Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) sent a letter to his constituents debunking the misinformation and conspiracy theories that have spread in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, telling them, “Nobody can control the weather,” CBS News reports.
He noted there’s been an increase in “untrustworthy sources trying to spark chaos by sharing hoaxes, conspiracy theories, and hearsay about hurricane response efforts across our mountains.”
It turns out Donald Trump’s “God Bless the USA” Bibles were made in China, The Independent reports.
Donald Trump repeatedly referred to Maine’s female governor, Janet Mills (D), as “he” on a call with supporters in the state on Monday, the Bangor Daily News reports.
Mills replied to Trump on X: “He better get used to recognizing women. He’s about to get beat by one.”
“Politicians and right-wing influencers have spread conspiracy theories online suggesting that Hurricane Milton has been geoengineered by nefarious forces, with the end goal of preventing Republicans from voting in the presidential election,” Wired reports.
“The ‘weather weapon’ theory and others began proliferating when Hurricane Helene made landfall nearly two weeks ago, leaving at least 230 dead. And now, some of these wild narratives are not only reverberating on fringe corners of the internet but also are being spread by major accounts—chief among them, GOP congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.”
Tom Nichols: “Washington’s life is a story of heroic actions, but also of temptations avoided, of things he would not do. As a military officer, Washington refused to take part in a plot to overthrow Congress. As a victorious general, he refused to remain in command after the war had ended. As president, he refused to hold on to an office that he did not believe belonged to him. His insistence on the rule of law and his willingness to return power to its rightful owners—the people of the United States—are among his most enduring gifts to the nation and to democratic civilization.”
“Forty-four men have succeeded Washington so far. Some became titans; others finished their terms without distinction; a few ended their service to the nation in ignominy. But each of them knew that the day would come when it would be their duty and honor to return the presidency to the people.”
“All but one, that is.”
“Donald Trump and his authoritarian political movement represent an existential threat to every ideal that Washington cherished and encouraged in his new nation.”
Bloomberg: “After four decades of Democrats losing ground to Republicans across the US heartland, Kamala Harris is now trying to appeal to some of Donald Trump’s loyal farming base. The Democratic strategy includes a new rural outreach director and a series of ads featuring growers pledging to vote for her in the swing states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.”
“Most battleground states still have a relatively large rural population, so securing support from farming communities will be key. Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, have recently been stumping in these regions, touting rural health care, as well as the billions promised by President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and other federal programs to bring back manufacturing.”
“The viewers of ‘The View’ talk show and the listeners of Howard Stern’s satellite radio program couldn’t be more different: older women who watch daytime television for the former versus young and middle-aged white men who have long constituted the fervent followers of the once-raunchy stylings of the latter,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“Yet within the span of a couple of hours Tuesday, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris traveled between their studios in Manhattan to sit down for lengthy interviews, an odd juxtaposition of a television show initially viewed as a ladies-who-lunch klatch and a radio host who became famous because of pornographic, misogynistic and at times racist diatribes that led to millions of dollars in indecency fines from the federal government.”
“A long-shot congressional challenger in Virginia is so determined to debate the Democratic incumbent one more time that he created an AI chatbot to stand in for the candidate in case he’s a no-show,” Reuters reports.
“Less than a month from election day, the race for Virginia’s 8th congressional district is all but decided. The sitting congressman in this deeply Democratic district, Don Beyer, won handily in 2022 with nearly three-quarters of the vote.”
Speaker Mike Johnson has been cultivating his relationship with Donald Trump by “occasionally popping into Mar-a-Lago for face time” as he tries to hang on to his leadership position, Politico reports.
“Heading into the 2024 cycle, Republicans saw a Senate map offering flip opportunities in eight red and purple states as a seemingly once-in-a-decade opportunity,” ABC News reports.
“Now, Republicans and Democrats are fighting over a smaller battlefield chiefly focused on two Democratic-held red-state seats in Montana and Ohio. And while Senate races in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin essentially remain coin flips, they’re discussed in Washington and elsewhere as belonging to a second tier, while GOP-held seats in Florida and Texas are becoming the focus of increased spending.”
“To be certain, Republicans are still favored by most prognosticators to take the Senate this year, but even some GOP operatives conceded that aspirations of a tidal wave election may not be within their grasp.”
“Big donors are flooding the fight for control of the House — and, in the final stretch, Democrats have been outraising Republicans,” Politico reports.
“It’s a stunning reversal: Republican super PACs have been dominant in recent cycles and crucial to helping candidates who have struggled to raise as much as their Democratic opponents. But now that advantage has disappeared in the House.”
“Beneath the headline results in many polls, something unusual has turned up with big implications for politics: More voters are calling themselves Republicans than Democrats, suggesting that the GOP has its first durable lead in party identification in more than three decades,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
GOP pollster Bill McInturff called it “the underrecognized game-changer for 2024.’’
“The Kremlin confirmed that former US President Donald Trump while in office sent Russian President Vladimir Putin Covid-19 testing devices during the height of the pandemic, as recounted in a new book by journalist Bob Woodward,” Bloomberg reports.
New York Times: “There may be seven main battlegrounds in the race for the White House in 2024, all of which could prove crucial. But Pennsylvania stands apart as the state that top strategists for both Ms. Harris and Mr. Trump have circled as the likeliest to tip the election.”
“Both candidates are pouring more money, time and energy into the state than anywhere else, with Ms. Harris, Mr. Trump and their allies set to spend $350 million just on television ads in Pennsylvania — $142 million more than the next closest state and more than Michigan and Wisconsin combined.”
Washington Post: Part of Harris’ Pennsylvania strategy: Lose red counties by less.
Associated Press: What presidential campaign? The Electoral College puts most American voters on the sidelines.
“Less than a month before Election Day, Donald Trump’s campaign has not yet participated in the government’s official presidential transition process, a significant break from past practice that could threaten the seamless transfer of power should the Republican nominee win election,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Trump’s team has missed two key deadlines to sign agreements with the administration that are set by federal law and has also failed to sign an ethics plan that is required to jump-start the process of planning for a new administration. Mr. Trump’s representatives did attend a meeting at the White House last month, but they otherwise have had little communication with the Biden administration about the handoff and have skipped the opportunity to receive national security briefings.”
“Mr. Trump’s approach is a clear, although not wholly unexpected, departure from how previous presidential candidates prepared to take control of the vast federal bureaucracy. It appears to be guided, at least in part, by the candidate’s deep suspicion and mistrust of the government he is running to lead.”
“Experts note Mr. Trump may also have other incentives. His refusal to sign the documents allows him to circumvent fund-raising rules that put limits on private contributions to the transition effort, as well as ethics rules meant to avoid possible conflicts of interest for the incoming administration.”
“In the two-and-a-half months since Joe Biden ended his reelection bid, Kamala Harris swiftly secured the Democratic presidential nomination, headlined the party’s most rapturous convention since 2008, brought in hundreds of millions of dollars in new campaign donations and surged past Biden’s poll numbers from earlier this year,” CNN reports.
“And yet, Democrats are increasingly anxious over Harris’ fate. There is a growing sense that her campaign is stuck in the mud – as familiar debates crop up over where and how to deploy precious resources.”
“Harris advisers often publicly dismiss the polls, acknowledging that the race is close and will remain so leading up to Election Day. But just weeks shy – and after multiple blitzes to battleground states and a debate that wiped away memories of Biden’s unraveling – the needle has barely moved, if at all.”
“As many across the southeast struggle to dig out from Hurricane Helene and with Florida now bracing for Hurricane Milton, Donald Trump is making the storms a flashpoint in the presidential race,” Politico reports.
“The former president has seized on the devastation left by Helene to launch a barrage of misinformation — including promoting false claims that FEMA spent disaster relief money on migrants that add to his already inflammatory rhetoric about immigration.”
“Across visits to storm-torn states and through social media, he has cast Kamala Harris and the Biden administration as absent and incompetent in delivering aid even as members of his own party in affected areas say otherwise.”
Wall Street Journal: FEMA scrambles to confront two storms — and misinformation.
Associated Press: As FEMA prepares for Hurricane Milton, it battles rumors surrounding Helene recovery.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.