly evenly matched. While there is a margin of error of 3 percentage points, Trump is ahead of Harris in a 48% to 47% lead.
The figures are similar to the Times and Siena College’s July poll, which followed President Joe Biden dropping out of the race and Harris announcing her presidential campaign.
In the seven battleground states — Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina and Arizona — Harris is slightly leading or tied with Trump, according to the latest poll.
Sen. Bernie Sanders says he considers Harris ‘progressive’ and her policy changes are ‘pragmatic’
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on Sunday called Vice President Kamala Harris’ decision to moderate her views on fracking and “Medicare for All” “pragmatic,” saying that Harris is “doing what she thinks is right in order to win the election” and that he still considers her to be “progressive.”
Still, Sanders added that Harris has a path to victory by campaigning on other progressive positions, like raising the minimum wage, raising taxes on the wealthy and increasing Social Security benefits.
“I think if you campaign on those issues — raising taxes on billionaires — you know what, she’s going to win, and I think she could win big,” said Sanders, who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020.
Liz Cheney says it’s ‘not enough’ for anti-Trump Republicans to vote for someone other than Harris
Former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney encouraged anti-Trump Republicans and independents Sunday to consider voting for Vice President Kamala Harris, saying it’s “not enough” to write in someone other than former President Donald Trump in the November election.
“Given how close this race is, in my view, again, it’s not enough. You have many Republicans out there who are saying, ‘Well, you know, we’re not going to vote for him, but we will write someone else in,’” Cheney said in an interview on ABC News’ “This Week.” “And I think that this time around, that’s not enough, that it’s important to actually cast a vote for Vice President Harris.”
Asked why she decided to support Harris, Cheney said that she had never voted for a Democrat in her 40 years of voting but that Trump “poses a challenge and a threat fundamentally to the republic.”
Judge Sets Deadlines in Trump Election Case, Saying Campaign Is ‘Not Relevant’
A federal judge declared at a court hearing on Thursday that she would not let former President Donald J. Trump’s campaign for the White House affect the schedule of the criminal case in which he stands accused of plotting to overturn the 2020 election.
Hours later, the judge, Tanya S. Chutkan, fulfilled that vow by setting a schedule for the matter that moved speedily ahead and opened the possibility that prosecutors could make public more of the evidence they hope to use against Mr. Trump at trial in a court filing before Election Day.
Judge Chutkan established a series of deadlines for filings from both sides to assess the impact of several legal issues on the case, including the Supreme Court’s recent ruling granting Mr. Trump some immunity from criminal prosecution for official actions he took as president.
Walz lays into Trump and the Republican Party with some of his harshest campaign rhetoric
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz used some of his sharpest language on the campaign trail Thursday in remarks going after both former President Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
Speaking at a rally in Erie, Pa., Walz borrowed a line from Josh Shapiro, the state’s Democratic governor by saying that “whenever Donald Trump’s talking about America, he’s s— talking America.”
Shapiro has said numerous times that Trump is “s— talking” the country, which Walz acknowledged when he paraphrased the Pennsylvania governor.
Hunter Biden enters guilty plea in federal tax case, avoiding a trial
Hunter Biden pleaded guilty Thursday to all the charges in the federal tax case against him, a surprise move that avoids a potentially embarrassing trial for President Joe Biden‘s son.
The sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 16.
“Hunter put his family first today. And it was a brave and loving thing to do,” his attorney Abbe Lowell told reporters afterwards, saying the plea prevented a “show trial.”
Biden did not speak to reporters, but issued a statement blasting prosecutors from special counsel David Weiss’ office who he said were “focused not on justice but on dehumanizing me for my actions during my addiction.”
Georgia school shooting: Suspect’s father arrested on charges including involuntary manslaughter 2
The father of the 14-year-old suspect in Wednesday’s high school shooting has been arrested on charges that include involuntary manslaughter.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation made the announcement on X and said a news conference will be held at 8 p.m. ET to discuss the matter.
Colin Gray, 54, was arrested on four counts of involuntary manslaughter; two counts of second degree murder; and eight counts of cruelty to children, the bureau said.
Liz Cheney endorses Harris for president
Former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., on Wednesday endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president, the latest high-profile Republican endorsement for Democrats.
Cheney’s comments took place during an appearance at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy.
“Because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris,” Cheney said in a video of remarks posted to X. The university separately provided a clip of Cheney’s remarks to NBC News.
Trump and Harris campaigns agree to rules for Tuesday’s ABC debate
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trumpare set to debate each other next week for the first time after their campaigns on Wednesday agreed to the ground rules set by host network ABC.
The Sept. 10 event in Philadelphia will use the same rules and formatas the June debate between Trump and President Joe Biden.
Both campaigns had previously agreed to hold the debate on that date, but the agreement appeared to be in jeopardy after Trump suggested he might back out and Harris’ team sought to change the rule on muted microphones.
Russian money was funneled to right-wing creators through a pro-Trump media outlet: prosecutors
Employees of the Russia-backed media network RT funded and directed a scheme that sent millions of dollars to prominent right-wing commentators through a media company that appears to match the description of Tenet Media, a leading platform for pro-Trump voices, according to an NBC News review of charging documents, business records and social media profiles.
The indictment on Wednesday of two RT employees, Konstantin Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, includes allegations that the duo implemented a nearly $10 million plan to fund an unnamed Tennessee-based company as one of their “covert projects” to influence American politics by posting videos to TikTok, Instagram, X and YouTube.
Georgia high school shooting suspect was investigated in 2023 for online threats, authorities say
A 14-year-old student suspected of gunning down four people at his Georgia high school Wednesday was previously investigated in connection with threats to carry out a school shooting, federal authorities said.
The suspect, then 13, was a possible suspect in connection with threats made online last year using photos of guns, the FBI’s Atlanta field office said in a joint statement with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.
Within 24 hours, law enforcement officers interviewed the suspected gunman, who is not named in the statement but was identified earlier by local authorities as Colt Gray, in connection with the threats, the statement says.
Malcolm Nance: DNC 2024 RECAPEGY
Man was that a party! The Democratic Convention was noteworthy for whoshowed up and what was said as well as who did not get mentioned or a chance to disrupt … I’m looking at you #FreePalestine Protesters. Watch and enjoy.
Trump Spews Election Fraud Claims, Distances From Project 2025 In Podcast Interview
In an interview with podcaster Lex Fridman, Trump spewed some of his usual rhetoric about the 2020 election and Project 2025.
“I think the fraud was on the other side. I think the election was a fraud,” Trump told Fridman, referring to the 2020 election. “And many people felt it was that and they wanted answers. And when you can’t challenge an election, you have to be able to challenge it, otherwise it’s going to get worse, not better.”
Trump, who also falsely claimed that there is a trend of noncitizens voting, is currently facing an indictment related to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Harris To Seek Huge Expansion Of Startup Tax Deduction To Help Small Businesses
Vice President Kamala Harris will propose a massive expansion of a key tax break Wednesday as part of a plan to see 25 million new small businesses created by the end of her term if she wins the White House, according to a campaign official.
The plan is to be publicly proposed at a speech in New Hampshire on Wednesday, the official said. The official declined to be identified in order to freely share details of the plan before its formal debut.
The centerpiece of the plan would be a 10-fold increase in the value of the tax deduction small business owners can take for their startup expenses. Under the plan, the deduction would rise from $5,000 currently to $50,000.
Federal Judge Rejects Trump Request To Intervene In Hush Money Case
A federal judge on Tuesday rejected Donald Trump’s request to intervene in his New York hush money criminal case, thwarting the former president’s latest bid to overturn his felony conviction and delay his sentencing.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled that Trump had not satisfied the burden of proof required for a federal court to take control of the case from the state court where it was tried.
Hellerstein’s ruling came hours after Manhattan prosecutors raised objections to Trump ’s effort to delay post-trial decisions in the case while he sought to have the federal court step in.
John McCain’s son endorses Harris and hits Trump over Arlington cemetery incident
The incident involving Donald Trump’s campaign staff at Arlington National Cemetery was the last straw for Jimmy McCain, the youngest son of the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
In an interview Tuesday on CNN, McCain said that after last week’s events at the cemetery he registered as a Democrat and decided to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris this fall.
McCain, who recently returned from deployment at a military base in Jordan where three Army Reserve soldiers were killed in January, said he changed his party affiliation to honor his father and put “country first.”
Biden says Netanyahu isn’t doing enough to get a hostage deal
President Joe Biden on Monday said he did not think Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had done enough to secure a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, a comment that comes amid massive protests in Israel.
Biden made the remark to reporters after a weekend during which the bodies of six hostages executed by Hamas were found in a Gaza tunnel. Among those discovered was the body of 23-year-old American Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose parents had publicly pleaded for the return of their son. The pair had brought their personal appeal to the Democratic National Convention, where they were received with a standing ovation.
Polls show a changed, close 2024 race heading into Labor Day
Two words sum up the national and battleground state polls released ahead of Labor Day weekend, with fewer than 10 weeks to go until Election Day: changed and close.
Changed, because most of the surveys — conducted after President Joe Biden’s exit from the 2024 race, after the Democratic convention, and after independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endorsed former President Donald Trump — show Vice President Kamala Harris with narrow leads nationally and in key battlegrounds.
That’s compared with polling that mostly showed Trump with a narrow edge before Biden’s departure.
White House says Biden and Harris weren’t invited to Arlington Cemetery by families of service members killed during Afghanistan withdrawal
Gold Star families did not invite President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to Arlington National Cemetery by last week to commemorate the third anniversary of the attack at Abbey Gate in Afghanistan, a White House official and a Harris aide told NBC News, rebutting separate claims made Sunday by GOP Sen. Tom Cotton and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.
The two were speaking about former President Donald Trump’s visit last week to Arlington National Cemetery, where he has drawn criticism for posing for photos with Gold Star families in a section of the cemetery where photos are traditionally prohibited.
Last week, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Trump’s visit was a “personal invitation by families.”
Biden and Harris rally in battleground Pennsylvania as Trump sits out Labor Day
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris joined forces on the campaign trail Monday in the marquee union town of Pittsburgh, making the case that their administration’s record on labor would again lift workers if Harris were sent to the White House.
It was a Labor Day showing in a battleground state on what is traditionally the political kickoff to the fall campaign season. But it was a tradition bypassed by President Donald Trump, who in an unusual move did not hit the trail either Sunday or Monday.
Trump does have several stops planned for later in the week, including in North Carolina and Wisconsin, as well as a town hall in Pennsylvania and a visit to the Economic Club of New York. His campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Charlie Pierce: There’s Only One Reason CNN’s Dana Bash Asked VP Harris What She’ll Do On Day One
I suppose discussing The Interview is worth a few pixels. I thought both halves of the Democratic ticket did fairly well, and I don’t think Dana Bash was all that terrible. (She was, of course, terrible, along with Jake Tapper, in their roles as moderators of Trump-Biden, in which they allowed the former president* to gish-gallop like Secretariat on the backstretch of the Belmont.) She didn’t ask a single question I didn’t anticipate, and she elicited nothing from either candidate that I didn’t already know, although I am a bit startled by Vice President Harris’ sudden devotion to fracking, especially considering the current dangerous rise in methane emissions, which are an inevitable byproduct of the fracking process. I would have liked to hear the vice president address that very real concern, but Bash perseverated on the why-did-you-change? gotcha theme because that’s what you do in the television game.
Noel Casler: Black Books-Chapter Seven
With the smugness of a hairless cat, the thin white scion luxuriated in the South Florida sun.
“Botox don’t burn bitches!” he exclaimed to Vanky as she attempted to pass him the sunblock.
They both laughed out loud.
His more of a whinny than a guffaw, like a chipmunk on ecstasy.
She possessed a heartier laugh which was more akin to her natural throaty timbre, it had the guttural retort of a longshoreman with the flu.
Read the rest of Noel Casler’s piece at his Substack “Noel’s Notes”
Trump asks federal court to delay sentencing in his New York hush money case
Former President Donald Trump is seeking to delay the upcoming sentencing in his New York hush money case by again asking a federal court in New York to take up the case in light of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity.
In a 60-page filing Thursday, Trump’s lawyers urged the court to reconsider his argument to remove the case from state court to federal court ahead of the former president’s Sept. 18 sentencing.
“The ongoing proceedings will continue to cause direct and irreparable harm to President Trump — the leading candidate in the 2024 Presidential election — and voters located far beyond Manhattan,” defense lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote in the filing.
