Monday, October 28, 2024

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The presidential election is 8 days away.

Harris +1.0 points (New York Times)

Trump wins 54 times out of 100. Harris wins 48 times out of 100. (FiveThirtyEight)

Editor’s note: Forecasts are probabilities, not certainties. They reflect the current vibes, not the final result.

💡 Poll results depend on pollster choices as much as voters’ decisions. “Simple changes in how to weight a single poll can move the Harris-Trump margin 8 points.” (Good Authority)

1/ Trump called the United States a “garbage can for the world.” At a rally in Arizona on Thursday, Trump said, “We’re a dumping ground. We’re like a – we’re like a garbage can for the world. That’s what, that’s what’s happened to us. We’re like a garbage can.” Then on Friday in Texas, Trump again said: “We’re like a garbage can. First time I said it was last night […] I said it – I don’t know, just came out, ‘garbage can.’ We’re like a garbage can for the rest of the world to dump the people they don’t want.” Trump made the comments as he criticized the Biden-Harris administration for its handling of the border. (ABC News / Politico / New Republic / Vanity Fair /

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Thursday, October 24, 2024

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The presidential election is 12 days away.

Harris +1.0 points (New York Times)

Trump wins 51 times out of 100. Harris wins 48 times out of 100. (FiveThirtyEight)

Editor’s note: Forecasts are probabilities, not certainties. They reflect the current vibes, and not the final result.

✅ Get election ready: Register to vote, update your address, or request an absentee ballot at Vote.org, TurboVote.org, RocktheVote.org, or VoteFromAbroad.org.

1/ Kamala Harris called Trump a fascist, saying “the American people deserve better, and they deserve a president who is focused on solutions, not sitting in the Oval Office plotting their revenge and retribution.” When asked at a CNN town hall if she believed that Trump is a fascist, Harris replied twice, “Yes, I do.” Later, she brought it up again, saying Trump would be “a president who admires dictators and is a fascist.” Harris added that even Trump’s senior military leaders have called Tump a fascist – including the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, and Trump’s former White House chief of staff, retired Marine general John Kelly – saying they “have all called him unfit and dangerous.” Trump, meanwhile, called Kelly a “lowlife” and “total degenerate” after his former White House chief of staff spoke about Trump’s admiration for the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. (Associated Press / Axios /

Visit WTF Just Happened Today? for more news and headlines, brought to you by Matt Kiser. The WTFJHT Podcast is narrated and produced by Joe Amditis.

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

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The presidential election is 13 days away.

Harris +2.0 points (New York Times)

Trump wins 51 times out of 100. Harris wins 49 times out of 100. (FiveThirtyEight)

✅ Get election ready: Register to vote, update your address, or request an absentee ballot at Vote.org, TurboVote.org, RocktheVote.org, or VoteFromAbroad.org.

1/ Trump’s longest-serving chief of staff warned that Trump meets the definition of a “fascist” and once said he wanted the “kind of generals Hitler had.” John Kelly said Trump is “certainly an authoritarian [and] admires people who are dictators,” and that Trump “commented more than once that, ‘You know, Hitler did some good things, too.’” Trump also asked Kelly, “Why can’t you be like the German generals?” Kelly explained to Trump that German generals “tried to kill Hitler three times and almost pulled it off,” but Trump responded: “No, no, no, they were totally loyal to him.” Further, two people who heard a private conversation at the White House, Trump once said: “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had. People who were totally loyal to him, that follow orders.” Mark Esper, who served as secretary of Defense under Trump, backed Kelly’s remarks, saying “It’s hard to say that he doesn’t [meet the definition of a fascist], when you kind of look at those terms. But, he certainly has those inclinations. And I think it’s something we should be wary about.” (New York Times /

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Tuesday, October 22, 2024

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1/ More than 400 doctors and health professionals called on Trump to release his medical records, questioning his mental and physical fitness to serve. “With no recent disclosure of health information from Donald Trump, we are left to extrapolate from public appearances,” their letter states. “And on that front, Trump is falling concerningly short of any standard of fitness for office and displaying alarming characteristics of declining acuity.” The letter adds that Trump is 78 years old and would be the oldest president if he win. But at a campaign event Sunday, Trump denied being close to 80 years old or having any cognitive issues. “I’m not 80, and I’m not that close to 80,” said Trump, who is 20 months away from turning 80. “I’ve done cognitive tests. I’ve done them twice, and I aced both of them, and the doctor in one case said, ‘I’ve never seen anybody ace them.’” Following a series meandering, unhinged, and nonsensical public appearances, a psychiatrist who helped craft the 1973 “Goldwater rule” that has kept mental health professionals from opining about Trump for nearly a decade said he’d recommend a dementia test for Trump. Allen Dyer, a retired George Washington University psychiatry professor, said Trump’s recent behavior warrants medical evaluation because “he seems to be progressively cognitively impaired.” (

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Monday, October 21, 2024

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Harris +1.0 points (New York Times)

Trump wins 52 times out of 100. Harris wins 48 times out of 100. (538)

📺 Oct. 23: Harris CNN town hall

✅ Get election ready: Register to vote, update your address, or request an absentee ballot at Vote.org, TurboVote.org, RocktheVote.org, or VoteFromAbroad.org.

1/ With 15 days until the 2024 election, Harris and Trump are essentially tied across the seven battleground states that will decide the race. The polls have been tightening over the last two weeks, with Harris now ahead by about one point on average – her smallest lead since the Democratic convention. And while Trump has gained some ground over the past couple weeks, the margin between Trump and Harris is 2 percentage points or less in all seven major swing states (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin). Although Harris is the favorite to win the popular vote, the Electoral College bias favors Republicans by about 2 percentage points. Meaning: the race remains best characterized as a toss-up. (Washington Post / New York Times / FiveThirtyEight)

2/ Elon Musk’s pro-Trump super PAC will give away $1 million a day until Election Day to a “random” registered voter who signs his petition supporting “free speech and the right to bear arms.” Musk has also promised to pay people $47 for each re...

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Thursday, October 17, 2024

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1/ Israel Defense Forces killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar during a strike in Gaza. Sinwar is believed to be the key architect of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack in which Palestinian militants killed 1,200 people in Israel. Israel previously killed Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July, and then killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut in September. Biden, meanwhile, said Sinwar’s death opens the door for “a political settlement that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike […] It’s time for this war to end and bring these hostages home. We’re going to work out what, what is the ‘day after’ now. How do we secure Gaza and move on.” Kamala Harris added: “This moment gives us an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza, and it must end such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination. It is time for the day after to begin without Hamas in power.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, addressed Sinwar’s demise, saying, “This is the beginning of the day after Hamas. Evil has suffered a heavy blow, but the task before us is not yet complete.” (Politico / CBS News / Associated Press / Axios / NPR / NBC News / New York Times / Bloomberg / Washington Post / CNN)

2/ Trump blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for allowing Russia to invade Ukraine. “He should never have let that war start. The war’s a loser,” Trump said. In September, Trump met with Zelensky and said that it was an “honor” to meet with him and that they had a “very good relationship.” Trump then added that he also has a “very good relationship” with Putin. Zelensky, meanwhile, warned that 10,000 North Korean troops are being readied to join Russian forces in their fight against Ukraine as part of “the first step to a World War.” (Washington Post / Politico / New York Times / Associated Press / Axios / The Hill)

3/ JD Vance outright denied Trump lost the 2020 election, flatly answering “no.” For months Vance has repeatedly deflected questions about whether Trump lost the 2020 election, instead saying he was focused on the future. But when asked again at a rally in Pennsylvania if Trump lost, Vance replied: “No. I think ther...

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Wednesday, October 16, 2024

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1/ A Georgia judge blocked a new state rule that would have required counties to hand-count ballots cast on Election Day. “Too much, too late,” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney wrote in his decision, expressing concern that the “11th-and-one-half hour implementation of the hand count rule” would undermine public confidence in the election results and lead to “administrative chaos.” The rule, passed by the Republican State Election Board, would have required poll workers in Georgia to open ballots and count them by hand to ensure that the total number of ballots matched the total counted by tabulating machines. It was set to go into effect Oct. 22 – two weeks before Election Day. Early voting in the state is already underway. Separately, McBurney also ruled that Georgia county election officials can’t delay or decline to certify election results based on suspicions of fraud, error, or abuse, writing that elections officials have a “mandatory fixed obligation to certify election results.” (NBC News / Washington Post / Axios / CBS News / Bloomberg / NPR / The Hill / USA Today / New York Times / ABC News / Associated Press)

2/ Trump’s top general called him a “fascist to the core” and “the most dangerous person to this country,” according to Bob Woodward’s book, “War.” Retired U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley, who served as chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2019 to 2023, told Woodward that Trump “is the most dangerous person ever. I had suspicions when I talked to you about his mental decline and so forth, but now I realize he’s a total fascist. He is now the most dangerous person to this country.” Milley repeated: “A fascist to the core.” Meanwhile, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a senior member of the Homeland, Armed Services and Judiciary committees, said he expects Trump’s suggestion that he could deploy National Guard or U.S. military on American soil to handle what he called “the enemy from within” on Election Day to generate new support for his legislation to restrict a president’s authority to deploy the military inside the U.S. (Axios / The Guardian / The Independent / The Hill / WTF Just Happened Today? for more news and headlines, brought to you by Matt Kiser. The WTFJHT Podcast is narrated and produced by Joe Amditis.

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

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1/ The Biden administration threatened to suspend military assistance if Israel doesn’t improve the “increasingly dire” humanitarian crisis in Gaza – but then sent Israel an advanced missile defense system and the American troops needed to operate it. In a letter to senior Israeli officials, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin blamed Israel for “directly or indirectly” impeding the transport of humanitarian aid to Gaza that has contributed to the starvation and widespread suffering. Israel closed crossings into Gaza earlier this month, and the amount of aid delivered to Gaza “has dropped by more than 50%” since the spring. The U.S. officials gave Israel 30 days to “reverse the downward humanitarian trajectory” or else it “may have implications” for future U.S. weapons transfers and funding. The deadline to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, however, falls after the presidential election. Nevertheless, Biden ordered the Pentagon to send the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system — known as THAAD — to Israel to help fend off potential Iranian missile attacks. Israel, meanwhile, is preparing a military response to Iran’s Oct. 1 attack when it fired roughly 180 missiles into Israel. “We listen to the opinions of the United States, but we will make our final decisions based on our national interests,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. (Associated Press / Washington Post / Bloomberg / CNN / New York Times / NBC News / Politico / Axios / Wall Street Journal)

2/ Trump called for the National Guard or U.S. military to be deployed on American soil to handle what he called “the enemy from within” on Election Day, claiming that “radical left lunatics” are more dangerous than foreign adversaries like Russia and China. “I always say, we have two enemies,” Trump said. “We have the outside enemy, and then we have the enemy from within, and the enemy from within, in my opinion, is more dangerous than China, Russia and all these countries.” Trump added that a “smart president” could handle foreign adversaries “pretty easily,” but “the thing that’s tougher to handle are these lunatics that we have inside, like Adam Schiff.” In a statement, the Harris campaign said Trump “is suggesting that his fellow Americans are worse ‘enemies’ than foreign adversaries, and he is saying he would use the military against them. Taken with his vow to be a dictator on ‘day one,’ calls for the ‘termination’ of the Constitution, and plans to surround himself with sycophants who will give him unchecked, unprecedented power if he returns to office, this should alarm every American who cares about their freedom and security. What Donald Trump is promising is dangerous, and returning him to office is simply a risk Americans cannot afford.” Later, at a campaign rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, Harris said “A second Trump term would be a huge risk for America, and dangerous. Do...

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Thursday, October 10, 2024

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1/ Hurricane Milton left at least 12 people dead, and more than 3 million people remain without power. “The storm did bring much destruction and damage,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said. “The storm was significant, but thankfully this was not the worst case scenario.” Biden said he pre-deployed thousands of federal personnel to areas affected by the storm, including more than 1,000 Coast Guard members, and that over 80,000 Floridians had safely sheltered from the storm. (Associated Press / Politico / NPR / Washington Post / New York Times / ABC News / NBC News / Axios)

2/ Biden told Trump to “get a life” for his continued false claims about the federal government’s response to hurricanes Helene and Milton, while delivering a briefing at the White House about the response to Milton so far. After Biden said that people who lie about hurricane recovery efforts are “undermining confidence in the rescue and recovery work that’s opening and ongoing,” a reporter asked if he had spoken to Trump. “Are you kidding me?” said Biden, adding: “Mr. President Trump, former President Trump, get a life, man. Help these people.” FEMA, meanwhile, has spent nearly half of the disaster relief funding that Congress allocated for the next 12 months in the last eight days. Biden called on Congress to return from its recess to pass emergency relief. (CNN / NBC News / Politico / Bloomberg)

3/ Florida’s Department of Health threatened to criminally charge local TV stations that air a political ad calling for the repeal of the state’s six-week abortion ban signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. At least two stations received cease-and-desist letters that running the 30-second spot was a violation of Florida’s “sanitary nuisance” law. The Democratic chair of the Federal Communications Commission, meanwhile, said the stations should not be intimidated for airing political ads, saying: “The right of broadcasters to speak freely is rooted in the First Amendment. Threats against broadcast stations for airing content that conflicts with the government’s views are dangerous and undermine the fundamental principle of free speech.” In November, Florida residents will vote on Amendment 4, which would protect abortion rights in the state’s constitution and undo the new abortion ban. (Florida Politics / Washington Post / CNN)

4/ Inflation dropped last month to its lowest point in more tha...

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Wednesday, October 9, 2024

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1/ With landfall by Milton, a major Category 3 hurricane, hours away and nearly 7.3 million Floridians facing mandatory evacuation orders, Marjorie Taylor Greene continued to promote her false conspiracy theory that the government can control the weather. The Georgia Republican claimed last week that “they” can control the weather after Hurricane Helene killed more than 230 people, including two dozen people in her state. She added: “It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.” Greene doubled down since her initial claim, posting screenshots of “weather modification project reports” from the NOAA website and citing a post by a conspiracy theorist website as proof that “yes they can control the weather.” She continued: “If your home or business or property is damaged or a loved one is killed by their weather modifications shouldn’t you be eligible for compensation? After all, did they ask you if you agreed to our weather being modified?” Biden called Greene’s conspiracy theory “reckless, irresponsible and relentless promotion of disinformation and outright lies […] harmful to those who need help the most.” He added that the “claims are getting even more bizarre […] it’s beyond ridiculous. It’s got to stop.” Florida Rep. Carlos Gimenez, meanwhile, said Greene and others who think that humans can control the weather need “to have their head examined.” Milton is expected to make landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast overnight as a major hurricane, and could become one of the most destructive storms on record. Harris urged residents to heed evacuation warnings, saying the storm is expected to be “catastrophic and deadly” and “unlike anything we’ve seen before.” (NBC News / Bloomberg / Politico / CNN / Washington Post / New York Times / The Hill)

2/ The Kremlin confirmed that Trump secretly sent Putin Covid-19 testing equipment during the height of the pandemic when the machines were in short supply. Trump denied that he sent Covid test equipment to Putin, saying “none of these made up stories by Bob Woodward are true” – referring to “War,” Woodward’s new book. “We also sent equipment at the beginning of the pandemic,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a written response. Peskov, however, denied reporting that Trump and Putin have spoken on the telephone “as many as seven” times since Trump left office. The Logan Act prohibits private U.S. citizens from engaging in diplomacy with foreign governments without authorization that are in dispute with the U.S. (Bloomberg / Axios / NBC News / Politico /

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