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Democrat Texted About Shooting Virginia Speaker

October 3, 2025 at 1:33 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Virginia Attorney General candidate Jay Jones (D) sent disturbing text messages to a colleague fantasizing about killing then-Virginia Speaker Todd Gilbert (R), National Review reports.

Said Jones: “If those guys die before me, I will go to their funerals to piss on their graves to send them out awash in something.”

He then suggested that in a hypothetical situation in which he had only two bullets and was faced with the choice of murdering Hitler, Pol Pot or Gilbert, he’d shoot Gilbert “every time.”

Not the Same Guy

October 3, 2025 at 1:30 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Atlantic: “Thirty-four days into the previous government shutdown, in 2019, reporters asked President Donald Trump if he had a message for the thousands of federal employees who were about to miss another paycheck.

Said Trump: “I love them. I respect them. I really appreciate the great job they’re doing.”

“The following day, caving after weeks of punishing cable-news coverage, he signed legislation to reopen the government, lauding furloughed employees as ‘incredible patriots,’ pledging to quickly restore their back pay, and calling the moment ‘an opportunity for all parties to work together for the benefit of our whole beautiful, wonderful nation.'”

“Doesn’t really sound like the same guy, does it? This time, it took Trump fewer than 24 hours to turn a shutdown into a weapon wielded against the civil servants he once praised and the opposing party he has long derided.”

Abigail Spanberger Holds Wide Lead for Virginia Governor

October 3, 2025 at 1:28 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Abigail Spanberger (D) leads Winsome Earle-Sears (R) by double digits in the contest for Virginia governor, 55% to 43% among likely voters, according to a new Washington Post-Schar School poll.

Democrats Need to Focus on Power, Not Healthcare

October 3, 2025 at 12:37 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Jonathan Last: “So far as I can tell, the Democratic ask on the shutdown negotiations boils down to:

“Preserving ACA subsidies for low-income people that will keep health care premiums lower.”
“Undoing Republican cuts to Medicaid in order to preserve healthcare access, especially in poor, rural areas.”

“This is political malpractice.”

“Democrats have Trump over a barrel. The government is shut down. Real-world impacts from the last piece of Republican legislation will start crushing voters, soon. And the Democrats’ proposal is to… save Trump from the political costs of the shutdown by saving him from the political costs of his Big Beautiful Bill?”

“Don’t do these things that will make you unpopular, Mr. President, and then we’ll give you the votes you need to end the shutdown, which is also making you unpopular.”

Chris Murphy Issues a Warning

October 3, 2025 at 12:16 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) told the New Republic that meaningful political opposition to President Trump could be seriously constrained.

Said Murphy: “My belief has never been that he’s going to cancel the election in 2026 or 2028—he’s not going to do that. Turkey still has elections, Hungary still has elections, Russia still has elections.”

He added: “The leaders in those countries just constrain that space the opposition can operate in, such that they never have enough room to win a national election. If we are not already there, we are really, really close. Which is why the only way out of that is to make them pay a political price every time they ratchet up pressure on the opposition.”

JD Vance Takes Center Stage During Shutdown

October 3, 2025 at 12:03 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Vice President Vance is getting a moment in the spotlight amid the ongoing government shutdown, putting the potential 2028 GOP nominee front-and-center as a top messenger and attack dog for the administration,” NewsNation reports.

‘Voter Fraud’ Watchdog Votes Where He Doesn’t Live

October 3, 2025 at 11:58 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Slate: “Jack Posobiec is very concerned about voter fraud. An influential MAGA voice and prominent conspiracy theorist, he’s perhaps best known for amplifying the 2016 ‘Pizzagate’ conspiracy, which culminated in a man firing a gun in a D.C. pizza restaurant.”

“In the years since, Posobiec has loudly espoused a range of debunked conspiracy theories. That includes the GOP theory—once semi-fringe and now thoroughly MAGA mainstreamed—that Democrats have won elections via millions of fraudulent votes. The Republican National Committee last fall enlisted him to speak to poll watchers about election security. Posobiec is particularly focused on Pennsylvania, repeatedly accusing the state’s Democratic officials of fraud, even spreading conspiracy theories that were followed by an RNC lawsuit.”

“The focus on voter fraud in Pennsylvania is particularly ironic because it sure looks like, and a trail of documentation suggests, that Posobiec is living in Maryland but voting in Pennsylvania. If so, that would be a violation of voting laws, experts say.”

Madison Cawthorn Can’t Expect Help from Trump

October 3, 2025 at 11:56 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Once a MAGA poster child, former North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn is attempting a political comeback — this time in an open House seat in Florida — but he shouldn’t expect any help from those in President Donald Trump’s orbit,” NOTUS reports.

Said one Trump insider: “No way.”

Young Trump Voters Detail Frustrations with Him

October 3, 2025 at 11:13 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Donald Trump’s victory last year was fueled in part by improvement among young voters,” NBC News reports.

“But new focus groups reveal why some young voters who backed Trump are beginning to sour on his administration’s approach to immigration and the economy.”

Trump Reverses New York Counterterrorism Cuts

October 3, 2025 at 11:10 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The White House will restore $187 million in cuts to law enforcement funding that would have devastated New York’s intelligence and counterterrorism operations, following a bipartisan effort to reinstate the funds,” the New York Times reports.

Obamacare Subsidies Used More in GOP Districts

October 3, 2025 at 11:08 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The health insurance subsidies at the center of the U.S. government shutdown fight disproportionately benefit areas of the country represented by Republican lawmakers, posing a potential vulnerability for Donald Trump’s party in next year’s midterm congressional elections,” Bloomberg reports.

“Twelve million Americans in Republican-held U.S. House districts are covered by health plans purchased through Affordable Care Act exchanges versus nine million living in Democratic-held districts. Of the 75 districts where at least 10% of the people are enrolled in Obamacare policies, 47 are represented by Republicans in the House.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

October 3, 2025 at 11:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Once you start conceding to demands on shutdowns, every time we get up against a deadline, you’re gonna have another shutdown.”

— Sen. John Thune (R-SD), quoted by Punchbowl News.

Shutdowns Are a Uniquely American Dysfunction

October 3, 2025 at 10:42 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Zachary Wolf: “Aside from the routinely expiring debt ceiling, the practice of government shutdowns may be the most dramatic, unique and objectively silly quirks of how Washington, DC, works.”

“Shutdowns cost the government billions of dollars, they interrupt the productivity of federal workers, and it’s just plain a bad look for the most powerful democracy on earth to see its government literally sputter.”

“The concept of a shutdown is essentially unheard-of in much of the rest of the world. In most forms of democratic government, a failure to keep the government functioning would lead to the establishment of a new government.”

Trump Gives Hamas Sunday Deadline

October 3, 2025 at 10:38 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Donald Trump said that Hamas must agree to a proposed peace deal for Gaza by Sunday evening and threatened that the group will face more attacks if it doesn’t,” the AP reports.

Said Trump: “Every Country has signed on! If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas.”

Justices Take Up Hawaii’s Restrictions on Concealed Guns

October 3, 2025 at 10:21 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to take up a major new gun rights case focused on recent measures enacted in Hawaii that restrict where people with a license to carry a concealed handgun can bring their weapons,” NBC News reports.

“At issue are provisions of a law that requires people with concealed carry permits to seek permission to bring their weapons onto private properties that are otherwise open to the public unless the owner already allows it.”

Associated Press: Supreme Court will consider overturning Hawaii’s strict ban on guns on private property.

Trump Charts Path to Total Control

October 3, 2025 at 10:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump is seizing on the government shutdown as an ‘unprecedented opportunity’ to consolidate control in the Oval Office, accelerating a trend toward unchecked power,” Axios reports.

“Many Democrats see the shutdown as a necessary evil to halt — or at least slow — Trump’s steamrolling of democratic norms and independent institutions. So far, the standoff is only emboldening the White House.”

Cori Bush Kicks Off Comeback Bid

October 3, 2025 at 9:56 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), a member of the liberal “Squad” in the House who was defeated in an expensive and contentious primary last year, said she will run for her old seat, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Trump Enlists Business to Push Democrats on Shutdown

October 3, 2025 at 9:53 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump and top aides are enlisting powerful business and labor groups to push Senate Democrats to end the government shutdown,” Axios reports.

“Trump, while threatening mass firings of government workers, is also playing an inside game by cultivating support from influential D.C. interests — a tactic he typically dismissed during his first administration.”