Daily Archives
56 posts · Friday
Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 191
Blue Wave Update
“President Trump personally instructed his budget director to use taxpayer money for TV ads praising him and his presidency, setting in motion a $20 million contract that used funds from the Department of Homeland Security,” the New York Times reports.
“The ads have run across cable and network television — on Fox News, CNN and MS Now, with football games on Fox and with national newscasts on CBS, ABC and NBC, including ‘Meet the Press,’ which Mr. Trump is known to watch.”
“President Donald Trump brushed off the prospect of Democrats regaining control of Congress in the midterms, remarking that he has become so accustomed to impeachment that he’s ‘getting good’ at it,” Mediaite reports.
Said Trump: “Well, I don’t know, but I’m getting good at it. It’s a fake impeachment, and we could’ve done that with ‘Sleepy’ Joe, but we didn’t do it because it wouldn’t have been appropriate. I could’ve done that with Hillary Clinton, as you know. I had the chance to do it if I wanted, and I said, ‘That would be inappropriate,’ but with me, they like to do it.”
“One key to victory in the midterm elections comes down to this question: How can each party win support from people who don’t like them?” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“More voters say they dislike both the Democratic and Republican parties than in other recent elections, the result of economic anxiety and deep dissatisfaction with politicians and government. Some 21% of the voter pool holds an unfavorable view of both parties, a recent Wall Street Journal poll found, significantly above the 13% in the 2022 midterms and about 12% in the past two presidential elections.”
“Steve Hilton, the Republican candidate for California governor, turned heads Friday with his lesbian, fanfic-style campaign ad,” The Wrap reports.
“State Rep. Jennifer Balkcom, the Republican nominee for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District, struggled to answer a series of questions during a recent interview, repeatedly pausing and admitting she was ‘not sure’ where she stood on key issues,” Mediaite reports.
“Eleven years ago, Donald Trump arrived in Mobile in his Boeing 757, strode onto a football field to ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ and was greeted by a sight that revealed the scale of his fledging political movement: Tens of thousands of people had braved sweltering temperatures and snarled traffic to see him,” the Washington Post reports.
“An estimated 30,000 people had come to witness Trump on the ascent, proving that his brash, freewheeling political style could win over supporters even in the Bible Belt. The event marked the first time he had drawn such a large crowd, and it was a harbinger of the boisterous rallies that would come to define his more than decade in politics.”
“On Friday, he returns with his presidential approval ratings at historic lows and Republicans struggling to translate his power to mobilize their base into broader electoral support. With just a month to go before the midterms, Trump is returning to places where his movement remains strongest even as Republicans struggle in competitive districts across the country.”
ABC News: Trump heads to deep-red Alabama to “thank” loyal voters as GOP eyes a key House seat.
“Hispanic voters helped to power President Trump’s victory in 2024. Republicans thought they were watching a major, and permanent, realignment, one that would lock in their power in places like Texas and Florida for a generation,” the New York Times reports.
“Polling suggests, though, that these voters have quickly soured on Republicans. That could be one of the biggest stories of the midterm elections.”
A new CBS News/YouGov poll in Maine finds Troy Jackson (D) and Susan Collins (R) tied in the U.S. Senate race, 50% to 50%.
The same poll in Maine finds Hannah Pingree (D) leading Bobby Charles (R) in the governor’s race, 56% to 44%.
“President Trump ragged on several mainstream news outlets, including the Washington Post, New York Times and MS NOW, at a dinner he hosted Tuesday for News Corp. executives, including Rupert Murdoch,” Axios reports.
“The dinner, which the source described as cordial, comes amid a prolonged legal battle between the president and the Wall Street Journal.”
“A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from pursuing border wall construction in the Big Bend region in Texas on Friday,” Axios reports.
“The construction inside the national park sparked local outrage and environmental concerns, with Friday’s decision handing the Department of Homeland Security a loss in its quest to rapidly expand the Southwestern border wall.”
Washington Sun: Judge slows border wall construction in Big Bend sector.
“Sen. Bernie Sanders will hit the road for Troy Jackson in Maine starting Oct. 10, the first time the progressive leader will stump for the candidate this cycle,” Politico reports.
“The Vermont independent plans to hold three rallies with Jackson.”
“The National Science Foundation, one of the biggest sources of federal research funding, withheld $1.4 billion that Congress had intended for research over the course of the past year,” the New York Times reports.
“The extraordinary move — holding back about one-fifth of the NSF’s primary research budget — is the latest sign of how the Trump administration is finding creative ways to work around Congress.”
“A former Miami congressman and longtime friend of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison in connection with a secret $50 million lobbying campaign on Venezuela’s behalf during the first Trump administration,” the Washington Sun reports.
“Republican David Rivera has been jailed since jurors found him guilty in May on all counts, including failing to register as a foreign agent and conspiracy to commit money laundering as part of his work for former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ’s government.”
“The U.S. Justice Department isn’t reopening a criminal investigation into former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for cost overruns related to the central bank’s building renovation project,” Bloomberg reports.
“Attorney General Todd Blanche didn’t rule out continuing to look into the project’s oversight and potentially take action if evidence of wrongdoing came to light.”
“In a new setback to prosecutors in the Sept. 11 case, a military judge on Friday excluded the confessions of another prisoner accused of helping the hijackers who carried out the attacks,” the New York Times reports.
“Last month, the judge also threw out the confessions of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the man accused of being the mastermind of the plot that killed nearly 3,000 people.”
“The Senate is well on its way to claiming the congressional attendance trophy this year, spending 32 more weekdays in session so far than the House,” Axios reports.
“Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) have been torched by members for all the time off — not to mention Democrats, who taunt them for their truancy.”
“Christa Pike was unconscious, intubated and on a ventilator in a Nashville hospital as of Thursday evening, a day after surviving a botched execution attempt, her lawyers said in a court filing,” the New York Times reports.
Reuters: Tennessee governor calls failed Christa Pike execution “a tragedy.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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