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The time has come to see what each of us has learned since the 2016 election, and many in the media chose today to step forward and proudly proclaim, “I have recently hatched from a soundproofed egg.”
- President Trump and Joe Biden will hold competing town halls on Thursday, after Trump chickened out of participating in a virtual debate and NBC rewarded him with a counter-programmed primetime event of his own. Shame on NBC for turning an opportunity to inform the electorate into a ratings competition, but if we’ve learned anything from the last few months, it’s that pointing a camera at Trump for 90 minutes is maybe the most damaging thing anyone can do to his campaign.
- In print-media embarrassments, the New York Post has credulously published a But His (Son’s) Emails story from the Trump team, which appears to be more Russian disinformation about Hunter Biden laundered through Rudy Giuliani. (You know, the trustworthy man yelling “people don’t die of [COVID-19] anymore.”) The article’s theoretical ~October Surprise~ is that Hunter introduced then-Vice President Joe Biden to a top executive at Burisma. The Biden campaign swiftly debunked that claim, and noted that the Post never reached out for comment. Facebook and Twitter, delivering the day’s real surprise, have both acted to limit the story’s spread.
- Over in online media, there was….this.
- There’s simply no need for the media to help Trump spread misinformation when he’s so prolific on his own. On Tuesday night, the president inserted himself into the controversy over the California Republican Party’s fake and illegal ballot drop boxes in counties with competitive House races with a full-throated endorsement of election fraud: “You mean only Democrats are allowed to do this? But haven’t the Dems been doing this for years? See you in court. Fight hard Republicans!” On Tuesday Trump also retweeted a next-level deranged QAnon conspiracy theory that the Obama administration staged Osama Bin Laden’s death and had a Navy SEAL team killed, so it seems like things are going well for him.
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Narrator: Things were not going well for him.
- A new North Carolina poll from the New York Times/Siena College finds both Trump and Sen. Thom Thillis (R-NC) trailing, with a half-million votes already cast. (Cal Cunningham and His Excruciatingly Boring Sexts 2020, baby!) In Florida on Tuesday, Joe Biden delivered a powerful speech on how Trump’s presidency had hurt senior citizens, while Trump, a 74-year-old man who must win the state of Florida to remain president, posted a meme about how Joe Biden is old. A genius playing four-dimensional backgammon.
- Trump’s last hope Amy Coney Barrett was back at the Senate Judiciary Committee for her second and final day of not answering questions, including: Does Trump have the power to pardon himself? Was Griswold v. Connecticut, the landmark ruling that safeguards the right to buy and use contraceptives, correctly decided? Is it wrong to separate migrant children from their parents? Is climate change real? What a relief to get all of that not cleared up.
The good news is that however irresponsibly the media, the president, or a pack of GOP senators behaves, everything hinges on what the rest of us do in the next three weeks. We can choose to ignore the polls, take nothing for granted, and share the information that matters—and we must.
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On a special Presidential Wednesday™ edition of Pod Save America, former President Barack Obama (heard of him?) joins Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor for a wide ranging interview on Donald Trump, Joe Biden, American media, and much more. Watch here, or listen wherever you get your pods →
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The White House has reportedly embraced a declaration by a group of scientists arguing for a herd immunity strategy—a fringe position that horrifies most epidemiologists. That approach would call for authorities to allow the coronavirus to spread freely among young healthy people, who famously have no misgivings about potential long-term neurological damage and other symptoms, and/or death. The declaration, which top administration officials reportedly support, has medical signatories which include names like Dr. I.P. Freely, Dr. Person Fakename, and Dr. Johnny Bananas. Meanwhile, new coronavirus cases have been trending upwards in 39 states, 36,051 people were hospitalized as of Tuesday evening, and Trump continues to shout dangerous misinformation at unmasked crowds on a nightly basis.
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- A Wisconsin judge has blocked an order from Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI) limiting bar and restaurant capacity. Elsewhere in Wisconsin, a bar owner who hosted an interview with Donald Trump, Jr., and is now in the ICU with coronavirus would like to punch the president.
- Barron Trump had coronavirus, Melania Trump revealed, now that both of them have tested negative. Melania didn’t miss an opportunity for some dangerous messaging, announcing that she chose to resolve her infection with “vitamins and healthy food.”
- Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia’s wife, Trish Scalia, has tested positive for coronavirus. Both of them attended the Rose Garden nomination event.
- Virginia’s registration deadline has been extended through 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday, after a severed cable took the system down on Tuesday. Incidentally, the exact same thing happened in 2016.
- Wells Fargo has fired more than 100 employees who collected small business coronavirus relief funds for themselves, once again proving the old adage, “Wells gonna Fargo.”
- Central Park Nightmare Amy Cooper made a second 911 call back in May, in which she falsely accused local birdwatcher Christian Cooper, who is black, of trying to assault her.
- Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) will be making a joint announcement with QAnon congressional candidate Marjorie Taylor Greene on Thursday. If it’s not “we’re the worst!” we have some notes.
- Fox/ABC reporter Maria Athens threatened to kill Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz and his wife in an antisemitic, QAnon-infused voicemail. Berkowitz resigned on Tuesday after admitting to having had an inappropriate relationship with Athens.
- The hackers who took control of high-profile Twitter accounts in July gained access to the platform’s internal systems by posing as tech support. If American democracy were to be brought down by a single prank call, we would regrettably be forced to stan.
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Video footage from gatherings of influential conservative activists show unabashed discussions of voter suppression, amplification of conspiracy theories, and open partisan coordination among nonprofit leaders who are...not legally allowed to do that. At an August event in Northern Virginia, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk shared his delight that the closure of college campuses by the pandemic could suppress Democratic turnout. Tom Fitton, president of the nonprofit Judicial Watch, told attendees that the left had a plan to install Nancy Pelosi as president (lol) and urged them to find a way to stop mail-in ballots from being sent to voters. Former Justice Department official (and current president of a charity) J. Christian Adams offered this inspiring motto: “Be not afraid of the accusations that you’re a voter suppressor, you’re a racist and so forth.” It’s deliberate disenfranchisement and conspiracy-theory echo chambers all the way down. Here’s how to send these dorks packing.
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More than one million Texans cast ballots on the first day of early voting.
In total, about 15 million Americans have already voted in early. In North Carolina, nearly one-in-five voters who cast early ballots didn't vote in 2016.
The Gates Foundation will give $15 million in grants to HBCUs to support on-campus coronavirus testing.
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