“That’s like somebody saying I can’t play ball. That doesn’t bother me at all. What bothers me is that he has time to even do that. He has the most powerful job in the world. Like, you really got this much time that you can comment on me?”
— LeBron James, in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, on President Trump insulting his intelligence.
“Actor Tom Arnold and Apprentice producer Mark Burnett reportedly got into a physical confrontation at a Hollywood fundraiser Sunday night, with Arnold claiming Burnett tried to choke him and Burnett’s wife posting a photo of a bruise she says she received during the altercation,” The Hill reports.
“Arnold, who is set to launch The Hunt for the Trump Tapes on Viceland Tuesday night, has publicly lambasted Burnett for months. Arnold has claimed the producer is protecting President Trump by refusing to release outtakes from the The Apprentice that the comic alleges contain Trump using racial slurs. Arnold was once a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice with Trump as host.”
Retired boxer Oscar De La Hoya told TMZ he’s considering running for president in 2020.
Said De La Hoya: “I am actually very, very serious, and I strongly feel that if a Kanye West can do it and announce and maybe tease the world that he would maybe one day wanna run for president, why not me?”
Washington Post: “Hollywood’s fervor for this year’s midterm elections rivals that of recent presidential campaigns, according to Democratic donors and strategists in the Los Angeles area who say the energy is driven by a belief that a Democratic-controlled House can serve as a powerful check on President Trump.”
”People who work in the television, movie and music industry in the Los Angeles metro area have given $2.4 million to House candidate committees so far this election, with the vast majority going to support Democrats… That is the largest sum from these donors to House Democratic campaigns since at least 2008, and it’s nearly $1 million more than they gave for the 2016 elections.”
Hollywood Reporter: “Yes, he acknowledges factors like Russian President Vladimir Putin and former FBI head James Comey, but asserts that the person most responsible for the Trump presidency is… Gwen Stefani. ‘You hadn’t heard that before, have you?’ Moore asks, delighted with the audacity of the claim.”
“Moore posits that when Trump realized Stefani’s performance fees as a coach on ‘The Voice’ were larger than his own on ‘The Apprentice’, he staged his now-infamous Trump Tower campaign announcement to prove his popularity to NBC, which aired both shows… After Trump’s accusation that Mexico was sending rapists across the border, NBC cut ties with him. But Trump, suddenly finding himself cheered on by massive crowds and an indulgent media, figured why not make a serious run for the highest office in the land?”
Said Moore: “He’d been talking about running for president since 1988, but he didn’t really want to be president. There’s no penthouse in the White House. And he doesn’t want to live in a black city. He was trying to pit NBC against another network, but it just went off the rails.”
“The police in Sacramento are investigating an allegation that the lead singer of the pop-punk band Social Distortion punched a fan who protested his diatribe against President Trump during a concert last month,” the New York Times reports.
“The fan, Tim Hildebrand, said in an interview that the lead singer, Mike Ness, called the president a bigot and a racist during a concert on July 19 at the Ace of Spades. In response, Mr. Hildebrand said, he protested by holding up his middle finger. He kept it there for two to three songs and Mr. Ness eventually called him forward, Mr. Hildebrand said, adding that Mr. Ness punched him repeatedly in the head.”
Stephen Colbert slammed New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) for saying America “was never that great” this week, declaring on the CBS Late Show that the line was “the dumbest thing you could say as a politician.”
Said Colbert: “That is the dumbest thing you could say as a politician. That’s like closing your speech with, ‘Apple pie sucks, I’m lukewarm on the troops, and those stripes make the American flag look fat! Thank you, I hate my mother!’”
Penn Jillette told Vanity Fair that he personally heard Donald Trump make racist remarks on the set of the Apprentice. He wouldn’t, however, quote exactly what he heard Trump say.
Said Jillette: “If Donald Trump had not become president, I would tell you all the stories. But the stakes are now high and I am an unreliable narrator… I can emotionally tell you things that happened racially, sexually, and that showed stupidity and lack of compassion when I was in the room with Donald Trump and I guarantee you that I will get details wrong.”
Jillette did go ahead and characterize some of the things he heard Trump say, including crude small talk in which the then Apprentice host would turn to a cast member and ask “if he’d rather have sex with this woman or that woman.”
For members: Why the ‘Apprentice’ Tapes Would Be a Big Deal
“First lady Melania Trump issued a statement Saturday in support of LeBron James, after President Trump posted a late-night tweet attacking the basketball star,” the Washington Post reports.
President Trump hurled insults at Lebron James in a Friday night tweet after the basketball star criticized him in an interview with CNN.
Said Trump: “Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made Lebron look smart, which isn’t easy to do.”
He concluded with an apparent reference to basketball legend Michael Jordan and the debate of who is the best basketball player of all time, saying: “I like Mike!”
The Fayette Advocate “has obtained emails from a whistleblower from inside the Columbus Police Department that outline the arrest of Stormy Daniels earlier this month may have been pre-planned days before she ever arrived in town.”
“Inside the emails are news clippings discussing Daniels’ planned appearance in Columbus, pictures of Daniels with President Donald Trump, videos of her dancing, and even a map to the club where she would be performing, all sent days before she would pull into town on her tour bus.”
“After Daniels’ arrest that Wednesday night, the emails continue into the early morning hours of Thursday, but the contents are disturbing.”
President Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame has been destroyed — once again — after being smashed with a pickaxe last night, KUTV reports.
In an interview with Popula — Anthony Bourdain’s last before he committed suicide — the celebrity chef slammed former president Bill Clinton.
Said Bourdain: “Bill Clinton, look, the bimbo eruptions—it was fucking monstrous. That would not have flown today. A piece of shit. Entitled, rapey, gropey, grabby, disgusting, and the way that he—and she—destroyed these women and the way that everyone went along, and, and are blind to this! Screamingly apparent hypocrisy and venality.”
He added: “He is a very charming man, I met him, he’s fucking magnetic… As is she. When you’re in the room, you think wow, she’s really warm and nice and funny. But the way they efficiently dismantled, destroyed, and shamelessly discredited these women for speaking their truth.… is unforgivable.”
“Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has been revealed as a top donor to a Republican PAC aimed at keeping control of Congress,” the Daily Beast reports.
“Musk has a history of donating to both parties, but contributions to the Republican Party raised eyebrows on Twitter, where many questioned how the ‘socially liberal’ billionaire vowing to fight climate change could support the GOP’s platform.”
Stormy Daniels “was arrested early Thursday at an Ohio strip club for allegedly touching patrons on stage in violation of state law,” CNN reports.
“When officers witnessed those activities, three detectives approached the stage. Daniels allegedly made her way toward two detectives, leaned over and grabbed their faces. She shoved each of their faces between her breasts.”
Said attorney Michael Avenatti: “This was a setup and politically motivated. It reeks of desperation. We will fight all bogus charges.”
“I’ll put it this way. People forced to play defense tend to get sloppy, they tend to make mistakes. And look, if I didn’t think Michael was doing a good job, I would fire his ass…. Every time I watch him work, I think, This is what it must have been like to see the Sistine Chapel being painted. But instead of paint, Michael uses the tears of his enemies.”
— Stormy Daniels, quoted by the New York Times, about her attorney, Michael Avenatti.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Wonk Wire, Political Job Hunt 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.
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