Crooked Media - What A Day: Garbage Force One

BY MATT BERG
& CROOKED MEDIA

THURSDAY
OCTOBER 31, 2024

The garbage goes in the back of the truck.”

— Jimmy Kimmel, after Donald Trump rode in the front seat of a garbage truck.

TRUMP DUMP TRUCK DUCK

Donald Trump’s sinister pledge to “protect” women, whether they “like it or not,” gives Kamala Harris a fresh opportunity to remind voters what’s at stake, right before Election Day.

Former President Donald Trump’s own advisers warned him that it would be “very inappropriate” for him to talk about protecting women, he told a rally last night. If they really said that, of course, they were right: After all, he’s been found liable for sexual abuse, has been credibly accused of sexual misconduct more than two dozen times, and once boasted profanely on a hot mic about grabbing women without their permission. But any such advice failed to stop Trump from being incredibly creepy: “I said, ‘Well, I’m going to do it, whether the women like it or not, I’m going to protect them.’”

Democrats pounced. The line seemed to underscore everything they’ve been warning voters would come from a second Trump administration about “protecting” women from access to reproductive healthcare, never mind their own preferences, and Trump’s general disregard for other people’s well-being. “That's how this guy has lived his life,” Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) told a crowd today. “Women turned away now because of what he’s doing from emergency rooms to get basic care, having miscarriages in parking lots.” Vice President Kamala Harris called the comments “very offensive to women.”

It’s genuinely hard to imagine how MAGAworld could defend such problematic remarks. So, I reached out to a Republican strategist, who noted that Trump was talking about border issues: “We’ve seen this movie a million times before: The media and left dissect Trump’s every word instead of focusing on the actual substance,” she wrote in a text message. “I am far less concerned about how he said it, than that he said it. Whether it be about the border crisis, increased violent crime or women’s health, women voters want to know that the president has their back.” Counterpoint: Trump literally orchestrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade, taking away women’s fundamental right to make choices about their own bodies, a ruling that garnered the disapproval of most Americans.

High-profile Republican women backing Trump seem to recognize how disastrous such misogynistic comments are — even if they won’t condemn them outright.

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who endorsed the former president, recently criticized his allies for being “overly masculine with this bromance thing” and warned that it’s “not the way to win women.” However, a spokesperson for Haley didn’t respond to What A Day’s request for comment about Trump’s latest remarks, and she hasn’t addressed it elsewhere.

How much does all this matter to the election? It might just be the whole ballgame. This race features the largest gender gap in modern American presidential history. One recent poll put the male-female voter gap at a whopping 17 points, with Trump 8 points ahead with men, and Harris 9 points ahead with women. In a race where national and swing state polls are incredibly tight, it’s possible to imagine a stray offensive comment about women or, say, the entire island of Puerto Rico, motivating enough extra voters to the polls to tip the final result.

All that may help explain why Trump keeps cosplaying like a guy with a normal job — and dressing up as a McDonald’s worker, or a garbage man, just in time for Halloween. He’s better off when people pay attention to his goofy costume, and not the appalling thing he just said.

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WHAT ELSE?

MAGA loonies are preparing to undermine the election Donald Trump loses next week. The plan includes mounting legal challenges, pressuring officials to block the certification, and organizing protests. “January 6th is going to be pretty fun,” Ivan Raiklin, a former Green Beret who’s close to Trumpworld, told activists earlier this month, according to CNN. Chills.

A Pennsylvania judge said he won’t move forward right away with a civil lawsuit seeking to stop billionaire conspiracist Elon Musk’s $1 million daily voter sweepstakes brought by the Philadelphia District Attorney. I mean, great call. After all, “legal consequences” are only for non-billionaires, amirite, Elon?

Speaking of that lunatic, employees at Musk’s largest companies — SpaceX, Tesla and X — donated way more to Democratic campaigns this election cycle than Republican ones, showing a stark political divide between workers and the deranged head honcho.

Roadkill enthusiast and famed anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. apparently convinced Trump transition team co-chair Howard Lutnick to become a “vaccine skeptic” and buy the unfounded conspiracy theory that they’re linked to autism. RFK Jr.’s claims about vaccines have been widely debunked, and the original 1998 study that became the genesis of the “vaccines cause autism” claim turned out to be so flawed and intentionally misleading that the doctor who authored it lost his medical license. Nevertheless,Trump has reportedly pledged to give RFK Jr. a top health administration job if he wins. Great stuff. Only the best people.

NBA legend Lebron James endorsed Harris for president. “When I think about my kids and my family and how they will grow up, the choice is clear to me,” he wrote.

Larry Hogan, the Republican Senate candidate in Maryland, privately touted his endorsement from Trump after repeatedly saying that he didn’t want the former president’s blessing. His campaign spokesperson, however, said Hogan won’t endorse Trump for president. The bravery in this party, well, it’s simply unmatched.

The death rate from firearms in several U.S. states is higher than the rate in several countries with violent gangs and cartels, including Haiti, Mexico and Colombia, according to a report released today. The states with the highest rates include Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Wyoming, Arizona and Oklahoma.

Scientists are positive that climate change worsened the deadly floods in Spain this week, which have killed more than 150 people.

Russian authorities slapped Google with a fine so big, it adds up to more money than exists in the entire world. That’s two undecillion rubles — or $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 — for blocking Russian state media videos on YouTube. Free ad idea: Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooogle.

We did it. We talked to every undecided voter who would listen. We organized. We volunteered. We learned the names of so many counties. You did all that…right? Now, it’s time to treat ourselves by mainlining some election content.

When the polls close, your friends at Crooked Media will have you covered with content for days—or weeks—until the results are called.

Here’s what you can expect next week:

What A Day will be fresh in your feeds every morning, with Jane Coaston easing you into the biggest stories & making sense of what you need to know in just 20 minutes.

Pod Save America will have a new episode daily until the election is called—diving deep into the results—and where we go from here.

And if the Trump campaign decides to go the legal route, the Strict Scrutiny hosts will be on-call to break down what it all means on their show and across the Crooked universe.

And because no one should have to be alone with their thoughts during election week, check out Hysteria, Lovett or Leave It, Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams and more on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Pop icon Janelle Monáe won Halloween this year with her unsettlingly realistic ET costume. As Entertainment Weekly described it, the costume “will have you phoning home for help.”

Several Democratic governors dressed up as Tim Walz for the holiday. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) carried a dog dressed as a pig, while others sported hunting attire and his football coaching outfit. The Dem governors group chat is probably blowing up today.