“The Trump family’s new crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, is off to an inauspicious start after website crashes limited the ability for investors to participate in an inaugural token sale event,” Wired reports.
“The crypto token, WLFI, went on sale at around 9 am Eastern time on Tuesday. At the time of writing, the website continues to be plagued by reliability issues, pushing some visitors to an error page.”
Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) endorsed Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA) for reelection – her first endorsement for a House incumbent this cycle, Axios reports.
Said Cheney: “Susan and I served together in the House, and while we may not agree on everything, I know that she holds a deep respect for the integrity of our democracy.”
Cheney has also endorsed John Avlon, who is running against Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY) this cycle.
“Kamala Harris agreed that Donald Trump is a fascist in her most forthright statement yet in casting her presidential opponent as a potential autocrat harboring authoritarian visions should he return to the White House,” The Guardian reports.
When asked if voting for Trump was choosing fascism, Harris immediately replied: “Yes, we can say that.”
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“Donald Trump has largely outsourced his 2024 campaign’s get-out-the-vote operation to a Super PAC bankrolled and directed by Elon Musk, the world’s richest man,” Rolling Stone reports.
“In recent weeks, several Republican operatives and other figures in the national party have bluntly and directly informed Trump they fear Musk’s organization is falling down on the job of mobilizing voters to cast their ballots for the Republican nominee.”
“When Vice President Kamala Harris walked off the stage of her rally in Erie, Pa., which included a video compilation of Donald Trump’s recent comments about ‘the enemy from within,’ she told her campaign staff that she wanted to keep using the former president’s own words against him,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The video footage of Trump, which Harris presented for the first time at Monday’s rally, is part of the vice president’s decision to deliver much sharper attacks against her rival during the campaign’s final weeks. Harris is leaning into the threat of a second Trump term, building upon her portrayal of the former president as a self-interested politician who doesn’t have an agenda for the middle class.”
Elon Musk’s offer of free admission to hear his speech in exchange for having voted in Pennsylvania is likely illegal, according to Rick Hasen.
“This is likely illegal, because in a federal election one cannot give anything of value in exchange for someone agreeing to turn out to vote. It is not necessary to offer that a person vote for or against a particular candidate. Here is the relevant statute, 18 U.S.C. section 597. Just like one cannot give out free ice cream or car washes or concert tickets, one cannot give out free admission to hear a speech by a tech entreprenuer.”
Gallup: “Americans continue to register record-low trust in the mass media, with 31% expressing a ‘great deal’ or ‘fair amount’ of confidence in the media to report the news ‘fully, accurately and fairly,’ similar to last year’s 32%.”
“Americans’ trust in the media — such as newspapers, television and radio — first fell to 32% in 2016 and did so again last year.”
Fox News anchor Bret Baier has tried to position himself above the partisan fray as “fair, balanced and unafraid,” as he says in his sign-off every night, CNN reports.
“But a review of Baier’s emails and comments during the 2020 election aftermath suggests otherwise. And his recent social media activity shows that he is supremely aware of the Fox base’s extreme disdain for Harris and distrust of the media.”
“Donald Trump is campaigning on the most significant increase in tariffs in close to a century, preparing an attack on the international trade order that would likely raise prices, hurt the stock market and spark economic feuds with much of the world,” the Washington Post reports.
“Trump’s trade plans, a staple of his stump speeches, have fluctuated, but he consistently calls for steep duties to discourage imports and promote domestic production. The former president has floated ‘automatic’ tariffs of 10 percent to 20 percent on every U.S. trading partner, 60 percent levies on goods from China, and rates as high as 100, 200 or even 1,000 percent in other circumstances.”
“These proposals would go far beyond the disruptive trade wars of his first term even if they are only partially implemented. They would wrench the nation out of the system of global interdependence that arose in recent decades, making the U.S. economy much more isolated and autonomous, like it was in the late 19th century. (Trump last week falsely claimed that the United States was never richer than in the 1890s, when it had high trade barriers.)”
Andrew Egger: “You should watch the interview Trump did yesterday at the Economic Club of Chicago. You might think you’ve got a pretty good idea of the big guy’s solipsism, his buffoonish overconfidence, his utter inability to engage on matters of policy. Watch a few answers, and you’ll be forced to conclude: It’s way worse than you thought…”
“It takes a certain amount of ego and delusion to run for president. Trump has those characteristics in excess. But what stood out at the talk yesterday was the degree to which these are now the only elements undergirding his vision. Gone is the talk about surrounding himself with the best people. Dropped is the pretense that his answers are coherent. (Trump has started referring to his meandering logorrhea as ‘the weave.’) The pitch instead is that some sort of mad genius remains within him: Trust me, I’m the deals guy! I’ll get the best deals!”
“As Donald Trump and Kamala Harris feverishly chase undecided voters in the final stretch of the presidential campaign, millions of people in battleground states are being served ads on Facebook and Instagram from an obscure page calling itself The Daily Scroll,” CNN reports.
“The social media ads, which are adorned with a nondescript logo resembling a pair of checkmarks, have promoted news articles from mainstream outlets including CNN, ABC and NBC, showing easing US inflation, cheaper insulin prices, and the consequences of state abortion bans.”
“But the ads on Meta-owned platforms aren’t being paid for by any news outlet — they’re a product of Harris’ presidential campaign, which has spent heavily on social media platforms and embraced influencers to power her online efforts against Trump.”
Drew Harwell: “A sign of how challenging it’s become to promote news articles on social platforms: the Harris campaign is paying lots of money so that people can see factual information about slowing inflation, falling drug prices and abortion ban risks in their feeds.”
“So to every Texas woman at home and every Texas family watching this, understand that when Ted Cruz says he’s pro life, he doesn’t mean yours.
— Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX), in his debate with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
Peter Wehner: “No election prior to the Trump era, regardless of the outcome, ever caused me to question the fundamental decency of America.”
“Kamala Harris’ campaign will air an abortion rights ad featuring Hadley Duvall, who was raped by her stepfather when she was 12, during Donald Trump’s ‘women’s issues’ town hall on Fox News Wednesday morning,” Politico reports.
“The 60-second TV ad, the Harris campaign hopes, will reach Republican-leaning and independent women on an issue that’s proven to be persuasive for them.”
“Former first lady Michelle Obama will headline a rally in Atlanta a week before the Nov. 5 election alongside celebrities and civic leaders focusing on engaging younger and first-time voters, as well as voters of color,” the AP reports.
A new Marist poll finds Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump by five points among likely voters, 52% to 47%.
The race gets closer, however, among registered voters nationally. Here, three points separate the two candidates.
The latest TIPP tracking poll also shows Harris growing her lead to 50% to 46%.
CNN: “Delivered during what has become a rare campaign stop for the incumbent, Biden said Harris’ loyalty to him up to now doesn’t mean she won’t forge her own way going ahead.”
Said Biden: “Every president has to cut their own path. That’s what I did. I was loyal to Barack Obama, but I cut my own path as president. That’s what Kamala is going to do. She’s been loyal so far, but she’s gonna cut her own path.”
Former Trump adviser Stephen Miller said Donald Trump’s fiery live Bloomberg interview at the Economic Club of Chicago was the “greatest live interview any political leader or politician has done on the economy in our lifetimes” —despite numerous reports which labelled the appearance a “mess” and “catastrophic.”
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.
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